Here in Texas, you are hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn't been affected by the tragedy in New Orleans. My brother-in-law's family is from New Orleans. His grandmother, two aunts, a cousin and his three children were all there when Katrina hit. One aunt, the cousin and his children left Slidell in their cars and headed to Texas. They eventually ended up in Houston at a hotel. Through some sort of miracle they found that the other aunt had also been brought to Houston and they were reunited. There has been no word on the grandmother. All anyone knows is that she went to a church in New Orleans when the storm began.

I listened to Ray Nagin's interview on the radio Friday morning and found myself crying all of the way into work.

I'm sick to death of people blaming the victims.

I'm tired of this administration's attempts to justify their own slow response. Dipping below the clouds in Air Force One on the way back to Washington from Crawford is not an acceptable response. Shopping for shoes is not an acceptable response. And, apparently, according to their own Nation Response Plan, waiting for local and state officials from Louisiana is also not an acceptable response.

This is an excerpt from the National Response Plan. The National Response Plan was a result of Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5, in which the President directed the development of a plan to coordinate resources into a 'unified, alldiscipline,
and all-hazards approach to domestic incident management.' This plan was approved in December 2004.

The NRP establishes policies, procedures, and mechanisms for proactive Federal response to catastrophic events. A catastrophic event is any natural or manmade incident, including terrorism, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions. A catastrophic event could result in sustained national impacts over a prolonged period of time; almost immediately exceeds resources normally available to State, local, tribal, and private-sector authorities in the impacted area; and significantly interrupts governmental operations and emergency services to such an extent that national security could be threatened. All catastrophic events are Incidents of National Significance.
Implementation of Proactive Federal Response Protocols
Protocols for proactive Federal response are most likely to be implemented for catastrophic events involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive weapons of mass destruction, or large magnitude earthquakes or other natural or technological disasters in or near heavily populated areas.
Guiding Principles for Proactive Federal Response
Guiding principles for proactive Federal response include the following:

• The primary mission is to save lives; protect critical infrastructure, property, and the environment; contain the event; and preserve national security.
  
• Standard procedures regarding requests for assistance may be expedited or, under extreme circumstances, suspended in the immediate aftermath of an event of
  catastrophic magnitude.
  
• Identified Federal response resources will deploy and begin necessary operations as required to commence life-safety activities.
  
• Notification and full coordination with States will occur, but the coordination process must not delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of critical resources. States are urged to notify and coordinate with local governments regarding a proactive Federal response.
  
• State and local governments are encouraged to conduct collaborative planning with the Federal Government as a part of "steady-state" preparedness for catastrophic incidents.
  Implementation Mechanisms for Proactive
  Federal Response to Catastrophic Events
  The NRP Catastrophic Incident Supplement (described in the Catastrophic Incident Annex) addresses resource and procedural implications of catastrophic events to ensure the rapid and efficient delivery of resources and assets, including special teams, equipment, and supplies that provide critical lifesaving support and incident containment capabilities. These assets may be so specialized or costly that they are either not available or are in insufficient quantities in most localities.
  The procedures outlined in the NRP Catastrophic Incident Supplement are based on the following:
  
• The pre-identification of Federal assets and capabilities;
  
• The strategic location of pre-identified assets for rapid deployment; and
  
• The use of pre-scripted mission assignments for Stafford Act declarations, or individual agency authority and funding, to expedite deployment upon notification by DHS (in accordance with procedures established in the NRP Catastrophic Incident Supplement) of a potential catastrophic event.
  Agencies responsible for these assets will keep DHS apprised, through the HSOC, of their ongoing status and location until the JFO is established. Upon arrival at the scene, Federal assets will coordinate with the Unified Command, the SFLEO, and the JFO (or its forward elements) when established. Demobilization processes, including full coordination with the JFO Coordination Group, are initiated either when the mission is completed or when it is determined the magnitude of the event does not warrant continued use of the asset.

This is unconscionable and to suggest that because people are pointing fingers where they so obviously need to be pointed, they aren't also helping out is also wrong. No right thinking person is suggesting that rescue and relief operations be suspended while we assess blame. This is clearly another ploy by the administration to spin the situation to try to show themselves in a more favorable light.

Sa-land

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