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Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Yet another report critical of FEMA

The latest litany of failures:
WASHINGTON - An internal FEMA report that calls for urgent reform after Hurricane Katrina outlines old failures the disaster response agency was warned about five months before the storm struck.

A Feb. 13 report assessing the Federal Emergency Management Agency's response to the storm concludes FEMA suffered from confusing leadership roles, outdated or inadequate response plans and inexperienced or under-trained staff during Katrina. It also details problems in tracking supplies to disaster sites.

All of those findings were highlighted in a March 2005 consultant's analysis, titled "A Vision for the Future," on how to revamp FEMA before the next disaster hit.

[..]

The new FEMA report was posted on the agency's Web site earlier this year. The agency pulled it from the site after a reporter's inquiry. The 2005 analysis by the Mitre Corp., obtained by The Associated Press, examined FEMA's performance during the 2004 Florida hurricanes.

Both reports describe FEMA's blunders in trying to communicate and coordinate with onsite disaster responders, and get much-needed supplies like food, water and ice to victims.
There are plenty of reports detailing what went wrong, with new revelations each day it seems. There still aren't any concrete plans for fixing it, or for helping the people of the Gulf Coast. It has been seven months since Katrina struck. The 2006 hurricane season starts in about 45 days.
posted by R. Neal at 8:33 AM | Email this post | Post a Comment
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