In der FAS vom 4.9. mokiert sich Stefan Niggemeier ueber einen Beitrag von CC Malzahn auf SPEGEL Online ueber Juergen Trittin, den Umwelt-minister, der angesichts der Katastrophe von New Orleans den Amis erst einmal eine Standpauke hielt ueber deren schaendlichen Umgang mit der Natur. Zu dem Zeitpunkt, als Trittin seinen Artikel fuer die FR schrieb, habe der Minister, sagt Niggemeier, den Umfang der Katastrophe nicht absehen koennen, deswegen liege Malzahn mit seiner Kritik daneben.
Von der Frage abgesehen, wann man was wissen konnte und unabhaengig davon, was Trittin denkt, wenn er eine amerikanische Stadt absaufen sieht: das ist genau die Art von Erbsenzaehlerei, die in Deutschland als "kritisches Hinterfragen" gilt. Was Niggemeier dagegen uebersieht, ist die viel interessantere Frage, wieso man in diesen Tagen auf allen Kanaelen Ray Nagin sehen kann, den Buergermeister von New Orleans.
Der Mann muesste doch eigentlich alle Haende voll zu tun haben, sich um die Menschen in seiner Stadt zu kuemmern, aber er hat offenbar genug Zeit, alle paar Minuten ein Interview zu geben, wobei er gerne darueber spricht, dass fuer die Opfer der Katastrophe zu wenig unternommen wird. Er kommt ja nicht dazu, weil er Interviews geben muss.
Dazu ein Text aus dem WSJ von gestern, der ein paar offene Fragen klaert, die weder Trittin noch Niggemeier aufgefallen sind. Dank an St. M. fuer den Hinweis.

Blame Amid the Tragedy
By BOB WILLIAMS
September 6., 2005



As the devastation of Hurricane Katrina continues to
shock and sadden the nation, the question on many lips
is, Who is to blame for the inadequate response?



As a former state legislator who represented the
legislative district most impacted by the eruption of
Mount St. Helens in 1980, I can fully understand and
empathize with the people and public officials over
the loss of life and property.



Many in the media are turning their eyes toward the
federal government, rather than considering the
culpability of city and state officials. I am fully
aware of the challenges of having a quick and
responsive emergency response to a major disaster. And
there is definitely a time for accountability; but
what isn't fair is to dump on the federal officials
and avoid those most responsible -- local and state
officials who failed to do their job as the first
responders. The plain fact is, lives were needlessly
lost in New Orleans due to the failure of Louisiana's
governor, Kathleen Blanco, and the city's mayor, Ray
Nagin.



The primary responsibility for dealing with
emergencies does not belong to the federal government.
It belongs to local and state officials who are
charged by law with the management of the crucial
first response to disasters. First response should be
carried out by local and state emergency personnel
under the supervision of the state governor and
his/her emergency operations center.



The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor
Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to
implement the previously established evacuation plans
of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin
cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of
the damage and the need to evacuate so many people.
Detailed written plans were already in place to
evacuate more than a million people. The plans
projected that 300,000 people would need
transportation in the event of a hurricane like
Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands
of lives would likely have been saved.



In addition to the plans, local, state and federal
officials held a simulated hurricane drill 13 months
ago, in which widespread flooding supposedly trapped
300,000 people inside New Orleans. The exercise
simulated the evacuation of more than a million
residents. The problems identified in the simulation
apparently were not solved.



A year ago, as Hurricane Ivan approached, New Orleans
ordered an evacuation but did not use city or school
buses to help people evacuate. As a result many of the
poorest citizens were unable to evacuate. Fortunately,
the hurricane changed course and did not hit New
Orleans, but both Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin
acknowledged the need for a better evacuation plan.
Again, they did not take corrective actions. In 1998,
during a threat by Hurricane George, 14,000 people
were sent to the Superdome and theft and vandalism
were rampant due to inadequate security. Again, these
problems were not corrected.



The New Orleans contingency plan is still, as of this
writing, on the city's Web site, and states: "The safe
evacuation of threatened populations is one of the
principle [sic] reasons for developing a Comprehensive
Emergency Management Plan." But the plan was
apparently ignored.



Mayor Nagin was responsible for giving the order for
mandatory evacuation and supervising the actual
evacuation: His office of Emergency Preparedness (not
the federal government) must coordinate with the state
on elements of evacuation and assist in directing the
transportation of evacuees to staging areas. Mayor
Nagin had to be encouraged by the governor to contact
the National Hurricane Center before he finally,
belatedly, issued the order for mandatory evacuation.
And sadly, it apparently took a personal call from the
president to urge the governor to order the mandatory
evacuation.



The city's evacuation plan states: "The city of New
Orleans will utilize all available resources to
quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas." But
even though the city has enough school and transit
buses to evacuate 12,000 citizens per fleet run, the
mayor did not use them. To compound the problem, the
buses were not moved to high ground and were flooded.
The plan also states that "special arrangements will
be made to evacuate persons unable to transport
themselves or who require specific lifesaving
assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to
assist in evacuation procedures as needed." This was
not done.



The evacuation plan warned that "if an evacuation
order is issued without the mechanisms needed to
disseminate the information to the affected persons,
then we face the possibility of having large numbers
of people either stranded and left to the mercy of a
storm, or left in an area impacted by toxic
materials." That is precisely what happened because of
the mayor's failure.



Instead of evacuating the people, the mayor ordered
the refugees to the Superdome and Convention Center
without adequate security and no provisions for food,
water and sanitary conditions. As a result people
died, and there was even rape committed, in these
facilities. Mayor Nagin failed in his responsibility
to provide public safety and to manage the orderly
evacuation of the citizens of New Orleans. Now he
wants to blame Gov. Blanco and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. In an emergency the first
requirement is for the city's emergency center to be
linked to the state emergency operations center. This
was not done.



The federal government does not have the authority to
intervene in a state emergency without the request of
a governor. President Bush declared an emergency prior
to Katrina hitting New Orleans, so the only action
needed for federal assistance was for Gov. Blanco to
request the specific type of assistance she needed.
She failed to send a timely request for specific aid.



In addition, unlike the governors of New York,
Oklahoma and California in past disasters, Gov. Blanco
failed to take charge of the situation and ensure that
the state emergency operation facility was in constant
contact with Mayor Nagin and FEMA. It is likely that
thousands of people died because of the failure of
Gov. Blanco to implement the state plan, which
mentions the possible need to evacuate up to one
million people. The plan clearly gives the governor
the authority for declaring an emergency, sending in
state resources to the disaster area and requesting
necessary federal assistance.



State legislators and governors nationwide need to
update their contingency plans and the operation
procedures for state emergency centers. Hurricane
Katrina had been forecast for days, but that will not
always be the case with a disaster (think of terrorist
attacks). It must be made clear that the governor and
locally elected officials are in charge of the "first
response."



I am not attempting to excuse some of the delays in
FEMA's response. Congress and the president need to
take corrective action there, also. However, if
citizens expect FEMA to be a first responder to
terrorist attacks or other local emergencies
(earthquakes, forest fires, volcanoes), they will be
disappointed. The federal government's role is to
offer aid upon request.



The Louisiana Legislature should conduct an immediate
investigation into the failures of state and local
officials to implement the written emergency plans.
The tragedy is not over, and real leadership in the
state and local government are essential in the months
to come. More importantly, the hurricane season is
still upon us, and local and state officials must stay
focused on the jobs for which they were elected -- and
not on the deadly game of passing the emergency buck.



Mr. Williams is president of the Evergreen Freedom
Foundation, a free market public policy research
organization in Olympia, Wash.