{"id":768,"date":"2005-09-04T11:27:44","date_gmt":"2005-09-04T16:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/2005\/09\/04\/landrieu-slams-fema\/"},"modified":"2005-09-04T12:12:34","modified_gmt":"2005-09-04T17:12:34","slug":"landrieu-slams-fema","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virushead.net\/vhrandom\/2005\/09\/landrieu-slams-fema\/","title":{"rendered":"Landrieu Slams FEMA"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOLA.com: Times-Picayune Breaking News Weblog<\/a><\/p>\n

Sept 3
\nLandrieu slams FEMA<\/strong> – Offers of help ignored, photo op rather than action<\/p>\n

Emphasis mine<\/p>\n

\nU.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., Saturday accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency of failing to accept offers<\/strong> that would have eased post-hurricane problems in New Orleans — including a plan for the Forest Service to douse fires in the city with aircraft used to fight fire.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Landrieu asked President Bush to appoint a cabinet-level official to oversee Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts. She reiterated that request on Saturday. “Yesterday, I was hoping President Bush would come away from his tour of the regional devastation triggered by Hurricane Katrina with a new understanding for the magnitude of the suffering and for the abject failures of the current Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Landrieu said. “Twenty-four hours later, the President has yet to answer my call for a cabinet-level official to lead our efforts. Meanwhile, FEMA, now a shell of what it once was<\/strong>, continues to be overwhelmed by the task at hand.<\/p>\n

Landrieu said that FEMA has inexplicably failed to take advantage of offers of help.<\/p>\n

“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<\/strong>. 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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Landrieu said that her “greatest disappointment” is the lack of progress fixing the breached 17th Street levee.<\/p>\n

“Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment<\/strong>. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast – black and white, rich and poor, young and old – deserve far better from their national government,” Landrieu said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOLA.com: Times-Picayune Breaking News Weblog Sept 3 Landrieu slams FEMA – Offers of help ignored, photo op rather than action Emphasis mine U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., Saturday accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency of failing to accept offers that would have eased post-hurricane problems in New Orleans — including a plan for the Forest Service to douse fires in the city with aircraft used to fight fire. On Friday, Landrieu asked President Bush to appoint a cabinet-level official to…<\/p>\n

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