Town Meeting: Delayed Relief
Sept. 6, 2005 — -- Many have questioned the post-Hurricane Katrina relief effort, which at times has seemed slow and inadequate, as well as the circumstances that led up to the disaster and the future of the hurricane's victims.
"Good Morning America" today gave those most affected by Katrina a chance to ask their questions. The show assembled evacuees currently in Biloxi, Miss.; Houston; Donaldsville, La.; New Orleans; and Salt Lake City; in a town meeting to ask questions of government officials. Here is a look at what was asked, and how officials answered:
Diane Sawyer: We are told some 10,000 National Guard were on standby in the states around Louisiana. Who was responsible for ordering them in, and why wasn't it done on Tuesday? Who was responsible for sending in the medicine and clean water and for that matter boats? Why wasn't that done right away?
Patrick Rhode, deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency: You are asking a very comprehensive question, Diane.
What I can tell you is that on behalf of the city of New Orleans, the state of Louisiana, the coordination ahead of this storm was absolutely unprecedented. I think it is very important that people recognize that while there was an incredible mobilization ahead of this storm of emergency responders and urban search and rescue teams and commodities and resources … There are so many ships that are now providing assistance, so many helicopters that are now providing assistance. If we, in fact, put them any closer than we had, they perhaps themselves would have been compromised by the storm.
The storm, by the way, being one that this country has never seen before. It is one that impacted almost 90,000 square miles, an area almost the size of Great Britain. I'm not making excuses, Diane.
Sawyer: I understand about the storm, but why weren't the National Guard brought in? This is the United States of America. We can send in armies in hours. Why wasn't the National Guard brought in on Tuesday or Wednesday?
