Most Corrupt Agencies - Homeland Security.htm

Cities Not Ready for Catastrophes

Washington, N.Y. and New Orleans are among many unprepared, a report says.

LOS ANGELES TIMES, June 17, 2006--New Orleans is still woefully unprepared for catastrophes 10 months after Hurricane Katrina, and the two cities attacked on Sept. 11 don't meet all guidelines for responding to major disasters, a federal security analysis concluded Friday.

Ten states were rated in a Homeland Security Department scorecard as having sufficient disaster response plans. But the analysis found the vast majority of America's states, cities and territories are far from ready for terrorist attacks, natural disasters or other major emergencies.

"Frankly, we just have not in this country put the premium on our level of catastrophe planning that is necessary to be ready for those wide-scale events," Homeland Security Undersecretary George Foresman told reporters....

The tepid ratings gave fodder to state and local officials who have hammered Homeland Security for cutting emergency response funding. And the ratings may oversijmplify security gaps that can't be measured in a one-size-fits-all formula....

"If we ever needed proof of the hypocrisy of the Department of Homeland Security, we just got it," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). "Today they say that New York, despite the efforts of the mayor and the city, is still not adequately preopared for disasters including terrorism, and yet they dramatically shortchanged our funding. They are not even reading their own reports."

...But This Fishing Village Is

In "80 Eyes on 2,400 People," the Los Angeles Times reported on March 28, 2006, that the Department of Homeland Security installed 80 security cameras in a tiny remote Alaska fishing village, at the cost of $202,000. Despite the pork barrel largesse from Washington, Alaskan locals are not amused at being under constant surveillance. And they join Americans everywhere in their knowledge that the money could have been better spent.

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