Homeland Security, GAO trade barbs on Katrina investigation

The Government Accountability Office on Wednesday issued the preliminary findings of an investigation into the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina, pinning most of the blame for problems at the federal level squarely on the Homeland Security Department.

The department fired back late Wednesday, calling the report "premature and unprofessional" and saying GAO did not contact DHS staff for comment.

"Apart from its obvious errors, it displays a significant misunderstanding of core aspects of the Katrina response that could have easily been corrected in the most basic conversations with DHS leaders," department spokesman Russ Knocke said in a statement.

The government's response to the hurricane was hobbled by a leadership vacuum and the failure to use a federal plan for catastrophic incidents, according to preliminary findings issued by Comptroller General David Walker.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff did not designate someone in advance of the hurricane to be clearly in charge and lead the overall federal response, Walker said during a press conference.

"Furthermore, events unfolded both before and immediately after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina that made it clear that governmental entities did not act decisively or quickly enough to determine the catastrophic nature of the incident," Walker said.

Although Chertoff designated the hurricane an incident of national significance the day after landfall, he did not activate a part of the National Response Plan that specifically deals with handling catastrophes, Walker said. Government Executive first reported in October that DHS did not use the catastrophic plan.

"As a result, the federal posture generally was to wait for the affected states to request assistance," Walker said.

"In the absence of timely and decisive action and clear leadership responsibility and accountability, there were multiple chains of command, a myriad of approaches and processes for requesting and providing assistance, and confusion about who should be advised of requests and what resources would be provided within specific time frames," Walker concluded.

He told Government Executive after the press conference that he believes using the catastrophic plan would have improved the government's response. He also said he plans to meet with DHS Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson in the coming weeks, and will give the department a chance to comment on upcoming reports.

Knocke said Bush made emergency declarations the weekend before the hurricane hit, which activated the National Response Plan and gave the Federal Emergency Management Agency full authority to coordinate federal activity.

"Further, the preliminary report falsely implies inaction by DHS and FEMA before landfall," Knocke added. "In fact, the clear record shows that state officials expressed satisfaction with the federal government's asset pre-positioning and other pre-hurricane assistance during a video teleconference the Sunday prior to landfall."

The day after the storm hit, Chertoff formally appointed FEMA director Michael Brown as the principal federal official in charge of federal operations. DHS said Brown had been acting in that capacity prior to landfall.

Brown was later removed from that position, however, under mounting criticism, and eventually resigned as FEMA director.

Walker told reporters after the press conference that "it's debatable" whether DHS had competent people handling the hurricane response.

Knocke said the catastrophic plan did not apply to the hurricane. "A cursory phone call to DHS would have revealed that the catastrophic annex is designed for 'no-notice' or 'short-notice' events, where no personnel or supplies have been pre-positioned, which was clearly not the case in Katrina," he said.

The department recognizes, however, that Katrina revealed problems in national response capabilities and demonstrated the need for more comprehensive federal, state and local planning for catastrophic events, Knocke added.

"DHS will announce a comprehensive strategy to improve the nation's capability to manage catastrophic incidents in the very near future," he said.