Katrina Aftermath Report Details Staggering Errors in Government's Response, page 1

A massive number of internal Katrina-related documents just released detail the government response to hurricane Katrina, and what exactly went wrong. According to internal emails and memos, a large percentage of total resources went unused, simply because FEMA couldn't figure out what to do with them. The coordinators also failed to take advantage of offers from fellow agencies for cooperation, for example the Department of Fish & Wildlife offered up their vehicles and manpower, but were never told what to do (they ended up acting on their own, rescuing 4500 people in the first week without official approval). These are just snippets of the eighty thousand pages worth of evidence to be considered by the committee investigating the government's response.

www.cbsnews.com
As Hurricane Katrina victims waited for help in flooded houses or in looted neighborhoods, hundreds of trucks, boats, planes and federal security officers sat unused because FEMA failed to give them missions, newly released documents show.

Additionally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency called off its search and rescue operations in Louisiana three days after the Aug. 29 storm because of security issues, according to an internal FEMA e-mail given to Senate investigators.

The documents, expected to be the focus of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing Monday, highlight further evidence of FEMA's inadequate response to Katrina.

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The more heirarchical and top-heavy a system, the less efficient it is under pressure. Ideally, top-down control allows for unity in the face of disaster, but the reality seems quite different. What happened was a mad scramble, everyone covering their butts, totally disconnected from any larger plan of action.

The degree of waste and inefficiency is exactly what I've come to expect from the government. FEMA/DHS kept saying, during the aftermath, "we don't have enough resources!" Well, they were lying. They had plenty of resources at their disposal, they just dropped the ball when it came time to do their job (coordinating a response).

Hundreds of trucks, buses, boats, and planes went unused, and people died because of it. How many days were people waiting on their roofs, or sitting in their attics watching the water rise? While the government tools were bouncing off one another, running in circles, and generally looking like a bunch of clockwork knobs, people were drowning and disappearing for one simple reason: they made the mistake of relying on the government for help. The real bright spots were the smaller agencies and private individuals who took it upon themselves to break the red tape and help people. My hat's off to those brave folks.

[edit on 30-1-2006 by WyrdeOne]

[edit on 30-1-2006 by WyrdeOne]

[edit on 30-1-2006 by WyrdeOne]