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Federal fixes for hurricane season could bring new problems for states

By LARA JAKES JORDAN
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Quick fixes to FEMA for the looming hurricane season could actually hinder efforts to be ready in storm strike zones, creating competition for relief supplies and confusion about who’s in charge, state officials say.

The Homeland Security Department said Monday it has nearly finished 11 top-priority changes to the beleaguered disaster response agency, as ordered by the White House after Hurricane Katrina. It has more than quadrupled its stockpile of ready-made meals, marshaled teams of fast-moving responders and gathered high-tech equipment to help emergency workers talk to each other when normal communication systems are knocked out.

But emergency response directors in a half-dozen Gulf and Atlantic coast states say some of the federal reforms limit their own preparations for the hurricane season, which officially starts next week.

“I don’t have a good feeling, to be honest with you,” said Mississippi emergency management director Robert Latham.

He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has done little to coordinate with states on stocking and distributing food, water, ice and other items to disaster sites — meaning states could end up competing against the federal government to purchase relief supplies.

“What can we expect and how quickly we can expect it? What is going to be pre-positioned in our states?” Latham said. “That is what is important. I know they’re working feverishly to develop that plan, but we need to know.”

In Louisiana, which suffered much of Katrina’s damage after it pummeled the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, state officials maintain Washington still hasn’t done enough to help them get ready. That is despite $87.5 billion in federal aid to Gulf states, much of which has gone to Louisiana to compensate victims and to repair housing, levees and control flooding.

Requests for the federal government to send Louisiana air ambulances, 250 buses and extra shelter space have so far gone unanswered, said state emergency director Col. Jeff Smith.

“They are looking us straight in the eye, and they are saying ‘We’ll be here, and we’ll provide support for you,’” Smith said. “So they’re saying the right things, but they have not fully said yes.”

Though the White House called for tighter coordination among all levels of government, state directors said they remain confused about the new role of a federal disaster oversight commander — or how it fits into the chain of command.

“I don’t know what that person’s real job is,” said South Carolina emergency director Ron Osborne. “It’s still nebulous if he’s going to slow down the response efforts, or if there is going to be a conflict. ... As long as you’ve got more people involved, it seems like coordination would take longer.”

In an interview Monday, Homeland Security Undersecretary George Foresman said the department and FEMA have gone far beyond the 11 fixes that the White House ordered by June 1, the hurricane season’s start, to plug federal preparedness gaps that Katrina exposed.

Aside from creating or revamping systems to track supplies, alert the public to approaching storms and register evacuated victims in shelters and hotels, Foresman said the department has been working closely with state and local officials to make sure they are in sync with Washington long before disaster hits. But, he said, many of the federal changes are largely designed to back up state and local responders whose efforts have failed.

“I understand the concerns that are expressed, but we have to recognize that the federal government is not the responder of the first resort,” Foresman said. “It’s a responder of last resort. There are a lot of things the state and locals need to be doing as well.”

Asked about the coordination worries, Foresman said: “We are focusing on addressing issues in a relative priority ranking. And this is not the first thing, nor will it be the last thing, on the list.”

Mike Lindell, director of the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A&M University, said the top priorities only skim the surface of necessary federal preparations. He said they fail to address plans that have immediate and personal impact on lives, like staggered evacuation routes and mapping where a looming disaster might strike.

“These are all things that will undoubtedly help,” Lindell said of the White House reforms. “But there are other things they are not looking at ... It is very difficult for them to think of needs of individual households.”

A shortage of available trailer homes and other temporary housing are an annual worry in Florida, said state emergency director Craig Fugate. In Alabama, state disaster response chief and chair of the National Emergency Management Association Bruce Baughman said bus drivers during an evacuation need “to know where to go.”

But most states have spent the last nine months bulking up their own response abilities, wary of having to rely on Washington for help.

“We do that every hurricane season,” said Doug Hoell, North Carolina’s emergency manager. “Because of our experience with hurricanes, we know it’s a real potential and something to be ready for.”


Associated Press writer Nancy Benac contributed to this report.

On the Net:

Homeland Security Department: http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/

Federal Emergency Management Agency: http://www.fema.gov/