SAN DIEGO – Authorities say they are speeding up relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina, but 80 San Diego firefighters and paramedics sent to the Gulf Coast are languishing in Houston, a fire official said Sunday.
"We’re there, we’re ready, it’s up to (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) to decide where we’re needed," said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire Department.
Earlier this week, about 100 firefighters, lifeguards trained in swift- water rescues, paramedics, a doctor and a structural engineer from the San Diego area were sent to assist emergency personnel in Louisiana, Luque said.
The lifeguards – who left before the firefighters – were put to work immediately, saving dozens of people from flooded buildings in New Orleans, Luque said.
But the firefighters, doctor and structural engineer from the regional Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 8 were diverted to Houston to await further instructions, he said.
As of early this afternoon, 80 urban search and rescue members from San Diego were still in Houston, awaiting further instructions, Luque said.
Chaos in New Orleans delays California team eager to enter fray
12:12 AM EDT on Tuesday, September 6, 2005
By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News
They have been trimming one another’s hair, lounging on hotel chairs, chatting on cellphones. They’ve been up at dawn, exercising in front of the hotel, trying to stay busy.
What they haven’t been doing is dangling from helicopters over flooded neighborhoods or going into half-collapsed buildings searching for hurricane victims to rescue.
The 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.
There they have watched television reports, itching to help the stranded victims of Katrina but ordered by FEMA officials to stay idle.
"It’s been horribly frustrating," said Battalion Chief Marc Hawkins, noting that he understood the reasons the team had been asked to stay put. "Keeping firefighters pent up like this is a chore."
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.
"We’ve been trying like hell to get out of here," said Battalion Chief Hawkins, one of the Orange County task force leaders.
The reason for the extended holdover? Team members were told that conditions were too chaotic in New Orleans, which has been plagued by violence and reports of gunfire aimed at rescuers, and the National Guard needed more time to restore order. In addition, problems getting supplies to the rescue crews already there, as well as victims, had not been worked out.
FEMA spokeswoman Debbie Wing said teams sometimes take a few days getting to disaster areas because officials need to prepare basic infrastructure to allow them to operate safely.
"There’s a strategic reason for the timing," she said. "They need incident support teams set up. They can’t just go into nothing."
Seven teams similar to the crews benched in Dallas were deployed to the area Aug. 28, she said.
FEMA’s fault?
But the highly trained team members – most of whom in their normal lives are firefighters – cannot help but think that their wasteful detour is another example of FEMA failing to adequately plan for Hurricane Katrina’s devastating aftermath.
"This is the largest natural disaster that anyone in this country has ever faced," Battalion Chief Hawkins said. "FEMA has a lot going on, but draw whatever conclusions you want from all this."
The federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina has been roundly criticized, with the brunt aimed at FEMA. Once a standalone agency known for its swift and sure response to national catastrophes, it is now buried under mounds of bureaucracy as part of the new Department of Homeland Security, which itself was cobbled together after 9-11.
"You can’t send everyone at once," said Scott Brown, another Orange County team leader. "When we have to wait, it’s frustrating. But we don’t want to contribute to the emergency by getting shot or using up provisions that should be going to victims."
Ms. Wing said there are 28 task forces in the country – 18 in the Gulf Coast area and 10 en route. They are activated to respond to natural disasters and other emergency situations. The task forces are made up primarily of firefighters and other emergency response personnel who are trained to respond to large-scale emergencies.
"These teams are working around the clock and they are giving it their all," Ms. Wing said. "Their rescue mission continues."
Latest equipment
The Department of Homeland Security has proven more willing to fund the urban search and rescue teams. Once strung together on a shoestring budget, the teams – all activated to respond to a disaster zone the size of Idaho – now are equipped with millions in the latest gadgetry.
The Orange County group alone has a convoy of 11 trucks, including four 18-wheelers to carry equipment. The team includes two doctors, two structural engineers and four search dogs.
Dallas Fire Rescue has allowed the teams to park some of their equipment on city lots while they are stuck in Dallas.
Sunday night, throngs of team members sat placidly at tables in the hotel lobby chatting. Their official-looking navy blue uniforms stood out in stark contrast amid the throng of AnimèFest convention revelers dressed like cartoon warriors and carrying oversized fake swords.
"There are still large areas that need to be searched," said Mr. Brown, an Orange County team leader. "I don’t think that anybody can say it’s done. People are resilient. They can survive for a long time. That’s why we’re going."
Staff writer Ernesto Londono contributed to this report.
E-mail jtrahan@dallasnews.com
UNDER FIRE
Since the 1970s, Washington has emerged as the insurer of last resort against floods, fires, earthquakes and – after 2001 – terrorist attacks. But the government’s stumbling response to Hurricane Katrina reveals that the federal agency most responsible for making good on Washington’s expanded promise has been hobbled by cutbacks and a bureaucratic downgrading. Here is a closer look at the Federal Emergency Management Agency:
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, FEMA lost its Cabinet-level status as it was folded into the giant new Department of Homeland Security. In recent years, it has suffered budget cuts, the elimination or reduction of key programs and an exodus of experienced staffers.
The agency’s core budget, which includes disaster preparedness and mitigation, has been cut each year since it was absorbed by the Homeland Security Department in 2003. Depending on what the final numbers end up being for next fiscal year, the cuts will have been between about 2 percent and 18 percent.
The agency’s staff has been reduced by 500 positions to 4,735. Among the results, FEMA has had to cut one of its three emergency management teams, which are charged with overseeing relief efforts in a disaster. Where it once had "red," "white" and "blue" teams, it now has only red and white.
Three out of every four dollars the agency provides in local preparedness and first-responder grants go to terrorism-related activities, even though a recent Government Accountability Office report quotes local officials as saying what they really need is money to prepare for natural disasters and accidents.
’TERRIBLE MISTAKE’
"They’ve taken emergency management away from the emergency managers. These operations are being run by people who are amateurs at what they are doing." – Morrie Goodman, FEMA’s chief spokesman during the Clinton administration, an apparent reference to FEMA director Michael Brown, who had little experience in disaster operations when named to the job two years ago. He took over from his friend and former college roommate Joe Allbaugh – who managed President Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign.
"It was a terrible mistake to take disaster response and recovery ... and disaster preparedness and mitigation, and put them in Homeland Security." – Richard Krimm, a former senior FEMA official in several administrations
"What’s awe-inspiring here is how many federal officials didn’t issue any orders." – Paul Light, an authority on government operations at New York University
’HECK OF A JOB’
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has acknowledged that Washington was insufficiently prepared for the hurricane that laid waste to New Orleans and surrounding areas. But he defended its performance by arguing that the size of the storm was beyond anything his department could have anticipated and that primary responsibility for handling emergencies rested with state and local, not federal, officials. Under the law, he said, state and local officials must direct initial emergency operations. "The federal government comes in and supports those officials," he said.
Mr. Bush, touring Friday in Mobile, Ala., said the response to Katrina was unsatisfactory. But he praised Mr. Brown, the FEMA director, who was with him. "Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job," the president said.
Two more cases of FEMA wasting trained professional resources
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050904-1848-katrina.html
S.D. rescue crew said languishing in Houston
SIGNONSANDIEGO NEWS SERVICES
6:48 p.m. September 4, 2005
SAN DIEGO – Authorities say they are speeding up relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina, but 80 San Diego firefighters and paramedics sent to the Gulf Coast are languishing in Houston, a fire official said Sunday.
"We’re there, we’re ready, it’s up to (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) to decide where we’re needed," said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire Department.
Earlier this week, about 100 firefighters, lifeguards trained in swift- water rescues, paramedics, a doctor and a structural engineer from the San Diego area were sent to assist emergency personnel in Louisiana, Luque said.
The lifeguards – who left before the firefighters – were put to work immediately, saving dozens of people from flooded buildings in New Orleans, Luque said.
But the firefighters, doctor and structural engineer from the regional Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 8 were diverted to Houston to await further instructions, he said.
As of early this afternoon, 80 urban search and rescue members from San Diego were still in Houston, awaiting further instructions, Luque said.
The task force brought only enough food for up to two weeks, he said.
==============
http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/nationworld/katrina/stories/090605cckatrinacakatfema.64427444.html
Chaos in New Orleans delays California team eager to enter fray
12:12 AM EDT on Tuesday, September 6, 2005
By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News
They have been trimming one another’s hair, lounging on hotel chairs, chatting on cellphones. They’ve been up at dawn, exercising in front of the hotel, trying to stay busy.
What they haven’t been doing is dangling from helicopters over flooded neighborhoods or going into half-collapsed buildings searching for hurricane victims to rescue.
The 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.
There they have watched television reports, itching to help the stranded victims of Katrina but ordered by FEMA officials to stay idle.
"It’s been horribly frustrating," said Battalion Chief Marc Hawkins, noting that he understood the reasons the team had been asked to stay put. "Keeping firefighters pent up like this is a chore."
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.
"We’ve been trying like hell to get out of here," said Battalion Chief Hawkins, one of the Orange County task force leaders.
The reason for the extended holdover? Team members were told that conditions were too chaotic in New Orleans, which has been plagued by violence and reports of gunfire aimed at rescuers, and the National Guard needed more time to restore order. In addition, problems getting supplies to the rescue crews already there, as well as victims, had not been worked out.
FEMA spokeswoman Debbie Wing said teams sometimes take a few days getting to disaster areas because officials need to prepare basic infrastructure to allow them to operate safely.
"There’s a strategic reason for the timing," she said. "They need incident support teams set up. They can’t just go into nothing."
Seven teams similar to the crews benched in Dallas were deployed to the area Aug. 28, she said.
FEMA’s fault?
But the highly trained team members – most of whom in their normal lives are firefighters – cannot help but think that their wasteful detour is another example of FEMA failing to adequately plan for Hurricane Katrina’s devastating aftermath.
"This is the largest natural disaster that anyone in this country has ever faced," Battalion Chief Hawkins said. "FEMA has a lot going on, but draw whatever conclusions you want from all this."
The federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina has been roundly criticized, with the brunt aimed at FEMA. Once a standalone agency known for its swift and sure response to national catastrophes, it is now buried under mounds of bureaucracy as part of the new Department of Homeland Security, which itself was cobbled together after 9-11.
"You can’t send everyone at once," said Scott Brown, another Orange County team leader. "When we have to wait, it’s frustrating. But we don’t want to contribute to the emergency by getting shot or using up provisions that should be going to victims."
Ms. Wing said there are 28 task forces in the country – 18 in the Gulf Coast area and 10 en route. They are activated to respond to natural disasters and other emergency situations. The task forces are made up primarily of firefighters and other emergency response personnel who are trained to respond to large-scale emergencies.
"These teams are working around the clock and they are giving it their all," Ms. Wing said. "Their rescue mission continues."
Latest equipment
The Department of Homeland Security has proven more willing to fund the urban search and rescue teams. Once strung together on a shoestring budget, the teams – all activated to respond to a disaster zone the size of Idaho – now are equipped with millions in the latest gadgetry.
The Orange County group alone has a convoy of 11 trucks, including four 18-wheelers to carry equipment. The team includes two doctors, two structural engineers and four search dogs.
Dallas Fire Rescue has allowed the teams to park some of their equipment on city lots while they are stuck in Dallas.
Sunday night, throngs of team members sat placidly at tables in the hotel lobby chatting. Their official-looking navy blue uniforms stood out in stark contrast amid the throng of AnimèFest convention revelers dressed like cartoon warriors and carrying oversized fake swords.
"There are still large areas that need to be searched," said Mr. Brown, an Orange County team leader. "I don’t think that anybody can say it’s done. People are resilient. They can survive for a long time. That’s why we’re going."
Staff writer Ernesto Londono contributed to this report.
E-mail jtrahan@dallasnews.com
UNDER FIRE
Since the 1970s, Washington has emerged as the insurer of last resort against floods, fires, earthquakes and – after 2001 – terrorist attacks. But the government’s stumbling response to Hurricane Katrina reveals that the federal agency most responsible for making good on Washington’s expanded promise has been hobbled by cutbacks and a bureaucratic downgrading. Here is a closer look at the Federal Emergency Management Agency:
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, FEMA lost its Cabinet-level status as it was folded into the giant new Department of Homeland Security. In recent years, it has suffered budget cuts, the elimination or reduction of key programs and an exodus of experienced staffers.
The agency’s core budget, which includes disaster preparedness and mitigation, has been cut each year since it was absorbed by the Homeland Security Department in 2003. Depending on what the final numbers end up being for next fiscal year, the cuts will have been between about 2 percent and 18 percent.
The agency’s staff has been reduced by 500 positions to 4,735. Among the results, FEMA has had to cut one of its three emergency management teams, which are charged with overseeing relief efforts in a disaster. Where it once had "red," "white" and "blue" teams, it now has only red and white.
Three out of every four dollars the agency provides in local preparedness and first-responder grants go to terrorism-related activities, even though a recent Government Accountability Office report quotes local officials as saying what they really need is money to prepare for natural disasters and accidents.
’TERRIBLE MISTAKE’
"They’ve taken emergency management away from the emergency managers. These operations are being run by people who are amateurs at what they are doing." – Morrie Goodman, FEMA’s chief spokesman during the Clinton administration, an apparent reference to FEMA director Michael Brown, who had little experience in disaster operations when named to the job two years ago. He took over from his friend and former college roommate Joe Allbaugh – who managed President Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign.
"It was a terrible mistake to take disaster response and recovery ... and disaster preparedness and mitigation, and put them in Homeland Security." – Richard Krimm, a former senior FEMA official in several administrations
"What’s awe-inspiring here is how many federal officials didn’t issue any orders." – Paul Light, an authority on government operations at New York University
’HECK OF A JOB’
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has acknowledged that Washington was insufficiently prepared for the hurricane that laid waste to New Orleans and surrounding areas. But he defended its performance by arguing that the size of the storm was beyond anything his department could have anticipated and that primary responsibility for handling emergencies rested with state and local, not federal, officials. Under the law, he said, state and local officials must direct initial emergency operations. "The federal government comes in and supports those officials," he said.
Mr. Bush, touring Friday in Mobile, Ala., said the response to Katrina was unsatisfactory. But he praised Mr. Brown, the FEMA director, who was with him. "Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job," the president said.
Online at: http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/nationworld/katrina/stories/090605cckatrinacakatfema.64427444.html