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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (248493)	9/1/2005 2:41:13 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577030

If anything, this one is being handled worse than Andrew. Andrew was the reason why FEMA was overhauled and made actually useful. But that isn't true any more. Obviously. Well, it just went from bad to worse. The mayor of NO has issued an SOS to the news channels........they have run out of supplies and food at the Convention Center for the 20K+ who continue to remain there. People are literally dying in the center as well as on the streets of NO. There are not enough buses getting people out. As a consequence, the mayor has told the people to march to an I-10 on ramp and wait there for buses. He is demanding that these people be taken to buses, trains and planes and shipped out of the area immediately. In the meantime, at the Astrodome, they have arrested two people already. One reporter said he does not understand how they can get 25K people on the floor of the Astrodome..........it does not look like there is enough room. The logistics of putting 25K has to be overwhelming......and I don't know how you maintain such an area long term. It will have to become a staging area where people are then moved to individual apts and homes throughout the region. ted

To: combjelly who wrote (248493)	9/1/2005 3:49:00 PM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577030

CJ, How does this timeline make you feel.... washingtonmonthly.com January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh had no experience in disaster management. April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level." 2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country." December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management. March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism. 2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery. Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it." June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay." June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.