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RE: (rshsdepot) Pass the blame where it belongs, Mary
The following was issued around 5 PM CDT on Friday, Aug 26. The Hurricane
made landfall at 6:10 AM CDT on Monday, Aug 29th. She took every step that
was required by law of her and then some.
GOVERNOR BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY
BATON ROUGE, LA--Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco today issued
Proclamation No. 48 KBB 2005, declaring a state of emergency for the state
Louisiana as Hurricane Katrina poses an imminent threat, carrying severe
storms, high winds, and torrential rain that may cause flooding and damage
to private property and public facilities, and threaten the safety and
security of the citizens of the state of Louisiana The state of emergency
extends from Friday, August 26, 2005, through Sunday, September 25, 2005,
unless terminated sooner.
The full text of Proclamation No. 48 KBB 2005 is as follows:
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and
Disaster Act, R.S. 29 21, et seq., confers upon the governor of the state of
Louisiana emergency powers to deal with emergencies and disasters, including
those caused by fire, flood, earthquake or other natural or man-made causes,
in order to ensure that preparations of this state will be adequate to deal
with such emergencies or disasters and to preserve the lives and property of
the citizens of the state of Louisiana;
WHEREAS, when the governor finds a disaster or emergency has occurred, or
the threat thereof is imminent, R.S. 29 24(B)(1) empowers her to declare the
state of disaster or emergency by executive order or proclamation, or both;
and
WHEREAS, On August 26, 2005, Hurricane Katrina poses an imminent threat to
the state of Louisiana, carrying severe storms, high winds, and torrential
rain that may cause flooding and damage to private property and public
facilities, and threaten the safety and security of the citizens of
Louisiana;
NOW THEREFORE I, KATHLEEN BABINEAUX BLANCO,
Governor of the state of Louisiana, by virtue of the authority vested by the
Constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana, do hereby order and direct
as follows:
SECTION 1: Pursuant to the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency
Assistance and Disaster Act, R.S. 29 21, et seq., a state of emergency is
declared to exist in the state of Louisiana as Hurricane Katrina poses an
imminent threat, carrying severe storms, high winds, and torrential rain
that may cause flooding and damage to private property and public
facilities, and threaten the safety and security of the citizens of the
state of Louisiana;
SECTION 2: The state of Louisiana's emergency response and recovery program
is activated under the command of the director of the state office of
Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to prepare for and provide
emergency support services and/or to minimize the effects of the storm's
damage.
SECTION 3: The state of emergency extends from Friday, August 26, 2005,
through Sunday, September 25, 2005, unless terminated sooner.
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=973
- -----Original Message-----
From: rshsdepot-owner_@_lists.railfan.net
[mailto:rshsdepot-owner_@_lists.railfan.net] On Behalf Of Alexander D.
Mitchell IV
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 10:49 AM
To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net
Subject: (rshsdepot) Pass the blame where it belongs, Mary
> Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) Fw: here's that reference
>
> It's on Sen Landrieu's Senate website at
> http://landrieu.senate.gov/~landrieu/releases/05/2005903E12.html
>
> Also in
> http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/12562546.htm - in the
> "A Photo Op" paragraphs.
>
*Harry and others:
A statement from Sen, Mary Landrieu is not the same as an independent
analysis. More accurately, it's political grandstanding. When Amtrak made
the offer of evacuation, FEMA was NOT in charge--Louisiana officials were.
The major reason that FEMA was forced to drag its feet is that, according to
a Washington Post article on Sunday,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301
680.html
:
"Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for
assistance until Wednesday [after the storm], three state and federal
officials said. As of Saturday [six days after the storm], Blanco still had
not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said."
Let me point out that such a declaration BY THE GOVERNOR is necessary for
certain FEMA actions to kick in. This would be covered thoroughly in the
first few pages of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Governorship For Dummies",
or the first few hours of "Governorship 101". In some of the recent
hurricanes, some governors declared Federal disaster areas BEFORE the
hurricanes made landfall--for just this reason!
"The [Bush] administration sought unified control over all local police and
state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials
rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a
move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some
officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request.
"Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the
locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the
source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.
A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to
federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the
Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command
that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New
Orleans mayor."
This is not to defend FEMA, which has their own laundry list of stupidity to
answer to. But in the long-run analysis, in a disaster of this scope, it's
safe to say that no matter what Bush did, he'd be criticized. Stays in
Washington? "He doesn't care!" Goes down and tours the area? "He's just
doing photo ops!" I believe he'd be criticized if he had made the hurricane
vanish into thin air before making landfall ("Tampering with nature!").
But I'll demand the heads of the mayor and governor first.
We're trying to offer about 100 rail commuter passenger cars for the use of
relief workers to commute long-term to the stricken areas from areas that
can more readily provide housing (say, Lafayette to New Orleans, or
Pensacola to Gulfport). Now, consider: Who do we go to? Does FEMA have a
rail expert? How do we get a waiver for COT&S? Who pays for their
transport from Maryland and Illinois/Wisconsin? What if one gets torn up by
a mob or derailment?
Things are never so simple as the media make it out to be.
Alexander D. Mitchell IV
=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
------------------------------