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1Carnophile
Sorry this is late; the clipping was buried under some other stuff.
From an AP report Jan 31:
As we all learned from Hurricane Katrina, if anyone dies in a natural disaster it’s the President’s fault. Also, if FEMA doesn’t instantly solve all problems it’s the President’s fault.
Lefties, start your “That’s totally different!” argument
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now:
From an AP report Jan 31:
At least 42 people have died...and conditions are worsening in many places days after an ice storm knocked out power to 1.3 million...Local officials were growing angry with what they said was a lack of help from the state (i.e., Kentucky) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.* CNS chimes in: “But, according to (Whitehouse spokesman Nick) Shapiro, Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Nancy Ward did not arrive in Kentucky until Feb. 4 – 10 days after the Jan. 26 storm struck.”
In Grayson County, emergency management director Randall Smith said...FEMA has been a no-show so far.
FEMA spokeswoman Mary Hudak said some FEMA personnel already were in Kentucky working in the state’s emergency operations center and that more would be arriving in coming days.*
Meanwhile, the death toll was rising...
As we all learned from Hurricane Katrina, if anyone dies in a natural disaster it’s the President’s fault. Also, if FEMA doesn’t instantly solve all problems it’s the President’s fault.
Lefties, start your “That’s totally different!” argument
3...
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1...
now:
2ejj1955
FEMA is so darned responsive these days I got an automated phone call from them yesterday acknowledging the documents I sent them . . . except I didn't. Maybe they will also mistakenly send me some money, too?
(I'm in central NY and didn't lose power to an ice storm or anything; I was flooded back in 2006, though.)
(I'm in central NY and didn't lose power to an ice storm or anything; I was flooded back in 2006, though.)
3StormRaven
I'm not a Leftie, but I think it is probably worth pointing out that Nancy Ward probably isn't an Obama appointee (and probably isn't a Bush appointee either). I would seriously doubt if Obama has tagged anyone to be the FEMA head yet (its just not that critically important of an agency overall), and Bush's appointees pretty much all left when he did (except for the few Obama has asked to stay on, such as the Secretary of Defense).
4nickhoonaloon
Here in the UK, we have this tradition where whatever goes wrong, we always blame the government, quite regardless of party loyalty, whether it`s their fault or not, just to be bloody-minded.
I think it`s fair enough myself.
I think it`s fair enough myself.
5Lunar
Actually, it is totally different. Unlike what the lefties would have us believe, the Katrina disaster was dripping with government interventionism. Whether it's government-constructed canals that intensified storm surges or the wackjobs at FEMA barring entry to the disaster site to water, food, and evacuation services from the likes of Wal-mart and the Red Cross, the government actions (not their inactions) are what made this worse than it needed to be. Robert P. Murphy did a good brief overview of these issues in an article that can be found here.
6weener
Wasn't Bush on a month-long vaction during the hurricane and the leadup to the hurricane? As opposed to being in one's first month of the presidency and working on an economic stimulus bill that is supposedly crucial.
7ejj1955
I'm going to go out on a big ol' limb here and suggest that Obama is going to be on vacation a lot less than Dubya was. Literally as well as figuratively.
8codyed
I'm not a big defender of the presidency, but to be fair (savor this because I'm not fair), there is no such thing as a vacation for the president. He works every single day he is in office (whether that is a good thing can be debated).
9KromesTomes
Note the dates on and in this:
FEMA gets decent marks for its ice storm response
By ROGER ALFORD – Feb 2, 2009
EDDYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — In the first real test of the Obama administration's ability to respond to a disaster, Kentucky officials are giving the federal government good marks for its response to a deadly ice storm.
Yet more than 300,000 residents remained without power Monday and some areas had yet to see aid workers nearly a week after the storm, a fact not lost on some local authorities.
"We haven't seen FEMA. They haven't been here," said Jaime Green, a spokeswoman for the emergency operations center in Lyon County, about 95 miles northwest of Nashville, Tenn.
Federal authorities insisted they responded as soon as the state asked for help and promised to keep providing whatever aid was necessary.
FEMA has been under the microscope since the Bush administration's botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which Barack Obama and other Democrats made a favorite topic on the presidential campaign trail. FEMA was reorganized and strengthened after that, and it has avoided the onslaught of negative feedback Katrina generated.
The agency hasn't been tested the same way it was after the hurricane, however.
Gov. Steve Beshear raised Kentucky's death toll to 24 on Monday, meaning the storm has been blamed in at least 55 deaths nationwide. And while it also knocked out power to more than a million customers from the Southern Plains to the East Coast, it's still considered a medium-sized disaster, the kind FEMA has traditionally been successful handling.
The Kentucky disaster will be closely watched, said Richard Sylves, professor of political science at the University of Delaware, particularly because Obama hasn't yet named the top FEMA officials, many of whom must go through Senate confirmation.
"If it's perceived not to be handled very well, or if there's a sense that there's insensitivity at the federal level to the plight of people suffering, I imagine the people President Obama has appointed to senior positions in FEMA will be grilled in their confirmation hearings," said Sylves, who has written four books on federal disaster policy.
Beshear asked Obama for a disaster declaration to free up federal assistance Thursday, two days after the storm hit, and Obama issued it hours later. Trucks loaded with supplies began arriving at a staging area at Fort Campbell, Ky., on Friday morning, said Mary Hudak, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
On Saturday, Beshear ordered all of the state's Army National Guardsmen into action to distribute supplies, many of which came from FEMA.
Beshear has consistently praised Obama, a fellow Democrat, for the attention he's devoted to what Beshear calls the biggest natural disaster to hit his state.
"We have had tremendous and quick response from President Obama and his administration," Beshear said Monday. "I don't think any of our folks that have dealt with disasters before ever recall as quick a response as we got last Wednesday."
Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management Association, based in Lexington, Ky., said that from what she's heard, FEMA's response has been very good so far. Her group represents emergency management directors from all 50 states.
"The governor's declaration request for an emergency was turned around very, very quickly by FEMA and the White House," said Sheets, who just had her power restored Monday after four days without it. "And President Obama has spoken with the governor of Kentucky on several occasions throughout the event."
Sheets said she hadn't heard any complaints so far about the federal response.
"FEMA and the Kentucky National Guard are doing everything they can to get things back up and running," Sen. Jim Bunning said.
By Monday, FEMA officials were checking in on supply distribution points in some rural areas. FEMA official Don Daniel stopped by to ask emergency management officials in Grayson County, who had criticized FEMA's absence late last week, what they needed.
More generators, they told him, to keep essential services such as hospitals and water supplies running.
"If they need more, they'll get them," Daniel said. "That need has to be met."
Federal authorities hadn't made it everywhere yet, however.
Brocton Oglesby, director of emergency management in Hopkins County, said he has seen virtually no contribution from FEMA in the county, where more than half of the 27,000 homes remained without electricity.
"They need to be here — at least a presence, a liaison to work with us, to start feeding information and gearing up for the next stage," Oglesby said. "That's where they're going to be needed the most."
Oglesby's seen FEMA show up after other disasters to assess the damages and write checks. Beshear asked for FEMA to have a role on the front end this time, though, and Oglesby said that hasn't happened.
"As soon as they want to come in and start working, we're ready to go," he said.
Oglesby said he would like FEMA to bring in outside electricians to help go door to door to make sure the electricity is operational in each house once it comes back on.
"Right now, mom and pop are going to have to fend for themselves and find an electrician," Oglesby said. "This is where we're needing FEMA's presence."
Associated Press writers Joe Biesk in Frankfort, Ky., Dylan T. Lovan in Louisville, Ky., Jeffrey McMurray in Lexington, Ky., Bruce Schreiner in Leitchfield, Ky., and Eileen Sullivan and Frederic J. Frommer in Washington contributed to this report.
FEMA gets decent marks for its ice storm response
By ROGER ALFORD – Feb 2, 2009
EDDYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — In the first real test of the Obama administration's ability to respond to a disaster, Kentucky officials are giving the federal government good marks for its response to a deadly ice storm.
Yet more than 300,000 residents remained without power Monday and some areas had yet to see aid workers nearly a week after the storm, a fact not lost on some local authorities.
"We haven't seen FEMA. They haven't been here," said Jaime Green, a spokeswoman for the emergency operations center in Lyon County, about 95 miles northwest of Nashville, Tenn.
Federal authorities insisted they responded as soon as the state asked for help and promised to keep providing whatever aid was necessary.
FEMA has been under the microscope since the Bush administration's botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which Barack Obama and other Democrats made a favorite topic on the presidential campaign trail. FEMA was reorganized and strengthened after that, and it has avoided the onslaught of negative feedback Katrina generated.
The agency hasn't been tested the same way it was after the hurricane, however.
Gov. Steve Beshear raised Kentucky's death toll to 24 on Monday, meaning the storm has been blamed in at least 55 deaths nationwide. And while it also knocked out power to more than a million customers from the Southern Plains to the East Coast, it's still considered a medium-sized disaster, the kind FEMA has traditionally been successful handling.
The Kentucky disaster will be closely watched, said Richard Sylves, professor of political science at the University of Delaware, particularly because Obama hasn't yet named the top FEMA officials, many of whom must go through Senate confirmation.
"If it's perceived not to be handled very well, or if there's a sense that there's insensitivity at the federal level to the plight of people suffering, I imagine the people President Obama has appointed to senior positions in FEMA will be grilled in their confirmation hearings," said Sylves, who has written four books on federal disaster policy.
Beshear asked Obama for a disaster declaration to free up federal assistance Thursday, two days after the storm hit, and Obama issued it hours later. Trucks loaded with supplies began arriving at a staging area at Fort Campbell, Ky., on Friday morning, said Mary Hudak, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
On Saturday, Beshear ordered all of the state's Army National Guardsmen into action to distribute supplies, many of which came from FEMA.
Beshear has consistently praised Obama, a fellow Democrat, for the attention he's devoted to what Beshear calls the biggest natural disaster to hit his state.
"We have had tremendous and quick response from President Obama and his administration," Beshear said Monday. "I don't think any of our folks that have dealt with disasters before ever recall as quick a response as we got last Wednesday."
Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management Association, based in Lexington, Ky., said that from what she's heard, FEMA's response has been very good so far. Her group represents emergency management directors from all 50 states.
"The governor's declaration request for an emergency was turned around very, very quickly by FEMA and the White House," said Sheets, who just had her power restored Monday after four days without it. "And President Obama has spoken with the governor of Kentucky on several occasions throughout the event."
Sheets said she hadn't heard any complaints so far about the federal response.
"FEMA and the Kentucky National Guard are doing everything they can to get things back up and running," Sen. Jim Bunning said.
By Monday, FEMA officials were checking in on supply distribution points in some rural areas. FEMA official Don Daniel stopped by to ask emergency management officials in Grayson County, who had criticized FEMA's absence late last week, what they needed.
More generators, they told him, to keep essential services such as hospitals and water supplies running.
"If they need more, they'll get them," Daniel said. "That need has to be met."
Federal authorities hadn't made it everywhere yet, however.
Brocton Oglesby, director of emergency management in Hopkins County, said he has seen virtually no contribution from FEMA in the county, where more than half of the 27,000 homes remained without electricity.
"They need to be here — at least a presence, a liaison to work with us, to start feeding information and gearing up for the next stage," Oglesby said. "That's where they're going to be needed the most."
Oglesby's seen FEMA show up after other disasters to assess the damages and write checks. Beshear asked for FEMA to have a role on the front end this time, though, and Oglesby said that hasn't happened.
"As soon as they want to come in and start working, we're ready to go," he said.
Oglesby said he would like FEMA to bring in outside electricians to help go door to door to make sure the electricity is operational in each house once it comes back on.
"Right now, mom and pop are going to have to fend for themselves and find an electrician," Oglesby said. "This is where we're needing FEMA's presence."
Associated Press writers Joe Biesk in Frankfort, Ky., Dylan T. Lovan in Louisville, Ky., Jeffrey McMurray in Lexington, Ky., Bruce Schreiner in Leitchfield, Ky., and Eileen Sullivan and Frederic J. Frommer in Washington contributed to this report.
10Carnophile
>3 StormRaven:, 6, 9
But people died! Peeeoople diiiiiiieeeeeed! Therefore we can blame the sitting President!
That's the spirit, though; keep going!
But people died! Peeeoople diiiiiiieeeeeed! Therefore we can blame the sitting President!
That's the spirit, though; keep going!
11ejj1955
"The agency hasn't been tested the same way it was after the hurricane, however."
This kind of thing makes me crazy. In June 2006 we had a huge flood that affected areas of NY, PA, and NJ. No, we didn't have the kind of death toll that Katrina or the ice storm had, but there was plenty of devastation over a huge area.
FEMA didn't provide electricians then for those of us who lost power; it was a matter of finding your own and first come, first served. My house was without power for about three weeks. It was about a month after the flood that I received my lovely FEMA trailer, in which I spent the next ten months. FEMA wasn't perfect and they don't repair everything by a long shot, but they were mostly helpful.
FEMA has guidelines about what they can and can't do to help--I don't think the local government gets to decide what they want them to do.
This kind of thing makes me crazy. In June 2006 we had a huge flood that affected areas of NY, PA, and NJ. No, we didn't have the kind of death toll that Katrina or the ice storm had, but there was plenty of devastation over a huge area.
FEMA didn't provide electricians then for those of us who lost power; it was a matter of finding your own and first come, first served. My house was without power for about three weeks. It was about a month after the flood that I received my lovely FEMA trailer, in which I spent the next ten months. FEMA wasn't perfect and they don't repair everything by a long shot, but they were mostly helpful.
FEMA has guidelines about what they can and can't do to help--I don't think the local government gets to decide what they want them to do.
12theoria
The people in Kentucky should heed the words of a leading Republican:
"During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office, I'd never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: "Well, I'm the Sheriff and if you don't like it you can come and arrest me!" I asked him: "Sheriff, what's got you so mad?" He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were all lined up ready to go, when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn't go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration. I told him, "Sheriff, that's ridiculous." And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: "Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!" Harry just told the boaters to ignore the bureaucrats and go start rescuing people.
There is a lesson in this experience: The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and the enterprising spirit of our citizens."
"During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office, I'd never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: "Well, I'm the Sheriff and if you don't like it you can come and arrest me!" I asked him: "Sheriff, what's got you so mad?" He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were all lined up ready to go, when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn't go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration. I told him, "Sheriff, that's ridiculous." And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: "Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!" Harry just told the boaters to ignore the bureaucrats and go start rescuing people.
There is a lesson in this experience: The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and the enterprising spirit of our citizens."
