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Does anyone here understand what FEMA really is?
I have noticed a lot of bashing about FEMA's response to N.O. (and the rest of the Katrina affected areas) But does anyone here really know what FEMA is or what they do? FEMA = Federal Emergency Management Agency. keep word there Management. FEMA does not provide anything physical. FEMA is a coordination and Management group. They supervise and oversee the Emergency response so that Snyder's police chief does not try to take charge over Matola's police chief and create problems. They send teams to the sites to coordinate the rescue efforts, the emergency response effort etc. They do not physically do anything. In the Katrina case, they dropped the ball. They had 8 teams in position, but did not call for support teams to move out until after Katrina hit, and then it was 48 hours before the support teams were ready to go and get there. FEMA had more support personnel in NYC 1 hour after the towers were hit than they have in the Katrina affected area right now. BUT, FEMA is not to blame for what is going on down there. It is not FEMA's responsibility to drain NO, nor turn on the lights again, nor set up phone lines, Nor take in refugees. They simply are the coordinating body for all the other groups to do their work. Just an FYI for people....... Sep 07 05 06:35 am Link I would also add, keep in mind FEMA is a FEDERAL agency, therefore they too are Constitutionally bound to keep out of a State until given permission to enter. It may sound silly but there is wisdom in protecting the States' rights over that of the Federal. Sep 07 05 10:31 am Link Michael Tappan wrote: Keep in mind, though, that President Bush has the ability to order them in, regardless of whether the state wants them there or not. If a deadly virus was released in New Orleans that spread quickly and killed 100% of the time, you'd better believe that the federal government would be at ground zero regardless of whether the state wanted them or not. Sep 07 05 10:45 am Link Ty, that is not actually true. I was a FEMA rescue group commander of a USAR team of 56 for quite a while prior to retirement as a FD officer. FEMA provides the funding (MONEY) and logistical orders to get rescue and support teams going. They activate these teams and provide them PO (purchase orders) so that the personnel can be activated. So FEMA does do things physically as the teams are operating under the Federal Authority and each member is considered an employee from beginning to end of activation. You're right that FEMA is not to blame for everything but there were still delays that should not have been. They could have activated or placed teams on standby much earlier. Once activated teams cannot showup immediately. Standby is a very common practice and has been done in the past by notifying teams days in advance of possible activation. This speeds things up once activation is ordered and commences. Michael, you are correct in all forms. The President's orders can however supercede any state rights during a declared emergency. As for the President being blamed - he will take the heat I'm sure but he has people that are supposed to be in charge of these agencies. He has a full plate and all the other issues he has do not stop with a Hurricane. The head of FEMA should have been on top of all of this and would be expected since that is what he is being paid to do. I agree with the call for him to be fired. Craig Sep 07 05 10:51 am Link Getting back to the original reason for the thread, you're completely right - FEMA manages emergency situations. Here's the problem - there was NO one in the state of Louisiana managing anything. FEMA has absolute authority to use any resource to control a situation like this, and they didn't act when they should have. For 5 days Louisiana was left alone, fending for themselves, and it without question caused the deaths of thousands, if not tens of thousands of Americans. Sep 07 05 10:53 am Link LiteFocus Studios wrote: An emergency that was declared by the president a day before the hurricane made land fall. Sep 07 05 10:54 am Link Jeffrey, Indeed. Excellent point. Regardless of the state and local problems the Feds were the ranking agency for this. FEMA failed to put things into place ahead of time and the reason is irrelevant. As everyone else, I would like to believe that should a major disaster strike any area our federal government would act quickly and professionally. They have funds and resources needed that state and local cannot come close to. What FEMA did is not just drop the ball but shook the country's faith that the Federal Gov't can be relied upon properly. Sep 07 05 11:01 am Link LiteFocus Studios wrote: Don't get me wrong, every level of government failed here, from the mayor of New Orleans to the governer to FEMA to the President. To lay the blame on any one of them is completely unfair - A catastrophe of this magnitude takes a group effort... Sep 07 05 11:08 am Link State and local agencies may indeed take some blame but FEMA must be self sufficient and functional without any local or state help/support. Their planning includes for such events because many potential emergency plans have the entire local area support incapacitated. Other states will usually send help but remember that in the end they will likely ask for FEMA funding reimbursement for replacement staffing and overtime (yes, the rescuers, FF's, etc. all get paid) therefore again it is resting with FEMA. Each state can later look into their own failures but on a national level FEMA will take 100% of the heat. You can hardly hold a mayor of a city anywhere near as responsible as a major federal agency. Emergency planning on a national level usually disregards local levels because to rely on them for anything places an unknown into the equation and opens up potential failure of the plan. Sep 07 05 11:21 am Link I will say that take a little comfort with the progress that's being made now. My father is down there helping out, and he says as heartbreaking as the situation is, he's so comforted to see the nation (including FEMA and the members of the National Guard) coming together to help the the city as well as all of the affected areas. My thoughts and prayers go out to not only the victims of hurrican Katrina, but the brave and selfless people who are there on the ground in mass numbers doing everything they can to get back New Orleans. Sep 07 05 11:22 am Link fema was once the gold standard in emergency disaster response back in the 90's. following the '93 wtc attack, fema assumed the lead role in developing best practices and served as a disaster thinktank publishing countless articles, training materials, providing training etc. that the agency has faltered in recent years is beyond dispute. fema's one and only mandate is to manage emergencies such as katrina. i work for a municipal ambulance service and i ask you to imagine me standing across the street from a pedestrian struck by a car. although i know about it from my own observation, i stubbornly stand there with my hands in my pockets because i wasn't requested to help by a 911 caller and an actual dispatcher? i tell you i'd be fired within an hour! fema has nothing else to do but respond to disaters like katrina. supposing the fuckwits in LA, and MS had *never* requested federal help? how would that excuse fema? it is fema's responsibility to not only *proactively* prepare for a crisis like this but to step up and provide the expertise that only they have. they've done it before, studied it and drilled thousands of city and state responders. by their own design, they are the lead agency and the coordinate the local response to catastrophies. the mayor of new orleans, for all we know, was elected because he promised to extend happy hour or mardi gras. there's no reasonable way to look at this and absolve fema for it's nonfeasance or 'failure to act' when it has a clear duty to act. the bottom line isn't even blame. it's recognizing that fema (and therefore nobody) at the federal level has the ability to respond to another katrina, a quake or a 9/11 style attack. that's a thought to ponder next time you hear anybody claim the iraq war has made americans safer. fema's demise has certainly made up for anything supposedly gained there...and then some. Sep 07 05 01:20 pm Link No, I don't know exactly what FEMA is. The question is does the FEMA director know what FEMA is. You know, I have about as much experience in emergency management as he had when he became deputy director (meaning zilch). FEMA was a disaster (pun intended) under Bush's father. It was generally hailed as excellent during Clinton's years. And now... well, draw your own conclusions. Obviously, FEMA is what you make of it. Sep 07 05 03:26 pm Link "The Federal Emergency Management Agency - a former independent agency that became part of the new Department of Homeland Security in March 2003 - is tasked with responding to, planning for, recovering from and mitigating against disasters. FEMA can trace its beginnings to the Congressional Act of 1803. This act, generally considered the first piece of disaster legislation, provided assistance to a New Hampshire town following an extensive fire. In the century that followed, ad hoc legislation was passed more than 100 times in response to hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters." [Key Point - FEMA's mission] "As it has for more than 20 years, FEMA's mission remains: to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of "A Nation Prepared." At no time in its history has this vision been more important to the country than in the aftermath of Sept. 11th." "Billions of dollars of new funding were directed to FEMA to help communities face the threat of terrorism. Just a few years past its 20th anniversary, FEMA was actively directing its "all-hazards" approach to disasters toward homeland security issues. In March 2003, FEMA joined 22 other federal agencies, programs and offices in becoming the Department of Homeland Security. The new department, headed by Secretary Tom Ridge, brought a coordinated approach to national security from emergencies and disasters - both natural and man-made. Today, FEMA is one of four major branches of DHS. About 2,500 full-time employees in the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate are supplemented by more than 5,000 stand-by disaster reservists." Source: FEMA's website: http://www.fema.gov/about/history.shtm 2,500 fulltime employees and 5,000 stand-by reservists and it took them 4-5 days to show up? FEMA Fu**ed up in Mississippi and Louisana, big time. Their poor response illustrates just how illprepared the US is for a major terrorist attack. Tim Sep 07 05 03:49 pm Link FEMA now means................ F ailure to E ffectivly M anage A nything Sep 07 05 03:51 pm Link Ty Simone wrote: Hey Ty.. Here's an FYI from FEMA... It would seem that they had already spoken to this issue last year after dealing with Hurricane Isabella... But I won't go into it - read at your own leisure.... And let me know if FEMA's actions has matched their own words... Happy reading... Sep 07 05 04:11 pm Link Oh i thought you were talking about FEMALES.. Since this is a modeling site.. I really like FEMALES... Think there really Kool.. (:---- Hj Sep 07 05 04:15 pm Link I think you have to remember that most Americans could care less about their Government and are not any more knowledgable than those on Leno's Jay waking segments. There was a recent survey and most respondents thought the Three branches of our Govenment are the Republicans, Democrats and Independents. Less than 9 % could name one of the nine supreme Court justices even though there had been numerous stories of The Chief Justices health problems and Oconnors' retirement. Now if you could name all nine what percentile do you think you would be in? So is it a surprise that the nuances of Federal / State relationships is not understood? Bob Sep 07 05 11:43 pm Link This is what my friend jacksocean has to say (and another friend of mine also mentioned the mis-management of Red Cross donations during 9/11) "It goes like this. If it were not....... "(FIRST) for the 'RELENTLESS' reporting by the media (both here in the U.S.A. and even around the globe....for crying out loud!!) of the devastation unleashed in the wake of hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and Mississippi (not to mention Alabama and the American Gulf Coast region) "(SECOND) for the frustrated intervention of municipalities and agencies of neighboring states, along with celebrities of all walks of life, your average Janes and Joes, (from near and far) politicians (democrat and republican) who could stand by no longer to watch and listen to cries from hell of 'AMERICAN' citizens (in their own homeland) go unanswered for days and days, the devastation would have been nothing short of an apocolyps. "Even in the President's home state of Texas, after rescuing and sheltering thousands and thousands of hurricane victims, authorities there reported (just yesterday!) that they have exhausted many resources and has not yet been replenished by FEMA, the Red cross or any federal disaster relief for three whole days after the fact! While the 'WORLD' watched and gasped in horror..FEMA's head chief said that the federal government had not known of New Orleans plight. On that note .... there is NOTHING that can be said about 'LEADERSHIP' or the ability to "LEAD', beginning at the very top. The reports of the lack and absence of 'LEADERSHIP' still continue to pour in!!! "I think many have already forgotten the gross mismanagement of Red Cross 9/11 donations and the resignation of its CEO in light of that. FEMA and the Red Cross keep saying that monetary donations is the quickest way to get aid to victims! Not hard tangibles! I am glad that many generous and concerned humanitarians have not listened to their B S!! The difference have been made by these. "Heads should ROLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! PERIOD! And that starts at the top. It has been announced today that President Bush himself will 'LEAD' his own investigation on federal mishandling of the Katrina disaster!!! I say the disaster continues in more ways than one.....!!!" To read more go to http://yahoogroups.com/group/dreampretty Sep 08 05 01:56 am Link Federal Emergency My Ass Sep 08 05 03:29 am Link Craig, I think it is a matter of how you look at it. I am on FEMA's list for emergency response (recovery) for IT infrastructure. The "Employees" of FEMA are all consultants. They dispatch and coordinate others in their task. If you read the clipping posted by "The Art of CIP" you will see that is how they work (of course you know first hand) FEMA wrote: My point is that they are not the ones that truly come in and do physical work. Sep 08 05 05:26 am Link I'm not defending FEMA..... however...... Just a point I'd like to bring up, and I'm still bashing away at State's Rights I realize; each State has a FEMA I believe or an organization that does what FEMA was "designed" to do. And these States have received massive amounts of Federal money to set them up. Althought we tend to look to the Fed for leadership (foolish isn't it?) the STATE is the first line of defense/first responder if you will. There is a reason that any publicly elected offical takes an Oath of Office. They are being put in a position of "public trust", so when they take office they are sworn in and DECLARE an OATH to ACCEPT the responsibilities and duties of that office. In effect, they are swearing to FAITHFULLY execute the duties of that office for the good of ALL the people within their jurisdiction. In a nutshell, they accept the RESPONSIBILITIES that office entials and is accepting responsibility and accountability for their actions.  Now, in the world of practical politics, most every politician I know of does their damndest to ESCAPE all responsibility and blame eveyone else and that's EXACTLY what is going on right now with Katrian. It's a disaster, there's gonna be political fallout and the rats are leaving the ship, from local and state to federal. As much as we'd love to just thrown law out the window in situations like Katrina where thousands probably died needlessly due to inept leadership, or a vacuum of leadership, laws are made for the protection of ALL and it DOES work, but only IF everyone honors their OATH. (there's an ancient word - 'honor') The very laws we may want to abandon for convience now, are the very same laws that will hold these officals accountable for their actions, and in some cases, their criminal neglect ! NOTE : This will only work if WE, the public, HOLD THESE BASTARDS to their oath and DEMAND they be held accountable !!! And in my opinion - politics and party affiliations be DAMNED !!! We have needed to hold these people to their word for YEARS but we're just too damned LAZY to vote or take part in the political process, other than to complain. SO who's to blame ? (kicking the soapbox back into the corner) Sep 09 05 07:47 am Link Apolgies to all - that last part should have gone into a new thread, I got a little off topic. Time to take my own adivse and "step back" LOL Peace Sep 09 05 07:55 am Link |
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