Blanco Refused to Act!

At the Washington Post, in a story with a headline that gives no indication of the important information it contains, we discover that federal officials were desperately trying to get Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco to do something about the disaster in New Orleans—but she refused to act: Thousands Remain To Be Evacuated. (Hat tip: efuseakay.)

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.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state 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 does not have the authority to speak publicly.

A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.

“The federal government stands ready to work with state and local officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana,” White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. “The president will not let any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of Louisiana.”

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.

see: littlegreenfootballs.com

Hat tip: Tom Pech

and check out this article that ran in the  National Geographic back in November 2004

The Louisiana bayou, hardest working marsh in America, is in big trouble—with dire consequences for residents, the nearby city of New Orleans, and seafood lovers everywhere.

"Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City. Even the Red Cross no longer opens hurricane shelters in the city, claiming the risk to its workers is too great."

Here i a copy of the actual disaster plan had they actually followed this, many of the problems would have been reduced.
hat tip:jfehr

Comments

[Jay]

When somebody tells you Bush is responsible for the state of affairs there, ask them "what about Blanco and Naggin?". Dollars to donuts the response you get is "who?".

[Iceman 1955]

What has happened as a result of hurricane Katrina is beyond what anyone had anticipated. The loss of life and property is tragic and it will take years to recover. What is also terrible are all the people screaming that the Federal government failed to do their job. The governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans have been pointing the finger at everyone but themselves. For the Congressional Black Caucus to even hint that the administration delayed in getting help to New Orleans because the victims stranded there are black is beyond ridiculous. Just shut up, please!

Why didn’t the city of New Orleans have and implement an emergency plan? Why did 205 school buses and 384 city buses sit idle? Why didn’t these buses get moved to higher ground before the storm in the event they would be needed? Now almost 600 buses now sit underwater and unavailable for evacuation of victims. Conservatively if they had been available and were loaded with 50 people each, that would be almost 3000 people that could be moved for each trip. They probably could have been loaded with 100 or more.

Why didn’t the New Orleans police and fire departments have backup locations to gather? We all heard there was no communication or command structure of these essential organizations, so nothing was being done. This is a city that has been sinking for years and the chance of a levee breaking, or being breeched by a shipping accident or terrorist attack, had always been there yet the state and city had no plan in the event it did.

The mayor and governor have really dropped the ball and are trying to find a scapegoat to blame for their own failings...