Colorado Springs – The admiral in charge of coordinating the military’s response to Hurricane Katrina said Friday that Northern Command never anticipated a scenario in which first responders and infrastructure were incapacitated.
“In exercises, we have never been able to replicate or to simulate with sufficient fidelity how dramatic the challenge is when the first responders aren’t able to respond,” said Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of Northern Command, the military command responsible for defending the homeland and coordinating the military’s response to aid civil authorities in the aftermath of natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
Along the Gulf Coast, Keating said, the infrastructure was wiped out; communications were nil and roads and waterways were impassable.
Despite criticism that the military took too long to respond to the region, Keating said, “We responded well; we have lessons to learn to be sure.”
One is to perfect a response to a scenario that played out like Katrina, “where if nothing is there upon which to build, you have to think about what you arrange in the area first so that the Department of Defense assets, required by the Department of Homeland Security, have that infrastructure to use,” Keating said.
Northern Command, with the blessing of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, began sending ships from Norfolk, Va., and helicopters to the region before Katrina blasted ashore.
The military has 20,000 active-duty forces in the region and an additional 50,116 National Guard troops. There are 24 ships in the region. More than 200 members of the Army of Mexico, along with 45 vehicles, arrived at a former air base in San Antonio and will provide hot meals for up to 7,000 people, water and medical assistance. The military continued search-and- rescue operations and distribution of water and ice to the victims on Friday.
“It’s very hard for me to be unbiased here,” Keating said. “I harken back to the meetings we had in this headquarters in advance of Katrina, once we realized, ‘Uh-oh. This is a monster.’ We were moving things, again under the authority of the secretary of defense, who gave me broad latitude, who said, ‘If you think we need it, get it moving.”‘
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
