Governor Blanco did make a request to the Federal government for additional National Guard troops (to supplement the 5,700 Louisiana National Guard troops available in Louisiana at the time).[52]
However, the necessary formal request through the Federal National Guard Bureau was not made until Tuesday, a full day after the hurricane hit and when much of the city was already under water. Blanco also failed to activate a compact with other states that would have allowed her to bypass Washington in a request for additional troops. Even if an earlier request had been made, the logic of mobilizing troops from outlying areas, such as Arizona or California is regarded as questionable by many, given the closer proximity of Federal U.S. First Army troops under the direction of Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré.
To the extent that the lax security situation in New Orleans delayed or prevented humanitarian aid workers from entering the city safely in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, state officials can be held accountable.
The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and his/her emergency operations center.
The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved.
- Entitlements v. reality;
- Government provisions v. reality;
- Training v. a lack therof
BZ, the comparisons are unfair, San Diego is full of white folks….LOL
If you have ever been to SD you know that Whites are a minority, however; The hillsides are full of whitey trying to get away from the big city.
The big difference is leadership, Blanco vs Arnie, the city leadership of SD vs Nagin and his corruption laden council….Arnie and SD win big time.
The LT Gov of California would have fit right in NOLA, he is all about blame, and give me, fortunately our Governator was heads and tails above board on this one….Kudos to Arnie and the SD leadership, as well as all of the counties that helped by actually working together, rather than whining.
Someone called into Rush with this exact point. Californians have rallied together and taken care of each other and survived this disaster.
I don’t know that the 2 are exact comparisons but I would argue that Schwarzenegger did do a better job of evacuating people than Blanco & Nagin did among other things.
I would agree, they’re not precisely the same, but in terms of overall events, the differences in LEADERSHIP are startling.
BZ
As you know I’ve covered it extensively on my radio show.
Except for a few people yesterday who were tired and ready to go home and couldn’t yet, and therefore were bitching, the whole thing has been clean, consise and well done.
Arnie wins, but Mayor Sanders Supervisor Ron Roberts, and Reps. Duncan Hunter, Daryll Issa and Brian Bilbray have been awesome. They, the LOCAL government, were the ones who really got the ball rolling, then Arnie stepped in.
The reverse 911 system helped us all with evacuations and with good clear info. The local media, I repeat, the LOCAL media has been great as well. They went commercial free for three days for 24 hour coverage and were getting info out as fast as it came in.
Except for the 6 Mexican illegals who stole evacuee supplies, there has been little to no looting, and even the south county gangs seemto have taken a break from their meyhem.
San Diego, contrary to popular belief is a city of hardworking middle and lower middle class people. The “richest” live in La Jolla (where I live I got lucky, cheap rent) and Del Mar and niether were endangered by fire. There were only a scattering of “rich” folk effected. The people effected were mainly farmers.
We were able to evacuate a large metro hospital, and dozens of nursing homes in hours.
There is no excuse for Katrina. It is nothing but more clear visual proof that Democrats will run this country into the ground.
The biggest difference is that the people of SoCal left when they were told to leave. The “victim” of Katrina were those who defied the evac order and then when it was too late got the screwing they deserved.
Jenn: BTW, VERY sorry for the “comment” when I didn’t know the phone was on — and the disconnect occurred when I stood up from the desk and tripped over the phone line. I didn’t mean to be so abrupt.
BZ
Yes he did Jenn, he’s very rude like that….Liberals told me so. LMAO.
Katrina was a different animal than these fires… The folks in NOLA had a a couple of days to evacuate, the people of SD had a few minutes.
NOLA had buses standing by to take folks out of harms way, (But Nagin kept the keys locked up with his cocaine) SD, got people out that wanted to leave, and left those that didn’t.
NOLA, had leadership problems starting at the state level, the first problem was the “D” in big seat.
Cali had a “Little “D” n the seat, but he has republican tendencies…SD had GREAT leadership locally and the people of SD can take pride in the way they took care of each other.
NOLA residents can take pride in their 42 inch TV’s and 20″ rims they got during the open shopping time Katrina provided…..
The differences are striking and well thought out. NOs biggest problem was that its citizens thought in terms of things being done for them and when no one was there to tell them what to do they died. California may be crazy but at least its people know how to get up and go without a social worker to drive them to the bus stop.
Looks like I got here to late. This subject has been thoroughly covered!
But your post is right… there was a huge difference and we all know why. Everyone will admit it, of course, except for the Democrats.