Inquiry into Katrina response starts

Republicans in the House of Representatives began their inquiry today into the US government’s “largely abysmal” response to Hurricane Katrina as federal authorities prepared for another big storm threatening the Gulf of Mexico coast.

US President George Bush made plans to fly to Texas tomorrow to review the preparations for Rita, expected to hit the coast by Saturday.

“We have resources there to help the federal, state and local officials to respond swiftly and effectively,” said Bush, whose administration has been strongly criticised for the way it handled emergency help during last month’s Hurricane Katrina.

Rep Tom Davis, the Republican leading the inquiry on Katrina, pledged “to investigate aggressively what went wrong and what went right.”

“Even armed with solid, advance information on Katrina’s severity, the response of local, state, and federal officials was largely abysmal,” he said. Democrats largely stayed away from the session, having complained the investigation should be done by an independent commission.

The hearing came as the Pentagon and other federal agencies geared up for Hurricane Rita, reflecting Washington’s efforts to avoid criticism that it once again was too slow to respond to impending disaster.

Lieutenant General Robert Clark, commander of The 5th Army, was named today as head of the military task force for Hurricane Rita, expected to strike the Texas coast by early Saturday.

By contrast, General Russel Honore was named to head the military task force for Katrina a day after that storm hit the Gulf Coast.

The military also began moving communications teams equipped with satellite phones and radios into Texas, days ahead of similar moves during the Katrina disaster.

Some 600 to 800 National Guard troops from Florida and up to 450 from Illinois were preparing to deploy to Texas.

And six Navy ships are in the Gulf Coast region waiting to move in behind the storm, and 26 helicopters were being sent in to aid with search and rescue and medical evacuations.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to compare the timing of the military response for Rita to the one for the previous storm.