FEMA to Stay Out of Ophelia Response
By Montag | Related entries in MilitaryApparently, FEMA won’t be handling the federal response to Hurricane Ophelia.
For the first time in recent memory, a military officer took responsibility for the federal response. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Brian Peterman arrived in the state early Monday.
The presence of a Coast Guard admiral to coordinate the federal effort was a departure from the customary role of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been savaged for the slow response to Katrina.
The Register-Guard: North Carolina remains on alert, bracing for storm
Hat tip: Majikthise
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September 14th, 2005 at 10:55 am
Smart move. The fed is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”
position. If they respond too quickly to Ophelia, we’ll hear “See how quickly they respond when it’s WHITE people”. If they respond at the same speed as before, we’ll hear “They don’t even learn from their mistakes” The safest bet is to just stay away.
September 14th, 2005 at 11:27 am
“We’ll get criticized” is a horrible excuse for not showing up and trying to save lives.
And when I say that excuse is horrible, I actually mean it’s absolutely, positively, 100% horrible. If we operated off of that logic, our nation would be in really bad shape.
Remember, state and local governments can’t write blank checks. The federal government can. As Hurricane Katrina has shown, sometimes we need a blank check.
September 14th, 2005 at 12:26 pm
Actually, this is the 2nd Coast Guard flag officer to be named Principle Federal Official for a hurricane: Admiral Allen is the PFO for the federal government’s response to Katrina.
See my blog for more details on commentary on this…
September 14th, 2005 at 2:47 pm
Much of the what the (misguided) critics had to say about FEMA caused FEMA to respond in the manner that was SAFEST for them this time. I’m not saying that’s right or wrong, just making an observation. There’s still a federal presence on the ground, if needed. He’s just not from FEMA. Less bureaucracy means better response time.
hmmm… maybe they did learn something. I withdraw my earlier comment.
September 14th, 2005 at 3:56 pm
I live in North Carolina. Imagine my sense of relief.