"I believe my biggest mistake was believing FEMA officials who told me that the necessary federal resources would be available in a timely fashion," Blanco wrote in one memo.
---- Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanc
- Read the full article here. Article is excerpted below .
"I have determined that this incident will be of such severity and magnitude that effective response will be beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local governments and that supplementary federal assistance will be necessary," Blanco wrote.
Three days after the storm, Blanco complained to the White House that FEMA had still failed to fulfill its promises of aid. While cloaked in customary political courtesies, Blanco noted that she had already requested 40,000 more troops; ice, water and food; buses, base camps, staging areas, amphibious vehicles, mobile morgues, rescue teams, housing, airlift and communications systems, according to a press office e-mail of the text of her letter to Bush.
"Even if these initial requests had been fully honored, these assets would not be sufficient," Blanco said. She also asked for the return of the Louisiana Army National Guard's 256th Brigade Combat Team, then deployed to Iraq.
- Finally some real talk on WHY all of those BLACK people DIED in New Orleans.
- I saw Tom Piazza's new book, Why New Orleans Matters,on display at Barnes and Noble last night and thought, what a wonderful book title. I want to write the same thing FOR Oakland. It is the only book that I have seen that offers a critical analysis of what happened in New Orleans and why it is significant to the rest of the world.
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