Insider Condemns FEMA Response
Its lone representative in New Orleans as Katrina hit, he tells senators of maddening neglect.
By Mary Curtius, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON The only FEMA employee to ride out Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans painted a grim portrait Thursday of an agency led by officials who were unprepared for the scope of the disaster and failed to respond to his increasingly desperate pleas for help.
Marty Bahamonde's emotional testimony, backed by e-mails he sent from New Orleans as floodwaters engulfed much of the city, was the most detailed eyewitness account yet from a FEMA official of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's handling of the disaster.
A veteran public affairs officer, Bahamonde was FEMA's only representative in the city from Saturday, Aug. 27, until early Tuesday, Aug. 30. Katrina made landfall Monday morning, Aug. 29.
Bahamonde contested former FEMA director Michael D. Brown's late-September testimony to a House committee, including Brown's account of the number of FEMA staffers sent to the city before the storm 'I was the only one,' Bahamonde said.
Its lone representative in New Orleans as Katrina hit, he tells senators of maddening neglect.
By Mary Curtius, Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON The only FEMA employee to ride out Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans painted a grim portrait Thursday of an agency led by officials who were unprepared for the scope of the disaster and failed to respond to his increasingly desperate pleas for help.
Marty Bahamonde's emotional testimony, backed by e-mails he sent from New Orleans as floodwaters engulfed much of the city, was the most detailed eyewitness account yet from a FEMA official of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's handling of the disaster.
A veteran public affairs officer, Bahamonde was FEMA's only representative in the city from Saturday, Aug. 27, until early Tuesday, Aug. 30. Katrina made landfall Monday morning, Aug. 29.
Bahamonde contested former FEMA director Michael D. Brown's late-September testimony to a House committee, including Brown's account of the number of FEMA staffers sent to the city before the storm 'I was the only one,' Bahamonde said.
So you can tally up another perjury for Brownie. The first being his lie (under oath) about Governor Blanco NOT requesting help for New Orleans. The presidents Official Emergency Statement excluded Orleans Parish, but included surrounding "Republican" parishesand tried to blame Blanco, who excluded NO Parish.
posted by gr8fuldaniel | 2:29 PM
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