Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.<br /><br />The administration had sought control over National Guard units, normally under control of the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request, noting that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. State authorities suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who is an adviser and does not have the authority to speak publicly.<br /><br />Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort.<br /><br />Bush, who has been criticized, even by supporters, for the delayed response to the disaster, used his weekly radio address to put responsibility for the failure on lower levels of government. The magnitude of the crisis "has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities," he said. "The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need, especially in New Orleans. And that is unacceptable."<br /><br />In a Washington briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said one reason federal assets were not used more quickly was "because our constitutional system really places the primary authority in each state with the governor."<br /><br />And FEMA Director Michael D. Brown, a frequent target of New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin's wrath, said Saturday that "the mayor can order an evacuation and try to evacuate the city, but if the mayor does not have the resources to get the poor, elderly, the disabled, those who cannot, out, or if he does not even have police capacity to enforce the mandatory evacuation, to make people leave, then you end up with the kind of situation we have right now in New Orleans."<br /><br /> http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9189916/print/1/displaymode/1098/ <br />
Nagin singled out Gov. Kathleen Blanco for criticism, saying that the governor had asked for 24 hours to think over a decision when time was a luxury that no one, especially refugees, had. When the president and the governor got here, I said, 'Mr. President, Madame Governor, you two have to get in synch. If you don't, more people are going to die. Blanco and Bush met privately at his insistence, Nagin said, after which Bush came out and told Nagin that he had given Blanco two options, and she requested a full day to decide. It would have been great if we could have walked off Air Force One and told the world we had it all worked out, Nagin said. It didn't happen, and more people died....<br /><br /> http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/ <br />
<br /> <br />The Washington Times<br />www.washingtontimes.com<br /><br />Top federal officials left out of loop<br />By Audrey Hudson<br />THE WASHINGTON TIMES<br />Published September 5, 2005<br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />State and local officials did not inform top federal officials early on of the deaths and lack of food among hurricane victims in the Superdome or convention center, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday. <br /> Mr. Chertoff said neither he nor Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown was told of the deteriorating situation in New Orleans until Thursday night. <br /> "This is clearly something that was disturbing. It was disturbing to me when I learned about it, which came as a surprise. You know, the very day that this emerged in the press, I was on a video conference with all the officials, including state and local officials. And nobody, none of the state and local officials or anybody else was talking about a convention center," Mr. Chertoff told CNN. <br /> "The original plan, as I understand it, was to have the Superdome be the place of refuge, of last resort. Apparently, sometime on Wednesday, people started to go to the convention center spontaneously," he said. <br /> Mr. Chertoff also said he was not informed until hours after the levee burst Monday night that a second wave of water had drowned the city. <br /> "It was midday Tuesday that I became aware of the fact that there was no possibility of plugging the gap and that essentially the lake was going to drain into the city," Mr. Chertoff told NBC's "Meet the Press." <br /> Mr. Chertoff said the breakdown in communications will be an issue examined closely after the rescue mission is completed. <br /> Appearing on the Sunday talk shows, Mr. Chertoff was asked if he would step down as the nation's homeland defender, if Mr. Brown should be fired, or who outside the federal government should be held accountable for a lax response. <br /> Mr. Chertoff said it would be a "horrible tragedy" to start investigating or pointing fingers at what went wrong in the response to Hurricane Katrina until the rescue and recovery operations are complete. <br /> "There are some things that actually worked very well," said Mr. Chertoff, who credited the Coast Guard for rescuing nearly 17,000 flood victims. "There are some things that didn't. <br /> "Whatever the criticisms and the after-action report may be about what was right and what was wrong looking back, what would be a horrible tragedy would be to distract ourselves from avoiding further problems because we're spending time talking about problems that have already occurred," Mr. Chertoff said on "Meet the Press." <br /> Mr. Chertoff also suggested the tens of thousands of evacuees also shared some responsibility and should have evacuated when asked Saturday, and ordered to do so on Sunday. <br /> "At the end of the day, this is the ground truth, the only way to avoid a catastrophic problem in that soup bowl is to have people leave before the hurricane hits," he said. <br /> New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin was asked by MSNBC news why the city did not try to help poor people get out of New Orleans after he issued the mandatory evacuation. <br /> Instead of providing transportation, Mr. Nagin said remaining residents were directed to the Superdome "as a shelter of last resort, but the help never came." <br /> Senate Homeland Security Committee officials announced late Friday they will begin an investigation this week into the catastrophe and have ordered officials to brief the panel Wednesday. <br /> The oversight panel will look at ongoing efforts to rescue and comfort victims, and will not address preparedness and response questions until after the rescue mission ends. <br /> "It is critical that we in the Senate do everything in our power to strengthen the federal government's response, and that we thoroughly examine what appears to be breakdowns in preparedness for and responses to disasters, without interfering with efforts that are currently under way," Sens. Susan Collins, Maine Republican and committee chair, and Joe Lieberman, Connecticut Democrat and ranking member, said in a joint statement. <br /> "We intend to demand answers as to how this immense failure occurred, but our immediate focus must and will be on what Congress can do to help the rescue and emergency operations that are ongoing," they said. <br /> <br /> http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20050905-120743-9482r <br />
<br /><br />This is Before the Storm...<br /><br />Jeff may abandon evacuation compact; Broussard: Parish security comes first <br /><br />BYLINE: By Sheila Grissett and Ed Anderson, Staff writers <br /><br />A battle over the state's new evacuation guideline grew more heated Tuesday with Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard saying Jefferson could pull out of the plan and Gov. Kathleen Blanco suggesting it may be time to discuss whether state officials, and not parish leaders, should have the final say on evacuation orders. <br /><br />In a stinging, four-page letter to Blanco, Broussard criticized portions of the evacuation procedure and some of Blanco's public remarks about the need for southeast Louisiana parishes to stick together and follow the plan, completed three months ago. <br /><br />During a public appearance on an unrelated matter just minutes after getting the letter, Blanco said one issue that needs considering is whether the state's top emergency personnel, including State Police and Homeland Security, should have the final say on when or if parishes should evacuate. <br /><br />"We will be talking about that in the next few weeks," Blanco said. <br /><br />Broussard said Tuesday that he wouldn't turn over decision-making authority unless the Legislature put the state in charge of the process <br /><br />"I would never willingly abrogate my responsibility," he said. <br /><br />Contraflow request <br /><br />The new plan was written to correct mistakes that led to September's nightmare evacuation from Hurricane Ivan. It calls for residents from low-lying coastal communities to leave first, followed by the West Bank and, finally, the heavily populated areas of East Jefferson and Orleans Parish. <br /><br />Last Friday, Broussard recommended that all Jefferson Parish residents begin a voluntary evacuation at noon as Hurricane Dennis approached Cuba, 50 hours from its eventual U.S. landfall. He also asked State Police to implement contraflow, a system of reversing interstate lanes that isn't called for in the state plan until the winds of a serious storm are about 30 hours from hitting the coast. <br /><br />Broussard has said the plan isn't flexible enough to provide advance, daylight evacuations for residents in his parish, and he reiterated Tuesday that he would pull out of the arrangement before following procedures that he and his staff don't think are in the best interest of Jefferson Parish. <br /><br />Blanco had little to say about the controversy Tuesday and offered no direct criticism of Broussard. But she suggested that when emergency officials meet in coming days and weeks to evaluate Hurricane Dennis, a topic of discussion will be who should be authorized to order evacuations. <br /><br />Blanco didn't say she favors shifting responsibility to the state, only that the concept should be explored. <br /><br />Although many Louisianians are hurricane-savvy and know when to evacuate, others rely on official direction. In those cases, Blanco said, a premature evacuation is just as harmful as a late one. <br /><br />"A premature decision causes you problems," Blanco said. "If you do that constantly, people lose confidence" in officials and will not leave when a major storm imperils an error. <br /><br />"I think this will all work out in the long run, but I think right now emotions are high and everybody's justifying their decisions," the governor said. "I think everybody will settle down and look at the needs of the region." <br /><br />Stands by actions <br /><br />Broussard said Tuesday that he remains confident in his decision last Friday to recommend a midday evacuation to ensure parish residents had plenty of time to reach a destination before dark. <br /><br />The contraflow requested by Broussard would have closed I-10, I-55 and I-59 to incoming traffic at a time when Hurricane Dennis had not yet reached Cuba and before any other parishes, including low-lying communities south of the Intracoastal Waterway, were being advised by their emergency officials to evacuate. <br /><br />"But I learned my lesson," Broussard said Tuesday. "I won't ask for contraflow again. I'll recommend evacuation and leave it to state officials to implement contraflow." <br /><br />State officials who helped write the new plan said using contraflow in the final stage of their three-phase evacuation will allow the efficient evacuation of the entire southeast Louisiana region. <br /><br />"We can move the population out in 50 hours," said Lt. Chris Bodet, evacuation coordinator for Troop B. "Of course, we always like to see people leave early. It makes it easier for them, and it puts less people on the road in the final stage of evacuation. But lots of people can't do that, especially in Orleans Parish, and this is a plan designed for the entire region." <br /><br />Will stay in line <br /><br />Broussard said he and his top advisers don't believe that the area can be evacuated in 50 hours. And even if it can, he said, the phased evacuation doesn't give him the flexibility to ensure that Jefferson Parish residents can always begin to evacuate during daylight hours. <br /><br />Unless he is forced to pull out of the plan, Broussard said, he will continue to try work within the state's guidelines and always give low-lying parishes the opportunity to evacuate ahead of Jefferson. <br /><br />"Emily is coming," Broussard said of the new tropical storm expected to be near Cuba on Sunday, "and I pledge to the other parish presidents today that I will endeavor to implement this (state) plan without endangering my residents." <br /><br />
