Is the FEMA director living on Mars?

[Austin Ivey]

Paula Zahn was just interviewing FEMA director Mike Brown on CNN.

Paula asked why some people at the superdome had gone 100 hours without food or water.

The discussion became heated and Mike Brown is quoted saying the following:

"The federal government just learned of the convention center people TODAY"

What the hell? I can NOT believe he stated this. This cannot possibly be true. He appeared to be scrambling to cover for something they have NO excuse for.

Director Mike Brown, give me a break!

 

[Jeff Snyder]

This from the same guy who said that there are only a few, isolated incidences of crime in the city. Some of the reporters have said that they are dumbfounded by the words coming from some of the federal officials. It's great to see some of the reports from all the cable networks getting short with some of the elected officials. Shepard Smith, Anderson Cooper, etc, have all challenged, on air, some of the garbage that is coming from the mouths of some federal employees.

 

[Anonymous]

I was watching that too, unbelievable.

Poor people, god bless them as the sun goes down, and it goes pitch black, no one to protect them........10 thousand people stranded there with absolutely nothing.

Paula is interviewing a woman on the phone now, she is telling how she is at the Convention Center and that there are no police, no national guard, people are being raped and beaten, no food no water, no help.

I can't believe this is happening in the year 2005 !!!! We can't even get help to our own people.

 

[Benjamin Sipprell]

I think you are forgetting that all of this situation is really the fault of the mayor of New Orleans ...

Everyone was evacuated to the SUPERDOME ... nobody was suppost to be in the convention center but if you listen closely there were statements in the CNN report that they (the refugees) had broken into the Convention Center

Don't worry ... I reacted the same way you guys did ... I couldn't believe it either ...

Where's Rudy when you need him ...

 

[Rob_Davis]

It is indeed absurd. The final words of a man who will soon be unemployed, and he knows it.

But I have to say, I never heard anything about the Convention Center before today. Have you? I think if you search the archives of this forum, you won't find any mention of it before today. Just the Superdome. So yeah, I can believe that whoever sent those people there never bothered to tell the command center about it.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Originally posted by Benjamin Sipprell
I think you are forgetting that all of this situation is really the fault of the mayor of New Orleans ...

Everyone was evacuated to the SUPERDOME ... nobody was suppost to be in the convention center but if you listen closely there were statements in the CNN report that they (the refugees) had broken into the Convention Center

Don't worry ... I reacted the same way you guys did ... I couldn't believe it either ...

Where's Rudy when you need him ...

Coordination has been an issue, but, from what I've heard from the mayor, there's only so much he CAN do. He was just as adimant about evacuating the city beforehand, and, in reality, there's still only so much he CAN do. I heard that a lot of the people who were rescued were TOLD to go to the convention center because there would be help there. Relief has be absent there until just recently, when water (and food?) was dropped off there.

 

[Benjamin Sipprell]

Originally posted by Jeff Snyder+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jeff Snyder)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-Benjamin Sipprell

I think you are forgetting that all of this situation is really the fault of the mayor of New Orleans ...

Everyone was evacuated to the SUPERDOME ... nobody was suppost to be in the convention center but if you listen closely there were statements in the CNN report that they (the refugees) had broken into the Convention Center

Don't worry ... I reacted the same way you guys did ... I couldn't believe it either ...

Where's Rudy when you need him ...

Coordination has been an issue, but, from what I've heard from the mayor, there's only so much he CAN do. He was just as adimant about evacuating the city beforehand, and, in reality, there's still only so much he CAN do. I heard that a lot of the people who were rescued were TOLD to go to the convention center because there would be help there. Relief has be absent there until just recently, when water (and food?) was dropped off there.[/b]

I honestly believe that the mayor had enough time to enact some means of evacuating those who could not get out ... like say from the hospitals ... those patients in high risk ... cat 5, cat 4, cat 3 ... there is always a chance for flooding ...

The whole bus idea if he had done that before hand could have happened ... this was a monster hurricane ... everyone was saying it was going to hit NO ... the mayor was acting upon the days it reached cat 5 ... much more could have been done before hand

The mayor is not an effective leader ...

 

[Rob_Davis]

Originally posted by Benjamin Sipprell
The mayor is not an effective leader ...

Word. The buck stops there. He was the one responsible for getting the ball rolling. He failed. Had he requested FEMA mobilization earlier, it could have been in place days earlier. He hesitated and he blew it.

It is not at all surprising that those agencies called in after the situation was already dire have been unable to hit their stride. You don't wait until flames are coming out the roof before you call the fire department.

 

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by Rob_Davis+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rob_Davis)</div>

<!--QuoteBegin-Benjamin Sipprell

The mayor is not an effective leader ...

Word. The buck stops there. He was the one responsible for getting the ball rolling. He failed. Had he requested FEMA mobilization earlier, it could have been in place days earlier. He hesitated and he blew it.

It is not at all surprising that those agencies called in after the situation was already dire have been unable to hit their stride. You don't wait until flames are coming out the roof before you call the fire department.[/b]

I disagree. From everything I have heard it seems that no one listened to the Mayor Ray Nagin who had a pretty extensive plan laid out. It all started with the national guard ignoring his request to start dropping the sand bags at the 17th street canal.

I'm almost certain he requested federal help almost immediately, but you see the kind of incompetence we have at the federal level when Chertoff had absolutely no idea about the situation at the convention center.

Here is a paraphrased account of an interview with the Mayor on WWL radio earlier today:

Man, Mayor Nagin understandably went off. They were talking about the problem of laws interfering with his request for Marshall law and the problems getting help and how so little had come... He said \"I will probably get in a lot of trouble for what I am about to say\" then lit into the President, Governor, FEMA etc. saying (I have to paraphrase from memory) \"Get off your G-Damned a$$es and get us the help now. He ranted about the dismal attempts at fixing the levee, they lack of food, water, military being brought in and just the limited amount of help... How he didn't want to hear any more G-Damned press conferences and wanted action and not lip service... He said something like.. \"I don't want to hear about 40,000 military coming... they're not here\".

http://saintsreport.com/forums/showthread....threadid=172567

It is not an official news source, but the poster of the original post on the thread is the administrator/creator of the website and he has no reason to lie.

 

[Warren Eckels]

Michael Chertoff ignorance

As late as 3 pm CST he was telling reporters that he knew nothing about the horrific situation at the Convention Center even though it was all over MSNBC three hours earlier. Worse, he was telling the NPR interviewer about the Superdome when the reporter asked about the Convention Center.

With thousands feared dead and anarchy in New Orleans, there is plenty of blame for all the politicians involved from ward heeler to President.

 

[Andrew Geil]

Days before, this was a hurricane over Florida. To have requested the mobilization of magnitude needed for this disaster beforethe actual incident would have been his end (or saving in this case).

Hindsight is always 20/20. It is /VERY/ difficult to move a large volume of people. We critize and critize; but if you consider how many people -have- been evacuated, 20,000 is a drop in the bucket. A very big drop, but a drop none the less.

 

[Amos Magliocco]

Man, some people will do anything to remain a fierece zombie apologist for this government. Blame it on the Mayor, huh? The Mayor whose city was destroyed, infrastructure in ruins, streets impossible to navigate, filled with the dead and dying.

This federal government deserves to be skinned.

 

[rdale]

The same mayor who rejected FEMA/NHC's request for an evacuation 24 hours earlier?

 

[Gabe Garfield]

Originally posted by Andrew Geil
Hindsight is always 20/20. It is /VERY/ difficult to move a large volume of people. We critize and critize; but if you consider how many people -have- been evacuated, 20,000 is a drop in the bucket. A very big drop, but a drop none the less.

Indeed it is difficult. But we're talking about the simple bare-necessities. Food. Water. Is that so difficult to get to them? I am appalled by the lag in response to this disaster. Difficulty in aid is not an excuse. Failure is not an option! The lives of thousands of people are at stake. And no, you can't ask for us to be patient, the situation is exigent.

The government should be held accountable for their indecisiveness. Sure, it is an uprecedented disaster, but you've got to start from square one and meet people's needs! I'm glad to hear that some of that is starting now, but I'm still flabbergasted that it even became an issue. :?

Gabe

 

[Guest]

Ah I knew this would happen.

Knew the mayor would get most of the blame by a lot in this situation while others get off easier. I mean the mayor has a hand in this too as the official evac was ordered way too late but if you try to blame this all on the mayor then you're full of it. Gov (and other city, state officials) have to share some blame too as one would think she could go above the mayor and order him to make the evac official on Sat.

But lest I forget this is America. Certain people will always get the blame and made to be the criminals. I like how media has to make sure they balance out the victim image of blacks in the city w/looting stories every 5min. Can't make middle America have too much saddness for them. Despite the fact that it's apparent from most news shots of the city that people are lined up at the Dome, Conv Center and in highways trying to get out and away from water. Looting, Lawlessness is a problem but there's way more not doing these things and waiting like cows in a stable to get out. If everyone there was looting and going crazy as the media wants to make it seem then streets would be packed w/people (as in wall to wall since those streets in downtown are narrow and some 150-300,000 would all be looting in a general area) doing these things.

Again the looting, crime going on now is a problem and his hampering efforts in some spots but damn way more people in need honestly trying to get out. Sad that the few mess it up for others (as bad always overshadows good it seems) but even sadder (but not surprising) is how America is eating this up. Wonder how many won't give to those in need b/c of the looters. Not the Christian thing to do eh, I mean WWJD since people love to bring up God in this country. But I understand the media is for ratings and they're going to play to the demographics of this country and what they think. Also funny how we can take on fire while dealing with other rescue situations in Iraq and crap but not here. Heck most probably see Katrina as helping out w/population control anways.