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May 9, 2007
Kansas, a Katrina Replay
Well, the game seems the same, a big disaster, a slow response by the Feds and local agencies and a lot of blame. So what's at play here? Many state officials throughout the country have been warning the Feds that they were short of both manpower and equipment because of Iraq. Many asked the Feds to replace missing equipment taken for war duty. That has not happened. (NYT)
For months, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and other governors have warned that their state National Guards are ill-prepared for the next local disaster, be it a tornado a flash flood or a terrorist’s threat, because of large deployments of their soldiers and equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Then, last Friday night, a deadly tornado all but cleared the small town of Greensburg off the Kansas map. With 80 square blocks of the small farming town destroyed, Ms. Sebelius said her fears had come true: The emergency response was too slow, she said, and there was only one reason.
And the White House response?
Ms. Sebelius's comments about the slow response prompted a debate with the White House on Tuesday, which initially said the fault rested with her. Tony Snow, the White House press secretary, said the governor should have followed procedure by finding gaps after the storm hit and asking the federal government to fill them - but did not.
"If you don’t request it, you’re not going to get it," Mr. Snow told reporters on Tuesday morning.
The debate was reminiscent of the Bush administration’s skirmishes with Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana, also a Democrat, after Hurricane Katrina.
The states warn they there are potential troubles ahead in the event of a disaster. There is a disaster, the response is slow from the Feds and the White House blames the state for the problem. Sound familiar? Will the White House manage to convince the electorate that it was really on top of things? Who wins in this little blame game? It sounds so reminiscent of New Orleans that it is hard to expect a different conclusion.
Posted by Chip Spear at May 9, 2007 8:37 AM