It is indeed a great irony: Two days before the massive 9.0 earthquake struck Japan, one of FEMA’s senior officials during Hurricane Katrina was in Japan to warn of the danger of careless and uncoordinated disaster response planning. According to this article from Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun, his warnings seem to have fallen of deaf ears.
For Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun, reporter Fumi Igarashi writes in part:
On March 9th, two days before the earthquake struck, one American issued a stark warning to Japan. The man was Leo Bosner, a former emergency management specialist at the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. In a lecture held in Yokohama city, Bosner set out the three factors necessary for emergency management: “sufficient staffing,” an “adequate budget,” and “strong leadership.” He finished by saying that … he hoped his lecture would be of some help if such an event were to occur. Bosner’s advice is a product of bitter experience from his time at FEMA.
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush prioritized anti-terrorism over responses to natural disaster, and distributed his budget and personnel accordingly. As a consequence, FEMA was downgraded and became part of the newly-formed Department of Homeland Security. Michael D. Brown, a lawyer by training, was appointed to administer FEMA by virtue of his friendship with a Bush ally. Other executive posts were filled by “amateurs” who had supported Bush’s presidential campaign; one was a TV reporter, another a vote canvasser. Experts on natural disaster were sidelined.
So how has the emergency response by Prime Minister Kan’s cabinet been in comparison? While it may be too early to judge with the nuclear threat still in progress, it is a question worth examining now.
To start with, Japan doesn’t have an equivalent of FEMA. In the 2009 lower house elections, the Democratic Party pledged to create a Japanese counterpart, but now that they’re in power, there has been no sign of a proper discussion on the subject.
Bosner says he was also scheduled to give a talk at the cabinet office on March 11th, the day of the earthquake, but for personal reasons had to cancel at the last minute. Perhaps if it had gone ahead, Prime Minister Kan would have taken heed of Bosner’s suggestions. It’s a shame.
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