Already Under Scrutiny,
FEMA Is Now in the Spotlight
By GARY FIELDS and DAVID ROGERS
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
August 31, 2005; Page B1
Government officials scrambled to find temporary housing for tens of thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina amid a renewed debate about whether the nation's primary disaster-relief agency is being marginalized as part of the war on terror.
With the governor of Louisiana talking of a complete evacuation of New Orleans, including people huddled in rescue centers, the number of homeless people is likely to rise exponentially. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which oversees federal disaster-relief efforts, said it was already looking at potential sites for trailers, tents and mobile homes. FEMA officials, though, said they can't move people until they think it is safe.
William Lokey, the federal coordinating officer for FEMA in Louisiana, said the agency would explore setting up dormitory boats and tent cities. "Literally nothing will be off the table" in terms of housing options, he said. "With something as widespread as this, we'll be reinventing New Orleans."
FEMA expands quickly when disasters happen, hiring contractors, training new recruits and coordinating other agencies. "We have the power to do what we call 'surge,' Mr. Lokey said. "We're hiring contractors right now, canceling leaves, bringing people from offices to work here."
How FEMA responds will be closely scrutinized in Congress, where there is a debate over whether the Bush administration is diluting FEMA's effectiveness by making it primarily a relief and response agency. Traditionally, FEMA has also been actively involved in planning for catastrophes.
Created in 1979 by President Carter to manage federal responses to disasters, FEMA hit its nadir in its 1992 handling of Hurricane Andrew, when thousands went without shelter for days. The Clinton White House elevated the FEMA director to a cabinet position that reported directly to the president. But in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, FEMA has been absorbed by the Department of Homeland Security. Its reduced status has prompted criticism from state and local emergency officials that FEMA's efforts to respond to natural disasters are being overshadowed by the department's focus on terrorism.
"Hurricane Katrina shows that efforts to protect the country from potential terrorist attacks should not prevent us from responding to natural disasters, which can happen at any time," said Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who is the ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. "We also want to be sure that we are preparing for the after-effects of future catastrophes."
The new secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, has proposed relieving FEMA of longstanding functions such as helping communities prepare for disasters with programs like building houses outside flood zones, erecting hurricane shutters and drafting evacuation routes. That would leave FEMA with only the responsibility of responding to and cleaning up after disasters -- worrying some experts who say that disaster-relief officials can't respond effectively unless they are intimately involved in disaster preparedness.
[Costly Disasters]
According to congressional figures, FEMA has lost control of more than $800 million in grant money since 2003 to the Office of Domestic Preparedness, another part of Homeland Security. This includes the emergency management preparedness grants, which are the only federal funds that keep the states' emergency management offices staffed and running. The National Emergency Managers Association, which represents the country's 50 state emergency management directors, has been complaining that those funds are no longer provided directly to them but now are routed through states' own homeland security offices.
Homeland Security officials say the grant program guidelines are sufficiently broad enough to include natural disaster training and equipment. But consultants hired by states and localities to make use of the funds say these monies are almost invariably earmarked for terrorist events.
For now, lawmakers and officials in Washington will concentrate on making sure that FEMA, as well as state and local officials, have enough money and resources to deal with Katrina's aftermath.
The states most affected, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, have powerful lawmakers in Congress, most notably Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R., Miss.). Moreover, the administration has a ready legislative vehicle in the shape of the estimated $32 billion 2006 budget bill for the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA. Mr. Cochran's chairmanship and personal popularity in Congress make him an immense asset for the region. Congressional staff hope to get the first estimates of FEMA's funding needs today, but there is a buffer of about $1.6 billion available to the agency, allowing the administration to meet immediate needs and then come up with a more complete package by mid-September.
Historically, Congress has been quick to step into such disaster situations and provide money. Relief packages are typically treated as budget emergencies -- putting them outside strict spending ceilings. And lawmakers welcome the chance to appear decisive -- and sometimes replenish accounts for agencies that might otherwise be squeezed by the budget.
Among the storm's apparent casualties was a 154-year-old house in Pascagoula that is a longtime home of Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott. Mr. Lott's office said he hoped to get down to the property today, but had been told that the building, which fronted on the water, had been wiped out by the huge storm surge along the coast. "He was told there was nothing left but an oak tree," said a Lott aide, Susan Irby.
Sensitive to the human toll -- as well as his own already-low standing in public opinion polls -- President Bush made the decision yesterday morning to cut short his time in Crawford, Texas, and returned suddenly to Washington.
Mr. Bush's father came under harsh criticism during the late summer of 1992 for the federal government's slow response to Hurricane Andrew. At the last minute, then-President Bush called off plans to spend a weekend at his vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine, after Florida officials complained about the lack of federal response to the disaster.
The current President Bush has generally received high marks for his handling of natural disasters. Indeed, despite the criticism of FEMA, the agency weathered last year's hurricanes in Florida relatively well, getting progressively better at setting up aid stations and delivering emergency supplies to hot and weary residents.
Unlike Katrina's relatively quick strike, however, many of the Florida hurricanes churned toward the coast over several days. This gave FEMA much-needed time to position employees and supplies at key points just outside the projected storm path so they could be moved in quickly after the storm clouds passed.
Shortly after last year's Hurricane Frances, for instance, FEMA took over the parking lot of a vacant shopping center in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and alerted residents through radio stations when they could come pick up water, bags of ice and other supplies from several tractor-trailer rigs. With military precision, National Guard troops heaved huge bags of ice in people's trunks and provided security.
However, even then the system was plagued by delays and frustration often boiled over among residents who had no power and food in the sweltering summer heat. FEMA also tried to tide over many residents waiting on insurance claims with cash grants and other immediate assistance.
In a recent interview, Michael Brown, FEMA's director, said the agency was better prepared this year as it had stationed supplies in a series of locations from Texas to Florida. "I learned enough from last year to know we need to be ready for multiple strikes," he said.
Local emergency response officials said FEMA has been performing well and had set up operations a few days ago. "FEMA has been here side by side with us" said Scott Adcock, spokesman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.
Although FEMA officials have been reluctant to estimate the magnitude of the housing job before them, it is clear that tens of thousands of Katrina's victims will need assistance. Marty Evans, the Red Cross's chief executive and president, said about 70,000 people are in shelters now but more are expected to need housing in the coming days as people staying with friends and relatives attempt to return home. The Red Cross is bracing for 100,000 or more in shelters eventually and it believes the shelters will be necessary for months. |
