September 08, 2005

Google FEMA - I was reading the story about the denied low wattage radio station in the Astrodome and wondering about the rumors that FEMA has barred the media from photographing the dead. So I Googled up FEMA history and found this and this, and thought I could have

[From 1st link] Tornadoes in the midwest; hurricanes on the east coast; earthquakes in California. America is continually under assault from nature. Yet despite the constant threat of natural disasters, the nation remains largely unprepared for such emergencies. See a highly classified government survey which includes shocking information proving that America is woefully unprepared to respond to natural disasters. Learn why the government suppressed this information for fear of invoking widespread panic, yet has done nothing to correct this potentially disastrous situation. Take an up-close look at some of the systems that do exist, and learn why they are inadequate. And discover how many communities remain unprepared simply because they feel the government will "rescue" them if they are hit by disaster. This dangerous trend needs immediate attention... before it's too late. [From 2nd link] The Federal Emergency Management Agency paid for new cars, dental bills and a funeral even though the Medical Examiner recorded no deaths from Frances. In an ongoing series of reports, the newspaper also found FEMA inspectors were given only cursory training and attributed damage to tornadoes - there were none recorded in the county - and in six instances listed “ice/snow’’ as the cause. As best I can tell, the IR story was produced before July of 2003, based on this. So - what is the history of FEMA, what is the mission in light of the new DHS, and can it really be as organizationally incompetent or corrupt as these links indicate? On a related derail, the argument over "Small Government" would seem to have legs now.

posted by petebest 18 years ago
  • See also >a href="http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/006754.html">this.
  • This, I mean.
  • Have we done the Pat Robertson link?
  • To be fair, Pat Robertson is a natural disaster. Of Biblical proportions. Heh. But thanks, fish -- I had no idea that was out there. Wow.
  • (via Follow Me Here, btw.)
  • Marion Gordon Pat Robertson has turned hurricanes around before through the power of prayer. Perhaps his ransome demands were not met by FEMA to save the sinful people in N.O. and in those god-forsaken houses of gambling in MS?
  • Thousands of New Orleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the city on foot. Wow Skrik, didn't realize they were being prevented from leaving.
  • Easiest way to eliminate poverty. (Allright, that was pretty bad. I think I offended myself.) Wait, what is that? Is that a Banhammer? Uh oh.
  • After its creation in 1979, FEMA became "a political dumping ground," according to a former FEMA advisory board member. Its ineffective performance after Hurricane Hugo hit South Carolina in 1989 and Hurricane Andrew struck Florida in 1992 exposed the agency's shortcomings. Then Sen. Fritz Hollings of South Carolina called it "the sorriest bunch of bureaucratic jackasses." President Clinton appointed James Lee Witt as the new director, the first one ever to have had experience in the field. Witt reinvented the agency, setting high professional standards and efficiently dealing with disasters. FEMA's success as a showcase federal agency made it an inviting target for the incoming Bush team. Allbaugh, Bush's former campaign manager, became the new director, and he immediately began to dismantle the professional staff, privatize many functions and degrade its operations. In his testimony before the Senate, Allbaugh attacked the agency he headed as an example of unresponsive bureaucracy: "Many are concerned that Federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program and a disincentive to effective State and local risk management. Expectations of when the Federal Government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level. We must restore the predominant role of State and local response to most disasters."
  • No, wait, see what a great job our Homeland Security is doing??
  • From the FEMA history page: The National Governor's Association sought to decrease the many agencies with whom state and local governments were forced work. They asked President Jimmy Carter to centralize federal emergency functions. President Carter's 1979 executive order merged many of the separate disaster-related responsibilities into a new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Among other agencies, FEMA absorbed: the Federal Insurance Administration, the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration, the National Weather Service Community Preparedness Program, the Federal Preparedness Agency of the General Services Administration and the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration activities from HUD. Civil defense responsibilities were also transferred to the new agency from the Defense Department's Defense Civil Preparedness Agency. From the same page: As it has for more than 20 years, FEMA's mission remains: to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of "A Nation Prepared." At no time in its history has this vision been more important to the country than in the aftermath of Sept. 11th. Last Updated: Saturday, 23-Oct-2004 00:00:00 EDT Maybe that last part should be updated.
  • From Lord Sludge's link, they thunk up a clever name for their rescue operation and everything! Air Transport Association and Department of Transportation launch “Operation Air Care” OK, so that's actually the Department of Transportation. Must be that's why nobody jumped right in. They couldn't come up with the kind of great titles that have made our government's recent operations so successful. In other news, "Operation Not My Job" was a crashing success. In retrospect, "Operation Get the Hell Down There" would have been fine.
  • Firefighters to hand out fliers with a phone number, to people who don't have phones.
  • they thunk up a clever name for their rescue operation and everything! That's all the Dilbert Administration is good at. And, have a look at this shining example of republican shamelessness. (Not relevant to OP, slightly relevant to Robertson link.)
  • And now . . it's time for The Blame Gametm's Lightning Round! Lets hear from Washington Monthly: Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the Bush administration in a nutshell.
  • From the Dept. for the Completely Obvious, 9/11 Commission honchos see same failures as before. And let the slandering of yesterday's Golden Boys begin... Also, 30 corpses pulled out of nursing home. The start of the grim tally. If you weren't indignant before, this news about tying dead bodies to trees and fences for future recovery should do it.
  • Interesting. this wikipedia article about FEMA has a section on conspiracy theories. The live one doesn't. heh. *cue conspiracy buffs* Or, just Do the FEMA rap, werd
  • I have heard FEMA's response strategy referred to as "economic cleansing".
  • Firefighters to hand out fliers with a phone number, to people who don't have phones. And if you manage to call the number, they'll mail you a claim form to your now-nonexistent address.
  • So is it as simple as that? Bush appointed a bunch of incompetent cronies? FEMA was gutted and replaced with profiteers?
  • This may be somewhere else, but I thought it might be relevant here: How Reliable Is Brown's Resume? To be fair, I'm not sure how reliable a source findlaw.com is.
  • Powell criticises response. Also, Chimpy finds allegations he didn't do everything he could 'heartbreaking'.
  • Brown's been pulled off of Katrina and back to Washington, according to Reuters. The Chief of Staff of the Coast Guard is taking over. Is this the first step to firing Brown?
  • I have heard FEMA's response strategy referred to as "economic cleansing". I heard something similar.
  • Is this the first step to firing Brown? He won't be fired. Expect a resignation whenever Rove thinks the timing is right.
  • Or an Ambassadorship opens up. Whichever comes first.
  • rocket88, you're exactly right. He's just been yanked, but we're too stoopit to understand.
  • Government by crony Is baloney.
  • Never a truer thing was said, bees.
  • A truer thing was never said? I'm a bit brain-scrambly today
  • Note that this took place on the opening day of the John Roberts hearings.
  • FEMA: A Legacy of Waste The Sun-Sentinel took a look at 20 recent disasters and found mismanagement and misallocation abound.
  • Unbelievable. I don't even have any other words.
  • "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire, you'll really vomit. I am a fashion god." -Michael Brown, August 29, 2005
  • Brown is still on the federal payroll at his $148,000 annual salary. Yeah.