MS>     But nobody ever claimed that the Red Cross or Salvation Army was
 MS> "powerful" to the point of being a "shadow government"!!
Actually direct care of citizens is the direct responsibility of
both of the above. FEMA does not do the direct care but goes
through both of these agencies. Taht is what many people do not
understand and those that do will not accept it as we are thought
of as nothing but volunteers and that we are not educated in
disaster assistance. That is not true in any shape and manner. It
is usually the Red Cross or Salvation Army that trains the
government officials.
 MS>     Face it, that company of Puerto Rican National Guard troops could
 MS> have been there the day after.  It's not far.
I guess you are not aware of the time it takes to get a call-up
of National Guard in a non-war situation. First the local
government ahs to request the assistance from the governor then
it goes to the President of the U.S. The next step is that the
President has to request the assistance from the Penetagon due to
is being outside of the contintial U.S. Then it goes down the
chain of command till it gets to the local unit's officers. Then
the men themselves are called. The men have usually 24 hours to
report. The earliest that a National Guard Unit can get out is
usually 36 to 48 hours. Then there has to be a place for them to
land and that also was not the most accessible thing. It actually
was 5 days before equipment was able to be delivered other than
air drops.
Bill
... Bill Newman -- Rochester, NY  --  wtnewman@rochgte.fidonet.org
--- PPoint 2.02
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