Southern LA parishes not declared emergency

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before Katrina. <br><br>WHY NOT?<br><br><br><br>For Immediate Release<br>Office of the Press Secretary<br>August 27, 2005 <br><br>Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana <br><br>The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 26, 2005, and continuing. <br><br>The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn. <br><br>Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding. <br><br>Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area. <br><br>FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600. <br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/bushincompetencemap.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html">www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>via http://www.whatreallyhappened.com <p></p><i></i>

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So I just called FEMA and got a very nice lady on the phone. I asked her about this. She said they were aware of it, and the question is being asked. She asked me if I was with the media, and I told her I was a concerned American citizen. She said, "I think all of us should be concerned. This delcaration of emergency wasn't all inclusive and makes no sense whatsoever."<br><br>She then gave me an 800# that she gives out to the press and asked me to call and ask them the same question. I called the number, but it's busy. <p></p><i></i>

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response back from a friend that I sent this to. He said it's "secondary damage". He didn't bother to give me links to prove it, though. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :\ --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

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<br> Rivero linked to the original Bob Harris story further down on the page. I believe the colored map was assembled by Harris to illustrate his point:<br><br><br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em><br> "Picking up on a thought bouncing around back at TMW after a Chris Floyd post, I thought I'd find out for myself exactly which Louisiana parishes were and were not included in George W. Bush's declaration of emergency effective August 26th, which you can also reach by clicking the map itself.<br><br>I checked the parish map against the White House's own press release, posted on their own site. I have tried to figure out how this is my own mistake, but I can't find it. And the results are frankly so bizarre I had to make the graphic in order to properly show you.<br><br>Welcome to upside-down-land: the areas at risk for Katrina were quite remarkably the areas not included in Bush's declaration of emergency.<br><br>What the hell?<br><br>Compare and contrast with the full and specific statewide list of parishes and the services they will receive issued after the storm hit.<br><br>Is this really what Bush authorized before the storm hit? Are they really that incompetent?<br><br><br>PS: Putting to rest any nightmares, the map doesn't correlate in any way I can find with demographics, income, voting patterns, campaign contributions, or the like. If I haven't made an obvious mistake, I'm just hoping now that the press release simply got the list of "emergency" and "non-emergency" parishes mixed up.<br><br>In other words, more galling incompetence in the White House, albeit trivial, is really the best-case scenario...."<br></em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--><br><br> and much, much more:<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/637/1/">Bush orders FEMA to Protect Upsidedownland</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>

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How very interesting.<br><br>Here's the updates from the original site:<br><br>UPDATE: I've received numerous emails explaining that all of the coastal parishes were already declared disaster areas because of Tropical Storm Cindy, which struck in June. Checking with FEMA's own website... nope. Only five coastal parishes -- Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, and St. Charles -- seem to be covered here, and only on a limited basis at that.<br><br>This is explicitly confirmed by the presidential authorization of August 23, as posted on the White House website.<br><br>I'm still hoping and half-expecting to find I've overlooked something. I hope so. Honestly. I do not exactly enjoy this, and I hope this is my own mistake in some way. But I've looked and looked on the White House and FEMA websites and Googled my fingers half off, and while I do find several parishes coming in line for various types of aid piecemeal at various times over the last several years, I cannot yet find anything which even comes close to accounting for the diagram above. It still appears that while northern Louisiana was covered, much of Louisiana directly in the storm's path was simply not covered by the president's declaration at the time the storm hit.<br><br><br>UPDATE 2: I've tried calling FEMA general number repeatedly, but the phone is ringing endlessly with no answer. Not even a machine or voicemail. They seem a bit overwhelmed. I'm reluctant to take anyone's time there anyway right now anyway. Instead, I've sent polite emails to the public FEMA email addresses that seems relevant, asking for a brief explanation of the above once things have calmed down.<br><br><br>UPDATE 3: My inbox has received many dozens of emails from people pointing to August 29th (post-storm) documents, which supposedly fill in the blanks but are entirely off the point. We're looking for a pre-storm explanation. Please check your dates carefully.<br><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>