top
US
US
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

President of Jefferson Parish: We have been abandoned by our own country

by reposted
9/4/2005: Jefferson Parish President, Aaron Broussard, let the world know what he was thinking today on Meet the Press. Here are his comments:
<br />
<A href="/uploads/aaron_broussard.mov"><img src="/uploads/aaron_broussard.gif">
Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
MR. RUSSERT: And we are back.

Jefferson Parish President Broussard, let me start with you. You just
heard the director of Homeland Security´s explanation of what has
happened this last week. What is your reaction?

MR. AARON BROUSSARD: We have been abandoned by our own country.
Hurricane Katrina will go down in history as one of the worst storms
ever to hit an American coast, but the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American
soil ever in U.S. history. I am personally asking our bipartisan
congressional delegation here in Louisiana to immediately begin
congressional hearings to find out just what happened here. Why did it
happen? Who needs to be fired? And believe me, they need to be fired
right away, because we still have weeks to go in this tragedy. We have
months to go. We have years to go. And whoever is at the top of this
totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chain-sawed off and we´ve got to
start with some new leadership.

It´s not just Katrina that caused all these deaths in New Orleans here.
Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area,
and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now. It´s so
obvious. FEMA needs more congressional funding. It needs more
presidential support. It needs to be a Cabinet-level director. It
needs to be an independent agency that will be able to fulfill its
mission to work in partnership with state and local governments around
America. FEMA needs to be empowered to do the things it was created to
do. It needs to come somewhere, like New Orleans, with all of its force
immediately, without red tape, without bureaucracy, act immediately with
common sense and leadership, and save lives. Forget about the
property. We can rebuild the property. It´s got to be able to come in
and save lives.

We need strong leadership at the top of America right now in order to
accomplish this and to-- reconstructing FEMA.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. Broussard, let me ask--I want to ask--should...

MR. BROUSSARD: You know, just some quick examples...

MR. RUSSERT: Hold on. Hold on, sir. Shouldn´t the mayor of New
Orleans and the governor of New Orleans bear some responsibility?
Couldn´t they have been much more forceful, much more effective and much
more organized in evacuating the area?

MR. BROUSSARD: Sir, they were told like me, every single day, "The
cavalry´s coming," on a federal level, "The cavalry´s coming, the
cavalry´s coming, the cavalry´s coming." I have just begun to hear the
hoofs of the cavalry. The cavalry´s still not here yet, but I´ve begun
to hear the hoofs, and we´re almost a week out.

Let me give you just three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver
three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back.
They said we didn´t need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000
gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The
Coast Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there
with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don´t give you the fuel."
Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency
communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff, Harry
Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards on our
line and says, "No one is getting near these lines." Sheriff Harry Lee
said that if America--American government would have responded like
Wal-Mart has responded, we wouldn´t be in this crisis.

But I want to thank Governor Blanco for all she´s done and all her
leadership. She sent in the National Guard. I just repaired a breach on
my side of the 17th Street canal that the secretary didn´t foresee, a
300-foot breach. I just completed it yesterday with convoys of National
Guard and local parish workers and levee board people. It took us two
and a half days working 24/7. I just closed it.

MR. RUSSERT: All right.

MR. BROUSSARD: I´m telling you most importantly I want to thank my
public employees...

MR. RUSSERT: All right.

MR. BROUSSARD: ...that have worked 24/7. They´re burned out, the
doctors, the nurses. _And I want to give you one last story and I´ll
shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who
runs this building I´m in, emergency management, he´s responsible for
everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and
every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody
coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody´s coming to get you.
Somebody´s coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody´s coming to get you on
Wednesday. Somebody´s coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody´s coming
to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night. She drowned
Friday night.

MR. RUSSERT: Mr. President...

MR. BROUSSARD: Nobody´s coming to get us. Nobody´s coming to get us.
The secretary has promised. Everybody´s promised. They´ve had press
conferences. I´m sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up
and send us somebody.

MR. RUSSERT: Just take a pause, Mr. President. While you gather
yourself in your very emotional times, I understand, let me go to
Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi.

http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=4911
§Louisiana Offical: The Federal Gov't Has Abandoned Us
by Democracy Now (reposted)
On Sunday Aaron Broussard, the president of Jefferson Parish appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press and accused the federal government of abandoning the people of New Orleans. He broke down crying, as he recalled how the mother of one of his colleagues died after waiting days to be rescued.

* Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish in Louisiana, appearing on Meet the Press.

LISTEN ONLINE
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/05/1439247
by are you blind?
Perhaps you should look out your window and wave at the 10,000 troops in your general vicinity.
by um
Do you know where Jefferson Parish even is? Its just like a conservative to blame the victims and deny reality when it might look bad for their boy in office. Your wathing pictures of New Orleans and then claiming you know more about whats happening in Jefferson Parish than someone who is there in desperate need of help....
by uh huh
The one thing I have heard over and over again, we need a bigger govt, more soldiers, and big brother to watch over us. I thought you guys were against all that. Anarchy, a beautiful thing.
by Take a look out Your window
"The Answer by uh huh Sun"

...if the flag isn't blocking the view that is. You have no answer to people who have waited for days for somebody, anybody to show up and help others who have nothing, not even the means to leave before the hurricane. To bury people whose bodies are rotting in the street. To help babies with dysentery. You can take your compassionate conservatism and stuff it where the sun don't shine.

But perhaps you're spending your next vacation in Mississippi or Louisiana celebratring the "American Dream"?

Wish you were there now. See how you'd like it.
by more
WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - A New Orleans official was overcome by emotion on national television on Sunday when describing how a woman was abandoned and eventually drowned after repeated promises she would be rescued.

"The guy who runs this building I'm in, the emergency management, who's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said are you coming, son, is somebody coming," Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, said as he burst into heavy sobbing on NBC's Meet the Press program.

"And he said 'yeah mama, somebody's coming to get ya, somebody's coming to get ya on Tuesday, somebody's coming to get ya on Wednesday, somebody's coming to get ya on Thursday, somebody's coming to get you on Friday.'

"And she drowned Friday night, she drowned Friday night. Nobody's coming to get us."

"Nobody's coming to get us, nobody's coming to get us," Broussard said through tears.

Broussard, president of the parish just south of New Orleans, did not give the woman's name.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina "will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history," he said.

Local and federal officials said they expected to find thousands of corpses still floating in flood waters or locked inside homes and buildings destroyed by the devastating storm that struck the U.S. Gulf Coast last Monday.

Broussard said the government must acknowledge the part it played in senseless deaths.

"It's not just Katrina that caused all these deaths in New Orleans," he said. "Bureaucracy has committed murder here in the greater New Orleans area, and bureaucracy has to stand trial before Congress now."

He demanded congressional hearings on what went wrong in the chaotic aftermath of the hurricane.

"They've had press conferences. I'm sick of press conferences. For God's sake, shut up and send us somebody."

by no more Rove spin
Google Aaron Broussard, or Ray Nagin and you will see blog after Republican blug trying to smear two of the people who tried to do everything they could in the face of no federal response. The guys arent even "liberals" but as with the outing of Plame or the smearing of McCain in 2000 Bush and Rove really have no morals whatsoever and will sink to the most morally outrageous level imaginable to try to spin things in Bush's favor.
Senator Mary Landrieu, the Democrat of Louisiana (whose father was a mayor of New Orleans), appears to have finally found her voice after offering only cautious criticism of the federal relief effort in the hurriance catastrophe earlier in the week. Today she promised to literally "punch" anyone, "including the president," who contnued to question the local response to the tragedy, considering the gross federal misconduct.
http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/09/1765051.php
by not fair
>she promised to literally "punch" anyone, "including the president,"

If you or i did that, we'd go to prison.
by Recalling Lincoln's Words
You fooled some of the the people all of the time

You fooled all of the people some of the time

But you you cannot fool all the people all of the time.

Now is the time!

Let's chinsaw off the top of this evil totem pole!

Impeach Bush-- Clean out the Congress!

Our votes must hereafter REALLY count!

by more
Updates as they come in on Katrina

10:14 AM CDT on Monday, September 5, 2005

Tom Planchet

10:12: A.M. - Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard: I'm not surprised at what the feds say, they're covering their butts. They're keeping the body counts down because they don't want to horrify the nation. It's worse than Iraq, worse than 9-11. They just don't want to know how many were murdered by bureaucracy.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html
by German
Well, folks: The blame is mostly with your party comrades: Incompetent local politicians like mayor Nagin and governor Blanco. They should not only be kicked out of office, they should go to prison. Why didn't Blance call in the National Guard on Saturday. She called help from the NG on Wednesday (!!!)
Why didn't the city use all the school buses and city buses to transport people out of harm's way?
Why do we blame Bush when there was such an incompetence on the state and local level?




From the Wall Street Journal
Blame Amid the Tragedy

By BOB WILLIAMS
September 6, 2005; Page A28

As the devastation of Hurricane Katrina continues to shock and sadden the nation, the question on many lips is, Who is to blame for the inadequate response?

As a former state legislator who represented the legislative district most impacted by the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980, I can fully understand and empathize with the people and public officials over the loss of life and property.

Many in the media are turning their eyes toward the federal government, rather than considering the culpability of city and state officials. I am fully aware of the challenges of having a quick and responsive emergency response to a major disaster. And there is definitely a time for accountability; but what isn't fair is to dump on the federal officials and avoid those most responsible -- local and state officials who failed to do their job as the first responders. The plain fact is, lives were needlessly lost in New Orleans due to the failure of Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, and the city's mayor, Ray Nagin.

The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and his/her emergency operations center.

The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved.

In addition to the plans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill 13 months ago, in which widespread flooding supposedly trapped 300,000 people inside New Orleans. The exercise simulated the evacuation of more than a million residents. The problems identified in the simulation apparently were not solved.

A year ago, as Hurricane Ivan approached, New Orleans ordered an evacuation but did not use city or school buses to help people evacuate. As a result many of the poorest citizens were unable to evacuate. Fortunately, the hurricane changed course and did not hit New Orleans, but both Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin acknowledged the need for a better evacuation plan. Again, they did not take corrective actions. In 1998, during a threat by Hurricane George, 14,000 people were sent to the Superdome and theft and vandalism were rampant due to inadequate security. Again, these problems were not corrected.

The New Orleans contingency plan is still, as of this writing, on the city's Web site, and states: "The safe evacuation of threatened populations is one of the principle [sic] reasons for developing a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan." But the plan was apparently ignored.

Mayor Nagin was responsible for giving the order for mandatory evacuation and supervising the actual evacuation: His office of Emergency Preparedness (not the federal government) must coordinate with the state on elements of evacuation and assist in directing the transportation of evacuees to staging areas. Mayor Nagin had to be encouraged by the governor to contact the National Hurricane Center before he finally, belatedly, issued the order for mandatory evacuation. And sadly, it apparently took a personal call from the president to urge the governor to order the mandatory evacuation.

The city's evacuation plan states: "The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas." But even though the city has enough school and transit buses to evacuate 12,000 citizens per fleet run, the mayor did not use them. To compound the problem, the buses were not moved to high ground and were flooded. The plan also states that "special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific lifesaving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed." This was not done.

The evacuation plan warned that "if an evacuation order is issued without the mechanisms needed to disseminate the information to the affected persons, then we face the possibility of having large numbers of people either stranded and left to the mercy of a storm, or left in an area impacted by toxic materials." That is precisely what happened because of the mayor's failure.

Instead of evacuating the people, the mayor ordered the refugees to the Superdome and Convention Center without adequate security and no provisions for food, water and sanitary conditions. As a result people died, and there was even rape committed, in these facilities. Mayor Nagin failed in his responsibility to provide public safety and to manage the orderly evacuation of the citizens of New Orleans. Now he wants to blame Gov. Blanco and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In an emergency the first requirement is for the city's emergency center to be linked to the state emergency operations center. This was not done.

The federal government does not have the authority to intervene in a state emergency without the request of a governor. President Bush declared an emergency prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, so the only action needed for federal assistance was for Gov. Blanco to request the specific type of assistance she needed. She failed to send a timely request for specific aid.

In addition, unlike the governors of New York, Oklahoma and California in past disasters, Gov. Blanco failed to take charge of the situation and ensure that the state emergency operation facility was in constant contact with Mayor Nagin and FEMA. It is likely that thousands of people died because of the failure of Gov. Blanco to implement the state plan, which mentions the possible need to evacuate up to one million people. The plan clearly gives the governor the authority for declaring an emergency, sending in state resources to the disaster area and requesting necessary federal assistance.

State legislators and governors nationwide need to update their contingency plans and the operation procedures for state emergency centers. Hurricane Katrina had been forecast for days, but that will not always be the case with a disaster (think of terrorist attacks). It must be made clear that the governor and locally elected officials are in charge of the "first response."

I am not attempting to excuse some of the delays in FEMA's response. Congress and the president need to take corrective action there, also. However, if citizens expect FEMA to be a first responder to terrorist attacks or other local emergencies (earthquakes, forest fires, volcanoes), they will be disappointed. The federal government's role is to offer aid upon request.

The Louisiana Legislature should conduct an immediate investigation into the failures of state and local officials to implement the written emergency plans. The tragedy is not over, and real leadership in the state and local government are essential in the months to come. More importantly, the hurricane season is still upon us, and local and state officials must stay focused on the jobs for which they were elected -- and not on the deadly game of passing the emergency buck.

Mr. Williams is president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a free market public policy research organization in Olympia, Wash.


by garbage packed with lies
it's been well-documented, but you'll lap it up as the word of God.

free market insanity

and why would Bush/FEMA be automatically off the hook here, Mr.?
by well
The problem isnt just that FEMA and the National Guard from other states took days to get in and start rescuing people and providing relief... it was also that FEMA actively prevented anyone except their own people from getting in to help and even cut communication lines used by local officials.
The mayor and state did all they could but they are one of the poorest states in the country and much of the Louisiana National Guard's equipment was in Iraq.
by um
Every local rescue worker Ive heard interviewed on the New Orleans TV station (WWL) blames FEMA and the federal response and I havnt hear one blame the mayor or governor. All the spin about the governor and mayor is just part of a Republican smoke screen by peopel with now first had information and just a few random pictures Drudge has been promoting.
by Pay attention.
"Why do we blame Bush when there was such an incompetence on the state and local level?"

Demonstrate the incompetence. He told the locals the cavalry was coming and then didn't bother to get them to show up on time. Well... I SUPPOSE he WAS on vacation AFTER ALL.

But I guess they're not supposed to believe the big guy when he says aid is on the way? Zat right?
Bush didn't show up on time to save people's lives, he only showed up for a photo-op. So he's not doing his so-called "job". In addition, he's committing a gross indignity to the lives of people who, ulitmately (sadly), are forced to rely on him to be the representative of "Care" from the Federal Government. A care which is NOT compassionate, but could well be called Conservative- to a fault.
by awol
Bush was AWOL when he was in the National Guard so maybe they were just taking his lead?
by just another concern american (gogeo [at] netzero.com)
I like how when ever there is a situation in america the Demorcrats blame it on Bush and republicans blame it on a Democrat. No one is focussed on the situation and blame gets thrown left to right and back. It seems to me that New Orlenes knew what was going to happen and nothing was done. Maybe it was the parting that kept them from putting a clear evacuation plan together. and Maybe thats what happen to the mayor the night of the hurricane, when T.V. reporters said that there were cracks in the levies and that there were posibilities that it would break. Whether it is said by the Wall Street Journal or the local paper, it remains the fact that local and State did not respond very well. Did Fema? Probably not. I hope when this is all said and done we can set aside the politics and look at what was done right and what was done wrong. Because after all, I would hate for this to happen to my town.
by be responsible
Why not make it political when the commander in chief of our nation goes in for a photo-op and all he's got to offer is his apologies? He said as much that there have been shortcomings in the response.

It's kind of obvious to the entire nation that when our most vulnerable are at risk that someone ultimately needs to be held responsible for what happens to them. Horrible things have happened to the people of the Gulf. Things beyond the capacity of local government to deal with. Who is responsible when things go horribly wrong causing the deaths of perhaps thousands of innocent people living in poverty? You tell me.

So FEMA blew it. And who was in charge of FEMA? A political appointee who was obviously challenged, a friend of, and appointed by George Bush. Ultimately, this is beyond politics. It's about the lack of compassion in that so-called "compassionate conservatism" we've heard so much about and seen so little effect from.

"why make it political
by just another concern american Wednesday, Sep. 07, 2005 at 3:50 PM
gogeo [at] netzero.com
by Me
Shut u you piece of shit, stop crying and get over it just cause your fat and you miss your maccas. go eat a dick!!!
Cry Baby
by blikol
big nice voice at the end good nuf bust out
sweetness for fitol
look like cheeks
by who who
Perhaps the editors will remove the bit of puerility from "Me" and "blikol". If not, go get your mouths washed out and grow up.
what a nice comment who who. have you got something else to do than criticise other peoples comments, its our own opinions so you stick to yours and we will stick to ours, and if you think differently well then go get fucked because you just are talking shit!
by ww
I thought this thread was about the accountability for the many deaths caused by BushCo in their lack of preparation/response to the hurricane.

I didn't realize it was just an excuse for you and your friend to mouth off with obscenities about those trying to hold our federal government accountable. I will try to understand you better. The need for soap still remains however.
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network