Former Joint Task Force Katrina Commander Russel Honore said Tuesday it was highly unlikely that the federal government was prepared for Hurricane Florence as the Category 4 storm barrels toward the East Coast.
“I would not bet any money that we are prepared,” Honore said during an interview with MSNBC.
“I don’t understand the government giving a whole lot of assurances that they’re ready because we’re never ready for a Category 4,” he continued, dismissing the “political line” because of the destruction expected to be wreaked on the Carolinas and Virginia at the end of the week. “What we’ve got to be ready for is the response, to bring assets beyond what the states have.”
Honore was “embarrassed” of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for touting its preparedness by, for example, amassing 80,000 liters of water at Fort Bragg, N.C., he added.
“Those numbers don’t work,” he said. “Those numbers aren’t impressive at all.”
[Also read: Trump on federal response to Puerto Rico: ‘An incredible, unsung success’]
The federal government ought to rethink its approach to natural disasters because it is not a “first responder organization,” Honore implored, adding that instead the feds should focus on providing resources to aid state and local officials.
“The National Security Council never worked for [Hurricane] Maria, it hardly worked for any of the storms,” he said, referring to the storm that killed 2,975 people on the U.S. island territory of Puerto Rico in September 2017. “The National Security Council needs to help the president respond in a better fashion because FEMA normally, they’re overbusy as they are, still working the storms from last year.”
Honore, who was hailed for leading military recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, similarly in August 2017 criticized the “amateur hour” federal strategy to Hurricane Harvey.
President Trump, who has used Twitter to urge the millions of Americans in Florence’s path to brace for the worst, approved emergency declarations for North Carolina and South Carolina late Monday. He did the same for Virginia on Tuesday.
“The safety of the American people is my absolute highest priority. We are sparing no expense,” Trump told reporters Tuesday, insisting that FEMA along with state and local governments, were “totally prepared and ready.”
