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Hurricane Wilma

Gov. Bush tells panel Florida is storm-ready

By ANITA KUMAR
Published October 20, 2005

WASHINGTON - With Hurricane Wilma threatening Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush used an appearance in front of a congressional panel Wednesday to show how disaster planning works in real life.

Bush explained to members of the House Homeland Security Committee that Florida, which has had seven hurricanes and three tropical storms in the past 14 months, was prepared.

He offered a summary:

Local emergency operation centers were activated from Tampa Bay to Key West. Every hospital in Florida was ready to evacuate, if necessary, with the help of the Florida National Guard. Ice, water and food was being staged along the storm's projected path. Shelters were being opened, including some that accept pets. The state contracted with the North Carolina National Guard for helicopters, and a private logistics expert was hired to help locate distribution points for supplies.

"I hope you will be praying for the southwest coast of our state," he said.

Bush also told the committee what he thought about putting the military in charge of the response to future disasters, something his brother President Bush has said he would consider.

"If this responsibility is federalized that will be as big as any disaster to hit this country," Bush testified. "I would urge you not to lose the bottom-up approach."

Bush, along with the governors of Texas and Arizona, urged the committee to not change an emergency response system that makes states the first responders.

"When you add a new lawyer of bureaucracy, decisionmaking becomes paralyzed, decisions are placed in the hands of those who know less about the community and miscommunication becomes rampant as lives hang in the balance," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said.

Committee members, including three Floridians, peppered the governors about their disaster planning and their dealings with the embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Bush complimented FEMA's work in Florida, but said the agency needs to improve its handling of poststorm recovery, including temporary housing, debris removal, reimbursement and other issues.

"The problem is not two or three days before the storm hits," he said. "It's the recovery phase."

Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., questioned what role the federal government should play if local governments fail to respond.

The three governors said they welcomed the federal help during disasters and even left open the possibility that it could have more of a role if a state is overwhelmed. But Bush said that was likely to be in the case of a terrorist attack, not a natural disaster.

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Crystal River, a member of the committee, said she agreed that the military should not be put in charge of natural disasters on a regular basis.

"Following testimony by the panel of governors, the consensus was that only in extreme cases was it appropriate for the emergency response to be federalized and that local and state leaders are best prepared to respond to natural disasters," she said.

Later, Bush said he planned to return to Tallahassee on Wednesday night. He will report to the state's Emergency Operations Center today.

[Last modified October 20, 2005, 01:20:19]