This is why you drill on emergency plans

[Red Harvest]

Snag in Evacuation Drill--CNN

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- A mock evacuation that was supposed to be part of a two-day statewide hurricane preparedness drill was canceled after a misunderstanding about who had jurisdiction over a Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer park.

"We were unable to get any information from the state or federal government on what policies or procedures were for evacuating those sites -- whose jurisdiction it was," Moreau said. "We're very disappointed we didn't get to work with the people who live on the trailer site."

After the parish canceled the drill, FEMA asked park management to drive around the park with bullhorns and simulate an evacuation notice, according to Tony Robinson, response and recovery director for FEMA Region 6, which includes Louisiana.

Baker Police Chief Sid Gautreaux said that evacuating the people in the trailers is a problem because residents are not allowed to have land-based telephone lines, their cell phones do not have good signals and a majority of them do not have transportation.

FEMA still is having troubles recognizing its responsibilities and responding to even the most basic requests. However, having these drills is often the only way to uncover problems ahead of time.

[Aristophanes]

Snag in Evacuation Drill--CNN



FEMA still is having troubles recognizing its responsibilities and responding to even the most basic requests. However, having these drills is often the only way to uncover problems ahead of time.

Hoooray for bloated federal bureaucracy!!!! If it makes you feel any better, the Feds are just as adept at bungling Immigration, Border Security, Transport Security, Education, etc...

[Red Harvest]

More fun for FEMA, FEMA Nominee has tax return problem

Seems like the nominee to direct FEMA had a problem with expense accounting and related tax filings. Sounds like he's going to fit right in.

A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Paulison planned to file three years' worth of amended tax returns as early as Wednesday afternoon, and immediately pay back any money owed.

It was not immediately known how much the deductions were worth or specifically what they were for. FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker described them as for "living expenses."

[Gaius Baltar]

At this point, it doesnt really matter who or what FEMA might be up to. The stain on the organization makes it useless. FEMA is a synonym for corruption. They will probably build their next FEMA headquarters on the Gulf coast. Would you go to a FEMA sponsored shelter?

[Red Harvest]

It is unfortunate, because FEMA does not have to be inept. Some improvements were made under the previous Administration, though a lot more was needed. Under Bush things seem to have been anything-but-Clinton in approach.

The problem is that we really do need an agency to handle these sorts of things and coordinate and it needs to be run by a non-partisan professional staff. FEMA seems lost partially because of its dual mission: rapid/short term and long term. FEMA needs some inspired leadership, and from someone given real authority to make it work. That will include some legislation to allow military capabilities to be taken advantage of sooner. The military services are the only ones with the combination of engineering, crisis management, logistics, gear, organizational size/depth, and "can do attitude" to really handle a large regional response effectively. It's a natural fit when local/state resources are clearly going to be overwhelmed.

Unfortunately, under Bush/Chertoff that's not going to happen. It's all been "can't do" since FEMA was rolled into the Department of Homeland Security (why does that name make me feel so insecure???)