Managing a Hurricane

WSJ.com - ROBERT BLOCK and RUSSELL GOLD
:: STORMS IN THE GULF - Managing a Hurricane -- Differently: "The federal preparations now under way for Hurricane Rita are very different from the efforts before, during and after Hurricane Katrina. And the differences start at the top.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has taken a much more central role in preparing for a potential disaster than it did for Katrina and its aftermath. Among its early actions: naming a "principal federal officer" to coordinate the national response to the hurricane bearing down on the Texas coast, in this case Rear Admiral Larry Hereth, a Coast Guard officer. Adm. Hereth reports directly to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. With Katrina, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen wasn't appointed to head up relief efforts until almost two weeks into the disaster.

R. David Paulison, the new acting director of FEMA, said yesterday that his agency was seeking to have essential commodities such as ice, water and food in place in potentially affected areas such as Texas and Louisiana by the end of the day. In all, 45 truckloads of water and ice and 25 truckloads of meals will be ready in staging areas at federal facilities in Texas, Mr. Paulison said. More than 400 medical-team personnel and 14 Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces, meanwhile, are also staging in Texas, FEMA said.

FEMA official Gary Jones, second in command to Adm. Hereth in leading the federal effort in Texas, said there were 100 tractor-trailers filled with tarps, generators and ice at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, ready to be deployed as soon as roads were open. A similar convoy is being put together at a federal warehouse in Fort Worth, said Mr. Jones.

"We're very concerned that we lean forward and have the resources to deal with whatever comes up," said Adm. Hereth. "We need to establish what we need and then build some excess capacity."

The military also is being mobilized more quickly than it was for Katrina. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he asked President Bush for 10,000 federal troops on Thursday morning; by the early afternoon, the Pentagon had approved the request. The troops will be available to do "everything short of law enforcement," said Adm. Hereth, who has been dispatched to Texas from his usual post in Portsmouth, Va., where he is the Fifth District Commander.

The changes in crisis-management are largely a result of the criticism for FEMA's bungled management in the aftermath of Katrina. The shifts are also a recognition of the effective role the Coast Guard has played during the Katrina recovery, when its ships and helicopters were the first on the scene to rescue stranded residents from rooftops and floodwaters. Mr. Chertoff also chose the Coast Guard over FEMA to be the public face of the federal response last week when the much milder Hurricane Ophelia hit the North Carolina Coast.

The new alignment also raises Mr. Chertoff's power and profile. A former judge and federal prosecutor, he is not well versed in emergency management. But his supporters say that he is an excellent manager and that his stewardship of the department and FEMA since Katrina has provided clear and strong leadership.

Inside FEMA, meanwhile, officials see the plans taking shape for Rita as a symbol of their diminishing authority. While FEMA officials are still charged with coordinating federal assets from a myriad of departments and agencies during a disaster, they say decisions are being made now by senior Homeland Security officials. FEMA is largely being told what to do.

For their part, Texas state officials have made clear that they don't intend to repeat mistakes made during Katrina. Gov. Perry, who activated 5,000 National Guard troops and deployed 1,000 state police, said he expected the combined force would create a "show of authority" in storm-devastated regions. On Monday, the governor recalled Texas National Guard members and other emergency response officials from Louisiana to prepare for Rita.

When asked if there was a shelter of last resort for residents in the Houston area who couldn't leave in time -- the role the Superdome and the convention center played in New Orleans -- Jack Colley, coordinator of the state emergency-management division, demurred. "Our goal is to not leave anyone behind and right now we're achieving that," he said. The state is also deploying fuel trucks to help motorists leaving Houston who run out of gas.

Officials in Louisiana, which is also lying in the potential path of Rita, declared a state of emergency as well. New Orleans, 80% of which was flooded when Katrina shattered its protective levees, wasn't taking any chances this time either. Mayor Ray Nagin said two busloads of people had been evacuated already and 500 other buses were ready to roll.

"We're a lot smarter this time around," he said. "We've learned a lot of hard lessons." About 1,100 Hurricane Katrina evacuees still in Houston's two mass shelters faced another evacuation as the city found itself in Rita's possible path. They were being sent to Fort Chaffee, Ark."