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Congress Ordered FEMA to Study NOLA Evacuation Plan in 1997

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section Huricanes Katrina and Rita
Posted on Sun Sep 18, 2005 at 12:23:45 AM EST
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by Last Night in Little Rock

CNN.com reports here that Congress ordered FEMA in 1997 to study an evacuation plan for NOLA in case of a Category 3 or greater hurricane or levee break but that it apparently never happened.

The outcome provides one more example of the government's failure to prepare for a massive but foreseeable catastrophe, said the lawmaker who helped secure the money for FEMA to develop the evacuation plan.

Instead,

The $500,000 that Congress appropriated for the evacuation plan went to a commission that studied future options for the 24-mile bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney said.

One might say that money had some tangential relationship to an evacuation plan for NOLA, since the causeway is a way out. But,

Lambert said he could not trace how or if FEMA money came to the commission. Nor could Shelby LaSalle, a causeway consulting engineer who worked on the plan.

LaSalle said it would be "ludicrous" to consider his report an evacuation plan, although it had a transportation evacuation section, dated December 19, 1997. That part was tacked on mainly to promote the causeway for future designation as an official evacuation route, LaSalle said.

"We didn't do anything for FEMA," he added.

And, on whose watch was that?

< Evacuees Struggle to Receive Services | Mayor: Come Home / FEMA: Don't Come Home, At Least Not Yet >

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    Congress Ordered FEMA to Study NOLA Evacuation Plan in 1997 | 3 comments (3 topical)
    Re: Congress Ordered FEMA to Study NOLA Evacuation (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:59 PM EST
    Another nail in The bushbag admin's coffin. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the wingnuts continue to defend these monkeys? We all know what we would hear from them if the shoe was on the other foot!

    Re: Congress Ordered FEMA to Study NOLA Evacuation (none / 0) (#2)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:03:59 PM EST
    Money Earmarked for Evacuation Redirected Sep 17 2:36 PM US/Eastern By RITA BEAMISH
    As far back as eight years ago, Congress ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a plan for evacuating New Orleans during a massive hurricane, but the money instead went to studying the causeway bridge that spans the city's Lake Pontchartrain, officials say. The outcome provides one more example of the government's failure to prepare for a massive but foreseeable catastrophe, said the lawmaker who helped secure the money for FEMA to develop the evacuation plan. "They never used it for the intended purpose," said former Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La. "The whole intent was to give them resources so they could plan an evacuation of New Orleans that anticipated that a very large number of people would never leave."


    Re: Congress Ordered FEMA to Study NOLA Evacuation (none / 0) (#3)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:00 PM EST
    From the article:
    That possibility was one of the concerns that led Congress in 1997 to set aside $500,000 for FEMA to create "a……….. Frustrated two years later that no study had materialized, Congress strengthened its directive….
    Uh, Ed B. 1997, plus 2 years is 1999. Can you spell Clinton? And onward from the article…
    FEMA Director James Lee Witt, said the agency did what it needed when it gave the money to the state. "FEMA received an earmark which it processed through to the state as instructed by Congress," Scanlon said. Witt is now a private consultant to Gov. Kathleen Blanco on the Katrina aftermath…. Asked about any earlier FEMA-funded plan, Mark Smith, spokesman for the state Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said, "To the best of our knowledge we can find no information on this."
    Uh huh. Sure. Money? What money? And if you guys don’t understand that the current fight is about controlling that 100 Billion targeted to be spent, write some letters to Santa Claus… and see what is put in your stockings... And if we let these people even near the new funds, can you guess what will happen?

    Congress Ordered FEMA to Study NOLA Evacuation Plan in 1997 | 3 comments (3 topical)