Tornado in Kansas, equipment in Iraq
A devastating tornado almost wiped Greensburg, Kansas off the map this weekend. The town's entire main street was destroyed, and 8 residents have been confirmed dead so far. Emergency response will be slowed, though, because of the National Guard's involvement in Iraq. From the Houston Chronicle:
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday evening that the state's response will likely be hampered because much of the equipment usually positioned around the state to respond to emergencies — including tents, trucks and semitrailers — is now in Iraq."Not having the National Guard equipment, which used to be positioned in various parts of the state, to bring in immediately is really going to handicap this effort to rebuild," said Sebelius.
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Comments
Kathleen Sebelius is guilty of playing politics during a disaster. There is no shortage of equipment to handle the problem. This woman is a bold face liar and a weak Govenor. No, I am not a Republican, just a disgusted citizen.
Posted by: Morton | May 8, 2007 12:51 PM
You're right, Morton. She flubbed this one:
http://tinyurl.com/2eemgo
That's not even a very good statement from her. But the burden this war in Iraq has put on the Guard is real. This is from a CNN piece on the issue today:
"A January Government Accountability Office report found shortages of trucks, generators, radios, chemical protective gear, and engineering equipment. Before the war, National Guard units typically had 65 to 75 percent of their needed equipment on hand. Now it's between 30 and 40 percent, a shortfall that will take some $40 billion to make up."
So even beyond the enormous sum of $40 billion plus that will need to be spent to get to preparedness, if there was a Katrina-like disaster right now, there'd be trouble, right here in river city.
Posted by: Mike Visser | May 8, 2007 8:10 PM