[StBernard] U.S. creates new layer to hurricane response

[Westley Annis]

U.S. creates new layer to hurricane response 
Some state officials worry about additional bureaucracy

The Associated Press
Updated: 9:51 a.m. ET April 12, 2006


WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department is tapping federal disaster
responders for 13 states, readying them now to deliver fast aid and supplies
to victims during the looming hurricane season.

The disaster coordinators are being placed in Gulf Coast and mid-Atlantic
states as part of an organizational overhaul at Homeland Security and the
Federal Emergency Management Agency, which were widely blamed for the
government's sluggish response last year to Hurricane Katrina.

Additionally, FEMA will appoint top-level disaster officials to oversee the
federal response in five regions where hurricanes are most likely to strike
this year.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was to announce the changes at
a hurricane conference in Orlando, Fla.

Usually, FEMA waits until after a disaster hits to put federal relief
coordinators and overseers in place. But confusion in Katrina's immediate
aftermath demonstrated widespread failures when the federal government
doesn't work closely with state and local authorities, said a senior
Homeland Security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the
announcement had not been made.

Bureaucracy concerns by states
State emergency managers fear that part of the plans will create another
level of bureaucracy to deal with in the midst of a disaster.

Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management
Association, said state officials vigorously oppose the top-level disaster
site overseers. Former FEMA director Michael Brown served in that role
immediately after Katrina, and, Sheets said, "it was confusing." Brown
resigned under fire two weeks after Katrina.

"It's just another layer of bureaucracy," said Sheets, whose organizations
represents emergency management officers from all 50 states

The National Emergency Management Association, however, supports putting a
federal disaster coordinator in high-risk states. The 13 states to have one
are: Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, South
Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New
York.

Chertoff will meet with emergency managers in Orlando. He will be joined by
FEMA acting director R. David Paulison and National Hurricane Center
director Max Mayfield.

11 priorities in works
On Tuesday, Chertoff promised that 11 top federal emergency response
priorities will be ready by June 1. Those priorities include creating new
systems to track supplies, aid victims and deliver quick information to all
levels of government.

But he noted that much of the success or failure in responding to disasters
will depend on how well state and local officials work with Washington and
have their own emergency plans in place.

The 11 reforms are among 125 recommendations White House homeland security
adviser Frances Fragos Townsend issued last month as part of a federal
"lessons learned" review of Katrina.

C 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
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C 2006 MSNBC.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12283562/