US: The Pentagon should have a clearer role in dealing with disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the White House said yesterday, recommending emergency-management changes after a problem-plagued federal response.
President George Bush, who has been widely criticised for an administration response deemed too slow, had ordered the review on September 6th as New Orleans and other areas of the Gulf Coast struggled to recover from the disaster that killed about 1,300 people and left thousands homeless.
The review led by Frances Townsend, homeland security adviser to Mr Bush, follows a congressional report that sharply criticised the US government's disaster response.
"I wasn't satisfied with the federal response," Mr Bush said during a cabinet meeting. "The report helps us anticipate how to better respond to future disasters."
The 217-page report acknowledged inadequate preparedness for the storm and said the current homeland security system "has structural flaws for addressing catastrophic events". It did not single out anyone for blame.
It said better planning and co-ordination and clearer designation of responsibilities were needed, and identified 11 changes needed before June 1st, the start of hurricane season. These include establishing joint field offices to manage federal efforts when disasters are predicted.
The report said the departments of homeland security and defence should jointly plan for the military's disaster support, and in "extraordinary circumstances" the defence department should lead the federal effort.
The federal government should not be the first to respond to a disaster, but should help state and local authorities when they become overwhelmed, it said.
"Federal officials struggled to perform responsibilities generally conducted by state and local authorities, such as the rescue of citizens stranded by the rising floodwaters, provision of law enforcement, and evacuation of the remaining population of New Orleans," the report said. It cited a lack of planning and of a functioning state and local command structure.
On the military's role, it said, "The federal response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrates that the department of defence (DOD) has the capability to play a critical role in the nation's response to catastrophic events.
"Since DOD, first and foremost, has its critical overseas mission, the solution to improving the federal response to future catastrophes cannot simply be 'let the department of defence do it'," it said. The military response to Katrina was slowed by federal law and defence department policy that any military assistance must first be requested by local officials, the report said.
A report by congressional Republicans last week said federal emergency agencies were unprepared for Katrina and quicker White House involvement might have helped.
Homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff has acknowledged his department was overwhelmed by the storm but has denied he and Bush were unresponsive. - (Additional reporting by Caren Bohan)