When Hurricane Katrina ravaged coastal Louisiana and Mississippi, the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman was dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico to serve as a floating command center for relief operations.
Four days after landfall.
For Hurricane Rita, a state-of- the-art, ground-based command center was established at the U.S. Northern Command headquarters in Colorado Springs.
Two days before landfall.
Given a rare second chance in the form of the second hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast in less than a month, government agencies were determined not to repeat the failures of Hurricane Katrina.
State and local officials issued their own evacuation orders, marshaled buses and other resources, and asked in advance for federal help – whether it was Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco asking in writing for 15,000 active-duty troops, or Texas Gov. Rick Perry asking for extra fuel.
Most notably, government agencies took the step of involving the U.S. military in advance rather than after the fact.
“Just having been through the double catastrophic disaster, we learned not to make any assumptions about preparedness,” said FEMA spokeswoman Debbie Wing.
Ultimately up to 28,000 troops responded to Katrina, although they arrived several days after the hurricane landed.
In preparation for Rita, which turned out to be a less-damaging storm, the military deployed about 50,000 troops on the ground or aboard ships to support relief operations before the hurricane hit land.
The military reserved 26 helicopters for search and rescue. Six naval vessels were sent to follow the storm to the coast.
Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio was designated as the central clearinghouse for the distribution of relief supplies. In addition, the Coast Guard reserved 40 aircraft and nine cutters.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency stockpiled in advance essential provisions like food, water, hospital beds and satellite telephones. FEMA safely stored enough food and water in Texas and Louisiana, including 165 truckloads of ice, 185 truckloads of water, and 98 truckloads of food.
President Bush made a conspicuous show of his involvement, from a visit Friday to FEMA headquarters to a full schedule of Rita activities Saturday, including a stop at U.S. Northern Command headquarters and trip to Texas to observe relief operations.
After a briefing Saturday, the president said: “It comforts me knowing that our federal government is well-organized and well-prepared to deal with Rita.”
