>Does a state of emergency mean she requested assistance? I wouldn't think so.

BATON ROUGE—Today Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco forwarded a letter to President Bush requesting that he declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina. The full text of the letter follows:

August 27, 2005

Pursuant to 44 CFR § 206.35, I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster.



>>Negatory, but nice try.
>>
>>One "senior Bush official" went so far as to assert that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco had still had not declared a state of emergency as of Saturday -- a charge so inaccurate that The Post was forced to run a correction.
>>_______________
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>>A Sept. 4 article on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina incorrectly said that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) had not declared a state of emergency. She declared an emergency on Aug. 26.
>>
>>
>
>Does a state of emergency mean she requested assistance? I wouldn't think so. According to the reports I read, she wouldn't turn control over to the feds, which is why the delay. Who knows, they'll be pointing the finger at each other for a long time, I'm sure. The bottom line is, the system needs fixing.
>
>
>>>>>I don't know what to believe at this point, but it seems logical to me that Blanco is the culprit. I know the state has to request federal assistance, and the washington post had a story saying she was the one who was holding them up.
>>>>
>>>>Not so.
>>>>
>>>>http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=976
>>>>
>>>
>>>>There's a blame game going on for days already, the feds are trying to paint local and state govt as "they didn't authorise us and our hands were tied".
>>>
>>>You are using the governor's propaganda to make your point?<s> I think the washington post story makes more sense and is more reliable. They didn't have a vested interest in the story like the state gov did.