Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 6

1 A-6 Saturday, Aug. 29, 1992 Santa Cruz Sentinel 1 Hurricane aftermath Pentagon says it was ready to deliver aid Monday The New York Times WASHINGTON Pentagon officials said Friday that they were prepared to deliver lare amounts of emergency aid to victims of Hurricane Andrew on Monday, the day it devastated South Florida. But they did not do so because neither President Bush nor other civilian officials ordered a large-scale federal response to the devastation until late Thursday. At a news conference in the White House Rose Garden on Friday, Bush asserted that the federal government was ment nepnrv was created in 1978 to "responding promptly and massively to the hurricane disaster." and added that even though Florida officials had criticized the federal relief effort, 'i am satisfied that we responded properly." But interviews with officials at numerous federal agencies suggest that there was a breakdown in communication and coordination at top levels of the government. After the storm smashed into South Florida early Monday, Bush declared a major disaster and flew to Miami to in spect the damage.

But neither he nor the Federal Emergency Management Agency directed the armed forces to deliver all the aid they were ready to send to storm victims. The victims' anger at the delay burst into the national news media Thursday, creating a serious political problem for a president struggling to shed the image that he is detached from domestic problems and unwilling to act quickly to solve them. Army officials routinely track hurri canes, and had been following the storm for two weeks, since it began swirling off the west coast of Africa. And Pentagon officials said the armed forces were ready to send troops, food, equipment, shelter and medical supplies to Florida even before the storm hit land. The Bush administration's initial response appears to have been slowed by bureaucratic snarls and legal concerns.

In addition, White House officials did not realize the severity of the damage. Even though the emergency manage nate the federal response to disasters Bush on Wednesday appointed Transportation Secretary Andrew H. Card as the head of a separate interagency group, the Task Force on Hurricane Andrew. Card went to Florida on Thursday, and the president waited for a report from him before he announced late Thursday that he was sending thousands of Federal troops to South Florida to help rebuild the area and feed the hungry and homeless. FEMA lambasted once again for another relief effort failure if von ffOt DcillBS SCC piuwunum ii im mHniaiiiH.jMawssa IfJfaWW'IfflBiWHIIi'l 'ii'i'I4u KBt If Custom Essentials aluminum mini I'lnui, bused (ii 40 48" six including ixtkmce.

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detected itvles.) Green said. "Maybe we're going to have to change the law, and create some category of 'superdisasters' where the federal government has the primary responsibility for making things happen." FEMA was created in 1979 by combining disaster, insurance and civil defense divisions of three other federal agencies. It directs the flow of aid from 27 federal agencies to disaster-stricken areas of the country and U.S. territories. FEMA works like this: Disaster strikes.

Local emergency teams respond, calling on the state when overwhelmed. The state, through the governor, asks a regional FEMA office for federal aid. The regional office forwards the request to Washington for review. FEMA officials in Washington pass the request on to the president, who declares a disaster. FEMA then sends emergency teams, commanded by the regional FEMA director for the stricken area, to coordinate the delivery of federal aid.

An unspecified amount of time could elapse between a governor's request and the mobilization of aid. The lag time has been dramatically reduced since Hugo, Peterson said. "We're certainly way ahead of the last catastrophic disaster, by about five days," Peterson said. "We did learn from Hugo and we are more prepared. We have better coordination." But critics tell another story.

"Where in the hell is the cavalry on this one?" Kate Hale, director of emergency services in Dade County, demanded Thursday in a scene shown repeatedly on television. About 250,000 people were left homeless in South Florida alone by the hurricane. The Associated Press WASHINGTON Blame for the government's delayed response to Hurricane Andrew is being placed squarely at the feet of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Again. FEMA was accused of botching South Carolina's recovery from Hurricane Hugo in 1989, by responding too slowly and being too bogged down in red tape.

Now, amid charges of another slow FEMA response to another devastating hurricane, some are calling for a FEMA overhaul? saying the agency didn't learn a thing from its Hugo experience. "They assured us they had been studying Hugo and had been learning its lessons. I'm not sure they've yet developed the capacity to function quickly in that kind of disaster," said Rep. Bill Green, a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee that determines FEMA's budget. FEMA officials say they are unfairly being asked to respond faster than humanly possible.

The agency also is coping with Los Angeles' recovery from last spring's riots, and an attempt in Congress to trim its appropriation from President Bush's requested $1 billion to $796.5 million. "I wish we could have done it in 24 hours, for the people out there," FEMA spokesman Grant Peterson told Cable News Network. "But in a catastrophic event, 24 hours is not reasonable to expect to have all the resources of the federal government landing in the middle of a disaster." But Franklin, Mayor Sam Jones said the middle of the disaster is right where the federal effort ought to be. His town, population about 9,000, was flattened in a direct hit by Andrew and bypassed by FEMA. ut Our mill custom 2 uvod blind, based on 36 42 sci including valance.

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mDAV The agency instead set up a central office in Baton Rouge, about 110 miles away. Many people in Franklin have no way of getting there to apply for aid. "Volunteers are getting here before FEMA has even found us," Jones said. "I'm trying to be as stoic as I can. But I'm aggravated.

"All I can suggest to FEMA is when they come, come in civilian wear. Don't come in anything with federal insignia. The people aren't in the mood to see that now." Jones and U.S. Rep. Billy Tauzin, spent Friday trying to persuade FEMA to open a center in Franklin.

They were told the state of Louisiana must make such a request. "I told them the 'state was joining me in the request. They offered a mobile communications unit and I told them that was unacceptable," Tauzin said. Green said FEMA may be bearing the brunt of the blame because its name suggests that it is the single controlling body for federal relief. "Local officials expected them to come in and run the whole show," you'll find the anywhere, most custom made in just three days, all with a yEESlislaSI And with factory-direct savings and our TOHTCTfflWEH you'll get the best deal in town.

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