Katrina Coverage

U.S. Reps. Tom Davis and Henry A. Waxman sent a letter to Chertoff concerning a contract FEMA made with Innovative Emergency Management, Inc. (IEM).

IEM was to conduct a three-stage "Southeastern Louisiana Catastrophic Hurricane Plan", and those fine - albeit very "liberal" want the missing two stages of the plan. The first stage is the now-infamous "Hurricane Pam" simulation.

They also want to know why IEM was the only bidder for an "Indefinite Delivery Vehicle" contract.

Their letter is reproduced in this post entitled FEMA Predicted a "Catastrophic Hurricane" Could Strike New Orleans and Cause a "Mega-Disaster". The scope of work for the contract is in this PDF file. And, here's the task order for Stage One (PDF file).

Herewith the conditions that IEM was supposed to plan for:

* "Over one million people would evacuate from New Orleans. Evacuees would crowd shelters throughout Louisiana and adjacent states."

* "Hurricane surge would block highways and trap 300,000 to 350,000 persons in flooded areas. Storm surge of over 18 feet would overflow flood-protection levees on the Lake Pontchartrain side of New Orleans. Storm surge combined with heavy rain could leave much of New Orleans under 14 to 17 feet of water. More than 200 square miles of urban areas would be flooded."

* "It could take weeks to ‘de-water' (drain) New Orleans: Inundated pumping stations and damaged pump motors would be inoperable. Flood-protection levees would prevent drainage of floodwater. Breaching the levees would be a complicated and politically sensitive problem: The Corps of Engineers may have to use barges or helicopters to haul earthmoving equipment to open several hundred feet of levee."

* "Rescue operations would be difficult because much of the area would be reachable only by helicopters and boats."

* "Hospitals would be overcrowded with special-needs patients. Backup generators would run out of fuel or fail before patients could be moved elsewhere."

* "The New Orleans area would be without electric power, food, potable water, medicine, or transportation for an extended time period."

* "Damaged chemical plants and industries could spill hazardous materials."

* "Standing water and disease could threaten public health."

* "There would be severe economic repercussions for the state and region."

* "Outside responders and resources, including the Federal response personnel and materials, would have difficulty entering and working in the affected area."

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