With the heap of criticism that’s being leveled at FEMA right now, I think it’s important to point out that some things did go right.
Some examples from the public daily FEMA national situation report:
8/27:
State and Federal Preparedness for Hurricane KatrinaFEMA Headquarters:
The FEMA National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) remains at modified Level II operations with Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) 1 (with an Air Operations Element), 3, 4, 5, 7, 15, and a Military Liaison.
On Saturday, the NRCC will transition to a 24-hour Level I on Saturday, August 27 at 07:00 a.m. EDT. ESFs 2, 6, 8, 9, 10-15 and the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) are being activated.
FEMA Headquarters is conducting daily video-teleconferences with FEMA Region IV, the National Hurricane Center, Florida, and other potentially affected States.
FEMA Region IV:
The Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) remains at Level II operations. In addition to ESFs 1, 3, 4, 7, 14, 15 and the Department of Defense (DOD), ESF 6 has been activated. ESFs 2, 8, 9, 11, 12 and Rapid Needs Assessment are being activated.
RRCC Level I will be established on Saturday, August 27 at 12 p.m. EDT. Beginning Sunday, August 28 the RRCC will go to 24-hour operations.
An Emergency Response Team-Advance Element (ERT-A) from Region IX has been activated and will arrive to pre-stage in the RRCC on Saturday.
8/28:
Federal Actions:The FEMA National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) Red Team is activated at Level I (Full Activation).
FEMA headquarters is conducting daily video-teleconferences at noon EDT with FEMA Region IV, the National Hurricane Center and the potentially affected States.
The FEMA ERT-N (Blue) team was activated and deployed to Baton Rouge, LA at noon August 27.
FEMA Region IV: The RRCC in Atlanta activated at Level I (full activation).
FEMA Region VI: The RRCC in Denton, TX activated at Level I (full activation).
8/29:
FEMA Headquarters: The FEMA National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) Red Team is activated at Level I (Full Activation).FEMA headquarters is conducting daily video-teleconferences at noon EDT with FEMA Region IV, the National Hurricane Center and the potentially affected States.
The Logistics Readiness Center is operational 24/7.
MERS Teams have been deployed to Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and Texas to support Hurricane Katrina response operations.
32 Disaster Medical Assistance Teams have been sent to staging areas in Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee in preparation for responding to Hurricane Katrina.
Seven Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Task Forces have been deployed to Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi in preparation for responding to Hurricane Katrina.
The ERT-N Blue is deployed to the Louisiana State Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rogue.
FEMA Region IV RRCC in Atlanta activated at Level I (full activation).
Four ERT-As are operational in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi.
FEMA Region VI RRCC in Denton, TX activated at Level I (full activation).
It will be interesting down the road a bit to read the after-action reports and see what actually did happen – versus what is being sensationalized right now by the press and others. The failures of many will be clear and in the black and white… but so will the successes of many.