FEMA to fall victim to Huricane Katrina

Friday, April 28, 2006

A push to replace the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was the top recommendation of a Senate inquiry that concluded top officials from New Orleans to Washington failed to adequately prepare for and respond to Huricane Katrina, despite weather forecasts which predicted its path through the Gulf Coast.

Huricane Katrina turned FEMA into a "symbol of a bumbling bureaucracy" so far beyond repair that it should be scrapped, senators said Thursday. They called for creation of a new disaster relief agency as the 2006 huricane season looms on the horizon.

The bipartisan report's executive summary gives President Bush a mixed review for his performance. It credits Bush for declaring an emergency before the huricane's landfall, but also faults him for waiting until two days after it hit to return to Washington and convene top officials to coordinate the federal response. "The White House shares responsibility for the inadequate pre-landfall preparations," the summary says.

The Senate inquiry's final report, given to lawmakers Thursday, faulted New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco for failing to protect sick and elderly people and residents who could not evacuate the New Orleans on their own. It also concluded that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Michael Brown, who then headed FEMA, either did not understand federal response plans or refused to follow them.

The bipartisan panel issued 86 recommendations for change that, taken together, indicate the United States is still woefully unprepared for a huricane of Katrina's scope with the start of the 2006 huricane season little more than a month away.