May 3, 2008
By Ken Kaye
Sun-Sentinel
ORLANDO, Fla. — If another hurricane blows through, don't count on the government providing free bags of ice or generators or travel trailers.
Photo: The 2005 hurricane season left millions of people without power for days, weeks and even months. With the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the damage of Wilma still evident, preparedness is important before the start of hurricane season. While you might not live in an area of the country affected by hurricanes, perhaps you need to think about emergency generator power before an ice storm cuts your power line.
That's the message of R. David Paulison, who indicated he would step down as the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency before the next administration takes control in Washington.
Paulison said Wednesday that residents should no longer count on FEMA to provide free ice or generators in the aftermath of a storm, unless they are needed for medical emergencies.
"I just don't think that's one of FEMA's jobs," he said. "We're going to focus on the basic needs of people, and that's food and water."
Don't count on the state providing much ice either, as it is low on the Florida emergency management's list of critical needs in the aftermath of a storm, behind medical needs, water, food, shelter and emergency fuel, Craig Fugate, the state's emergency management director said Wednesday.
Paulison, 61, of Miami said he does not intend to leave his post at least until after the upcoming hurricane season and possibly not until next January.
"It's time to go back and spend time with my family," during a press briefing at the National Hurricane Conference.
Even if the new president asked him to stay on board, Paulison said he still likely would leave.
"This is a tough job," said Paulison, who is largely credited with turning FEMA around after it was heavily criticized for its lax response during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "It creates an enormous amount of ... stress."
Before taking over FEMA, Paulison spent 30 years with the Miami-Dade County Fire Department, with the last 10 of those as its chief. In the last six of those, he also was the county's emergency management director.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Paulison spent four years in Washington, D.C., as the U.S. fire administrator, a job that required he oversee the federal emergency management training operations.
President Bush appointed Paulison in September 2005 to replace the former embattled FEMA director, Michael Brown, who became the focal point of blame for the agency's failures in Katrina. Those were underscored by thousands of homeless New Orleans residents begging for food, water and ice in the days and weeks after the storm left the city underwater.
As he has said frequently in the past, Paulison thinks the Katrina ordeal was the result of a "systemic failure," with no leadership on the part of any of the responding governmental agencies, including the state of Louisiana.
To this day, FEMA continues to struggle with the Katrina recovery.
There still are 40,000 families along the Gulf coast living in travel trailers or mobile homes, Paulison said. However, that is down from an original 143,000 families who were initially homeless and the agency has been relocating about 800 families a week into more permanent rental housing.
As part of this process, Paulison said FEMA will no longer provide travel trailers to displaced families – because they are too small and have safety concerns.
In the aftermath of the Katrina disaster, Paulison set about changing the agency's culture – to the point that he called it "the new FEMA." He doubled the full-time staff, to about 3,400 workers today and also doubled its budget, to about $9 billion, its largest ever.
Most importantly, he imposed a "proactive" response plan, where emergency teams, equipment and supplies are strategically moved into an area before a disaster strikes.
For example, Paulison said, when Category 5 Hurricane Dean was initially forecast to aim toward Brownsville, Texas, last year, FEMA evacuated 150,000 people from low-lying areas and spent $14 million to move emergency equipment into that region.
"We were ready for it," he said. "If you don't want another Katrina, that's what you have to do."
Dean missed Texas and instead hit Mexico last August.
Paulison said his likely successor will be Nancy Ward, who currently is a FEMA regional administrator, based in Oakland, Calif., and who has 25 years of emergency management experience.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/apr/03/fema-chief-says-dont-expect-free-ice-generators/