NEWS: Disbelief - Former FEMA Officials Speak Out, page 1
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Topic started on 7-9-2005 @ 02:45 PM by wecomeinpeace
Ronald Castleman, the former New Orleans regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and John Copenhaver, also a former regional director, have spoken to the press detailing how FEMA had run simulated hurricane drills for New Orleans that were very successful in all aspects. Both men expressed disbelief and bewilderment after witnessing the agency's dismal response to the crisis. The revelation follows in the footsteps of allegations by people on the ground in New Orleans that FEMA was actively refusing aid and personnel resources that would have helped to alleviate the crisis.



www.tallahassee.com
More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the tabletop scenario as 120-mile-an-hour winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city.

Still, Castleman found it hard to square the lessons he and others learned from the exercise with the frustratingly slow response to the disaster that has unfolded in the wake of Katrina. From the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to the Mississippi and Alabama communities along the Gulf Coast, hurricane survivors have decried the lack of water, food or security and the slowness of the federal relief efforts.

As the first National Guard truck caravans of water and food arrived in New Orleans Friday, former FEMA officials and other disaster experts were at a loss to explain why the federal government's lead agency for responding to major emergencies had failed to meet the urgent needs of hundreds of thousands of Americans in the most dire of circumstances in a more timely fashion.


Please visit the link provided for the complete story.


There is definitely something rotten in the State of Denmark. I'm going to come right out and say that everything about FEMA's handling of this disaster stinks of deliberate foul-play; from their knowledge years ago yet apparent ignoring of an impending disaster, tested procedure being in place yet not implemented, through to the reports of the deliberate refusal of aid, as if orders to that effect were being carried out.

FEMA Deliberately Sabotaging Hurricane Relief Efforts

Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard [pictured right] appeared on Meet the Press Sunday and broke down in tears as he described FEMA's criminal activities.

We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don't give you the fuel." Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our line and says, "No one is getting near these lines."


Former FEMA officials incredulous at the inaction. Deliberate sabotaging of relief efforts. This is murder on a grand scale and high treason at the very least.

[edit on 8-9-2005 by John bull 1]

[edit on 12-9-2005 by Nerdling]


reply posted on 7-9-2005 @ 05:15 PM by 12m8keall2c

original news source:

www.tallahassee.com
More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the tabletop scenario as 120-mile-an-hour winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city.

Still, Castleman found it hard to square the lessons he and others learned from the exercise with the frustratingly slow response to the disaster that has unfolded in the wake of Katrina. From the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to the Mississippi and Alabama communities along the Gulf Coast, hurricane survivors have decried the lack of water, food or security and the slowness of the federal relief efforts.


They had already successfully planned and conducted exercises for this exact type and scale of event/disaster in NO [the gulf states]!

FEMA, themselves, have even stated that they had support crews AND SUPPLIES staged in the surrounding areas, prior to landfall!

The exercises they had already/previously performed demonstrated HOW they would/could evacuate 1,000,000 [ yes that's 1 million] from the area, as well as rescuing 300,000 who were/would remain trapped by the flood waters.

I understand that during an exercise, you cannot envision or allow for all possible variables , but come on now . . . aside from some reports of random shots towards rescue vehicles/aircraft and such . . . when the Cavalry , FEMA, etc. ACTUALLY shows up; They come in force and take control. A few miscreants would neither prevent nor hinder the operation, and would be dealt with in a very matter-of-fact manner! FOR THE GOOD OF THE WHOLE!

I believe that any of us as American citizens could/would, considering the scale of such an event, understand a day or two from unforeseen logistics, but a WEEK?!

Had this been a type of catastrophic event that for some unforeseen reason we had never anticipated/planned for/etc., then OKAY . . . holy jeepers Batman what are we gonna do now?!

Sadly, this was not the case by a longshot!

IMO the age old adage of "It will all come out in the wash." will not apply to the incident we will forever remember as Katrina!

Heads will roll?! probably, maybe, who cares?

Do you really think those affected care, seeing as they have lost, for the most part, everything near and dear to them?

Hindsight is always 20/20. Where the fault lies, IMO, is irrelevent at this point. We/They can point our fingers at whomever we/they see fit. The fact of the matter is:

The United States of America failed it's own citizens! Whether that be the national, state, and local government, or a combination of all three . . . it truly doesn't matter at this point.

We are now tasked with doing our damned best to make it right for ALL of those affected/involved, as well as the rest of entire nation!

For now I guess I'm done . . . for now :O/

LINK
When you play a sock puppet, from time to time you are gonna get socked.

[edit on 7-9-2005 by 12m8keall2c]


reply posted on 7-9-2005 @ 05:24 PM by wecomeinpeace
Homeland Security won't let Red Cross deliver food


www.post-gazette.com
As the National Guard delivered food to the New Orleans convention center yesterday, American Red Cross officials said that federal emergency management authorities would not allow them to do the same.

"The Homeland Security Department has requested and continues to request that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans," said Renita Hosler, spokeswoman for the Red Cross.

"Right now access is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities. We have been at the table every single day [asking for access]. We cannot get into New Orleans against their orders."

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.


This statement, "Though frustrated, Hosler understood the reasons. The goal is to move people out of an uninhabitable city, and relief operations might keep them there." might seem reasonable at first glance, but basically it amounts to forcing people out of the area by starving them out. What about people that can't get out or are immobile? Guess they just have to hope they get noticed by a National Guardsman or something before they starve. The obvious emphasis here, as it appears to have been since day one, is on control rather than relief, as the conspiracy theorists and Constitutionalists have been warning is FEMA's true purpose for years.

[edit on 2005-9-7 by wecomeinpeace]


reply posted on 7-9-2005 @ 06:11 PM by LazarusTheLong
Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

Of course, all able-bodied citizens bear the responsibility for evacuating themselves and their families.

The reponse might have been slow, but it did get there. That response was impeded in no small way by rampant lawlessness and the sheer mangatude of the disaster.


the Help DIDN"T get there, and I understand that our government doesn't OWE anyone, but should they just sit and let a situation go from bad to worse when they are the only agency that can get in there and stop the dying...
and they didn't... as the mounting pile of bodies testifies...
30 more nursing home residents were found in St barnards parish...dead... NO ONE CAN SAY IT WAS THERE RESPONSIBILITY TO LEAVE!

I suspect that race, and land values, and corrupt politics (the hallmark of NO government) had a hand in why the delayed response...

I still remember Kayne Wests' emotional statement... You could tell his comments were heart felt, and not focused... then when he ran out of words...his Gist came across..."George Bush doesn't care about black people"
maybe not very spokeworthy... but understandable anger...

some questions though...
where is the governor? (not the female, she is the Rep) I have heard almost nothing about him, and he would have been the first word on rescue and security...
what was he thinking when he wasn't calling neighboring states to coordinate national guard efforts...
and what happened to all the money approprioated to upgrade the levies all these many years? is it in the pocket of some corrupt politician?


reply posted on 7-9-2005 @ 06:37 PM by subz
Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
The reponse might have been slow, but it did get there. That response was impeded in no small way by rampant lawlessness and the sheer mangatude of the disaster.




Above: Capable of stopping a $500,000,000/day Federal agency PLUS the World's strongest military power.

Give me a goddamn break with that tired feeble excuse! Thousands of American lives are in danger and a few reports of shots fired from criminals is meant to hold up the American army and FEMA for a few days?! What planet are you from?

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