ANOTHER "BLAME THE LOCALS" MEME DEBUNKED

There is a story going around that state and local officials prevented the Red Cross from entering New Orleans despite the desperate situation. A commenter at Atrios, I believe, found a news report that said federal officials (DHS, FEMA) were responsible, not the locals.

I wrote to the reporter and she confirmed her story. Here's the text:

Dear Mr. J,

Due to e-mails such as yours I called the Red Cross again to make sure I had not misunderstood them in our conversations about Homeland Security and FEMA. (The F stands for Federal). They said my story was not in error.
After many calls to the federal Dept. of Homeland Security, both before I wrote the article and after it ran, their spokeswoman finally returned my call. She had no idea whether the federal dept. was a party to the decision to keep the Red Cross out. She said she would get back to me after she checked it out, and I am waiting to hear from her.
The Louisiana Department of Homeland Security and and Emergency Preparedness is currently impossible to reach because whatever phone lines are working down there are overwhelmed. If the story is in error I will be more than happy to write a correction, but the Red Cross stands by what it originally told me.

Sincerely,
Ann

Ann Rodgers

Religion reporter

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 34 Blvd. of the Allies Pittsburgh PA 15222
412-263-1416 1-800-234-6990 ext. 1416 arodgers@post-gazette.com Fax:
412-391-8452 www.post-gazette.com

UPDATE: Ms. Rodgers sent me a follow-up letter

Dear Steve,

Sorry I can't continue sending information because I'm beign bombarded with e-mail about this. I took longer to reply to you because you were so polite. I will tell you that I just got off the phone after a long conversation with Major George Hood, the national spokesman for the Salvation Army, who told me that the decision to keep aid agencies out of downtown New Orleans at the height of the flood was made jointly by FEMA (the federal agency) and the Louisianna Dept. of Homeland Security.

Ann