Hurricane Update

From MSNBC:

“This is a national disgrace,” said Terry Ebbert, head of New Orleans’
emergency operations. “FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command
and control,” Ebbert said. “We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami
victims but we can’t bail out the city of New Orleans."

"We have got a mayor who has been pushing and asking but we’re not
getting supplies,” he said. He said the evacuation was almost entirely a
Louisiana operation. “This is not a FEMA operation. I haven’t seen a single FEMA
guy.”

I'm not buying this. I just talked to my boss. We are currently opening shelters in Central Texas to receive evacuees. Dallas has a couple thousand people in Renuion Arena. Houston is currently recieving medical evacuess via C-130 from New Orleans in addition to the people being moved to the Astrodome. Texas is sending or has sent search and rescue teams, EMTs, and command and control personell into LA. The Texas Forest Service (the incident command specialists in our state) is running a logistical hub.

All of this happens through FEMA coordination. But, none of this happens instantly. We're talking about moving tons of material and thousands of people. It takes time to build momentum.

I will be returning from Army stuff this weekend. I'll probably roll right into support operations for this. More blogging to follow.

Good Blog out of the disaster zone: http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/