I may be straying into tinfoil hat territory here, but I'm starting to wonder if FEMA was given directions to reduce the impact on neighboring areas by killing as many New Orleans citizens as they thought they could politically get away with.
They cut the Jefferson Parish emergency communication lines in New Orleans. The sherriff reconnected them and had to post armed guards to keep them from being cut again.
I'm still having problems coming up with any explanation other than malice. A lot of the other incidents could possibly be passed off due to greed, incompetence, or the sheer chaos of the area...
But FEMA cut the emergency communication lines? In the middle of a situation where one of the main problems was a lack of communications ability? It just occurred to me that it was the National Guard, not FEMA, that got the refugees out of the Astrodome, and even they were given rules of engagement that appear to have worked out to "shoot first, and ask questions later". Escaped citizens on the ground report seeing no FEMA groups during local rescues. From what I've been reading, they appear to have been mostly responsible for preventing help from arriving. Does anyone have a link to any reliable report of them actually doing anything useful? I'd really like to know... my paranoia is starting to get the better of me.
Is there any truth to this?
Has there been any corroboration to the claim of phone lines being cut or the head of emergency management in Jefferson County letting his mother drown in a nursing home? I don't necessarily think that Broussard is lying, but rumors also abound in chaotic situations like this. Why is it that every blog I have read taking this man's words as irrefutuably true?
Cut lines
I can't say much for the story on the mother, since the man directly involved wasn't even named (also, he was described as the head of the emergency management building, which may be different from the head of emergency management of Jefferson Parish), but Broussard named Harry Lee when talking about the cut lines, who is in fact the Sheriff of Jefferson County, and who has been in contact with the news since (he was quoted just yesterday, in fact, in relation to the decision to allow residents to come look at the wreckage of their homes). I hunted around for a little bit on him, and came to the conclusion that if this didn't happen, he'd come out swinging in response. He appears to have a very blunt demeanor.
In any case, it was a widely distributed story, and since it was released, nobody has come forth to dispute any element of it. Lacking any evidence whatsoever that he's lying, I think it's safe to assume that he's not. These aren't 'abounding rumors' — these are first-hand accounts.
Broussard's claims
I came across a blogger yesterday that contacted WalMart--and yes the 3 water trucks were there to delivery water to Jefferson Parish but the walmart rep claimed that a fema rep ordered the trucks diverted to where the need was greater--she did not say where that greater need location was--she did add that walmart was not going to disobey fema. Similarly the coast guard vessel with the 1000 gal of diesel was ordered to deliver the fuel elsewhere but the coast guard spokesperson did not say where--no one can molify the communications disconnect, however.
Reference to water trucks?
If you can find the link to the entry involving the redirection of the water trucks, I'd very much like to know about it.
worldpeace
we need to get to the bottom of this
Water truck reference found
It's over at Red State, where it is claimed that Sharon Weber at Wal-Mart's public relations office (479-273-4314) claimed that FEMA directed the water trucks to another location that needed them more. I may try to call tomorrow and find out exactly what location that would be, and where she got that information (I have a sneaking suspicion that she called FEMA, and that she's repeating what they told her to say). Somewhere in Mississippi, perhaps? I can't think of any place that was in greater need than New Orleans, though.
They're not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Broussard
Subsequent news reports identified the son in the story as Tom Rodrigue, Jefferson Parish's emergency services director. Rodrigue's 92-year-old mother, Eva, lived in the St. Rita's nursing home.[2] It appears from a CNN interview with Rodrigue that he made phonecalls to the nursing home on Saturday, August 27, 2005, and on Sunday, August 28, 2005, urging that the home be evacuated.[3] That evacuation did not take place, and at least 30 residents of the nursing home drowned on Monday, August 29, 2005.[4]
Mainstream media sources so far have not offered any explanation for the apparent discrepancy between reports that the nursing home's residents died on Monday, and Broussard's account of Rodrigue having phone conversations with his mother during the ensuing week.
Um. This is just beginning to occur to you?
Better buy more Reynolds Wrap.
There were a series of actions taken that can better be explained as part of an attempt to destroy NOLA than as incompetence.
1. Desperately-needed fuel and water were turned away (Broussard, Meet the Press, last Sunday)
2. Communications were cut (ibid)
3. The USS Bataan was turned away from New Orleans and sent to Biloxi. The Bataan is almost unique in its capacity to produce fresh water, so vital to health. It also could have supplied desperately-needed insulin, heart medications, and so on. (Chicago Trib., 9/5)
4. The Red Cross was excluded from New Orleans, even though it is normally the first on the scene (Red Cross FAQ)
5. The arrival of Guard troops from New Mexico was unnecessarily delayed.
6. Foreign assistance was declined. A Canadian search-and-rescue team en route was repelled from the border. Cuba offered doctors. Many other nations did.
7. Military/Guard attitudes towards the people of New Orleans were extraordinarily hostile. Most striking is a 9/2 Army Times article (Chenelly), headlined "Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans" and describing the people of New Orleans as "the insurgency."
I have probably dozens of these examples. Democracy Now had a report today. A Lenny Cameron is quoted as saying, "There’s a couple police told some volunteers on the other side of the city they need to quit doing it and get out of there or they'll be arrested."
What does Bush have to do to convince folks he's not a nice man? Eat live puppies on TV?
Why do people refuse to believe that the Bush Administration would let Americans die?
Not to discredit all of it
Not to discredit the entire post, but item #7 is wrong, if for nothing else there was no Army Times on 9/2, only 8/29 and 9/5
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-ARMYPAPER-pastissues.php
9/2 Army Times
The story is here:
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1077495.php
All those firefighters you needed for search and rescue?
Haha. Funny you should mention that.
Long story. Well, to cut to the chase, the reason you didn't have search and rescue is because they were sent to Atlanta for training on sex harassment.
Oh, I know. Some stories write their own punchlines.
New Orleans was the punchline for this one.
www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197
"Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing here?"
As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for a week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in a muggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta.
Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.
Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.... "They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified," said a Texas firefighter. "We're sitting in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims] in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet."
Just another wonderful day in Mr. Robber's Neighborhood.
Why this really happened...
I got the same call but I'm too far out so they didn't pull me.
What I think happened is that the first group to have it together enough to put a call out for volunteer was the "Disaster Assistance" group. It looks like an outreach to assist shelter residents in getting their post-disaster relief. The problem is that this was the first call put out so first responders answered it thinking it was a call to the incident area. Since it's not, FEMA is probably running all of them through a standard employee training because the task is for post event help. I've heard there's another group training in MD.
Conspiracy theories are fun but FEMA is just having trouble getting this big of an act together. Everyone is.
Why firefighters?
Even assuming that's correct, it takes a... special kind of thinking to send that call to firefighters trained in hazmat and search and rescue to do work that any college student volunteer could do. And that doesn't explain why a batch of highly trained firefighters were assigned to do nothing more than follow President Bush around for a photo op.
(Also, I think this thread probably ought to be over here, where I posted specifically about the firefighters.)
result of obsession with terrorism and military response
All of these examples of FEMA malfeasance sound like they're part of the same security-obsessed mentality that has driven Homeland Security spending since 9/11: everybody has to GET PERMISSION to do the simplest things, which ends up with all the absurdities that are listed here.
I just heard about a bunch of evacuees being taken to a series of cabins in rural Oklahoma. The local people said, "great, we'll go to their cabins and cook meals for them!" FEMA said no, it would be a fire hazard. "All right then, we'll fix meals at home and then take it to them". FEMA said no, one family might get steak and the next one might get hot dogs and it could cause a riot (WTF?!?!?) Finally, the locals said, "well, can we at least send a bus around on Sundays in case anyone wants to come to church?" FEMA said no, NOBODY can leave the premises AT ALL for the next 5 months. Oh,
great, being a prisoner in rural Oklahoma. Incredible.
Link to Oklahoma story?
If you provide a link to that Oklahoma story, I'll stick it on the front page in its own entry. That's worth seeing.
Link to the story of 'detainment camp'
Here you go: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/fema.html
Oklahoma camp
Okay, after spending some time looking through that thread, I'm not willing to pass judgement on it, though I do plan to post a bit later. Initial thoughts:
1) It appears to be possibly prepped to handle a quarantine. There appears to also be some confusion as to whether or not you can leave at all, or whether or not you can leave as long as you're willing to sacrifice your spot.
2) I think the focus on jealousy issues is a mistake; human beings tend to rise (and descend) to meet expectation. Opening with the public presumption that they are expected to behave like animals is something likely to bring out the worst, rather than the best, in the refugees. Making everyone come past armed guards as they enter isn't exactly going to contribute to making these people feel like they're with friends.
3) There are certain limitations on what you can allow if you're going to overload a living facility, and it appears that this one is going to be overloaded.
4) The fact that the camp is so far from civilization, and that apparently no provisions have been made to help anyone who does want to leave permanently get somewhere else does make me worried.
Oklahoma camp on standby now
It appears that this entire thing may have just turned into a non-issue. The people they were expecting got taken care of elsewhere, so the camp is now only being maintained as a standby in case another group suddenly needs it.
Hat tip to Amygdala.
FEMA cut phone lines
Sorry, I don't have any more information than what I've read online. But this reported incident sounds eerily like the problems fire and police had on 9/11 in the Twin Towers. Their radios, which usually worked just fine, were jammed by something that day. Not coincidentally, FEMA was in New York City fully one day prior to 9/11 for a so-called training session.
Actually, radios are expected to fail
Sheer traffic alone is enough to render radio communications difficult, and a lot of other things can disrupt radio communications. Strong active radar scanning can cause bursts of noise. Good disaster planning has lots of different fallback methods for maintaining communications, all the way down to physical runners.
Explanation of Communication Lines being Cut:
If you want an explanation, try this one:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/nola-s08.shtml
Doing anything useful?
Doing anything useful? Let's see, I spent 2 weeks in LA doing relief aide with FEMA - I am a member of a DMAT (Disaster Medical Assistance Team) and we converted a high school into a hospital while the local hospitals were not able to take all the patients (we supplemented for them, which is what FEMA does - supplement not first responders).
FEMA is not military, we don't carry weapons! I talked with some of the members of the two DMAT teams that were in the Superdome (these are veteran DMAT members that have been deployed before) and they were shell shocked by how the people in the dome were treating each other and the relief workers (threats of being killed, raped, etc). If you wish to look for blame as to what happened in the Superdome, try the Mayor as it was his plan to house people there and also his inadequecy to not know well enough that there was no food, no pottable water, no supplies waiting for these folks. Where was the Mayor during all this, why he was safe and dry somewhere else.
Also, the DMAT\DMORT\VMAT teams are all made up of VOLUNTEERS that have to leave behind thier families and full time jobs to respond to a disaster. I had approximately 2 hours to tell my boss, tell my wife, get my stuff and get to the airport - I didn't even get to tell my kids goodbye.
FEMA is a SUPPLEMENTAL organization, FEMA does not act as first responders (that is the local Fire, Police, and the like). THere were 19 DMAT teams waiting for Katrina to make landfall and then moved on the "states" orders to FEMA for where to go and what to do.
There was failure at every level of government on this Natural Disaster, everyone has learned from this and it will make this country stronger.
Another great interjection by FEMA...
I am a member of a DMAT team and as with any "orginization" there are always things that make you say umm..... Take care of your own first before you help others I always say.....
Updated: 10-04-2005 10:01:23 AM
E-Mail This StoryE-MAIL THIS STORY Print This StoryPRINT THIS STORY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Phoenix Fire Department's Urban Search and Rescue
team has been suspended from a federal agency because it sent armed
police officers to protect firefighters during the recent hurricanes
in the Gulf Coast.
At issue is a rule in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Code
of Conduct that prohibits Urban Search and Rescue teams from having
firearms.
Phoenix's team that deployed for Hurricane Katrina relief and again
for Hurricane Rita included four police officers deputized as U.S.
marshals.
The team was credited with plucking more than 400 Hurricane Katrina
survivors from rooftops and freeway overpasses in flooded sections of
New Orleans.
Phoenix officials now are threatening to refuse some of the most
dangerous deployments in the future or possibly even pull out of the
federal agency altogether, unless the rules are changed to allow teams
to bring their own security, even if that means police with guns.
Assistant Phoenix Fire Chief Bob Khan said his department also is
questioning the federal agency's ability to manage working conditions,
security and communications.
''Our priority has to be the safety of the firefighters we're
sending,'' Khan said.
Phoenix police were added to the team about a year ago, and officials
say they are essential to protecting firefighters and FEMA's $1.4
million worth of equipment. Firefighters do not carry weapons.
''This is crazy,'' Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said Monday. ''This is a
rule that was designed before the world changed, pre-9/11. You can't
stand on bureaucracy if we're going to protect and save lives, and
that's what these teams do.''
FEMA relies on 28 elite teams like Phoenix's across the country to
perform specialized rescue operations immediately after terrorist
attacks and natural disasters.
After Hurricane Katrina, firefighters faced deployment to areas
plagued by looting and lawlessness. Twice, Phoenix's team was
confronted by law enforcement officers who refused to let them pass
through their communities and told them to ''get out or get shot,''
Gordon said.
Phoenix's team was demobilized unexpectedly on Sept. 26 after members
were seen embarking on a helicopter sortie with a loaded shotgun while
assigned to help with the aftermath of Rita.
In a letter to Phoenix Fire Chief Alan Brunacini dated Sept. 29, FEMA
said Phoenix was placed on ''non-deployment status'' essentially for
including armed police on the team without approval.
Gordon has sent a letter to FEMA officials requesting that the Code of
Conduct ''be changed from an unrealistic 'No firearms allowed' to a
common-sense 'No firearms allowed except for U.S. marshals integrated
into the USAR team.'''
Sure it will. Let's see how
Sure it will. Let's see how they do when the Avian flu starts killing 10's of thousands of Americans.
We live in a "JIT (Just In Time) society that doesn't have the ability to do that effectively.
fema sucks
fema sucks. how do you live in the middle of a swamp with fish and gator swimming in front of were you use to live,and they say you dont have enough damage.