Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Blogging Tories Short Takes, Aug 29, 2006.
Shorter Strong Conservative: "See, there's the political party that currently controls the House, the Senate, the White House and the Supreme Court. Then there's the party that I'm going to blame."
Shorter Damian Penny: "Whew. All that Jon Benet stuff was so yesterday."
Shorter Celestial Junk: "Why can't people understand how important it is for folks other than me to stay the course?"
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5 comments:
Having lived through more than one hurricane last year, including surfing while Katrina passed Florida, I can tell you that hurricane prep is entirely a state activity not a federal one.
The feds can only act once requested by state authorities. That was the central problem in New Orleans last year, the feds were slow mainly due to incompetence in the LA government and bureaucratic structure. The Feds didn't do their job perfectly either, but LA didnt help by failing to prepare adequately for major cities and flood zones.
Jonathan writes:
"The feds can only act once requested by state authorities."
I call bullshit on that. I recall clearly that several people pointed out after the fact that the federal government always had the power to step in and take responsibility for emergency preparations whenever they felt like it.
If you can find official documentation that says that FEMA is powerless to act until specifically invited by local authorities, I'd like to see that.
By the way, Jonathan, maybe I can save you some time trying to find non-existent documentation. Here.
I think this is what you're looking for CC:
"Generally, the governor of the state in which the disaster occurred must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the President of the United States that FEMA and the Federal Government respond to the disaster."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Emergency_Management_Agency
"The Stafford Act (§401 and 501) requires that: "All requests for a declaration by the President that a major disaster or emergency exists shall be made by the Governor [chief executive] of the affected State."
"The Governor's request is made through the regional FEMA office. State, local, and Federal officials conduct a preliminary damage assessment (PDA) to estimate the extent of the disaster and its impact on individuals and public facilities. The information gathered during the PDA documents the severity and magnitude of the event and is included in the Governor's request. Normally, the PDA is completed prior to the submission of the Governor's request. However, when an obviously severe or catastrophic event occurs, the Governor's request may be submitted prior to the PDA. Nonetheless, the Governor must still make the request and damage assessments are still conducted.
As part of the request, the Governor must note that the State's emergency plan has been implemented and the situation is of such severity and magnitude that the response is beyond State and local capability and Stafford Act assistance is necessary. The Governor shall furnish information on the nature and amount of State and local resources that have been or will be committed to alleviating the results of the disaster, provide an estimate of the amount and severity of damage and the impact on the private and public sector, and provide an estimate of the type and amount of assistance needed under the Stafford Act. In addition, the Governor will need to certify that, for the current disaster, State and local government obligations and expenditures (of which State commitments must be a significant portion) will comply with all applicable cost-sharing requirements.
Based on the Governor's request, the President may declare that a major disaster or emergency exists, thus activating an array of Federal programs to assist in the response and recovery effort."
Read more at: http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=16&content=353
As part of the request, the Governor must take appropriate action under State law and direct execution of the State's emergency plan. The Governor shall furnish information on the nature and amount of State and local resources that have been or will be committed to alleviating the results of the disaster, provide an estimate of the amount and severity of damage and the impact on the private and public sector, and provide an estimate of the type and amount of assistance needed under the Stafford Act. In addition, the Governor will need to certify that, for the current disaster, State and local government obligations and expenditures (of which State commitments must be a significant proportion) will comply with all applicable cost-sharing requirements.
http://www.fema.gov/rebuild/recover/dec_guide.shtm
Does silence mean you believe me now? I wasn't making stuff up like Jason Blair...
Cheers,
JDS
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