Katrina: FEMA--Not a First Responder -&- Ray Nagin isn't blame-free -- 1998 Fiasco

Katrina: FEMA is not a first responder

Craig Martelle: FEMA is not a first responder
Don't be so quick to pillory the federal response in New Orleans. Immediate emergency management is primarily a local and state responsibility

[. . . . ] I've reviewed the New Orleans emergency management plan. Here is an important section in the first paragraph.

"We coordinate all city departments and allied state and federal agencies which respond to citywide disasters and emergencies through the development and constant updating of an integrated multi-hazard plan. All requests for federal disaster assistance and federal funding subsequent to disaster declarations are also made through this office. Our authority is defined by the Louisiana Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act of 1993, Chapter 6 Section 709, Paragraph B, 'Each parish shall maintain a Disaster Agency which, except as otherwise provided under this act, has jurisdiction over and serves the entire parish.' "

Check the plan -- the "we" in this case is the office of the mayor, Ray Nagin who was very quick and vocal about blaming everyone but his own office. [. . . . ]

Ray Nagin isn't blame-free

Now, check out the entire prescient article by Joel Bourne, National
Geographic:

http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/

The article was written "October 2004". Shiver me timbers!
Ray Nagin isn't blame-free
National Post
Tue 06 Sep 2005
Lorne Gunter

[. . . . ] So many of those fleeing Katrina last week were huddled in the Superdome as a direct result of Nagin's initial refusal to open the cavernous, covered football stadium during the Ivan evacuation. Following Ivan, Nagin was chastised for having kept the dome locked until the very last minute. At the time he claimed he was reluctant to swing open the doors because, during the 1998 Hurricane Georges evacuation, 14,000 had poured in and the place deteriorated into a criminal cesspool with muggings, thefts, fights and vandalism.

He made sure the Superdome was open this time to avoid a similar political fallout, but he made no provision for bottled water or water purification equipment, no emergency food stuffs, no portable toilets or diesel generators. No city-employed doctors or nurses were assigned to evacuation duty there. [. . . . ]

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