The Second Storm - Pentagon's view of response to Katrina

Of note : CNN (et al) may not have covered the worst hit areas. They may have covered what they could reach (and what makes a "story")

Not to make any excuses nor "shift blame" but Television has a different role than rescue ...At it's best, it is to infom, at worst, to inflame (and sell advertising).

"Some procedural shortcomings were instituted almost immediately. In the Northcom operations center, TV coverage of disaster zones was closely monitored, prompting the dispatch of relief missions prior to the receipt of official reports or requests. During past wargames, FEMA and other agencies have been reluctant to be drawn into "the 'CNN effect' and instead rely on standard National Response Plan reporting channels, because they were afraid they'd be sucked down a rat hole," says the retired officer. Players were concerned that critical resources could be diverted by low-priority regions, only because those areas were getting media attention."

The Second Storm - aviation week, aerospace, airline industry, space technology, defense, aircraft, homeland security, articles, magazines, FAA, regulations, news: "The Second Storm
09/09/2005 01:55:55 PM
By William B. Scott, David A. Fulghum and Craig Covault/Cape Canaveral

To the list of casualties being tallied following Hurricane Katrina, at least two more will certainly be added: procedures for requesting assistance from the federal government and rules for how the military should respond to a disaster.

With images of desperate flooding victims in New Orleans still fresh, the White House, congressional committees and the Pentagon itself have already announced investigations, and 'lessons-learned' studies will probe whether the military could have done more or responded quicker "