Reply #34: What Bush did prior to Katrina making landfall

[snippy]

should be compared to what Bush did prior to two of last year's huricanes which hit Florida.

Hurricane Charley hit Florida on August 13 last year. The following is from a DHS press release that day.

Department of Homeland Security Prepares Response to Hurricane Charley

FEMA Public Affairs
Contact: 202-646-4600
August 13, 2004

With Hurricane Charley's 145 mile-per-hour winds impacting the Florida coast, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pre-positioned personnel and supplies for rapid response to areas that will need emergency assistance from this Category 4 strength storm.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is coordinating activities along with other federal departments and respective state agencies. FEMA met its goal to have necessary emergency response teams and disaster relief supplies positioned throughout the southeast region earlier today in preparation for the anticipated response operations. More equipment and resources are being deployed from stockpiles nationwide.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and FEMA Director Michael Brown are maximizing readiness and response efforts for Hurricane Charley and have been in contact with Florida Governor Jeb Bush and other governors in southeast states that could be impacted by this dangerous storm.

FEMA's Mobile Emergency Response Services’ communication units from as far away as FEMA’s Denver, CO, regional office were mobilized to be in place prior to Hurricane Charley's landfall. These units are able to provide telephone, radio and video links in support of response and recovery efforts.

FEMA has activated and deployed Medical Management Support Teams such as MASH-type Disaster Medical Assistance Teams and Veterinary Medical Teams and has mobilized and pre-positioned first-responder urban search and rescue teams for possible service. Disaster medical teams have also brought extra supplies to ensure that the region's large elderly population’s needs are met.

Twenty semi-trailers containing cots and blankets, emergency meals, portable toilets, personal wash kits, sleeping bags, 6-8 person tents, plastic sheeting and roofing, bottled water and mid-range generators are being staged in Georgia for rapid deployment to Florida. FEMA has also deployed large sea containers with building materials for immediate home repairs.

. . .

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at FEMA's request, has coordinated the deployment of ten truckloads of water and seven truckloads of ice to the Tampa area and has deployed sandbag teams and portable flood control levees to central and northern Florida.

. . .

The Department of Defense (DoD) is supporting FEMA's response effort with four military bases being used for mobilization and staging sites for response teams and supplies. DoD is also analyzing national aircraft assets from military and civilian agencies if additional aircraft are needed to transport response and recovery supplies.

. . .

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=3942


And hurricane Frances hit Florida on Sunday, September 5 last year. This is from a September 6, 2004 White House press release:

. . .

As of noon Monday, in response to Hurricane Frances, FEMA and other Federal response agencies have taken the following actions:

About one hundred trucks of water and 280 trucks of ice are present or will arrive in the Jacksonville staging area today.

900,000 Meals-Ready-to-Eat are on site in Jacksonville, ready to be distributed.

Over 7,000 cases of food (e.g., vegetables, fruits, cheese, ham, and turkey) are scheduled to arrive in Winter Haven today.

Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) are on the ground and setting up comfort stations. FEMA community relations personnel will coordinate with DMATs to assist victims.

Urban Search and Rescue Teams are completing reconnaissance missions in coordination with state officials.

FEMA is coordinating with the Department of Energy and the state to ensure that necessary fuel supplies can be distributed throughout the state, with a special focus on hospitals and other emergency facilities that are running on generators.

The Army Corps of Engineers will soon begin its efforts to provide tarps to tens of thousands of owners of homes and buildings that have seen damage to their roofs.

The National Guard has called up 4,100 troops in Florida, as well as thousands in other nearby states to assist in the distribution of supplies and in preparation for any flooding.

The Departments of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, and Defense together have organized 300 medical personnel to be on standby. Medical personnel will begin deployment to Florida tomorrow.

. . .

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040906-1.html

And there was this concerning Frances:

Michael Brown, director of FEMA, told CNN: . . .

"We have poised right now to move into this state literally thousands of personnel, literally hundreds and hundreds of trucks, emergency rescue workers, urban search and rescue, medical teams."

FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said about 4,500 federal personnel are staged at various locations in Florida, Georgia and other states in Frances' path. More people are on call. FEMA deployed about 1,500 people in response to Charley, which hit southern and central Florida Aug. 13, McIntyre said.

. . .

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WEATHER/09/04/hurricane.frances /

In addition, last year Bush even had FEMA hire a political consultant to devise political public relations strategies concerning the response to hurricane Frances for FEMA and the Bush campaign.

. . .

But politics was foremost on the mind of FEMA consultant Glenn Garcelon, who wrote a three-page memo titled "Hurricane Frances -- Thoughts and Suggestions," on Sept. 2.

The Republican National Convention was winding down, and President Bush had only a slight lead in the polls against Democrat John Kerry. Winning Florida was key to the president's re-election. FEMA should pay careful attention to how it is portrayed by the public, Garcelon wrote in the memo, conveying "the team effort theme at every opportunity" alongside state and local officials, the insurance and construction industries, and relief agencies such as the Red Cross.

"What FEMA cannot afford to do is back itself into a corner by feeling it has to be the sole explainer and defender for everything that goes wrong," he wrote. "Further, this is not what the President would want. Plenty is going to go wrong, and his Department of Homeland Security does not want to assume responsibility for all of it."

Garcelon, a former FEMA employee, recommended that "top-level people from FEMA and the White House need to develop a communication strategy and an agreed-upon set of themes and communications objectives."

"Communication consultants from the President's re-election campaign should be brought in," he wrote. "Above all, everybody's got to understand that no amount of flogging DHS/ FEMA will insure that the recovery will go perfectly. This is going to be a huge mess. The public needs to be prepared for it."

. . .

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/sfl-fema23mar23,0,5144922.story?coll=sfla-news-utility

In contrast, before Katrina hit, Bush declared parts of the gulf coast a federal disaster area to streamline claims for financial assistance from the government after the hurricane passed. I have been unable to find any information on the White House, DHS, or FEMA web sites concerning any other actions taken in advance of Katrina except for a press release stating that:

"FEMA will mobilize equipment and resources necessary to protect public health and safety by assisting law enforcement with evacuations, establishing shelters, supporting emergency medical needs, meeting immediate lifesaving and life-sustaining human needs and protecting property, in addition to other emergency protective measures."

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18447

Shortly before Katrina made landfall, Bush also attended a fund raiser, played a guitar, and shortened one of his several annual vacations by a few hours.

That is a far cry from what Bush did in 2004.