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Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
Absolutely Rodeo, I would expect them to respond as well. I would expect them to respond at the local officials' request and to work to the local officials' plan. You miss-read my post. There is a vast difference between providing support under a locally formulated plan vs. coming in with your own plan and taking over. That is not FEMA's function; they do not formulate local plans. There is absolutely no way in hell I expect a federal agency to have a detailed plan in place for my locale and everything that could possibly go wrong here. That is the responsibility of those officials that we have elected here, locally. Do you understand that?
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Jeff, sure I understand. As far as you have taken it, its entirely reasonable and understandable. But let’s take a "detached" look at it, and go a little deeper, because the devil is in the details. I’ll use an example, a fictional town.
A massive petro-chemical fire erupts at the ____ plant in Anytown, USA. Suspected terrorist attack. Hundreds of thousands of citizens in danger. Tens of thousands need to be evacuated. The injured need medical care. Property needs to be protected. Order needs to be kept. Displaced people need to be fed and sheltered.
The Mayor of Anytown is on vacation. He’s a drunk anyway, and a crook. Has been misusing federal preparedness planning dollars for years, employing family members, his mistress, and a guy that can deliver 5,000 votes every election.
So what do I expect of DHS/FEMA in this situation? To wait for the Mayor’s call? To search for the Mayor’s plan, and if they find it, to follow the Mayor’s plan? To wait in Washington until specific requests come in for specific items?
To put this in perspective, in 2003, the President asked for $6.3 BILLION for FEMA (I didn’t search for later years or actual allocations). This is MORE than the ENTIRE budget for my state. Just for FEMA alone, not DHS. Please keep that in mind, $6.3 Billion in 2003.
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