By RON FOURNIER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - As a powerful hurricane nears the coast, the mayor begs residents to evacuate, the governor deploys the National Guard and the president vows a rapid federal response. Politicians are reading from their pre-Katrina scripts as they brace for Rita - an unwelcome second chance to get it right.
The public has every reason to be skeptical as federal, state and city officials pledge not to repeat lethal errors made in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
That monster storm took days to make landfall, yet caught political leaders flat-footed. Even as the relief fiasco was evident to anybody watching television, President Bush and his lieutenants insisted for days that everything was being done to help Katrina’s victims.
Why would Rita be any different? Experts cite three reasons for hope: Stung by Katrina, the Bush administration is more deeply engaged in preparations for Rita than it was for the earlier storm; state officials in Texas have more assets than their Gulf Coast counterparts, and Katrina has taught every level of government lessons in disaster management.
“They had the good fortune to see New Orleans get whacked,” said Michael K. Lindell, director of the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A&M University. “If there were ambiguities in their plans, they’ve had a month to iron them out.”
“We want to make sure that we are better prepared and in better position to respond to Hurricane Rita,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Among the errors that government officials hope not to repeat:
- Food and other supplies trickled into the Gulf Coast for Katrina. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff says helicopters are standing by to ship in relief this time.
- Lawlessness broke out in New Orleans. Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he has 5,000 National Guard troops and 1,000 Department of Safety troopers positioned. The Bush administration was reluctant to use its authority to deploy federal troops into the Gulf Coast. It may be quicker on the trigger this time.
- There was no clear leadership. While deep systemic problems contributed, the administration’s disaster chief, Michael Brown, took the fall and resigned after Katrina. Bush has put two Coast Guard admirals in charge, one overseeing Katrina relief and the other in Texas.
- In New Orleans, nursing home and hospital patients died during the flooding. Texas began evacuating those facilities Wednesday.
- Scores of people failed to heed evacuation warnings in New Orleans, either because they had no transportation or they didn’t want to leave. Katrina’s aftermath has opened the eyes of Texas residents, who were already evacuating Wednesday. “I’m hopeful people will take it seriously this time,” Chertoff said.
But three weeks is not nearly enough time to fix all the problems exposed by Katrina, including communications failures, the loss of local police, firefighters and other first-responders, and the lack of temporary housing. Time will tell how frankly political leaders, from the president on down, speak about the aftermath of other disasters.
There is little man can do to stop Mother Nature. If Rita remains a Category 5 storm, the best preparations and political leadership are no guarantee against deaths, property destruction and political fallout.
“We can only minimize the destruction,” said Beverly A. Ciglar, professor of public policy and administration at Penn State.
That leaves politicians with few options beyond dusting off their disaster relief plans. Maybe that’s why their pre-storm rhetoric has such a familiar ring.
Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas of Galveston, Texas, urging residents to evacuate for Rita: “If they don’t want to leave, they are staying at their own risk.”
New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin before Katrina hit: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a test. This is the real deal, Board up your homes, make sure you have enough medicine, make sure the car has enough gas.”
Gov. Kathleen Blanco before Katrina: “Louisiana is in line for a possible direct hit. We know that we’re going to take the brunt of it.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry with Rita bearing down: “Look, a Category 4, Category 5 storm is going to be catastrophic.”
In the days before both storms, Bush asked people to pray for coastal residents and said his administration would move swiftly to respond. He was wrong about Katrina, and now top administration officials are trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
If nothing else, the response to Rita may be less partisan. Perry and Bush are both Republicans, which should help avoid the bickering and recrimination that soured relationships between the White House and Democrats Blanco and Nagin.
Chertoff couldn’t stop praising Perry’s team Wednesday. “They’ve got buses and other vehicles available for people who can’t drive themselves out,” he said. That was a not-too-subtle dig at New Orleans.
Taking no chances, Galveston’s mayor ordered mandatory evacuations three days before the storm was to strike.
“The real lesson that I think the citizens learned is that the people in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi did not leave in time,” Thomas said. “We’ve always asked people to leave earlier, but because of Katrina, they are now listening to us and they’re leaving.”
The public has learned its lesson.
In a day or two, their political leaders may be put to the test.