The Facts Don't Lie

United States National Response Plan

On August 26, 2005, President Bush declared a "State of Emergency" in Louisiana.

A day later he did the same for Mississippi. The hurricane hit on August 29, 2005. THREE DAYS LATER.

His declarations made Hurricane Katrina an "Incident of National Significance." The NRP defines an Incident of National Significance as:

an actual or potential high-impact event that requires a coordinated and effective response by and appropriate combination of Federal, State, local, tribal, nongovernmental, and/or private-sector entities in order to save lives and minimize damage, and provide the basis for long-term community recovery and mitigation activities.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS

The "basic premise of the NRP is that incidents are generally handled at the state and local level." (NRP, 15). However, the plan specifically recognizes the possibility that the FEDERAL government bears primary responsibility:

When an incident or potential incident is of such severity, magnitude, and/or complexity that it is considered an Incident of National Significance, the Secretary of Homeland Security initiates actions to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the incident." (NHP, 15)

BLANCO ASKED FOR FEDERAL HELP ON SUNDAY, AUG 28

The proof is here: http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pd...

She took the proper steps as specified by this law:

Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act

http://www.fema.gov/library/stafact.shtm

"§ 5191. PROCEDURE FOR DECLARATION {Sec. 501}

§ 5192. Federal emergency assistance {Sec. 502}