Disasters

[MsTattersall]

<Snipping Jenny's and Judy's dialogue to point out the following:>
>The bottom line is, the US government has drastically reduced its
preparations for natural disasters. In fact, FEMA is currently being
phased out, and the agency that is supposed to replace it has not yet
been created. This should worry *everyone*, not just people living
in hurricane-prone areas. (see
http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion//index.php?ntid=52563&ntpid=1 )

MsTatt here:
This is simply not true. I have heard so much misinformation about 
FEMA in the past days that I felt I had to respond. FEMA is NOT being 
phased out. FEMA has NOT been relieved of duty by the Dept. of 
Homeland Security. The fact is, FEMA was absorbed by the DHS after 
9/11, but it remains a separate entity. Plans are to restore it to 
its original independent authority, but not until the current 
situation on the Gulf Coast is gotten under control. FEMA had 
response and recovery teams pre-deployed and ready to move into the 
hardest-hit areas as soon as they could physically get there. The 
President has basically handed them a blank check to do what needs to 
be done. 

How do I know all this? Because *Mr*Tatt works at the FEMA call 
center in Region VI, where he reports that over 100,000 calls per day 
are handled. He is about to be deployed to the field to establish an 
on-site call center; it's the biggest disaster his office has seen 
since the San Francisco earthquake in 1989.
Ms.Tattersall