FEMA

[Justine Cooper]

Isn't it a tragic irony that our country is helping to rebuild the war-stricken Iraq, but can't even provide the most basic need (shelter) for our own? Why hasn't Bush declared Arkansas a disaster zone while hundreds are homeless? The cruelest joke is that thousands of trailers sit less than two hundred miles away EMPTY. I wonder what other countries think when they watch CNN and witness those twilight zone moments.

[Jeff Endress]

Justine

I don't think that Arkansas has any huge oil reserves.

Jeff

[Justine Cooper]

How sad. If I won that big old lottery I would go buy them from Fema and move them to the homeless. Where is Bill Gates right now and all the money?

[Jim O'Bryan]

How sad. If I won that big old lottery I would go buy them from Fema and move them to the homeless. Where is Bill Gates right now and all the money?

Bill gained 35% last year.

We must also remember FEMA was not created to handle Hurricanes and tornados. This is a job they have been forced into.

Not making excuses for them, but it is like using army troops for police work. Just doesn't end well.

peace

[ryan costa]

It is interesting to compare the civic, police, and army response to the Great San Francisco Earthquake

Army role in Aftermath

The city fire chief sent an urgent request to the Presidio, an Army post on the edge of the stricken city, for dynamite. BG Frederick Funston, commanding the Department of California and a resident of San Francisco, had already decided the situation required the use of troops. Collaring a policeman, he sent word to Mayor Schmitz of his decision to assist. Martial law was never declared, however, and troops took guidance from civilian authorities.

During the first few days soldiers provided valuable services patrolling streets to discourage looting and guarding buildings such as the U.S. Mint, post office, and county jail. They aided the fire department in dynamiting to demolish buildings in the path of the fires. The Army also became responsible for feeding, sheltering, and clothing the tens of thousands of displaced residents of the city. This support prompted many citizens to exclaim, "Thank God for the soldiers!" Under the command of MG Adolphus Greely, Commanding Officer, Pacific Division, Funston's superior, over 4,000 troops saw service during the emergency. On July 1, 1906 civil authorities assumed responsibility for relief efforts, and the Army withdrew from the city.

On April 18, Mayor Schmitz issued a proclamation in response to riots among refugees and looting, "regular Police Force and all Special Police Officers have been authorized by (him) to KILL any and all persons found engaged in Looting or in the Commission of Any Other Crime." It is estimated that as many 500 people were shot dead in the city, many of whom, it has been suggested, were not looting at all, but were attempting to save their own possessions from the advancing fire....
.......
The Army built 5,610 redwood and fir "relief houses" to accommodate 20,000 displaced people. The houses were designed by John McLaren, and were grouped in eleven camps, packed close to each other and rented to people for two dollars per month until rebuilding was completed. They were painted olive drab, partly to blend in with the site, and partly because the military had large quantities of olive drab paint on hand. The camps had a peak population of 16,448 people, but by 1907 most people had moved out. The camps were then re-used as garages, storage spaces or shops. The cottages cost on average $100-741 to put up. Families would rent cottages for $2 a month. which went towards the full purchase price of $50. The cottages that are still around are now worth on average $500,000.

.

On the other hand, It sucks working in rainy or wet weather. San Francisco was nice and dry.

[Justine Cooper]

Jim,
Sorry but that point is lost on me. When I went into education I didn't learn how to restrain kids in college, but was "forced" into it in an alternative school. Needless to say, at that point you either learn adapt to the tide, or leave.

Regardless of what Fema was initially formed to do, their role is helping with disasters, and if they can't, they need to allow another group to take that over. And, the bottom line in this scenerio, is that there are thousands of FEMA OWNED EMPTY TRAILERS MILES FROM WHERE THE DEVASTED AND HOMELESS PEOPLE ARE LEFT.

[Justine Cooper]

FEMA had one original concept when it was created, to assure the survivability of the United States government in the event of a nuclear attack on this nation. It was also provided with the task of being a federal coordinating body during times of domestic disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. Its awesome powers grow under the tutelage of people like Lt. Col. Oliver North and General Richard Second, the architects on the Iran-Contra scandal and the looting of America's savings and loan institutions. FEMA has even been given control of the State Defense Forces, a rag-tag, often considered neo-Nazi, civilian army that will substitute for the National Guard, if the Guard is called to duty overseas.

http://sonic.net/sentinel/gvcon6.html

[David Anderson]

"We must also remember FEMA was not created to handle Hurricanes and tornadoes. This is a job they have been forced into." What?

Jim, coordinating and supplementing ground level relief efforts in response to declared natural and man made disasters and states of emergency is a major component if FEMA's overall objective and is stated in its charter dating back to Carter who signed the founding EO. (Other components include national flood insurance, rebuilding, loans, training, etc.)

Hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods, toxic spills - these are what FEMA was designed to address.

The prospect of Federal disaster relief/response officials coordinating with state and local disaster relief/response officials isn't quite the same as having the Army perform police duties.

[/quote]

[Jim O'Bryan]

David/Justine

It has always been my belief looking at the times and the verbiage used during to formation had more to do with Martial Law. Becoming the police, needed in a police state. I believe that their powers supersede nearly every other group involved in law enforcement.

This came about during the riots.

In the 70s they began to become more and more of what we think of FEMA now. In recent years, it strengths and purpose have become enlarge in some areas, and narrowed in others.

I believe Justine is correct, we need an organization dedicated to emergency relief. FEMA is a total failure in this area.

.

[Justine Cooper]

Don't you find it bizzare, in light of the fact that they supersede all other government, that the person Bush put in charge only had training with horses? Where is he now? Carter may have tried to tweak Fema, but what has happened since?

My sister ran disaster relief for Red Cross in other countries and there was less red tape. They had a disaster. They flew her there. She got her hands dirty and lived among the hurt, and helped them get what they needed.

[ryan costa]

creating red tape is a job of the twenty first century. navigating red tape is a job of the twentyfirst century. Throwing the book at someone everytime they don't navigate the red tape properly is also a job of the 21st century. It is ok. We are in the post-industrial economy.

civic services forces are less informally flexible and informally capable than they used to be(army, police, courts, firemen). So we need FEMA.

[Justine Cooper]

Are you saying throwing the book at red tape problems include questioning why there are thousands of empty trailers miles from a natural disaster in our own country? Or why Fema is now selling thousands of used trailers in New Orleans at auction but many are still homeless?

Yes we need Fema, but it needs to be restarted at a new level. An organization more powerful than the president but not made up of anyone elected or anyone approved by Congress?? hm

[ryan costa]

I am saying the quest to hold someone in FEMA "responsible" for there being thousands of unused trailers hundreds of miles away is usually carried out in ways that don't get those unused trailers shipped to where they are needed. It usually involves attempting to put the screws to administrators as thoroughly as possible. They counter this by citing minute details of written procedures they followed. Critics microanalyze the rule books to see if this is true or if some other verses justify putting the screws to Officials XYZ. The solution is usually to form a committee to microanalyze and replace or append a new mountain of red tape to the old. The trailers still aren't shipped in the time it would take to hire some retired truck drivers for 12 dollars an hour(semi-charity) to deliver the trailers to the railroads, ship them to New Orleans, unload them from the rails, and place them on lots.

People much cleverer than you or me are meanwhile maneuvering to restructure FEMA into something which much broader or richer powers, citing its 'failures' during Hurricane Katrina as justification for doing so. Blame the policy, even if the failures are purely human.

The judge or magistrate in charge of the part of the system that released an alleged juvenile rapist from juvie hall only to have him shoot his alleged victim in the face with a shotgun defended herself by claiming she followed the correct protocols. Perhaps those protocols should include talking with potential shock parolees for a few hours before simply seeing how many points they have in some technical evaluation.

[Justine Cooper]

Don't even get me started on our Juvenile System in Cleveland, which is now being scrutinized, appropriately, by the rest of the country. Unfortunately, it often takes a tragedy to bring awareness to a flawed system. And yes the media too. The media, for better or worse, gets more action taken than any policy or government. If there are to be any changes with our Juvenile Detention system, it won't be because of the shooting, it will be because the media let everyone know what is going on, and caught on tape, an indifferent and arrogant judge saying "Yea I would do it again".

[Bret Callentine]

An organization more powerful than the president but not made up of anyone elected or anyone approved by Congress??

Holy Crap! And you're scared of what BUSH does? I agree that FEMA is pretty much a waste of money as it's currently configured, but be careful what you wish for...

Where are the regional governors in all of this? Aren't they the first line in the responsibility chain? How come everything falls on Bush? Not that this isn't an important issue, but give the guy a break, he's a little busy right now setting up sugar cane cartels in Brazil.