I've recently heard that FEMA regulations say that a 72-96 hour period should be expected between the occurence of a disaster and federal aid arriving. Anyone able to verify this?
Sounds like bullsh**t. It took only a couple of hours for federal troops to arrive in San Francisco after the massive 1906 earthquake.
That wasn't very sensible. Massive quakes are usually followed by smaller quakes that can still cause a great deal more subsequent damage, and therefore a further risk to anybody in the area. But they probably didn't know that 99 years ago.
Same applies here. You can't start sending people in to the area until you know exactly how bad the situation is. Otherwise you might be sending more people in to die.
You also can't start sending equipment in until you know the damage. What was expected in NOLA was damage from a Category 4-5 hurricane, i.e. collapsed buildings. That didn't happen as a rule. The equipment needed for those is different than flooding.
Poll
