FEMA Spending Half A Billion Dollars a Day

I don't know about you guys but Half A Billion Dollars a Day being spent by FEMA sounds like alot of money, and what precisely are they spending that incredible amount of money on? It sure as hell isn't rescue operations or food supplies, painfully apparent by the sheer numbers of people literally starving to death in a centralized location they were directed to in New Orleans. Half a billion dollars and CNN is reporting that FEMA is turning Evacuation Buses away from the city? What the hell is FEMA doing with half a billions dollars a day, and why isn't there an ARMY of rescue personel. The Federal Response to this disaster has been IMO Abysmal. The most advanced and richest nation in the world and we can't paradrop some damned food or doctors?

I want to see receipts! It looks like the country's treasury is being
pilfered.

I just don't get it, we can drop soldiers and APC's into NO, but we can't drop a couple loads of freaking Oodles of Noodles on the city, or some medical personel?
People are apparently being told they can't leave the city by FEMA and armed National Guardsmen? The ones that are trying to leave are having their vehicles taken and told they won't get them back (CNN). Why is FEMA turning buses away, and not letting private assistance and other people into the area, like has happened with every major storm before this?

What the hell is really going on and how does 500,000,000 bucks a day not get some food and medicene in to these people? What the hell? We can drop soldiers with grenades and rifle in but they can't carry a can of beanie weenies in? I don't know guys, something more than a hurricane or a disaster is up down there.

Twitchy
I'm just glad I don't live in New Orleans.

I think you're right to be upset. I think the situation was not only caused by incompetence on the part of government and citizens, but the situation is getting steadily worse for precisely that reason. Regimented inefficiency is the halmark of government, and it's displayed perfectly in this instance, with Katrina and the story of the dome.

The situation with the dome is TERRIBLE. It's shocking, deplorable, I'm running out of words, literally. The situation blows my mind. It's very human behavior.

Now, they've got 60k troops with automatic weapons storming the city, and they're telling people they can't leave? HAHAHAHAHA. Almost makes me wish I could see the show. This is bad, real bad, and as has been said, getting worse.

Woohoo folks, the party of the century is just getting started. I think it will spread, when the people of other cities see how their government thinks of them and how their suffering is inconsequential. Or maybe people are so dependent on the favors of the state, they are afraid to tell it to go to Hell.

Wait and see, that's my motto.

And another thing, 500,000,000 bucks a day, and it looks to me that all they do is coordinate the efforts of other institutions and their resources, i.e. National Guard and 1st Division Troops. Excuse me, but half a billion dollars? That is one hell of a budget for a coordinative entity. Do they have any equipment of their own? Stockpiles of food, or vaccines? Mass Mobilization Capacity? If they are relying on Federal and State Equipment and Personel who are already funded and equipped, what the hell has FEMA been spending half a billion dollars a day on?
A Case in point on another thread...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by cargo
'Shoot to kill', troops told

Iraq-tested US troops with shoot-to-kill orders were deployed in New Orleans today to restore law and order after days of chaos and looting in the hurricane-devastated city.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said the 300 troopers from the Arkansas National Guard had been authorised to open fire on "hoodlums'' who have been terrorising the flooded city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Their deployment came amid intense criticism of the government for a tardy response to the disaster, which is feared to have killed thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands more stranded and homeless.

"These troops are fresh back from Iraq, well trained, experienced, battle tested and under my orders to restore order in the streets,'' Blanco said.

"They have M-16s and they are locked and loaded.
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"These troops know how to shoot and kill and they are more than willing to do so if necessary and I expect they will,'' said Blanco.

How long until these looters are tagged with "terrorist"? Or are they already?

Soldiers with orders to shoot to kill, people being told not to leave, and buses being turned away. Vehicles being comandeered from people trying to leave the city, and three days later bodies are still piling up at a location which was known to be a central shelter for the city.
Another thing that really bothers me is the media, all these camera crews can't bring a couple of brown bag lunches in with them to hand out, guess all that camera equipment and light racks take up so much room.
Unprecedented, Unprepared, those are the kinds of words I can deal with, but militarization? Martial Law? Get these people some frigging food and water, and get them the hell out of new orleans, that helicopter full of soldiers armed with orders to shoot to kill looters could have been loaded with survivors, or food, you nut jobs.

The reports I'm hearing all day long are all reporting a very grim situation.
The failure of our government to help these poor souls effectively with all we have
available is a national disgrace.

This is not directed at those who are doing their best to help.

FEMA has failed and we are learning an invaluable lessons in sociology, bureaucracy and human nature.

We are learning that THERE WAS NO PLAN to take care of 500,000 refugees
in a major urban catastrophe. No place for them to go, no transportation, no essential provisions.
FEMA is essentially winging it as they go.

This is getting into the 4th day and people that survived the hurricane and the flood
are dying from neglect.

I know the conditions are horrendous and that access is extremely hazardous, but
this should have all been considered long ago.

Just one more major incident and we would suffer a complete social breakdown, the
government goonies would head for their bunkers and it would be every man for himself.

This is the reality that New Orleans is bringing into focus.

Those who may wish to harm us have now seen our Achilles heel.

The people who want to harm us?

They're doing a fine job of it currently. Look at this mess...

What if it had been a nuclear weapon or, God forbid, a massive biological attack? The death toll would be astronomical, the shock waves would bring the country to its knees. Response time is in the #ter, resources are being mismanaged to a shocking degree, and somebody is STEALING, since the money obviously isn't going to the survivors, who can't even get a bag of ice.

This does, indeed, show just how poorly the government spends the taxpayers' money. Every layer of inefficiency sucks up more dollars, leads to longer delays. It's a circus, growing larger by the day (the elephant is the defense budget, and we're all familiar with the clowns).

Freakin' travesty.

(What's most funny, in my opinion, is the amount of fuel being used by rescuers. This will certainly exacerbate the shortages, no? And all this talk of releasing the strategic reserves doesn't mean diddley squat if there's no operational refinery below capacity to recieve the crude. Just an ironic twist on this supreme farce.)

This is what I don't understand...

People on other threads are saying things like 'shoot the looters' 'put a bullet in someone's head who steals sneakers' and such other words of wisdom.

Yet the REAL thieves are doing it right in front of everyone's face. And that is OK I suppose when it is a corporation or oil magents or heck, even the US government.

God bless capitalism - when you can condone the death of some poor sad misguided people attempting to steal jeans, laptops and televisions and believe it is your God given right to shoot them so they don't 'steal' - and then turn around and not say anything about FEMA or the shoddy federal help we have seen thus far; then something in the country is very wrong.

The governer of LA is saying that she hopes to see up to 20,000 troops in NO. They can house, deploy and feed these troops but not the 300,000 people stll stranded there????

What is going on?




[edit on 2-9-2005 by nikelbee]

They say somebody shoots a heli and they suspend the rescue operations. A shot that did nothing to a MILITARY HELICOPTER . But wait in iraq they don't just shoot a heli. They bring them down with rockets and kill 1,800 soldier and i dont see them suspending the war or stop sending troops... a war for who?? oil again....

Other thing is... what kind of people are in the dome? Like i read in yahoo news the day before the storm.. a refuge place for the poor.. so most of the people are blacks and hispanic.. wonder why they are left there to die.. A little racist in the time of disaster.. No wonder they are looting.. They have big camps and tents for military personal with foods and beds for what? for keeping people from looting?
But why they dont give those tents and food to the people ? And they will stop it..

I think all of that money is being spend in recovering the oil refinery and rigs that broke down... And getting the water out..

The goverment goes for who would give them more $$ ...

[edit on 2-9-2005 by rapture777]

Exactly what I was thinking. Picture the cartoon, poor people in the streets everywhere and the military rushing in and coming out with a little bundle in their hands, ooooh how cute, it is a tiny oil rig they've rescued.

Picture this now, millions around the world viewing this tragedy - the world watches as the US lets it's own suffer and die: old people, babies, teenage mothers, angry youths, invalids and those with disabilities, blacks, hispanics and people so poor we can't even imagine it - and all of them being treated like animals. People we can categorize as undesirables.

Don't buy all you read about who the enemy is - it is very clear to me when they spend millions on military recon and protecting the oil rigs.

Then again it isn't just the government - listen to what the ordinary citizens are saying. They don't care about the poor! They care about paying a few more bucks for oil. Don't get me wrong, I know a lot of people aren't dirt poor but who will be affected by rising prices, but it IS possible to care for both your own well being and that of those who are really desperate at this time: the true unfortunate.

F.E.M.A. - Federal Emergency Management Agency...

I don't see any Emergency Management from these guys, and half a billion dollars a day....what the hell for ???

Should these guys not have plans for all these types of disasters and have plans for each major city alonng the hurricane corridor for this type of disaster?

Questions need to be addressed after this disaster.

Okay, so now maybe more people will start realizing what those in the conspiracy truth movement have been trying to get them to realize for years. FEMA is NOT about emergency management, that is just a cover. FEMA is about CONTROL. All of the Executive Orders are in place for FEMA to take over local, state and national government, resources, transport, utilities, law enforcement, you name it, all in the event of a national state of emergency declared within the U.S., whether as the result of terrorist nuke, bio-attack, major earthquakes, Yellowstone eruption, or whatever disaster TPTB decide to implement next.

I saw a news story where a flood victim was holding his baby up to the camera shouting, "Where's FEMA?! Where's FEMA?!" Well, they're likely running take-over drills and feasibility studies with New Orleans as the rat's maze.

Why is FEMA spending all that money but not doing anything to help those in need? Because that's not their job. Never has been.

Posted this in another thread, but it needs to be here as well.

Federal Emergency Management Director Michael Brown told CNN that federal officials were unaware of the crowds at the convention center until Thursday, despite the fact that city officials had been telling people for days to gather there.

"We just learned about that today, and so I have directed that we have all available resources to get to that convention center to make sure that they have the food and water, the medical care that they need," he said.

www.cnn.com...

I'm floored.

Also posted elsewhere:

The mayor is going out of his mind on CNN and has just spewed a string of curses and swear words on television.He basically lost it...

His disbelief equals our own.

These are his people. THese are supposed to be our own people.

[edit on 2-9-2005 by nikelbee]

Originally posted by nikelbee
Also posted elsewhere:

The mayor is going out of his mind on CNN and has just spewed a string of curses and swear words on television.He basically lost it...

His disbelief equals are own.

These are his people. THese are supposed to be our own people.

The mayor mad about the looting? The slow emergency response? This is one bad thing about living in the UK, the inability to get my own countries news

Am finding several pieces in the news that are frankly demoralizing...

www.guardian.co.uk...
Doctors at two desperately crippled hospitals in New Orleans called The Associated Press Thursday morning pleading for rescue, saying they were nearly out of food and power and had been forced to move patients to higher floors to escape looters.

``We have been trying to call the mayor's office, we have been trying to call the governor's office ... we have tried to use any inside pressure we can. We are turning to you. Please help us,'' said Dr. Norman McSwain, chief of trauma surgery at Charity Hospital, the larger of two public hospitals.

www.washingtonpost.com...
New Orleans Cops Use Single Radio Channel

By BRUCE MEYERSON
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 1, 2005; 8:56 PM

-- When the phones don't work, improvise. That's what emergency responders and civilians were forced to do in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which trashed the telephone system on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Police in New Orleans, their main communications system knocked out, have been taking turns talking on a single radio channel with their walkie talkies. The Mississippi National Guard even resorted to ancient battlefield tactics, sending runners back and forth among commanders with information....
(pg2)
"That has posed some problems with people talking over each other," said Warren Riley, the deputy police chief. "We probably have 20 agencies on one channel right now."

www.newsday.com...[/ur l]
AP National News
New Orleans Levees No Match for Katrina
By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer
August 31, 2005, 5:24 PM EDT

Even before Hurricane Katrina struck, experts were warning that the network of earthen, steel and concrete barriers that protected the city was inadequate -- and they proved tragically correct...

Marine scientist Ivor van Heerden of Louisiana State University, who has developed flooding models for New Orleans, was among those issuing dire predictions as Katrina approached, warnings that turned out to be grimly accurate.

"We're talking about an incredible environmental disaster," said van Heerden before the storm arrived. He predicted that floodwaters would overcome the levee system, fill the low-lying areas of the city and then remain trapped there well after the storm passed -- creating a giant, stagnant pool contaminated with debris, sewage and other hazardous materials....

[url=http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/editorial/outlook/3335758]http://www.chron.com
The foretelling of a deadly disaster in New Orleans
FEMA ranked hurricane scenario highly likely in '01
By ERIC BERGER
Editor's note: This article was originally published on Dec. 1, 2001, in the Houston Chronicle. Because of its relevance to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, it is being republished.
New Orleans is sinking.

And its main buffer from a hurricane, the protective Mississippi River delta, is quickly eroding away, leaving the historic city perilously close to disaster.

So vulnerable, in fact, that earlier this year the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked the potential damage to New Orleans as among the three likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country.

2001 article in Scientific American predicted New Orleans flood
www.thenewamerican.com...
"Baseless rumors about massive disorder in Baton Rouge"
Col. Terry Ebbert, director of homeland security for New Orleans, concurred and he was particularly pungent in his criticism. Asserting that the whole recovery operation had been "carried on the backs of the little guys for four goddamn days," he said "the rest of the goddamn nation can't get us any resources for security."
Evacuation suspended in New Orleans; Bush urges for calm
New Orleans: laboratory of counter-insurgency
"On Wednesday reporters listening to horrific stories of death and survival at the Biloxi Junior High School shelter looked north across Irish Hill Road and saw Air Force personnel playing basketball and performing calisthenics."
New bankruptcy law a problem for Katrina victims
Massive explosions rock New Orleans
Parts of New Orleans' levee system are more 180 years old.

Im not making excuses for FEMA nor making light of this tragedy but:

1) 500 million a day for such a large operation is really within the norm if you are factoring in the collective expence of the whole operation.

2) As with all disasters communication is the weak link. NO officials not talking to FEMA, FEMA not talking to the National Guard etc. It takes time to sort out.

3) My question is why wasnt New Orleans prepared for this level of disaster? The city is criticaly dependant on its levies and most of the city is below sea level right? Did they have a comprehensive disaster plan for this eventuality?

This disaster has hit close to home for us. One of the transport nurses went home right before NO was hit. We got a call from her a day before it was hit saying she was helping her mother get out and her husband has not been able to get a hold of her since. We are all hoping that she made it through and chose to stay and help with efforts. Her skill set as a pediatric transport nurse is expansive and she could no doubt provide immesurable help. But we all await word much like many others

FredT, you are aware that the Canadian Disaster Response Team was refused entry by Homeland Security right?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 2-9-2005 by sardion2000]

Originally posted by Simulacra

Originally posted by nikelbee
Also posted elsewhere:

The mayor is going out of his mind on CNN and has just spewed a string of curses and swear words on television.He basically lost it...

His disbelief equals are own.

These are his people. THese are supposed to be our own people.

The mayor mad about the looting? The slow emergency response? This is one bad thing about living in the UK, the inability to get my own countries news

I just saw that segment on CNN nikelbee. And yes Simulacra, he is, as he stated - god-damn pisssed, that nothing is happening. He has asked his higher ups for more action, yet none happens. He also explained about the looters, of which the same sentiments were brought up yesterday in another thread by a poster - that these looters are different in a way in that N.O. is full of drug addicts, these drug addicts have no drugs now, and they are coming down, the result of that is a human freeking out [been there done that], the one person that shot at the helipcopter may have been just this - coming down, and it was not a helicopter to him, but a giant demon of sorts. The Mayor is hearing the same thing we here from the government, that they [the gov] are there and are helping .......... but he can't see them anywhere.

Misfit

Originally posted by sardion2000
FredT, you are aware that the Canadian Disaster Response Team was refused entry by Homeland Security right?

:shk: yes I read that earlier. For sure, if the SF Bay Area gets devestated by the Big Quake, I can fully expect to be on my own and I have planned accordingly to take care of my family if we survive the inital quake.