where does incompetence end and where does intent begin?

[ruperupe]

i just found this great compilation of cases of refused or blocked aid in new orleans.
i think it's a very important read and only reliable sources used.
as far as i can see the compilation is based on du's research.

http://www.progressiveindependent.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=152&topic_id=197

[henslee]

1. Ahh, that is question subliminally gnawwing at our collective soul.

Thank you. Now I will read the link.

[philb]

6. FEMA : The Forever Elsewhere Management Agency

FEMA: The Forever Elsewhere Management Agency

In Gulfport, Miss., 13 days after Katrina roared through, we couldn't find one resident who had ever seen a FEMA official.
By Karen A. Lash <2005-09-14>
When I arrived in Gulfport on Saturday, I was simply not prepared for what I saw. Chaos, devastation and an apparent inability to deliver the most basic help to so many people in so much despair. It was day 13 after Katrina struck, and no one was coordinating the relief effort in one of the poorest communities along the coast We never found a resident who had ever seen even one FEMA official. No one had been able to successfully complete "Registration Intake" via the toll-free number. Most people we met still didn't have electricity or phone service. We finally heard of one man who got through to FEMA -- at 2:30 a.m. But when asked for insurance information he didn't have and didn't know how he could get since he'd lost everything and had no place else to turn, he just broke down and cried. The bureaucracy was killing him.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/14/gulfport/index.html?sid=1389102

[philb]

9. hundreds of firefighters used only as Bush props, Mexican foodaid sent to

San Antonio

From all across the nation, local fire departments have sent firefighters -- many of them trained in emergency medicine and search-and-rescue techniques -- to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The Federal Emergency Management Agency requested the help. But when the firefighters arrived in Atlanta, loaded down with the firefighting gear FEMA told them to bring, they were sent to a hotel to wait. Some of them have been waiting for three or four days now. Some have been assigned to sit through an eight-hour class on topics that included sexual harassment. And some have been dispatched to the disaster area to work as human props behind George W. Bush as he toured the destruction.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/09/07/firefighters/index.html
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/09/07/brown/index.html

In his column in the San Antonio Express-News, Guerra says that Mexico responded to Katrina by sending 195 people trained in disaster medicine. They arrived Thursday with 47 vehicles, three huge field kitchens and portable emergency water treatment equipment -- enough to provide clean water and three meals a day for 7,000 people for 20 days. And the federal government has assigned them to ... San Antonio, Texas.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/09/11/sanantonio/index.html

[philb]

10. Chicago had organized and offered comprehensive aid package but turned dow

Sept. 7, 2005 |
n by FEMA


Days before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, the city of Chicago drew up a list of resources it was willing to make available for relief efforts in areas that might be hit by the storm. Chicago told the Federal Emergency Management Agency that in the event of disaster, it could spare more than 100 Chicago police officers, 36 Fire Department personnel, eight emergency medical experts, more than 130 staff from Chicago's Department of Public Health, 140 staff from the Department of Streets & Sanitation, dozens of trucks and two boats.
These teams, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley told federal officials, could work in affected areas independently, bringing their own food, water and other supplies with them. But FEMA apparently wasn't interested.
Despite the host of resources Chicago offered, and despite the televised lack of resources in New Orleans, as of late last week, FEMA had requested only one thing from Chicago -- a single tanker truck. "I was shocked," Daley said at a news conference on Friday.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/07/fema/index.html?sid=1386403

[philb]

11. Mexico sent huge food aid group but FEMA decided SanAntonio needed it more

In his column in the San Antonio Express-News, Guerra says that Mexico responded to Katrina by sending 195 people trained in disaster medicine. They arrived Thursday with 47 vehicles, three huge field kitchens and portable emergency water treatment equipment -- enough to provide clean water and three meals a day for 7,000 people for 20 days. And the federal government has assigned them to ... San Antonio, Texas.

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/09/11/sanantonio/index.html

[electron_blue]

2. was was this moved?

Someone please explain this to me.

Below is my reply before the other thread was locked:

It seems obvious to me that the Katrina disaster is not incompetence, but instead the inaction was deliberate and thought out. That scares me, but it seems undeniable. If you look at the evidence, it's the only rational conclusion you can come to. This was not just inaction, but in some cases, deliberate action that prevented appropriate measures to be taken, even at the end during the catastrophe.

So my Q is - now what? What do we do if we think we have such a devious, corrupt government? What next? Write lots of letters? to whom? Civil disobedience? what kind?

[ruperupe]

3. why?

sorry, stupid question.
i'm new here and posted my very first thread cause i came across a very important article which is basically a compilation of main stream sources presenting the many different cases of refused and blocked aid during and after Katrina.
i'm new:
what does this have to do with september 11?

[petgoat]

4. "what does this have to do with september 11?"

Excellent question. It appears that the DU brass consider the 9/11
forum a dungeon for anything and everything the least bit tinfoilish.

[philb]

7. What Dick Cheney did on his summer vacation: its all about priorities

What Dick Cheney did on his summer vacation: its all about priorities


After Katrina struck, the vice president's office ordered local officials to restore power for a pipeline -- at the expense of two rural hospitals.
According to a report in the Hattiesburg American, Cheney's office placed calls to the Southern Pines Electric Power Association on Aug. 30 and Aug. 31, insisting that the agency immediately repair two electrical substations that supply power to Atlanta-based Colonial Pipeline Co., a company that pumps gasoline and diesel from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast.
Southern Pines complied with the order from Cheney's office, the paper says -- taking a risk that the repair work would knock out power throughout its system and delaying by at least a day efforts to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in Mississippi.

[John Doe II]

12. ....

I've been not around here for a bit and come back and what do I find: my very own article!
ruperupe, it's ok that you posted it. In fact that's why it was written for.
I'm afraid I've my reasons why I don't post on GD anymore.
Maybe somebody can help me out:
Why are many many threads on GD tlking of Katrina: so the topic in general can't explain why it was locked right away.
And the choice of sources? What's strange I only used the work of GD and compiled it.
So, why was it locked?
I really don't understand anything anymore.


But have a look for yourself and decide:


Analysis of the handling of Katrina:
This article is based entirely on the research work of fellow DU members which is collected all in the wonderful thread of mom cat:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=vew_all&address=106x22805

This list is not complete:
Please feel free to add!


“Last September, a Category 5 hurricane battered the small island of Cuba with 160-mile-per-hour winds. More than 1.5 million Cubans were evacuated to higher ground ahead of the storm. Although the hurricane destroyed 20,000 houses, no one died.”
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090305Y.shtml
Also FEMA’s response in 2004 to a hurricane hitting Florida was very well.
Why didn’t it work out this time?
And why did and still do so many people have to die from the catastrophic result of Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans?

WHAT WAS KNOWN BEFORE
In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S.
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,37...

Many scientific journals had already dealt with the possible scenario of a hurricane hitting New Orleans.
http://www.pbs.org/now/science/neworleans.html
http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/nov04/nov04c.html
http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/
http://www.publichealth.hurricane.lsu.edu/convert%20to%20tables/Would%20New%20Orleans%20Really%20Floodtf.htm

Before the hurricane hit, Gov. Kathleen Blanco requested Washington provide disaster relief aid, including military personnel and $5 million for evacuation.
http://www.gov.state.la.us/Disaster%20Relief%20Request....

Just days before Hurricane Katrina hit, officials from state, local and federal agencies were hearing that this could very likely be the big one -- the one they knew could devastate the city.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4839666
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4715924

And on August 27 Emergency aid was authorized for hurricane Katrina emergency response in Louisiana.
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18447

On August 28 Governor Blanco send a letter to Bush urging help.
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf

The same day Homeland Security was prepping for dangerous hurricane Katrina
residents in path of storm "Must take action now"
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18461

Keep in mind that Homeland Security was created to give the federal government FULL RESPONSIBILITY in the event of a natural disaster.
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp

On August 29 the experts agreed that Katrina could unleash a disaster.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/28/katrina.doomsday/index.html

The same day President Bush declares major disaster for Louisiana
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18478

So, why didn’t it work?
And why did President Bush’s administration send shortly before midnight Friday (September 2) a proposed legal memorandum asking Blanco to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, according to a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html

INCOMPETENCE:
Many decisions were taken long before the catastrophe that certainly can to some extent explain what happened.
Although since FEMA mentioned a hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three major catastrophes that could happen to the US Bush fired in 2002 the head of Army Corps of Engineers in for slamming budget cuts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=artic...

The personal of FEMA changed and FEMA was packed with friends of the President.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/344004p...

The Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,37...

President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_di...

THE REACTION:

Delays over delays
Analysing the reaction of the organizations in charge it is striking how many cases happened where help didn’t arrive due to delays that easily could have been avoided.
Here a list:
“Nearly every emergency worker told agonizing stories of communications failures, some of them most likely fatal to victims. Police officers called Senator Landrieu's Washington office because they could not reach commanders on the ground in New Orleans, Mr. Sharp said.
Dr. Ross Judice, chief medical officer for a large ambulance company, recounted how on Tuesday, unable to find out when helicopters would land to pick up critically ill patients at the Superdome, he walked outside and discovered that two helicopters, donated by an oil services company, had been waiting in the parking lot.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05blame.html

“Several states ready and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco help from his state's National Guard on Sunday, the day before Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/katrina_national_guard

A navy “ship rode out Katrina in the Gulf and was available with amphibious vehicles, hospital beds, and sailors who could come ashore to help. Waiting for orders that have yet to arrive.”
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/nation/12554907.htm

FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/site/premium/acc...

The U.S.S. Bataan, equipped with six operating rooms, hundreds of hospital beds and the ability to produce 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day, has been sitting off the Gulf Coast since last Monday - without patients.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/opinion/05krugman.htm...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509040369sep04,1,4144825.story?page=1&ctrack=1&cset=true

“Shortly before they were set to leave for Hurricane Katrina-battered states, a group of about 100 law enforcement officers from across Nevada was told to stay put by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FEMA officials put the contingent on hold on Sunday afternoon for between one and three days until its mission can be determined, Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Kevin Honea said. “
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2005/sep/04/090410225.html

83 members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue team from Orange County, Calif., have been told to stay downtown at the Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion.
Since Friday, they have been sitting tight at the luxury hotel with members of five other teams of specialists from California, Nevada and Washington state – about 500 people all diverted to Dallas on the way to the Gulf Coast.
(…)
On Sunday, the Orange County team learned where it would finally do the job it was trained to do. By the time the team arrives in Metairie, La., a full week will have passed since it was ordered to leave California.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/katrina/stories/090605dnmetkatfema.d400626.html

A caravan of Loudoun County sheriff's deputies, loaded with supplies and volunteers willing to assist police in Louisiana in maintaining order, never made it out of Virginia after the sheriff said bureaucratic delays forced it to turn around early Friday.
http://www.nbc4.com/news/4932312/detail.html?rss=dc&psp=news

At the same time, bureaucracy rendered some active duty military units inside Louisiana powerless to help in the storm's immediate aftermath. (b]At Ft. Polk in Leesville, a helicopter detachment waited on the tarmac from Monday until Wednesday for approval to fly rescue missions.
(…) "'We could have been the first responders,' he said. 'It's easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.'
"The Pentagon also decided not to dispatch another unit based at Ft. Polk, a brigade of the Army's 10th Mountain Division, which has the mission of training units about to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-plan11sep11,0,5859497,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines

“Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said.“
http://www.nola.com/weblogs/print.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Time...

(Charlotte County Deputy Fire Chief Verne) Riggall said emergency managers typically order such materials as ice and water to be moved from warehouses to strategic locations some 72 hours before a major hurricane makes landfall.
(…) Riggall said the transfer of aid material from warehouses to strategic locations for Katrina only started after the hurricane struck.
"Why were the resources not already in Crestview, (Fla.), Atlanta or Austin?" he asked, referring to strategic locations for staging areas under a New Orleans hurricane response plan.
http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive4/090605/tp6de6.htm?date=090605&story=tp6de6.htm

And the New Orleans most likely wouldn’t have been flooded if this delay wouldn’t have happened:
“Nagin said the sandbagging was scheduled for midday, but the Blackhawk helicopters needed to help did not show up. He said the sandbags were ready and all the helicopter had to do was "show up." He said after his afternoon helicopter tour of the city, he was assured that officials had a plan and a timeline to drop the sandbags on the levee breach.
He said he was told that the helicopters may have been diverted to rescue about 1,000 people in a church, but he is still not sure who gave the order.”
http://www.wdsu.com/weather/4917809/detail.html
Then the leeve broke.

Tragic as well the delays occurring before and during the evacuation of the Superdome.
While New Orleans had prepared food for 26,000 people for three days the dome wasn’t evacuated in time.
“National Guard members halted the evacuation of the Superdome early Saturday after buses transporting the refugees of Hurricane Katrina stopped rolling. About 2,000 people remained in the stadium and could be there until Sunday ”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-525...

The Superdome Evacuation was also disrupted by report of gunshot fired at ailitary helicopter. Yet, FAA spokeswoman said she had no such report.
"We're controlling every single aircraft in that airspace and none of them reported being fired on".
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1087205
”Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response and head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), today urged all fire and emergency services departments not to respond to counties and states affected by Hurricane Katrina without being requested and lawfully dispatched by state and local authorities under mutual aid agreements and the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.”
http://www.iafc.org/news/article.asp?id=279
Why ?

On August 29 FEMA declared:
“First Responders Urged Not To Respond To Hurricane Impact Areas Unless Dispatched By State, Local Authorities”
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470
Why?

The head of the New Orleans emergency operations, Terry Ebbert :"FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4207628.stm

“The top U.S. disaster official waited hours after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast before he proposed to his boss sending at least 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region to support rescuers, internal documents show.
Part of the mission, according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press, was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims.
Acknowledging that such a move would take two days, Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29.
(…) Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic event" but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050907/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_disaster_response

And a very important delay:
The Northern Command was prepared with 9 Million MREs and water, but was waiting for go-ahead from President as it was reported in an interview on BBC.
Video: http://news.globalfreepress.com/movs/katrina/BBC_Katrina.mpg

Why?
Why didn’t Bush give the go-ahead?

And this is what Brown said on August 29:
“As the Category 4 the storm surged ashore just east of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, FEMA had medical teams, rescue squads and groups prepared to supply food and water poised in a semicircle around the city, its director, Michael Brown, said.
Speaking from Baton Rouge, just upriver from New Orleans, Brown told NBC's "Today" show that his agency had "planned for this kind of disaster for many years because we've always known about New Orleans' situation."”
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/29/katrina.washingt...

Appparently this was not the case.
Not at all.
And one thing is certain:
These delays meant death to many, many people.
These delays in itself and their quantity already striking are even less comprehensible if one recalls that FEMA was perfectly prepared:
“Virtually everything that has happened in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina struck was predicted by experts and in computer models, so emergency management specialists wonder why authorities were so unprepared.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050902/ts_nm/weather_katrina_criticism_dc

“Hurricane Pam brought sustained winds of 120 mph, up to 20 inches of rain in parts of southeast Louisiana and storm surge that topped levees in the New Orleans area. More than one million residents evacuated and Hurricane Pam destroyed 500,000-600,000 buildings. Emergency officials from 50 parish, state, federal and volunteer organizations faced this scenario during a five-day exercise held this week at the State Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge.
The exercise used realistic weather and damage information developed by the National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the LSU Hurricane Center and other state and federal agencies to help officials develop joint response plans for a catastrophic hurricane in Louisiana.
"We made great progress this week in our preparedness efforts," said Ron Castleman, FEMA Regional Director. "Disaster response teams developed action plans in critical areas such as search and rescue, medical care, sheltering, temporary housing, school restoration and debris management. These plans are essential for quick response to a hurricane but will also help in other emergencies."
"Hurricane planning in Louisiana will continue," said Colonel Michael L. Brown, Deputy Director for Emergency Preparedness, Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. "Over the next 60 days, we will polish the action plans developed during the Hurricane Pam exercise. We have also determined where to focus our efforts in the future."
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=13051
http://www.ieminc.com/Whats_New/Press_Releases/pressrel
They had “projected 61,290 dead and 384,257 injured or sick in a catastrophic flood that would leave swaths of southeast Louisiana uninhabitable for more than a year.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050909/ap_on_re_us/katrina...

The “Chicago Tribune” writes:
“Government disaster officials had an action plan if a major hurricane hit New Orleans. They simply didn't execute it when Hurricane Katrina struck.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509030220sep03,1,5525666.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
Yes, but why?
They were perfectly prepared.
Why did this happen?

REFUSED AID
Mary Landrieu, the Democratic US senator from Louisiana “said that FEMA has inexplicably failed to take advantage of offers of help. "I understand that the U.S. Forest Service had water-tanker aircraft available to help douse the fires raging on our riverfront, but FEMA has yet to accept the aid. When Amtrak offered trains to evacuate significant numbers of victims - far more efficiently than buses - FEMA again dragged its feet," Landrieu said. "Offers of medicine, communications equipment and other desperately needed items continue to flow in, only to be ignored by the agency.”
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlo...

“A visibly angry Mayor Daley said the city had offered emergency, medical and technical help to the federal government as early as Sunday to assist people in the areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina, but as of Friday, the only things the feds said they wanted was a single tank truck.”
http://www.suntimes.com/output/hurricane/cst-nws-daley0...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050902daley,0,6429273.story?coll=chi-news-hed

”Authorities are avoiding airdropping provisions into New Orleans — the traditional way of supplying disaster victims — out of fear of sparking riots, a state official said.”
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?article=31346§io...

“A group of Loudoun County sheriff´s deputies heading to Louisiana to help maintain order among hurricane refugees had to turn around at the Virginia border when they couldn´t get confirmation from emergency management officials, the Loudoun County sheriff said.”
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/Web/2005/092005/0902...
http://www.zwire.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=15144436&BRD=...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202363.html

Airboaters stalled by FEMA
The pilots stand ready to go help hurricane victims but have not been allowed to do so.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-caneboats0205sep02,0,5932477.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4608106

Volunteer physicians are pouring in to care for the sick, but red tape is keeping hundreds of others from caring for Hurricane Katrina survivors while health problems escalate.
Among the doctors stymied from helping out are 100 surgeons and paramedics in a state-of-the-art mobile hospital marooned in rural Mississippi.
"The bell was rung, the e-mails were sent off. ...We all got off work and deployed," said one of the frustrated surgeons, Dr. Preston "Chip" Rich of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"We have tried so hard to do the right thing. It took us 30 hours to get here," he said. That government officials can't straighten out the mess and get them assigned to a relief effort now that they're just a few miles away "is just mind-boggling," he said.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050904/D8CDLUJO0.html
http://www.newsobserver.com/print/monday/front/story/2786870p-9226377c.html
http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-090505-al-med_one.29cb178b.html

If you want to volunteer to help evacuees, you're being asked not to show up at the Astrodome.
http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou050901_jt_volunteers.1749ea92.html

A trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt University, Nashville has been waiting for days to send medical teams to help out in the affected areas.
The audio is about 3 minutes 40 seconds into this clip: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/ram/today...

The Georgia 4 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, was one of many "assets" that federal officials "pre-positioned" before the storm hit. But for Dr. Orledge, this early planning was squandered by poor coordination and communication and nonexistent security support.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05medical.html

“When Wal-Mart sent three trailer trucks loaded with water, FEMA officials turned them away, he said. Agency workers prevented the Coast Guard from delivering 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and on Saturday they cut the parish's emergency communications line, leading the sheriff to restore it and post armed guards to protect it from FEMA, Mr. Broussard said.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05blame.html
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Meet-the-Press-Broussard.wmv

From Wal-Mart's satellite-based communications systems to FedEx's aircraft, US business has in some cases managed to provide a swifter response to the initial impact of hurricane Katrina than the federal and state authorities.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11da-b40b-00000e...

FEMA turns away morticians
Tom Dudelston, a funeral director: "They won't let anyone in there. You have to be EMA-certified and I am not".
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15147862&

Relief Convoy From Loudoun Sheriff Ordered To Turn Around
http//www.nbc4.com/news/4932312/detail.html?rss=dc&psp=news

Firefighters used to hand out fliers:
“Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing here?"
As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national television for firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around the clock for a week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat idle Sunday in a muggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta.
Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.
Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.”
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197

Homeland Security won't let Red Cross deliver food
”As the National Guard delivered food to the New Orleans convention center yesterday, American Red Cross officials said that federal emergency management authorities would not allow them to do the same.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm

But private, armed "Blackwater" Forces are allowed to patrol New Orleans
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/08cnd-storm.html

A group of firefighter from Houston, some with special expertise in oil rig repairs, and plenty of post-hurricane clean-up experience were stopped by FEMA from entering NO and not allowed to go anywhere else, either.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048

FEMA puts Nevada convoy to Gulf region on hold at last minute
“Shortly before they were set to leave for Hurricane Katrina-battered states, a group of about 100 law enforcement officers from across Nevada was told to stay put by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FEMA officials put the contingent on hold on Sunday afternoon for between one and three days until its mission can be determined, Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Kevin Honea said.”
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2005/sep/04/090410225.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1753934

FEMA attempted to block planes evacuating hospitals
This story also shows how, with Gore's help, the rescuers ultimately prevailed despite unbelievable obstruction by both FEMA and the military.
http://www.algore.org/index.php?option=com_content&task... :

Canadian plane and search&rescue teams stopped by Dept of Homeland Security. http://usliberals.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site ...

And why are these soldiers treated like this?
Two Navy helicopter pilots and their crews returned from New Orleans on Aug. 30 expecting to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than 100 hurricane victims to safety.
Instead, their superiors chided the pilots, Lt. David Shand and Lt. Matt Udkow, at a meeting the next morning for rescuing civilians when their assignment that day had been to deliver food and water to military installations along the Gulf Coast.
"I felt it was a great day because we resupplied the people we needed to and we rescued people, too," Lieutenant Udkow said. But the air operations commander at Pensacola Naval Air Station "reminded us that the logistical mission needed to be our area of focus."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/07/national/nationalspec...

Going through this definitely not complete list (there are many eyewitness’ accounts I didn’t include because they’re difficult to verify but they all point into the same direction):

There is not only a lack of coordination, a huge amount of incompetence but many, way too many cases where aid is refused, blocked and forbidden.
Why?
In the case of Katrina there were enough food, enough willing people but yet thousands of people died.


INTERNATIONAL AID
The already witnessed pattern with national aid appears with international aid as well.
There have been many countries offering help (from U.K. to Cuba, Afghanistan and Iran) and yet often it was delayed, refused or never answered.
Why?
”US sends mixed signals on accepting aid from abroad
The offers of foreign aid keep pouring in: helicopters from Canada, cash from Japan, tents and military aircraft from France -- even oil from Venezuela, a political foe. At least 25 countries have offered humanitarian assistance to the United States to recover from Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters in US history.
But despite the increasingly desperate situation on the ground, the Bush administration has sent mixed signals about whether it will take these global well-wishers up on their offers.
President Bush indicated yesterday morning that the United States had not requested foreign help and didn't need it.”
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2... /
Really ?

Here a list of countries offering help:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210264.stm
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9161198/
http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,373565,00.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4680254

Russia:
FEMA to Russia: Don't send aid!
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/31/katrina/main8...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9161198/
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

Canada :
US won't let Canada help Katrina victims
http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/evan/24905/
“Aid from Canada — three warships and a coast guard ship — departed for the Gulf Coast on Thursday, more than one week after Canada first offered to send military support. Ottawa has been careful not to criticize the slow U.S. response and simply repeated their willingness to help when Washington finally accepted its offer of assistance.
Several Sea King helicopters and about 1,000 personnel were aboard the Canadian ships, which will take several days to arrive off Louisiana. The ships were loaded with medical supplies, 1,200 cots, body bags, assault boats, lumber, pollution cleanup equipment — even diapers, baby wipes and teddy bears.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050907/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_disaster_response

Cuba:
Castro: U.S. hasn't responded to Katrina offer
“Castro, a longtime adversary of the United States, initially offered to send 1,100 doctors and at least 26 tons of supplies and equipment, but the Communist leader announced Sunday during a televised speech that he had increased the number of physicians to 1,586. Each doctor would carry about 27 pounds of medicine.
"You could all be there right now lending your services, but 48 hours have passed since we made this offer, and we have received absolutely no response," Castro said at Havana's Palace of the Revolution.”
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/09/05/katrina.cuba/index.html
Please keep in mind that Castro really knows what he’s talking about. He managed to evacuate 1,500,000 people without one dead.

Sweden:
“A Swedish plane laden with aid was waiting to take off but had not got U.S. approval to enter the United States.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050906/ts_nm/aid_eu_dc

Germany:
A German military plane carrying 15 tons of emergency rations to survivors of Hurricane Katrina was turned away by U.S. authorities, officials said Saturday.
The plane was turned back on Thursday because it didn't have the required authorization, a German government spokesman said.
http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,374093,00.html
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=r...
High-speed pumps offered by Germany had arrived but Helfferich said unspecified "coordination problems" in the United States had prevented them from being deployed so far.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050906/ts_nm/aid_eu_dc

E.U.:
“Twenty-three European countries have offered help to the United States ranging from financial assistance to ready-to-eat meals, blankets, tents and disinfectant supplies.
Helfferich said the United States had not agreed to take it all and Britain, which currently holds the presidency of the EU, was negotiating with U.S. authorities on what to deliver.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050906/ts_nm/aid_eu_dc

“Since Hurricane Katrina, more than 90 countries and international organizations offered to assist in recovery efforts for the flood-stricken region, but nearly all endeavors remained mired yesterday in bureaucratic entanglements, in most cases, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (…)
"FEMA? That was a lost case," said Mirit Hemy, an executive with the Netherlands-based New Skies Satellite who made the phone calls. "We got zero help, and we lost one week trying to get hold of them."”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/06/AR2005090601994.html

Again:
There is help. But help is not allowed to enter the area where it is needed.

''I'm not expecting much from foreign nations because we haven't asked for it," Bush told ABC's ''Good Morning America." ''I do suspect a lot of sympathy, and perhaps some will send cash dollars. But this country is going to rise up and take care of it. You know, we love help, but we're going to take care of our own business, as well."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2... /

TRAPPED in New Orleans:
Several cases are known where people in New Orleans were hindered to leave.
Why?
“A busload of New Orleans evacuees, about 200, were stopped by National Guardsmen in Baton Rouge on Saturday and told they could not get off.”
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlo...

“Police from surrounding jurisdictions shut down several access points to one of the only ways out of New Orleans last week, effectively trapping victims of Hurricane Katrina in the flooded and devastated city.
An eyewitness account from two San Francisco paramedics posted on an internet site for Emergency Medical Services specialists says, "Thousands of New Orleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the city on foot.”
"We shut down the bridge," Arthur Lawson, chief of the City of Gretna Police Department, confirmed to United Press International, adding that his jurisdiction had been "a closed and secure location" since before the storm hit.
"All our people had evacuated and we locked the city down," he said.”
http://washtimes.com/upi/20050908-112433-4907r.htm

Who exactly is “all our people”?

[philb]

5. Did the wrong guy resign? Chertoff was the bigger problem

Did the wrong guy resign?
A report from Knight Ridder shows that a confused Michael Chertoff waited 36 hours before giving Michael Brown authority to mobilize a federal response to Katrina.
Michael Brown stepped down as the director of FEMA Monday, but a new report from Knight Ridder walks responsibility for the Katrina debacle a little bit higher up the chain of command. While Brown has taken much of the blame for the federal government's slow response in New Orleans, Knight Ridder says that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff failed to give Brown the authority he needed to mobilize a massive federal response to Katrina until 36 hours after the storm struck land.
Who had the authority in the meantime? Michael Chertoff.
Knight Ridder says that "Chertoff -- not Brown -- was in charge of managing the national response to a catastrophic disaster, according to the National Response Plan, the federal government's blueprint for how agencies will handle major natural disasters or terrorist incidents." But according to a memo Chertoff wrote to other Cabinet secretaries and agency heads, the Homeland Security secretary didn't hand over that power to Brown until late afternoon or evening on Aug. 30 -- a day and a half after Katrina struck. And even then, he suggested that a to-be-launched White House task force would lead the response to Katrina and that the Department of Homeland Security would merely "assist" in that effort.

[philb]

8. Top Hurricane Official says top FEMA Officials were warned of levee danger

Top Hurricane Official says top FEMA Officials were warned of Katrina’s potential days before it hit.

It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002472774_mayfield05.html
www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/12603544.htm

[philb]

13. FEMA blocked evacuation aid and relief aid in New Orleans:Summary

another list similar to yours with some items not on yours
http://www.flcv.com/femabloc.html