RAW STORY
Published: January 30, 2006

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) announced today that it has sued the US Department of Homeland Security for allegedly refusing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request regarding FEMA's preparedness before Hurricane Katrina.

On September 7, 2005, CREW filed a FOIA request for records and communication of FEMA. A request for expedited response was denied by DHS on September 20, 2005. CREW appealed the decisionon October 24, 2005, and was again denied on December 21, 2005.

According to a CREW release, they are requesting:

•Communications between the White House and FEMA regarding the preparation for and response to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina;

•Communications regarding offers by corporations and foreign governments to assist the victims of Katrina, and FEMA's response to such offers;

•Information regarding the portion of the $3.1 billion 2005 DHS budget for emergency preparedness that was used to prepare for hurricanes on the Gulf Coast and for potential flooding in New Orleans;

•Information regarding the amount of money that was diverted from natural disaster emergency preparedness to terrorism emergency preparedness and the rationale for any such diversion;

•Studies, assessments, presentations and scenarios created demonstrating the potential impact of a powerful hurricane on the Gulf Coast and proposed responses to such scenarios.