In the midst of the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina, a Federal
Emergency Management Agency official in New Orleans sent a dire e-mail
to Director Michael Brown saying victims had no food and were dying.
No response came from Brown.
Instead, less than three hours later, an aide to Brown sent an e-mail
saying her boss wanted to go on a television program that night -
after needing at least an hour to eat dinner at a Baton Rouge, La.,
restaurant.
The e-mails were made public Thursday at a Senate Homeland Security
Committee hearing featuring Marty Bahamonde, the first agency official
to arrive in New Orleans in advance of the Aug. 29 storm. The hurricane
killed more than 1,200 people and forced hundreds of thousands to
evacuate.
Bahamonde, who sent the e-mail to Brown two days after the storm struck,
said the correspondence illustrates the government's failure to grasp
what was happening.
"There was a systematic failure at all levels of government to
understand the magnitude of the situation," Bahamonde testified. "The
leadership from top down in our agency is unprepared and out of touch."
The 19 pages of internal FEMA e-mails show Bahamonde gave regular
updates to people in contact with Brown as early as Aug. 28, the day
before Katrina made landfall. They appear to contradict Brown, who has
said he was not fully aware of the conditions until days after the
storm hit. Brown quit after being recalled from New Orleans amid
criticism of his work.
...
Subsequent e-mails told of an increasingly desperate situation at the
New Orleans Superdome, where tens of thousands of evacuees were staying.
Bahamonde spent two nights there with the evacuees.
On Aug. 31, Bahamonde e-mailed Brown to tell him that thousands of
evacuees were gathering in the streets with no food or water and that
"estimates are many will die within hours."
"Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical," Bahamonde
wrote. "The sooner we can get the medical patients out, the sooner we
can get them out."
A short time later, Brown's press secretary, Sharon Worthy, wrote
colleagues to complain that the FEMA director needed more time to eat
dinner at a Baton Rouge restaurant that evening. "He needs much more that
(sic) 20 or 30 minutes," Worthy wrote.
"Restaurants are getting busy," she said. "We now have traffic to
encounter to go to and from a location of his choise (sic), followed by
wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc. Thank you."
...
You did a heckuva a job Brownie!
RT
In an Aug. 29 phone call to Brown informing him that the first levee had failed,
Bahamonde said he asked for guidance but did not get a response.
"He just said, 'Thank you,' and that he was going to call the White House," Bahamonde
said.
Emergency Management Agency official in New Orleans sent a dire e-mail
to Director Michael Brown saying victims had no food and were dying.
No response came from Brown.
Instead, less than three hours later, an aide to Brown sent an e-mail
saying her boss wanted to go on a television program that night -
after needing at least an hour to eat dinner at a Baton Rouge, La.,
restaurant.
The e-mails were made public Thursday at a Senate Homeland Security
Committee hearing featuring Marty Bahamonde, the first agency official
to arrive in New Orleans in advance of the Aug. 29 storm. The hurricane
killed more than 1,200 people and forced hundreds of thousands to
evacuate.
Bahamonde, who sent the e-mail to Brown two days after the storm struck,
said the correspondence illustrates the government's failure to grasp
what was happening.
"There was a systematic failure at all levels of government to
understand the magnitude of the situation," Bahamonde testified. "The
leadership from top down in our agency is unprepared and out of touch."
The 19 pages of internal FEMA e-mails show Bahamonde gave regular
updates to people in contact with Brown as early as Aug. 28, the day
before Katrina made landfall. They appear to contradict Brown, who has
said he was not fully aware of the conditions until days after the
storm hit. Brown quit after being recalled from New Orleans amid
criticism of his work.
...
Subsequent e-mails told of an increasingly desperate situation at the
New Orleans Superdome, where tens of thousands of evacuees were staying.
Bahamonde spent two nights there with the evacuees.
On Aug. 31, Bahamonde e-mailed Brown to tell him that thousands of
evacuees were gathering in the streets with no food or water and that
"estimates are many will die within hours."
"Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical," Bahamonde
wrote. "The sooner we can get the medical patients out, the sooner we
can get them out."
A short time later, Brown's press secretary, Sharon Worthy, wrote
colleagues to complain that the FEMA director needed more time to eat
dinner at a Baton Rouge restaurant that evening. "He needs much more that
(sic) 20 or 30 minutes," Worthy wrote.
"Restaurants are getting busy," she said. "We now have traffic to
encounter to go to and from a location of his choise (sic), followed by
wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc. Thank you."
...
You did a heckuva a job Brownie!
RT
In an Aug. 29 phone call to Brown informing him that the first levee had failed,
Bahamonde said he asked for guidance but did not get a response.
"He just said, 'Thank you,' and that he was going to call the White House," Bahamonde
said.
