California firefighters are beginning to tame some of the wildfires that have been burning out of control for the fourth day have forcing over one-half million to a million southern California residents from their homes in the largest mass evacuation in the US since hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast in 2005.
With the eyes of the world on California, the federal government is anxious to ensure there is no repeat of its lackluster response in the aftermath of Katrina.Ironically, the issue then was raised, what if there were a disaster in OrangeCounty, what would be the response?
As of Tuesday, more than 1,500 homes and businesses had been destroyed and nearly 70,000 structures remained under threat in an area that extends north of Los Angeles down to the Mexican Border.
The firestorm continues to be fuelled by soaring temperatures and fierce Santa Ana winds, which were gusting up to 65 mph but which have reduced.
The blazes have left behind more than 500,000 acres of scorched earth so far. Damages have already been estimated at over $1 billion.
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has spent the past two days visiting disaster areas and evacuation centers. He appears determined to ensure that federal disaster relief will be forthcoming in a timely manner.However, some are critical of his administration for not following a blue-ribbon recommendation after the last conflagration.
On Tuesday, after President George Bush issued a “declaration of emergency”, Governor Schwarzenegger asked in writing that Mr Bush upgrade the declaration to “major disaster” to trigger federal aid – because “this disaster is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capability of the state and local governments”.
Mr Bush granted this order on Wednesday, which the White House said would provide aid that “can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.” It will also help local and state agencies pay for the emergency response.
President Bush will tour devastated areas of California on Thursday. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, arrived on Tuesday.
“I think there's no question that there were a couple of the lessons from Katrina which we have put into effect here,” said Mr Chertoff.
He said that more than two years spent planning, preparing and coordinating efforts with the Defense Department and other state authorities had helped FEMA deliver a better response to the California disaster.
This time, Mr Chertoff had also made sure that FEMA had “really flooded the zone as quickly as possible by staging assets to deal both with the firefighting issue and with the response issue”.
Having also been accused of bureaucratic indifference after Katrina, Mr Chertoff said he hadn’t waited for the paperwork to be signed before staging this assistance in California.
The real truth is...Blanco failed...Nagin failed. Blanco DID NOT request to be declared a disaster area...Bush asked her 3 times before the storm ever hit that she do so. Second...when she finally did and was asked what was needed..her response was "everything". This is proof of her complete inability of lead or use any plan that may have been available. It is the state and local authorities' responsilbility to be the first response. They failed in this. Of course the fact that majority of NOLA Police left...made this difficult. Now..Nagin...he had the plenty of buses and drivers at his disposal to evacuate people...he chose not to...despite being warned by the Hurricane Center out Miami. How is it that any other city that has been hit these types of terrible events seem to have a plan and the people can make it ? I undestand that you are fed "talking points" and "documents"...but given that Blanco did not run...proves that if people actually looked into her complete and utter failure...she would probably face criminal charges. I realize that having to admit failure is tough...but given sheer lack of ability...she needs to fade away...and Nagin recalled. Written by LT
on 10/30/2007
LT, Blanco asked that New Orleans and surrounding areas be declared major disaster zones from the outset, but Brownie got that wrong at his first big meeting and even expressed his “shock” that she hadn’t included them. Blanco later posted over a hundred thousand Katrina-related documents on the Internet, and the feds had to concede that she had indeed asked for the entire south-east region to be designated a disaster zone, in order to trigger federal assistance – just as Gov Schwarzenegger did for the hardest hit seven counties in southern California. And while I agree with you that Nagin’s mandatory evacuation order should have come a day earlier, that still would not have changed the situation for the tens of thousands of people who couldn’t afford to leave the city. And absolutely, there should have been food, water and other supplies waiting for evacuees at the Superdome. On another point that you raised, one of Blanco’s first requests was to have National Guard troops sent in. Not packing fuzzy dice, but guns, LT, guns! I can’t imagine where you heard otherwise. There is no doubt, or surprise, that the magnitude and severity of the post-Katrina flooding left local and state agencies overwhelmed. Blanco and Nagin did make decisions and issue urgent requests to the feds, but those requests disappeared into the ether, as Brownie would later attest. Michael Chertoff and FEMA officials are upfront these days saying that they ‘learned lessons’ from Katrina and lifted their game – they said this only two days ago when interviewed about the wildfires. And LT, thank you for acknowledging that my family are among those who are fiercely determined to rebuild, one step at a time, the city we love. We all know people who are working damn hard to put their lives back together, and let me tell you the road ahead would challenge even the stoutest heart. Again, thank you. Written by Judith
on 10/26/2007
Judith...I'm sorry..it is apparent that you are maybe one of the people in LA-land that is actually taking it upon yourself to rebuild your life. But you cannot deny that the state and local governement did a terrible job. It was obvious to Gov Blanco that she knew re-election wasn't an option. The fact the Nagin was re-elected...causing the entire nation to question the collective IQ of that city. Sorry...facts are what they are. Deny, name call, rewrite history. The only lesson that was learned during Katrina by the Feds was not to wait for the State and local government leaders to make decisions...that was proven to be the fact in your situation. Written by LT
on 10/26/2007
Judith...dear Judith. The feds did act appropiately...if you understood that was your Governor that failed to declare NOLA and surrounding areas a disaster area. It was NOLA's Mayor (elected for life) Ray Nagin that refused to evacuate the city even after getting a phone call from the Hurricane Center in Miami that the city was in terrible danger. It was your governor that didn't the National Guard there as, get this, she said that they carried guns. Which they needed as some the citizens of NOLA took to sniping at some of the relief workers. It was NOLA's mayor that acutally said, "we dodged a major bullet". Yes the flooding was a major disaster...but the humna suffering could have been greatly reduced if and only if your state and local government leaders actually acted like leaders. Theie continued failure henders the relief efforts...no-bid contracts, the ill-planned roads home. You are re-write history if it allows you to cope...but don't expose that to people that saw what happened...try again...some other time. Given all the fraud and waste of tax payers money, you should be ashamed of yourself. By the way...you are a typical dem-lib...when presented with the facts...call the messenger a name. How pitiful. Written by LT
on 10/26/2007
Nice try, LT. Chertoff and FEMA openly admit that their response was pathetic after Katrina. Have the lessons been learned? I think the jury is still out. Schwarzenegger actually had to insist to Bush that this was a major disaster to get federal aid flowing, because “THIS DISASTER IS OF SUCH SEVERITY AND MAGNITUDE THAT EFFECTIVE RESPONSE IS BEYOND THE CAPABILITY OF THE STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS”. And it is well documented that the predicament of survivors post Katrina was FAR WORSE. So you can keep barking all you want that state and local authorities in Louisiana could have handled the Katrina crisis, and that the feds had their act together and responded appropriately, but you are one of a dwindling handful of drongos in the world who actually believe that. Written by Judith
on 10/25/2007
The only lessons to be learned are to watch how the state of California and local governments handled the emergency with a good plan and appropiate action. Nice try...though... Written by LT
on 10/25/2007
