New Orleans had a hurricane plan, it reads like a laundry list of the things the Mayor should have done. By their own words their plan calls for three days to evacuate, they knew the levees could not take over a CAT 3, they did nothing. I doubt anyone on the planet did not know Katrina had NO in her path, days before the strike.

I wrote up a short piece about what happened to the emergency communications in NO, read it here.

Someday I will figure out how to get blogger to do track backs.

Under the Stafford Act, a Governor may request the President to declare a major disaster or an emergency if an event is beyond the combined response capabilities of the State and affected local governments…. To the maximum extent possible, internal State and local resources should be used as the first line of support in response to a disaster…..

Most disasters and emergencies are handled by State and local responders. The Federal Government is called on to provide supplemental assistance when the consequences of a disaster exceed State and local capabilities….. Following a disaster, immediate response operations to save lives, protect property, and meet basic human needs have precedence over recovery and mitigation…..

In a disaster or emergency, each State has primary responsibility for law enforcement, using State and local resources, including the National Guard……. Accordingly, the FRP makes no provision for direct Federal support of law enforcement functions in a disaster or emergency……

If a State government should experience a law enforcement emergency (including one in connection with a disaster or emergency) in which it could not provide an adequate response to protect the lives and property of citizens, the State (on behalf of itself or a local unit of government) might submit an application in writing from the Governor to the Attorney General of the United States to request emergency Federal law enforcement assistance under the Justice Assistance Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10501-10513) as prescribed in 28 CFR 65.

In the event that State and local police forces (including the National Guard operating under State control) are unable to adequately respond to a civil disturbance or other serious law enforcement emergency, a Governor may request, through the Attorney General, Federal military assistance under 10 U.S.C. 15. Pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 331-333, the President will ultimately determine whether to use the Armed Forces to respond to a law enforcement emergency. Under Title 10 authority, the President may federalize and deploy all or part of any State’s National Guard………

FYI.

Joe and his side kick in Biloxi is the Disgrace!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8791344/#050902a

…….I have got to tell you, I have been involved in a lot of hurricane relief before, and what I have been seeing these past few days is nothing short of a national disgrace……

Joe should join the other party……. He would fit in nicely…..

In the end the trajedy is that the local leader’s failed these two states, and this will come out in any hearings held….much to the disappointment of the loony left.

Must move away from computer before outrage freezes brain.

Worst still, buried in a story in one of the links, it is now known N.O. Mayor Nagin stayed in the city during the crisis in a symbolic gesture that also meant he had not real time information, communications and decision support. He should have moved out to a command center to organize the relief effort with all the electronic tools he could get his hands on.

I started out trying to take the high road on this, too, but I cannot countenance the shocking, senseless political greed revealed by the liberal exploitation of this tragedy. Some nervous commentators are recommending, now the real picture is becoming clear, that both sides hold back from making political hay out of this. They are right to be nervous, and I say that as the trucks roll in and those poor people are evacuated and the clean up begins, let’s set the record straight about who failed New Orleans.