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September 5, 2005

The Federal Katrina Response: Another Strategic Failure

Michael Hiltzik writing in today's Los Angeles Times led me to the Testimony of former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe M. Allbaugh, before the Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2001. This meeting was about 100 days after his confirmation hearing. His testimony goes far in explaining the current administration's "philosophy" of disaster relief that is playing itself out in the Golf Coast.

I quote from a few salient passages of Mr. Allbaugh's testimony.

The original intent of Federal disaster assistance is to supplement State and local response efforts. Many are concerned that Federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program and a disincentive to effective State and local risk management. Expectations of when the Federal Government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level. We must restore the predominant role of State and local response to most disasters. Federal assistance needs to supplement, not supplant, State and local efforts. [emphasis added]
We will pay special attention to volunteers and non-governmental organizations responding to disasters. Disasters hit hardest in communities and neighborhoods, and our solutions to disaster problems rely on local solutions. Faith-based groups at the community level, like the Salvation Army and the Mennonite Disaster Service, play critical roles in disaster relief, as does the American Red Cross. The power of neighbors helping neighbors should never be underestimated. These people make a vital difference without any expectation of thanks or recognition. Our Community and Family Preparedness, and Emergency Preparedness Information programs focus on building effective self-help, self-reliance capability targeted to all members of a community.

President Bush's compassionate conservatism is a hallmark of his core philosophy. The President is promoting faith-based organizations as a way to achieve compassionate conservatism. Not only does FEMA work with the faith-based organizations that I mentioned, but FEMA's Emergency Food and Shelter Program is the original faith-based initiative and is a perfect fit with President Bush's new approach to helping the poor, homeless and disadvantaged. Through this program, FEMA works with organizations that are based in the communities where people need help the most. [emphasis in original]

"As President Bush said in his February address to the Joint Session of Congress, "Our new governing vision says government should be active, but limited; engaged, but not overbearing." We think you will see that the budget proposal for FEMA truly reflects the President's goal of restoring a proper balance - moving away from the expectation that the Federal Government is the option of first resort to the option of last resort. [emphasis added]

Telling are the goals Allbaugh set for his agency.

  • Enhance responsiveness to Governors and local leaders because effective and immediate response is critical in disasters;
  • Implement pre-disaster mitigation programs that encourage the building of disaster resistant communities;
  • Guide the Federal Insurance Administration to implement policies encouraging the purchase of flood insurance and reducing the costs of flood related disasters;
  • Enhance the capabilities of the U.S. Fire Administration, which has a new opportunity to make a real difference in the firefighting community;
  • Pay special attention and strengthen those volunteer and non-governmental organizations responding to disasters; and,
  • Take great care to foster and support the professional, experienced workforce at FEMA through enhanced training and creation of a business-like culture within the Agency;

These goals stand at the very intersection of the "ownership society" and "compassionate conservatism."

I paraphrase these goals in the interest of clarity.

Read the whole testimony and you'll see that my paraphrase is not far from the mark. What you see is a thought process that focuses on how to reduce the role of government and assumes that disasters will all be small enough to be managed locally. There is much talk of community level responses. But with a large-scale disaster like Katrina, the local infrastructure is destroyed and the personnel of many local charities are evacuated. When a disaster hits at a far larger scale than that envisioned by the strategy, the strategy is unable to define an appropriate response. And it didn't.

Posted by Duane Smith at September 5, 2005 11:14 AM | Read more on Current Events |

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