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September 06, 2005
Problems With The Federal Response
Although I believe that Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco bear the lion's share of the blame for the majority of the problems in the Katrina debacle, the federal government certainly deserves some very pointed questioning. The performance of the feds is perhaps even more critical to the whole nation, because of course the same type of response would be required in the event of another terrorist attack.
Today in the Wall Street Journal print edition there is a sobering examination of the failure of the Department of Homeland Security--the (now) parent organization of FEMA. According to the Journal, in spite of the considerable progress made in New Orleans over the past weekend, many troubling questions remains about the following problems:
• The decision to transform the Federal Emergency Management Agency from a cabinet-level agency reporting directly to the president to just one piece of a new, gargantuan Department of Homeland Security, which altered FEMA's mission and watered down its powers.
• Too few helicopters stationed in the Gulf Coast area ahead of the storm.
• A military stretched by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which left commanders near New Orleans reluctant to commit some active-duty units at nearby Fort Polk, La., because they were in the midst of preparing for an Afghan deployment this winter.
• A total breakdown of communications systems, an echo of the problems that faced New York officials dealing with the 2001 terrorist attacks and a system the government has been trying to fix for four years.
• Poor coordination among federal, state and local officials in the days immediately before and after the hurricane.
• Failure at all levels of government to take seriously many studies and reports over many years warning of the potential disaster.
Indeed, despite many warnings of the dangers, Mr. Chertoff and other administration officials have explained their poor initial response by saying government planners didn't expect both a serious hurricane and a breach in levees. "This is really one which I think was breathtaking in its surprise," Mr. Chertoff told reporters on Saturday.
Emphases mine. I thought Chertoff was supposed to be a brilliant guy, but his department didn't expect both a hurricane and a breach. What exactly did he think was ever going to cause a failure of the levee--an earthquake?
And bureaucratic breakdowns seem to be responsible for our failure to connect the dots prior to the 9/11 attacks. Our response was to impose an even larger bureaucratic layer over the existing ones.
Many of last week's problems are rooted in January 2003, when the Bush administration, urged on by some members of Congress, created the Homeland Security Department. It amalgamated 22 agencies, from the Coast Guard to the Secret Service, creating the largest government bureaucracy since the Pentagon [Department of Defense--ed]was formed in 1947.
From the start, emergency experts and even the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, warned that a special effort was needed to be sure FEMA's traditional mission of providing disaster relief wasn't lost in the shuffle.
But it was. FEMA's clout had long depended on its ability to help states plan for natural disasters by providing emergency preparedness grants and other resources. Under Homeland Security, grant-making decisions were transferred to a new, department-wide office in an attempt to consolidate funding. As a result, FEMA lost control of more than $800 million in preparedness grants since 2003, congressional figures show.
I think there's only one situation that can smite the Gordian knot of bureaucracy--a sense of grave national danger. That sense existed briefly after 9/11, but it dissipated pretty rapidly--especially after the quick toppling of the Taliban. With no easy-to-focus-on enemies like Germany or Japan, the absence of subsequent terrorist attacks allowed us all to resume our normal ways. And for the federal government, normalcy means bureaucracy.
I hate to think what it will take to get us on the right track; it might make Katrina look like a summer thunderstorm.
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Comments
There is a difference between failing - and lying to the people you are supposed to protect. And that is what Ray Nagin did.
http://lacowboy.blogspot.com/2005/09/hurricane-katrina-blogger-brendan-loy
Posted by: Brady Westwater at September 6, 2005 01:55 PM
That's a good point to keep in mind. Just as there are degrees of negligence, from benign to criminal.
Posted by: Jeff at September 6, 2005 02:19 PM
Jeff: As a footnote, after the DoD briefing today, I do think there's something to be said for NOT having the helicopters stationed anywhere close to where the hurricane was going to hit. Moving them out of the path meant a delay. Having them too close--and there was no way to know exactly where that monster was going to go--would have meant no helicopters at all.
That said, I think the DoD is not at all happy with DHS or FEMA--the point was made that they were acting at the request of DHS rather than on their own, and that they exceded and anticipated requests--i.e. they did what they were supposed to do and more. A case can probably be made for DHS being the new kid on the block, but FEMA seems pretty lame. I can't believe I called Mike Brown "able" last week. Live and learn. Still, Blanco and Nagin have some serious questions to answer.
Posted by: AcademicElephant at September 6, 2005 02:42 PM
