FAA Response to Katrina vs. FAA Response to Rita:

[barbaraann]

FAA Response to Hurricane Katrina
Operations Overview

Within less than 24 hours, employees and equipment were sent to the hurricane-stricken region and New Orleans airport was open for relief missions. Within less than 72 hours, all airports were open. Only New Orleans Lakefront Airport remains closed because of extensive water damage.
more...
http://www.faa.gov/news/news_story.cfm?type=fact_sheet&year=2005&date=090905


FAA Response to Hurricane Rita
...
FAA air traffic facilities in Houston and Beaumont-Port Arthur have been moving FEMA evacuation flights for several thousand people to other cities in Texas and to Ft. Smith, Arkansas over the past two days.

Early this morning, air traffic controllers from San Antonio relieved co-workers who have been working overtime at the Beaumont Air Traffic Control Tower to help the military evacuate citizens. The Beaumont Tower crew helped the military airlift 4,000 people out of danger, many of them sick and elderly. Despite having worked long hours, these employees initially refused to leave the tower, even though they had families and homes to evacuate. They agreed to step aside only when the San Antonio contingent arrived at 1 a.m.

In preparation for the hurricane, the FAA has set up a staging area in Austin, Texas to pre-deploy teams and equipment that may be needed after the storm. The teams will assess any damage to radars, navigational aids and FAA facilities as quickly and possible and will move in temporary or replacement equipment. The FAA’s Communications Support Team has also deployed its mobile van to Austin and is ready to deliver satellite phones to any facilities that need them.
...
http://www.faa.gov/news/news_story.cfm?type=fact_sheet&year=2005&date=092305


From what I can tell, the FAA helped PREPARE for Hurricane Rita but only RESPONDED to Hurricane Katrina. And this is the really disturbing part:

"...The FAA’s Communications Support Team has also deployed its mobile van to Austin and is ready to deliver satellite phones to any facilities that need them."
(from the Rita Response link)

Why weren't satellite phones delivered to the area hit by Katrina???

[chalky]

1. I'm bookmarking THIS puppy.

Great catch.

[gollygee]

2. I would hope they learned something

from Katrina and that they *would* have had better preparations for Rita. I guess it would bother me more if they hadn't learned and had done just as badly.

[Igel]

3. The quick answer to the satellite phone question

is that all the plans for NOLA assumed that at least one communication system would stay up and running. The plans were wrong. City, state, federal. The feds rely on the locals for knowledge of what the local first responders actually have.

Knowing the plans were wrong the first time, you'd expect them to not make the same assumptions the second time.

Some of the rest is specificity of requests. Perry learned that 'help!' is an insufficient request (just as he learned that waiting until 11 hours before high winds set in before implementing evacuation plans is also a mistake). Feds aren't omniscient; he has a larynx, and used it. But insufficiently.

This morning the news folk were saying that neither Blanco nor Perry got the request for more NG troops right. Do they want munitions experts or medics? Supply clerks or rescue squads? Where? For what? They didn't say what they wanted, in writing (I think Perry said what he wanted, but not in writing; and Blanco requested the troops in writing, but not what she wanted).

And there were screw-ups. Apparently Houston and Beaumont both had contracts with the same people to provide a huge number of ambulances for evacuations. Houston evacuated first, and got the ambulances; that left Beaumont with a big problem until the last minute. NOLA nursing homes had the same problem--numerous contracts for services with one provider who only had limited, insufficient, resources.

[A-Possum]

4. Good assessment

Thanks.