He and First Lady Laura Bush appeared on Monday's network morning shows to tout the progress made. And President Bush, who faced scathing criticism after Katrina, canceled his speech at the Republican National Convention and flew to Texas to monitor the storm's advance. He offered restrained praise, saying coordination this time was "a lot better" than before.
Government investigations after Katrina determined that FEMA had shown poor planning and lack of urgency in dealing with the storm.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday, September 04, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 46 words Type of Material: Correction
FEMA: An article in some editions of Tuesday's Section A about the Federal Emergency Management Agency's response to Hurricane Gustav quoted an official of the Army Corps of Engineers but had the wrong first name. He is Maj. Gen. Don T. Riley, not John T. Riley.
Citing planning and early action as the greatest lessons learned, Chertoff said evacuations this time began as much as 36 hours earlier than with Katrina.
"It gave us the ability, first of all, to deal with unexpected problems that arose and also to make sure we could focus on the people with medical needs, who are a very challenging population to evacuate. And I'm pleased to say that it looks like [we] got everybody out before the storm," Chertoff said.
FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison, who accompanied Bush to Texas on Air Force One, said in an on-board news briefing that there had been "unprecedented cooperation" among federal agencies and the private sector.
"What it allows us to do is share information of what's going on so we don't end up with what happened in Katrina, with different agencies doing things and others not knowing what's happening," he said.
Now, Johnson noted, "Act 2 is about to unfold" as FEMA works to house storm refugees who may not be able to return to their homes for days or weeks. About 45,000 people were being sheltered Sunday night, and it was not clear how many would have homes to return to.
Evoking memories of the famous FEMA trailers, Johnson said the first priority would be to use existing structures, quickly repairing dwellings that can be fixed and providing rental assistance. The next step would be mobile homes and cottages, which he suggested might be an improvement as well.
"We've seen creative designs since Katrina, and that's our plan for the upcoming season," Johnson said.
A locater network to help reunite families has also been established. It can be accessed by calling (800) 588-9822.
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faye.fiore@latimes.com
