Heckuva Job

It's hard to believe that FEMA could screw up the post-storm planning after Hurricane Ike the way they did with Hurricane Katrina, but somehow they managed it.

It didn't take long for the finger-pointing to begin. The Federal Emergency Management Agency came under fire Sunday as emergency workers were left undernourished and dozens of trucks of water and food had yet to be set up at distribution centers around Houston and surrounding communities.

And no sooner had the agency -- widely condemned for its glacial response to suffering after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 -- drawn sharp criticism as its leaders and spokesmen began to say it was someone else's fault.

Earlier in the day, a FEMA spokesman said delays in setting up staging points to hand out needed provisions had been caused by blocked roads.

By the evening, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it was the fault of state officials who handed his department the "unexpected challenge" of having to prepare distribution points in addition to delivering supplies.

State officials said that was a local responsibility, which came as a surprise to Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.

Lots of finger-pointing and blame-gaming, but there are credible reports that FEMA assured state and local officials that they would lead with the response. Interestingly, the only thing that has appeared to change is their media strategy - the governor of Texas is blocking reports from Galveston Island and the Gulf Coast to hit the teevee. This looks pretty bad.

Ike

It kind of snuck up on everybody, but this could be really bad:

...TIDE LEVELS CONTINUE TO INCREASE AS IKE APPROACHES THE UPPER TEXAS COAST...

IKE IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 12 MPH. A TURN TOWARD THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY...WITH A TURN TOWARD THE NORTH EXPECTED ON SATURDAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE
CENTER OF IKE WILL BE VERY NEAR THE UPPER TEXAS COAST BY LATE TODAY OR EARLY SATURDAY. HOWEVER...BECAUSE IKE IS A VERY LARGE TROPICAL CYCLONE...WEATHER WILL BEGIN TO DETERIORATE ALONG THE COASTLINE VERY SOON.

THIS STATEMENT RECOMMENDS ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OR MARINE AREAS:

BRAZORIA...CHAMBERS...GALVESTON...HARRIS...JACKSON...LIBERTY...MATAGORDA.

...WATCHES/WARNINGS...

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT PERSONS WHO LIVE IN MOBILE HOMES OR POORLY-BUILT STRUCTURES EVACUATE TO A SAFER LOCATION SUCH AS A WELL BUILT HOME. PERSONS WHO LIVE IN HIGH RISES SHOULD CONSIDER EVACUATING AS WINDS CAN BE AS MUCH AS 20 TO 30 MPH STRONGER AT THE TOP OF A HIGH RISE THAN AT GROUND LEVEL. PERSONS OUTSIDE OF THE MANDATORY EVACUATION AREAS WHO HAVE NOT EVACUATED SHOULD PLAN TO SHELTER IN PLACE IN A WELL BUILT STRUCTURE DURING THE PERIOD OF TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS.

These holdouts are exercising very poor judgment. They need to get out of there. The storm surge could be 20 feet or more. Fortunately most people are fleeing, but they're going to be affected somewhat. Ike is almost the size of Texas.

I'm also hearing reports of gas stations bumping up prices, because a number of major oil refineries are due to be flooded and shut down. This obviously shows the need to drill more off the coast and put more pressure on those refineries for our oil needs.

Brace yourself, Houston.