Blathering idiot makes fool of himself...again

Ok, I think I have it clarified.

Someone pointed out that Governor Blanco declared Louisiana a federal disaster area on August 27. This is what FEMA calls an "emergency declaration", which could have been easily confused with a "state of emergency". It's listed on FEMA's website here.

However, that declaration did not include the parish of Orleans.

Assistance was only asked for these parishes: Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier,Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.

In an amendment on August 29, the parish of Orleans was added.

That explains the Newsmax article that says Governor Blanco did not declare New Orleans in a "state of emergency". It is correct that Blanco did declare a state of emergency for the state of Louisiana on August 26 in a press release to the public. However, that release does not specifically mention New Orleans and does not help in getting federal assistance.

The articles are correct in asserting that Blanco failed to include the parish of Orleans in the federal disaster declaration on August 27, which is how federal assistance is obtained from FEMA.

According to FEMA's guide to the disaster declaration process and federal disaster assistance, "Local and State governments share the responsibility for protecting their citizens from disasters, and for helping them to recover when a disaster strikes. In some cases, a disaster is beyond the capabilities of the State and local government to respond."

"The Governor's request is made through the regional FEMA/EPR office."

Interestingly, the parish of Orleans does not appear in the initial Federal Register Notice.

Why? The Governor failed to get it included. It was the Governor's responsibility.

Many Democrats point to a letter to President Bush (and a regional director of FEMA) which asked for help in this area. However, the letter is dated August 27th. Not knowing when exactly this letter was sent does not tell us when the President or FEMA actually received it via U.S. mail. Perhaps it arrived on August 29th, when FEMA amended it's Federal Register Notice to include Orleans?

I think an investigation would be very insightful, because it would be difficult to believe that FEMA chief Michael Brown did not include Orleans in the list of affected parishes if it was correctly requested by the Governor.