The following is excerpted from news reports on FEMA's response to the recent tornadoes:
Photo courtesy of NOAA
President George Bush: Listen, I want to thank you for the briefing. Understand here in the region that a lot of folks around America care for them now. And I'm here to listen, to make sure that the federal response is compassionate and effective. I don't want people to think something's going to happen that's not going to happen. Therefore, when we say something's going to happen, get their feet back on the ground, it will happen. Certainly, I am here to thank the people that will provide compassion for people who hurt. I know them, they are good responders. They respond to help people in need. Thirdly, I will make it clear to people that I have no doubt in my mind this community will come back better than before. Macon County will work hard. They just need a little help to come back stronger. And so I want to thank y'all for the briefing. Appreciate your time this morning.
White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the government has learned many lessons since Katrina, and is much better now at not only answering locals' needs in times of emergency, but anticipating them. FEMA assets were in the tornado-struck region as early as Tuesday night, he said.
Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe: said the agency was doing better than you could have hoped for. If I'm going to criticize them when they do something bad, I need to brag on them when they do something good. They're doing something really good. We need to thank them. They are doing their job and they are doing it well.
Sen. Mark Pryor (AR): Standing next to a demolished trailer Friday, the senator said he had been impressed with the agency's response. We've been keeping them accountable and so far it's worked really well.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN): I am grateful both to Gov. Bredesen and President Bush for acting literally overnight to provide assistance to Tennesseans who have been devastated. I have dealt with many disasters, but I have never seen faster action. Seeing the aftermath of the storms firsthand convinces me that Tuesday night's string of tornadoes were as rough as anything that I've seen in my lifetime.
Sen. Bob Corker (TN): Gov. Bredesen acted quickly in getting a disaster request to the President and the President acted quickly in signing it. It's evident on the ground that the response from the very beginning has been timely and cooperative, and that all of the entities involved are working together to get aid to Tennesseans who desperately need it.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (TN): The response to this crisis by the director of FEMA and the president of the United States has been in sharp contrast to what we saw in New Orleans with Katrina. I think it shows that government can learn. ... Sometimes people don't understand how important government is.
U.S. Rep. John Boozman (AR): Boozman said he checked Saturday with FEMA workers who were interviewing residents to see how the federal agency could help. "So far that's going very, very well," the congressman said. He said he was impressed, too, with how well-organized the recovery efforts were and how much progress had been made in clearing away the debris and repairing the damage only four days after the deadly storms.
James Basham, Director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, said he had nothing but praise for his federal counterparts. Basham praised the federal response, explaining that Tennessee declared a state of emergency at 6:47 p.m. on Tuesday and had FEMA help by daylight the next morning.
Union University Senior Cassie Kohlhause: I went yesterday (Wednesday) and was part of the staff who walked around campus keeping students off campus so they wouldn't get injured. FEMA came by and they took over. They kept students from getting their personal items, like clothes and stuff. It's too dangerous. The buildings are unstable. We had strong winds on Wednesday and debris was flying, gutters barely hanging on to the dorms. We didn't need to add any more injuries to the list.
