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by Eric Lipton, The New York Times
Oct. 21, 2005
It was on the day before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, after thousands of people had packed the Superdome, that the lone FEMA worker in New Orleans sent his first plea for help.
"Issues developing at the Superdome," the official, Marty J. Bahamonde, wrote in an agency e-mail message released Thursday by Congressional investigators. "The medical staff at the dome says they will run out of oxygen in about two hours."
Mr. Bahamonde sent a series of messages as the hours and days passed, desperation growing. Most startling, he told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday, was that his supervisors in Washington did not seem to understand. In a series of e-mail messages in which he warned of worsening problems, he was told that the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency needed time to eat dinner at a restaurant in Baton Rouge, La., and to have a television interview.
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"How many FEMA people were pre-positioned at the Superdome or in New Orleans?" Mr. Levin asked.
"One," Mr. Bahamonde said.
"And that was?"
"Me."
On Aug. 31, Mr. Bahamonde decided to send an e-mail message directly to Mr. Brown.
"I know you know, the situation is past critical," Mr. Bahamonde wrote.
"Hotels are kicking people out, thousands gathering in the streets with no food or water."
An aide to Mr. Brown responded hours later that the director would need a restaurant in Baton Rouge that night.
"It is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner," the message said.
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"It was sad, it was inhumane, it was heartbreaking, and it was so wrong," Mr. Bahamonde said of the conditions and the response. "There was a systematic failure at all levels of government to understand the magnitude of the situation."
A spokesman for the Homeland Security Department, William R. Knocke, said Mr. Bahamonde was a respected official and did not contest his testimony. He said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was also frustrated at the response that Mr. Bahamonde was reporting.
Mr. Bahamonde's being the sole FEMA representative in New Orleans for the storm was unintentional, he said. He drove there on Aug. 27, two days before the storm hit, to introduce himself to City Hall officials. Though instructed by officials in Washington to leave, he stayed behind because of traffic jams.
Mr. Bahamonde stayed near the Superdome, where he had been told that a FEMA medical team, as well as 360,000 ready-to-eat meals and 15 water trucks, were being sent ahead of the storm.
None of that turned out to be true. Five water trucks and 40,000 meals were in place. The medical team did not arrive until Aug. 30, the day after the hurricane hit.
The situation worsened by late morning on Aug. 29, when Mr. Bahamonde learned that the 17th Street Canal levee had failed and that the city was flooding. An e-mail message at 1:38 p.m. to FEMA headquarters described the levee break, as well as reports that an estimated 12,000 people were at the Superdome and that 30,000 tourists were stuck in the city.
"North side of city under est. 11' water in heavy residential area," the message said, attributing the information to Mr. Bahamonde.
Mr. Chertoff has often said he did not know about the levee break and flooding until Aug. 30, explaining in part why he went to a meeting that day in Atlanta on avian flu.
"That is incredible," Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, said about the communications delay.
Mr. Levin questioned Mr. Bahamonde about testimony last month by the former director of the emergency agency, Michael D. Brown, that a dozen agency employees were in New Orleans before the storm, including an emergency response team.
"How many FEMA people were pre-positioned at the Superdome or in New Orleans?" Mr. Levin asked.
"One," Mr. Bahamonde said.
"And that was?"
"Me."
On Aug. 31, Mr. Bahamonde decided to send an e-mail message directly to Mr. Brown.
"I know you know, the situation is past critical," Mr. Bahamonde wrote. "Hotels are kicking people out, thousands gathering in the streets with no food or water."'
An aide to Mr. Brown responded hours later that the director would need a restaurant in Baton Rouge that night. "It is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner," the message said.
As originally published
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There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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Aug. 29, 2005:
As Katrina strikes, FEMA urges first-responders not to respond
Sept. 1, 2005:
With Gulf Coast in ruins, Homeland Security Chief hosts on-line chat
Sept. 2, 2005:
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with comments by Rebecca and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 3, 2005:
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Sept. 3, 2005:
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Sept. 3, 2005:
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survivors seeking food and water
Sept. 3, 2005:
Thousands of New Orleans refugees held at gunpoint,
not allowed to leave growing hell of Superdome
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 3, 2005:
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with comments by Sir J and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 3, 2005:
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Sept. 4, 2005:
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with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 4, 2005:
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with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
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Navy hospital & water purification ship anchored on nearby coast, underused
Sept. 4, 2005:
FEMA turns down water, fuel for New Orleans, cuts area's emergency communication line
Sept. 5, 2005:
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Sept. 5, 2005:
Firefighters waited five days for FEMA's OK to enter New Orleans, then gave up, returned to Houston
Sept. 6, 2005:
Now is the time for pointing fingers
by John M., Unknown News
Sept. 6, 2005:
No food drops planned for New Orleans
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 6, 2005:
U.S. military smuggled white vacationers out of New Orleans Superdome squalor
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 6, 2005:
As New Orleans waits, FEMA sends firefighters to seminar, assigns them to hand out fliers
Sept. 6, 2005:
New Orleans during the disaster:
Police lied to survivors, blocked escape from city
by Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky, EMS NetworkFrom inside New Orleans as the crisis worsened, these survivors found that the authorities were never any help, and often an ugly enemy. =H&HH= | LINK
Sept. 6, 2005:
FEMA head specifically ordered lackadaisical response to "near catastrophic" Hurricane Katrina
Sept. 7, 2005:
International offers of help came immediately, but U.S. approval was delayed by days
Sept. 7, 2005:
FEMA's top-level management stacked with Bush's cronies
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 7, 2005:
Navy pilots reprimanded for rescuing huricane victims
Sept. 8, 2005:
FEMA contractors arrested for looting
with comments by Underground Panther in the Sky
Sept. 8, 2005:
Katrina survivors "evacuated" at the point of a gun
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
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Canadian search-and-rescue team first to reach New Orleans suburb
Sept. 9, 2005:
"Mission accomplished" in New Orleans
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Sept. 9, 2005:
Homeowners' guns confiscated in New Orleans, police threaten evacuation by force
with comments by Sir J and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 10, 2005:
FEMA sent back German plane carrying fifteen tons of food for hurricane victims
Sept. 11, 2005:
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Sheriff threatens to arrest FEMA officials
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with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 12, 2005:
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with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 12, 2005:
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with comments by Chris M. and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 13, 2005:
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Sept. 13, 2005:
As bodies are recovered, reporters are threatened: 'No photos, no stories'
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Sept. 16, 2005:
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Sept. 16, 2005:
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with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 16, 2005:
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Sept. 19, 2005:
Bush OKs racial, other discrimination in rebuilding of shattered Gulf Coast
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 20, 2005:
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Sept. 23, 2005:
FEMA subcontracted evacuation buses, ignored bus-owners' group's offers of help
Sept. 28, 2005:
FEMA's $236-million deal with Carnival Cruise Lines
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