Hurricane Katrina: FEMA Ignored Assistance From Interior Department
Committee Chair Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) called the documents "the most candid assessment that we've received from any federal agency... [W]e have another federal department offering skilled personnel and the exact kinds of assets that were so desperately needed in the Gulf region in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and there no response that we can discern from FEMA. That is incredible to me."
In addition, FEMA called off search-and-rescue operations on 1 September, three days after the storm hit, according to an e-mail from headquarters that cited security concerns. Post-event analyses have demonstrated that news reports of mayhem were exaggerated and that government officials were relying on news accounts for their "intelligence."
- The Interior Department "proposed dispatching as many as 400 of its law enforcement officers to provide security in Gulf Coast cities ravaged by flooding and looting." It took FEMA almost a month to act on the offer. (cite)
- Although FEMA called off search-and-rescue operations three days after the storm hit, according to Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), ranking minority committee member, the Coast Guard and other local, state and federal personnel continued looking for victims. (cite)
- FEMA did request search-and-rescue help in New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish and St. Tammany Parish; however, the Interior Department "never received task assignments." (cite)
- The Interior Department made "more than 300 boats, 11 aircraft, 119 pieces of heavy equipment, 300 dump trucks and other vehicles for clearing debris, as well as Interior-owned campgrounds and other lands that could be used as staging areas or emergency shelters" "immediately available for humanitarian and emergency assistance," according to the 7 November 2005 Interior Department report. (cite)
- Other agencies were similarly rebuffed. "Amtrak reportedly offered, before the storm, to carry residents out, but its train left nearly empty. New Mexico offered National Guard troops, but for days officials waited for formal approval to use them." (cite)
"Although the Department possesses significant resources that could have improved initial and ongoing response, many of these resources were not effectively incorporated into the federal response for Hurricane Katrina," according to Assistant Interior Secretary P. Lynn Scarlett in the Interior Department report. "Although we attempted to provide these assets through the process established by the (response plan), we were unable to efficiently integrate and deploy those resources."
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