Need to have a credible, independent investigation into Katrina response

[paineinthearse]

http://www.conyersblog.us/archives/00000251.htm

Blogged by JC on 09.23.05 @ 07:38 PM ET

I also want to share with you an editorial from this morning's USA Today on the need to have a credible, independent investigation into what went wrong in the response to Hurricane Katrina.

USA Today
September 23, 2005

New Storm, New Problems, New Lessons to Learn

The storms are remarkably similar. Barely four weeks apart, Katrina and Rita each peaked in the Gulf of Mexico as a rare Category 5 hurricane with 175 mph winds.

What's different is the response. Less than a month after the Katrina disaster, nearly everyone seems wiser for the experience. That's of little solace to Katrina's victims, but going second should benefit those in Rita's path.

As Rita churned toward the Gulf Coast of Texas, the state's governor and local leaders showed they were heeding Katrina's lessons. In Galveston, the mayor sent teams door to door to identify people unable to leave on their own and provided transportation for them.

Washington was intent on not blowing it again. Instead of a former Arabian-horse judge running the show at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the president was involved, and the military was already on alert.

Yet for all the lessons learned, no one should be fooled that this go-round will be flawless. Instead, heightened awareness was introducing a fresh set of problems that other cities might encounter in crisis:

* On Thursday, as too many people headed for the exits at once, traffic out of the Houston metropolitan area, home to about 4 million, was clogged to a crawl. Drivers ran out of gas. Fuel was in short supply.

* People trying to flee by air found both major Houston airports jammed and slow. Some panicked travelers arrived with no reservations; about 200 federal screeners didn't report to work.

Cities simply aren't built for rapid evacuation, and Rita's first lesson is that they will need to learn how to manage.

There will be more to learn - both positive and negative - and it is important that the lessons be analyzed thoroughly, in combination with the still-emerging lessons from Katrina.

In the past few days, for instance, evidence has begun to suggest that New Orleans' levees failed because of faulty design or weak construction, not just because of the force of the hurricane.

The need for a thorough, impartial investigation might seem obvious. The stakes in an era when any large city might be struck by catastrophic terrorism certainly are. But so far it's not happening. In Congress, Republicans are insisting on writing the rules, so Democrats are refusing to play. The result is certain to lack credibility.

Inevitably, fixing blame is a byproduct of any investigation of this sort, but that is not the aim. The goal is to find out what's wrong and right it.

The Gulf Coast might weather Hurricane Rita better than it did Katrina. It is off to a better start.

Nonetheless, the next natural disaster might not come with as much warning. Nor, certainly, will the next terrorist attack.

[rodeodance]

1. you betcha.