Heck of a Job

Watching Michael Brown, the former head of FEMA, get beat up by members of Congress the other day wasn’t a pretty sight. Basically they accused him of not doing his job.

But of course he was doing his job, at least as he understood it.

It’s true, as  Brown says, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is not set up to be a first responder in disasters. FEMA is set up to provide aid to first responders who are, in most cases work for state and local governments. As it is currently set up, FEMA doesn’t respond to anything, unless formally asked to.  FEMA is set up in a passive mode, you might say. 

In case anyone had any doubts about this kind of set-up, this view of FEMA s was backed up by Brown’s boss Michael Chertoff, the head of the Department of Homeland Security. When asked about FEMA’s poor showing at a press conference, Mr Chertoff tried to explain it by saying that under the federal system, requests had to come from the bottom up. In the case of Louisiana, they didn’t, he implied.   You don't ask; we don't act.  Period.

All of which did nothing for the victims of Katrina especially those who could not escape and had to remain cooped up in the Superdome in appalling conditions.

Passivity in disaster relief just doesn't make it.

Politicians are simply going to have to wake up to the fact that certain events are by their very nature beyond the ability of state and local governments to deal with. Gulf hurricanes rarely respect state lines.  During these kinds of disasters government at all levels must be pro-active, not passive, especially when it is clear that a disaster is affecting the infrastructure of an entire region.

Quite apart from  structural problems of  FEMA, is  the question of the  behavior of its upper level staff.

How could these people be so isolated from the situation in the Gulf as to be unaware of the suffering of those who could not leave New Orleans?

It looks as if the people who head up FEMA don’t watch television. Or read newspapers for that matter. Or do much communicating at all.

How can FEMA, or any government agency be expected to respond in a timely manner, if the head of the agency can’t simply turn on CNN to find out what’s going on?

Apparently no one in FEMA’s top management was watching CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News when all the Gulf flooding was going down.

Is it possible that FEMA’s management was somehow unaware that a Category 4 hurricane was heading to the Gulf? Is it possible that neither Mr Brown or his staff felt it was important to let state and local authorities know that FEMA was available to help with relief efforts, should they be needed? Brown testified that he had called both the mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana and urged evacuation. But that was about the extent of his involvement , which Brown called “coordination.”

Two phone calls. Coordination. Right.

Even more depressing is the question of just exactly how qualified Mr Brown and his immediate staff are to actually head up FEMA. Based on Mr Brown’s employment history, there’s little to recommend him for such an important job. As it currently stands, FEMA is just a dumping ground for the administration’s hacks and supporters. Basically a high-level FEMA position is akin to an  old-time patronage job.  appointment. That’s got to change.

FEMA’s mission, according to its web site  is “to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters”. How can that happen the way FEMA is presently constituted?

During Katrina, there was little preparation, and a late response which was totally inexcusable; no matter what Mr Brown says or how much he attempts to point the blame at others.

In order to prevent another Katrina-type disaster, FEMA has got to be staffed with professionals who actually know something about dealing with disasters, not political hacks.

It would also help if FEMA’s staff were required to tune in to CNN every once in a while.

Punditwalla--