Betsy's Page
Bill at From the Swamp explains why the communications system for the New Orleans went down and why they didn't have a backup. The State Police even made the mistake of turning back those who came in from Shreveport to work on repairing the system. Communications seems to be at the foundation for many of the problems in speeding help to New Orleans from the problems between the local officials and the federal officials to the problems for the people on the ground in communicating with each other and with the citizens of New Orleans. Without communication, nothing else is possible. That would be one of the main places where I want answers about what went wrong.
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The day the radios went out in New Orleans
posted by bill
From the Swamp
In times of disaster communications is critical.
The one thing that has bothered me since hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the police seem to have no means of communication. It's as if the New Orleans dispatch radio system was shut off -- Now we know it was, by their own incompetence. This is not how you build, maintain and operate an emergency dispatch radio system, and it surely is not how you protect the public. If you cannot command, control and communicate with your forces, you stand no chance of protecting the public. As we see in New Orleans, the criminal element took advantage of the inability to dispatch police to trouble areas, the situation soon spiraled out of control. The needs of the people could not be met, food and water, there was no way to direct resources.
Why
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New Orleans radio system flooded
Operation of the New Orleans police radio system in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has been plagued not only by floodwaters but by a lack of natural gas to power generators.
Not only that, Louisiana State Police turned away repair technicians when they attempted to reach the city, according to an on-scene report the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International relayed to Federal Computer Week.
The report, contained in an e-mail Wednesday from Dominic Tusa, a communications consultant in Covington, La., to Willis Carter, chief of communications for the Shreveport, La. fire department said the New Orleans Police Department dispatch center on the second floor of police headquarters was flooded. The police were forced to relocate to the nearby Hilton Hotel.
Tusa said the police department's citywide 800 MHz radio system functioned well during and immediately after the hurricane hit New Orleans, but since then natural gas service to the prime downtown transmitter site was disrupted and the generator was out. Transmitter sites for the police radio system are also underwater with the rising water and [are] now disabled, Tusa said.
Owners of the sites that housed police radio transmitters would not allow installation of liquefied petroleum gas tanks as a backup to piped gas, meaning generators did not have any fuel when the main lines were cut, Tusa said.
Radio repair technicians attempting to enter the city were turned away by the state police, even though they had letters from the city police authorizing their access, Tusa said.
In contrast to the problems in New Orleans, Tusa said the Harrison County, Miss., Department of Public Safety's radio system, which serves Gulfport and Biloxi, remained fully operational throughout the storm and continued to operate afterward. He added that the system has experienced generator problems, but those are being resolved as they crop up.
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Is there any doubt why the citizens of New Orleans are wandering aimlessly, looking for police, fire and ambulance services -- The city has no way to dispatch any needed services.
I simply have no clue, why anyone would allow emergency generators to run on utility power, gas or otherwise. The whole purpose of emergency radio systems is to be able to function when the utilities fail -- Yes, gas is considered a utility, and yes it did fail, as you would expect. Emergency generators must be self contained. Furthermore, can anyone explain why you would locate emergency transmitter sites below sea level, especially with all the tall building in the area? Didn't they consider the dikes might get breached and flood the transmitter sites? I mean, it's not like no one understood the threat imposed by the dikes failing. Hadn't the elected officials ever heard of eminent domain, if there ever was a need, this surely qualifies, the city should have acted long ago to fix this idiotic situation.
Not Bush's fault
This isn't a FEMA screw-up, this is a home-grown failure by the incompetent boobs in New Orleans and Louisiana government. The lack of backup emergency communications is prima facie evidence of incompetence and malfeasance by police and elected officials, I am astounded at the lack of prior emergency planning that abounds throughout Louisiana government. What is even more shocking is that with all the choppers flying around why hasn't an emergency police repeater been placed on top of a tall building. Watching the TV pictures of police with no working radios isn't amusing.
In our area the hams have a mobile trailer that is stocked for just that purpose. It has all the gear we need to get up with a 2 meter primary repeater, 440 backup links, packet, and HF. It has jack up antennas and generator power. Fortunately our county also has two ECUs that are set up the same way, only they handle police, fire and state police channels. The county can then coordinate all county and local governments from this mobile command and control dispatch center. We also have a hardened fixed location, but just in case, the county has these mobile units. That's what is called emergency planning in depth.
Lousiana's elected officials lack of attention to the critical issue of emergency communications is directly responsible for a huge part of the misery and suffering inflicted on the people of New Orleans.
Just unbelievable.
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