Here's what journalists in New Orleans are reporting and thinking.
"Part of the problem is that the quick mobilization of massive human and material resources takes expert management from the top, as well as the coordination of dozens of different federal agencies. That would have enabled a quicker entry into the city by National Guardsmen to establish order, distribute food and get people out.
Emergency management plans are for the most part based on the assumption that the people involved will be relatively cooperative.
The eruption of violence, disorder and confusion in and around New Orleans caught many people by surprise. A simulation that emergency management officials ran last year of a catastrophic flood and hurricane hitting New Orleans did not address the possibility of widespread violence and disorder, said Madhu Beriwal, the president of EIM, the company based in Baton Rouge that ran the exercise, which brought together emergency managers from local, state and federal agencies."
"Certainly what happened was some degree of a lack of coordination between federal, state and local folks prior to the arrival of the hurricane and immediately afterward," said Suzanne Mencer, a former Department of Homeland Security official who worked with state and local agencies. "It’s that coordination piece that is always the most difficult."
No comments:
Post a Comment