FEMA was prepared for terrorist acts, agency chief says

The Federal Emergency Management Agency had enough resources to effectively respond to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and is prepared to handle future disasters, FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh said at a Senate hearing Tuesday. "No need or want went unmet during the disaster response," Allbaugh told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at a hearing on how FEMA responded to the attacks. "I can't think of anything we need at this time that we don't already have." Allbaugh praised other federal agencies, including the Transportation and Defense departments and the General Services Administration, for their help after the attacks. "I am happy with the way every agency responded to our need to coordinate assets," he said. While the agency's recent focus has been on the relief and recovery efforts that have followed , Allbaugh said FEMA is still prepared to respond to any potential natural disasters. Although Allbaugh told lawmakers that his agency did not have an immediate need for additional legislative authority, he asked Congress not to withhold funds. "The mechanics are in place, but my only pitch is, don't sell us short on the money," he said. Congress appropriated an extra $40 billion for the President's Emergency Response Fund for emergency assistance after the Sept. 11 attacks. So far, FEMA has received $2 billion from the fund to support costs associated with the removal of debris, search and rescue activities and other disaster assistance efforts. A March report from the General Accounting Office said FEMA had provided better guidance to federal, state and local agencies on handling the aftermath of terrorist acts and had expanded its emergency response training courses since the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, Okla. Continued coordination and an "honest, active dialogue" with state and local officials are a large part of FEMA's mission and are key to a top-notch emergency response, Allbaugh emphasized throughout the hearing. "I am not receiving the 911 phone call in an emergency; these [local and state] folks are," he said. Allbaugh said both New York and the Washington metropolitan area responded well to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but that local capabilities in most other cities would have been overwhelmed. He said FEMA is developing a study that measures readiness in communities across the country. "We need to design a template, so everyone knows where they need to be," Allbaugh said. "I am not sure we have a good handle on where our states are [on disaster response]," he said. Allbaugh also acknowledged that the government's approach to bioterrorism needs some work. "We haven't done a good job with catastrophic disaster planning. It requires agencies to wade into the minutiae," he said. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has said in interviews, including one on the CBS program "60 Minutes" last month, that the government is prepared for a bioterrorist attack. Allbaugh suggested creating a joint interagency information center where the public can go to get "straightforward facts" on the dangers of bioterrorism. Lawmakers effusively praised FEMA and local emergency personnel, firefighters and police officers for their swift responses to the terrorist attacks. Approximately 1,800 federal employees, including 800 FEMA personnel, were deployed to New York to assist in the disaster response immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks. Now, more than 1,300 FEMA personnel are working in New York. Twenty-six of FEMA's 28 urban search and rescue task forces responded to the emergencies at the Pentagon and in New York. Edward P. Plaugher, Arlington County, Va. fire chief, called FEMA's response to the emergency at the Pentagon "superb," but suggested creating local urban search and rescue teams to look for survivors before the FEMA teams arrive on the scene. "This would go a long way to bridging the specialized search and rescue gap that exists when urban search and rescue teams must travel long distances," Plaugher said. Allbaugh said he was "deeply concerned" about the agency's capacity to provide crisis counseling to victims, their families and the emergency personnel involved in disaster relief. "We will need the support of the Red Cross, Salvation Army and state and local health officials, and we need to make sure we have the money to pay those people for their services," Allbaugh said. The agency is also working diligently to remove debris and provide additional training for federal, state and local emergency personnel.