End report slams 'passivity' over Katrina
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-15 09:39

In Senate testimony last week, former Federal Emergency Management Agency Michael Brown singled out the Homeland Security Department and its chief, Secretary Michael Chertoff, as a muddled bureaucracy that slowed relief to the Gulf Coast. The White House and Homeland Security have hit back, describing Brown as a renegade who failed to follow a chain of command.

The House report also finds fault with Chertoff, for failing to activate a national plan to trigger fast relief, and Homeland Security, for overseeing a bare-bones and inexperienced emergency response staff.

It also concludes that Bush could have speeded the response by becoming involved in the crisis earlier and that he was not receiving guidance from a disaster specialist who would have understood the scope of the storm's destruction.

"Earlier presidential involvement might have resulted in a more effective response," the report found.

Outlining a similar show of delays, the report concludes that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin waited until too late to order a mandatory evacuation of the city. Despite warnings of Katrina's potential destruction 56 hours ahead of landfall, the evacuation order came only 19 hours before Katrina hit.

Charitable organizations such as the American Red Cross did not escape criticism in the report, which found that they were overwhelmed by the sheer size of demands, leading to water, food and other supply shortages and disorganized sheltering processes.

Rather than a dry bureaucratic paper, the report is written in a lively style and is generously sprinkled with photographs of the disaster-hit area and colorful quotes, including many from past figures in history and literature.

"Don't find a fault. Find a remedy," is one from automobile magnate Henry Ford. Another, attributed to the late American author John Kendrick Bangs states, "Pandemonium did not reign. It poured."

Some of the response failures dated back to months and even years before Katrina surfaced, the report found. A lack of warning systems for levee failures delayed their fast repair, and poor communications equipment prevented federal, state and local emergency responders from coordinating their counterattack.

Moreover, federal agencies — including the Homeland Security Department — were unclear about their responsibilities under a national response plan issued a year ago. And lessons learned from Hurricane Pam — a fictional storm designed to test Gulf Coast preparedness — went unheeded even though officials knew of the dangers that a Category 4 or 5 hurricane would pose to New Orleans.

Katrina was initially believed to be a Category 4 storm when it hit, but weather experts have since said it was likely a Category 3.

Earlier Tuesday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush has full confidence in Chertoff and has not considered asking him to step down because of the criticism.

"Secretary Chertoff is doing a great job," McClellan said Tuesday. "The president appreciates his strong leadership."

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, however, reiterated an earlier call for Chertoff to resign. The recent criticism about Chertoff's performance during Katrina "only adds to my displeasure with our secretary," Reid said.

The House conclusions were obtained as a new Homeland Security analysis shows that fewer than half the states say they are prepared to respond to a catastrophic disaster like Katrina. Many are still struggling to meet federal guidelines for evacuations, according to the Feb. 6 draft report to Congress.

Louisiana officials, who were overwhelmed by the storm, reported they feel confident in their plans to respond to future catastrophes and are somewhat confident in their ability to evacuate victims, the analysis shows.