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Several experts also believe the decision to make FEMA a part of the Department of Homeland Security, created after the September 11, 2001 attacks, was a major mistake. Rubin said FEMA functioned well in the 1990s as a small, independent agency.
"Under DHS, it was downgraded, buried in a couple of layers of bureaucracy, and terrorism prevention got all the attention and most of the funds," she said.
Former FEMA director James Lee Witt testified to Congress in March 2004: "I am extremely concerned that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters has been sharply eroded.
"I hear from emergency managers, local and state leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew and worked well with has now disappeared. In fact one state emergency manager told me, 'It is like a stake has been driven into the heart of emergency management,'" he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/02/levee.criticism.reut/index.html
Also...
Gen. Robert Crear, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, estimated Friday that some flooded neighborhoods will be pumped dry in 36 days but that it will be at least 80 days before the last section of the city is dry.
And... they're bringing in a few aerial drones with thermal imaging sensors to check houses for survivors.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/09/02/katrina.drone.reut/index.html
"Under DHS, it was downgraded, buried in a couple of layers of bureaucracy, and terrorism prevention got all the attention and most of the funds," she said.
Former FEMA director James Lee Witt testified to Congress in March 2004: "I am extremely concerned that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters has been sharply eroded.
"I hear from emergency managers, local and state leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew and worked well with has now disappeared. In fact one state emergency manager told me, 'It is like a stake has been driven into the heart of emergency management,'" he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/02/levee.criticism.reut/index.html
Also...
Gen. Robert Crear, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, estimated Friday that some flooded neighborhoods will be pumped dry in 36 days but that it will be at least 80 days before the last section of the city is dry.
And... they're bringing in a few aerial drones with thermal imaging sensors to check houses for survivors.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/09/02/katrina.drone.reut/index.html
