Katrina Coverage

The Boston Globe article "Texas, La. officials give FEMA mixed reviews" is longer than the K-R article discussed in "Mayors, lawyer whine about FEMA response to Rita", but it has some of the same mayors reiterating their whining about FEMA, as well as that agency once again offering its side of the story. And, as with the other article, it turns out that there's some confusion over that agency's role. Let's consider this thread:

First, hospital patients were airlifted out of Beaumont hours later than they expected, and by then some patients were weak and vomiting at the airport, said Judge Carl Griffith of Jefferson County, which encompasses the city…

Griffith, the chief elected official in Jefferson County, called this week for a presidential commission to investigate the emergency responses of federal, state, and local agencies, and investigate how to improve their performance in the future. He recommended that FEMA be elevated to a Cabinet department whose secretary would have direct access to the president.

''They're being called on to be the 911 of America in disasters," Griffith said. ''They've got a process that's very bad. And they don't have the resources to deliver the job tasks that they're given."

…Even Griffith, one of FEMA's most ardent critics, acknowledged that it was not FEMA's job to airlift patients out of Beaumont before the storm, but he said his proposed commission should determine whose job it should have been.

After a storm, local governments are supposed to file requests for aid with state officials, who then turn them over to FEMA.

''To point the finger at FEMA is not fair," said Mayor Glenn Johnson of Port Neches. ''We don't know where the breakdown is."

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