IEM to Lead Development of Hurricane Plan for Louisiana

Governor Blanco's new mouthpiece, James Lee Witt, is not exactly new to the New Orleans scene.

IEM Inc., a Baton Rouge, La.-based emergency management and homeland security consultant, announced it will lead the development of a catastrophic hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans under a more than half a million dollar contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

In making the announcement today on behalf of teaming partners Dewberry, URS Corporation and James Lee Witt Associates, IEM Director of Homeland Security Wayne Thomas explained that the development of a base catastrophic hurricane disaster plan has urgency due to the recent start of the annual hurricane season which runs through November.

That's June 9, 2004.

So Witt is out there talking about the lacking Federal response, even though he is one of the people responsible for the plan that left 100,000 people in a position where the Feds couldn't help them for several days. Or maybe it wasn't the plan per se, but the lacking execution of the plan.

Whatever the case, Witt did the studies and crafted the plan. Witt knows the Feds stated a year ago it would take them "several days" to reach those stranded inside the flooded bowl. Witt knows that evacuation was of paramount importance. Witt knows that local and state actors are responsible for the evacuation. Witt knows that people died either because his plan stunk or the Democrats he left it with didn't do their jobs.

Yet today he's heaping the catastrophe on the Federal government as Governor Blanco's mouthpiece.

Once a Clintonite, always a Clintonite.