Memorandum to the Foreign Affairs Committee:
FCO Response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
This memorandum sets out the FCO response to
Hurricane Katrina which hit the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi
and Alabama on 29 August 2005, and to Hurricane Rita, which hit
the Texas Coast on 24 September 2005.
A. TIMELINE OF
EVENTS
26 August: Tropical Storm Katrina hits Southern
Florida
26 August: Travel Advice amended as follows:
Tropical Storm Katrina hit Florida during the night of 25 August,
causing damage to trees and buildings. It is currently moving
southwest across southern Florida. You should check news reports
and keep in touch with your local travel agent about how this
might affect your travel plans.
26 August: Travel Advice amended as follows:
Hurricane Katrina hit Florida during the night of 25 August causing
flooding and damage to trees and buildings. It is now gaining
intensity in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to re-enter Florida
or Alabama sometime on 26-27 August. You should check news reports
and keep in touch with your local travel agent about how this
might affect your travel plans.
27 August: Katrina becomes Category 2 Hurricane.
28 August: New Orleans Mayor orders mandatory
evacuation of the city.
29 August: Authorities move those not evacuated
from New Orleans to the Superdome and Convention Centre.
29 August: Travel Advice amended as follows:
Hurricane Katrina hit Florida during the night of 25 August causing
flooding and damage to trees and buildings. It has since gained
intensity and has remained in the Gulf of Mexico region. The situation
is liable to change quickly. You should check news reports regularly
and keep in touch with your local travel agent about how this
might affect your travel plans.
29 August: Katrina strikes New Orleans at
6.10 am local time, 12:10 pm London time. Wind speeds up to 155
mph are recorded.
29 August: Travel Advice amended as follows:
Hurricane Katrina reached landfall on the coast of Louisiana during
the morning of 29 August. It has been classified as a Category
4 hurricane (wind speeds of 131 to 155 mph). The storm will proceed
northwards on a projected path through the states of Louisiana
and Mississippi. Please visit http://www.noaa.gov/ for more information
on the hurricane and http://www.fema.gov/ for advice on how to
deal with hurricanes. The situation is liable to change quickly.
You should check news reports regularly and keep in touch with
your local travel agent about how this might affect your travel
plans.
30 August: Louisiana State Authorities advise
residents to wait for area to be declared safe before returning
home.
30 August: Mississippi Emergency Management
Agency report that they have no knowledge of any British citizens
being injured in the recent hurricane.
30 August: Consulate General in Atlanta
report all known missing British citizens to the Red Cross national
helpline. Red Cross advise that families are going to have to
wait until communications are up-and-running to contact family
members. Their priority is reaching those people who are disabled
or in need of special assistance.
30 August: FCO Emergency Response Team (ERT)
take over call handling in London but are stood down after only
four calls received. Responsibility passes back to FCO Response
Centre out of hours and Consular Directorate during office hours.
Consulate General in Houston is the principal call centre and
is staffed for 24-hour operation.
30 August: Travel Advice amended as follows:
Katrina has been downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm
and, although still affecting the southern US, it is expected
to further diminish in strength. There have been an unconfirmed
number of casualties, as well as widespread damage and disruption
to parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Please
visit http://www.noaa.gov/ for more information on the hurricane
and http://www.fema.gov/ for advice on how to deal with hurricanes.
The situation is liable to change quickly. You should check news
reports regularly and keep in touch with your local travel agent
about how this might affect your travel plans.
30 August: Houston Deputy Consul General
contacts Louisiana authorities seeking information about British
nationals, state of the city and consular access. Was told that
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) were denying access
to New Orleans because the city was unsafe.
30/31 August: New Orleans levees break.
31 August: Travel Advice amended as follows:
Hurricane Katrina has caused widespread damage in the states of
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Communications and the transport
infrastructure have been badly affected. All airports in the region
are closed. There have been a number of casualties. Please visit
http://www.fema.gov/ for advice on how to deal with hurricanes.
You should check news reports regularly and keep in touch with
your local travel agent about how this might affect your travel
plans.
31 August: US declares State of Emergency.
Governor of Texas calls Harris County officials (at 3:00 am) asking
them to help with New Orleans evacuation.
31 August: State of Georgia relays the following
message to all Consulates in Atlanta—"Governor Barbour
of Mississippi and Governor Blanco of Louisiana have essentially
ordered that only essential emergency, rescue, and recovery personnel
may be in the area."
31 August: UK response being co-ordinated
from British Embassy Washington. Deputy Head of Mission is the
crisis manager, with an Embassy team allotted specific roles.
Regular teleconferences chaired by Washington between Embassy,
FCO in London, Houston, Atlanta and (later) teams in the field.
31 August: Consulate General in Houston
informed that Britons in New Orleans Superdome were to be evacuated
to Houston Astrodome from that night.
31 August: Consular officials set up 24-hour
reception centre at the Houston Astrodome to meet British and
other eligible nationals (EU and Commonwealth) arriving from New
Orleans Superdome.
31 August: Deputy Head of Mission Washington
travels to Houston to co-ordinate UK operation.
31 August: Director Consular Affairs for
the US travels to Houston to lead consular relief effort.
31 August: Consular officials obtain credentials
from Harris County and set up 24-hour reception centre at the
Houston Astrodome to meet British and other eligible nationals
arriving from the New Orleans Superdome. Within 24 hours, British
Consul General Houston is asked by Harris County Office for Foreign
Missions to co-ordinate international response to evacuation.
Began operating two sites: one at the point where buses off-loaded
evacuees, to extract them from the flow of people; the other in
nearby Reliant Center which served as Consulate Headquarters,
with phone, fax and internet capability. Both sites were staffed
by consulate volunteers 24 hours/day for seven days and 18 hours/day
subsequently. Fifty-one consulates registered with the headquarters.
For two weeks, the British Consul General Houston met daily with
the Incident Command Team and provided briefings to the Houston
Consular Corps.
31 August: Our team in the US sends list
of all British citizens reported missing to State Department Crisis
Management Office.
1 September: ERT reactivated and new public
enquiry numbers released in London and in the US.
1 September: Travel Advice amended as follows:
Hurricane Katrina has caused widespread damage in the states of
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Communications and the transport
infrastructure have been badly affected. All airports in the region
are closed. There have been a number of casualties. If you are
having trouble getting in touch with family and friends in the
area affected by the hurricane, please call the British Consulate
in Houston on Tel No: 713-659 6270—this line is open 24/7.
Please visit http://www.fema.gov/ for advice on how to deal with
the aftermath of hurricanes. You should check news reports regularly
and keep in touch with your local travel agent about how this
might affect your travel plans.
1 September: First 5-man FCO Rapid Deployment
Team (RDT) arrives in Houston.
1 September: Travel Advice amended as follows:
Hurricane Katrina has caused widespread damage in the states of
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Communications and the transport
infrastructure have been badly affected. All airports in the region
are closed. There have been a number of casualties. The US authorities
are not allowing anyone other than the emergency services into
the affected areas, and this situation is likely to prevail for
some time. You should listen for announcements by US Government
and State officials and follow any instructions about when to
return.
2 September: Team deployed to Baton Rouge
to liaise more closely with the Louisiana authorities.
2 September: Deputy Head of Mission Washington
speaks to Louisiana Secretary of State Olivier requesting access
to New Orleans and is denied.
2 September: News media continue to report
that there is a lack of security in New Orleans and that the US
authorities are going over the weekend to "take back the
streets".
2 September: Consular Teams sent to other
emerging evacuation reception centres in Dallas, Baton Rouge and
San Antonio.
2 September: Cheryl Plumridge (Director
Capabilities, Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat,
COCCS) arrives to pursue detailed discussion with the Administration
and US military over UK assistance.
3 September: Four-person team from Atlanta,
supported by other US posts, travels to Alabama and Mississippi
checking Red Cross shelters in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
3 September: Consular team from Los Angeles
deploys to Arkansas.
3 September: Staff outside New Orleans try
to gain access to the city and are refused by US authorities on
the ground.
4 September: Second RDT deployed to affected
area (four people).
4 September: Director Consular Affairs and
RDT gain access to New Orleans.
4/5 September: British Ambassador visits
Houston.
5 September: Hurricane Unit set up in FCO
with team of four staff.
7 September: Officer deploys from Washington
to set up an FCO office in Baton Rouge to liase with State Department
office, Louisiana authorities and Consular teams.
9/10 September: British Ambassador visits
Atlanta.
10 September: Second officer deploys to
Baton Rouge to take charge of FCO office.
10/11 September: British Ambassador visits
Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
14/15 September: Greater Manchester Police
(GMP) visit FCO Hurricane Unit to discuss arrangements for GMP
assistance with missing person enquiries.
15 September: Lord Triesman, Minister of
State for Consular Affairs, visits Baton Rouge. Meets consular
team and speaks by telephone to those affected.
17 September: Consular teams withdraw from
Mississippi/Alabama.
19 September: Greater Manchester Police
(GMP) take over enquiries to trace remaining 68 missing Britons
following Katrina. Police operation named Operation Dimension.
A FCO Liaison Officer is assigned to work alongside GMP.
23 September: Hurricane Unit takes on handling
of calls following Hurricane Rita.
26 September: Head of FCO Hurricane Unit
and Police Liaison Officer in Consular Directorate visit the GMP
operation in Manchester.
27 September: Progress being made in tracing
Katrina-related missing persons. GMP start to reduce the number
of officers deployed on Operation Dimension.
30 September: FCO Liaison Officer withdrawn
from Manchester. Continues to act as police liaison officer from
London.
B. ACTIVITY IN
LONDON
1. Over the bank holiday weekend of 27-29
August, the FCO Response Centre remained in touch with our posts
in the United States and with Britons concerned about relatives
and friends who might have been in the vicinity of the Hurricane.
There were very few such calls. Consular Directorate's emergency
call handlers in the Emergency Response Team (ERT) were on standby
to man the Emergency Response Unit as they are each weekend. The
duty Rapid Deployment Team was also on standby.
2. Following the Bank Holiday, our Consular
Assistance Group took over contact with posts and the fielding
of calls from relatives. During 30 August they received only 35
calls relating to Katrina. As a precaution, Consular Crisis Group
brought the ERT call handlers on duty for the night of 30 August
but they were stood down during the evening after receiving only
4 calls. Responsibility for handling Katrina calls overnight reverted
to the FCO Response Centre until the next day.
3. On Wednesday 31 August, news reached
London that the New Orleans levees had broken. The Emergency Response
Team of call handlers were again deployed to handle calls which
began to increase steadily throughout the day. New contact numbers
for relatives—an emergency information line—were released
in both London and Houston. These numbers were kept open on a
24 hour basis.
4. The Head of Consular Crisis Group liaised
with his opposite numbers in EU capitals by teleconference. They
agreed that the UK as Presidency would co-ordinate information
on local consular assistance on the ground.
5. Following discussion with Washington
on 31 August, 11 Rapid Deployment Team volunteers were deployed
from the UK to the affected areas to support staff from our US
network: five on 1 September, four on 4 September, one (a Press
Officer) on 9 September, and one on 11 September. In addition
three members of staff were deployed to Baton Rouge on temporary
duty to continue local enquiries about missing Britons.
6. Consular Directorate kept FCO Ministers
up to date on the consular response to the hurricane through daily
briefing sit-reps. The FCO web-site and Travel Advice was also
continuously updated.
7. The Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies
Secretariat (COCCS) mechanism for inter Whitehall departmental
co-ordination was also activated at FCO request on 1 September,
to discuss consular and other issues including assistance to the
US and requirements for support from other Whitehall departments
(eg the return to the UK of any British nationals; contingencies
for the return of bodies for burial).
8. A separate Hurricane Unit was set up
with four additional staff, as part of Consular Crisis Group,
on 5 September. This unit also handled calls concerning Hurricane
Rita from 23 September.
C. REPORTS FROM
THE BRITISH
EMBASSY, WASHINGTON
DURING THE
CRISIS
The following reports[2]
were received from Washington in the aftermath of the hurricane.
Also attached is a special feature article[3]
on the work and experiences of our teams on the ground, produced
by the Embassy for their Focus magazine.
D. FINANCIAL
IMPLICATIONS
1. It is too early to put a figure on the
total cost to the FCO of our response to Hurricane Katrina. The
bill from Greater Manchester Police is awaited.
2. In addition to staff deployed from the
UK and from around the US, we put together a package of measures
from which assistance could be drawn for British nationals as
follows (a similar, though slightly refined package was offered
to British national affected by Hurricane Rita):
— Continuing support for tourists who
need help before they return to the UK (accommodation, food and
clothing and help with tickets back to the UK).
— Five nights' accommodation for any
residents in desperate need of help. Posts have discretion to
add a further two nights' food and accommodation.
— Flights for US residents who want
to return to the UK.
— Flights for family of those most
likely to have been involved and still missing, who want to travel
out to the US as soon as it is appropriate.
— If British deaths are confirmed,
repatriation of remains and assistance as above to families who
wish to travel out to the areas.
3. So far there has been little take-up
of this assistance package. Only seven people have had tickets
paid for, or reimbursed after the event.
4. Lord Triesman spoke to the son of the
deceased Briton and offered to pay for the funeral expenses in
the US and the repatriation of her ashes to the UK. This was in
recognition of the help the son gave to our teams operating in
New Orleans, work for which he refused payment.
E. INTERNATIONAL
AND BILATERAL
ASSISTANCE
1. As EU Presidency, the Embassy co-ordinated
the EU response alongside our own bilateral assistance and consular
activity.
2. The Embassy collated lists of missing
EU citizens and put out information to EU Embassies whenever it
had been obtained from the US authorities. Our consular teams
on the ground helped EU (and other) nationals when requested.
The Embassy acted to facilitate EU assistance as and when needed.
We have received a number of plaudits from EU Ambassadors for
both our consular and assistance work (attached).
3. Cheryl Plumridge (Director Capabilities,
Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat, COCCS) arrived
on 2 September to pursue detailed discussion with the Administration
and US military over UK assistance. She was joined by three colleagues,
from the COCCS and DFID. The team were co-located with the Office
for Disaster Assistance (OFDA) Response Management Team (RMT)
which was set up in Arlington, Virginia. It included staff from
US Agency for International Development (USAID), Department of
Defense, US Customs, State Department, and international personnel
from the EU, UN, NATO and the International Red Cross.
4. The DFID expert (David Horobin) with
the COCCS was designated the EU Expert Co-ordinator by the Commission—the
US point of contact for the EU co-ordination mechanism (known
as the MIC).
5. The COCCS team was charged with supporting
USAID efforts following Hurricane Katrina. In particular it helped
to provide structured arrangements for co-ordination between the
RMT and both the EU member states and the European Commission.
It assisted with incoming enquiries from participating US entities
regarding EU activities in support of the US government and assisted
in providing clarification on any technical issues arising from
planned activities.
6. The team handled specific enquiries on
operational assistance from EU members. The UK Embassy, in its
capacity as Presidency of the EU, helped the US Government with
broader questions.
F. LATEST FIGURES
ON UK NATIONALS
AFFECTED
1. We estimate that the total number of
British nationals affected by Hurricane Katrina to be less than
1,000. Most of these were long term residents (including British-US
dual nationals), businessmen and tourists.
2. As of 13 October, one British national
has been confirmed dead (a long term resident of New Orleans and
a UK/US dual national). Nine people remain on the list of those
originally reported to us as missing.
G. PUBLIC CRITICISM,
AND BOUQUETS
1. There were some critical comments made
in the early days of the crisis. We received one MP's letter regarding
a constituent's complaint that their son had not received consular
assistance while he was in the New Orleans Superdome.
2. The FCO is aware of the following criticisms:
We did not respond to requests for help from distressed
British Nationals
— In many cases, our consular teams
were the first people to reach British nationals trapped in their
houses. We provided whatever help we could. This took many forms,
including giving food, money, use of a cell phone to call family/friends,
helping evacuate etc (see attachment D for more details). 420
missing persons were reported to the Emergency Response Team (ERT)
in London and to our 24-hour response line set up in the US. We
were able to resolve 250 of these cases fairly quickly, leaving
170 people unaccounted for. Our consular teams on the ground conducted
a house-by-house search, as areas became accessible using addresses
provided by those reporting missing persons. We also immediately
notified their family when a missing person was found.
The Embassy refused to help callers
— On Friday 2 September press reports
of trapped Britons in the New Orleans Superdome started to appear.
Britons in the affected areas called relatives and complained
that they were not being helped. The British Embassy, Washington
received a call on 30 August from a UK National in the Superdome
who asked if we could send a team by helicopter to evacuate her
and a group of others which had congregated together in the stadium.
A member of the Embassy's consular section explained this was
not possible and advised that the group should stay close to the
police in the stadium. She also gave them the contact details
for our Consulate General in Houston and our Honorary Consul in
New Orleans. She recommended that they keep in touch but understood
that communications were likely to be difficult.
The FCO should have entered New Orleans earlier
to help those trapped in the Superdome and local hotels.
— At least 13 complaints were received
from people who had been in the New Orleans Superdome. The time
line (attachment A) shows that we sought access to New Orleans
from the very beginning. We were refused access to the city on
three grounds: (a) that it was unsafe to enter; (b) that the US
authorities did not want such a presence on the ground at a time
when they were gearing up their relief effort and seeking to restore
order in the city; and (c) that those in the Superdome were being
evacuated immediately to the Astrodome in Houston and we would
be better placed to deploy a team to meet them on arrival.
— The UK had the only consular team
(four people) on the ground to meet and help British and eligible
nationals when they first arrived in Dallas after being evacuated
from the New Orleans Superdome. (An Irish Consular Officer was
the only other diplomat present.) We ferried 30 British nationals
and several others to hotels, organised meals, the purchase of
new clothes, professional counselling and medical advice and sorted
out (and in some cases paid for) their onward flights. We did
the same for other British nationals who had not been in the Superdome,
but rather in hotels, shopping malls and other places of refuge,
and who made it out of New Orleans by other means. We were also
one of the first to gain access to New Orleans, once the ban on
entry to the city was lifted on 4 September (along with two Australian
consular colleagues).
— Over the weekend of 3-4 September
press stories circulated that our consular response was "inept",
"cowardly" and "unhelpful". The Mail on
Sunday published a factually incorrect article. The article,
Lord Triesman's response (sent after he had visited the area on
15 September), and subsequent correspondence, are attached. The
article was demoralising to our staff who had been working around
the clock to help UK nationals, often in difficult conditions.
Many of our staff went for days with little sleep and no change
of clothes.
3. The following is a report[4]
of 6 September from the Embassy in Washington on good news stories
and bouquets.
H. ROLE OF
THE GREATER
MANCHESTER POLICE
FORCE
1. Although FCO efforts had reduced the
number of missing persons significantly, it became apparent that
there was a need to draw on police expertise so that formal missing
person investigations could be carried out to trace the 68 Britons
still unaccounted for (these included a number of people who we
assessed as unlikely to have been in the affected area). The Greater
Manchester (GMP) took over the investigations at noon on 16 September.
GMP named their operation "Operation Dimension", on
which they deployed 13 police officers.
2. By the week beginning 19 September, the
number of outstanding cases had been reduced to fewer than forty
as a result of GMP's enquiries and reports from the US and to
the FCO. GMP assessed a substantial number of the cases as unlikely
to have been directly involved in the hurricane. As at 30 September,
the number of outstanding cases stood at 30. We do not anticipate
having many, if any, long term missing persons as a result of
the hurricane.
3. A FCO Liaison Officer was attached to
the Greater Manchester Police for two weeks. On 26 September the
head of the FCO Hurricane Unit and Consular Directorate's Police
Special Adviser visited the police operation in Manchester. On
30 September the FCO Liaison Officer was withdrawn from Manchester,
but continued to act as a police liaison officer from London.
4. Our assessment is that the work done
by the Greater Manchester Police, the first time that we have
worked with them on a consular emergency, has been a success.
Co-operation between the FCO and the Police was excellent throughout.
I. HURRICANE
RITA
1. Hurricane Rita, at various times, was
a tropical storm and a Hurricane varying between Category 1 and
5. It crossed the Texan Coast at Port Arthur on 24 September at
03.31 am as a category 3 hurricane. Our travel advice was updated
daily. It impacted on our Katrina work in the following way. The
US authorities ordered the re-evacuation of New Orleans on 22
and 23 September. As a result, the search for missing British
nationals in New Orleans had to stop. On Friday 23 September,
rain from the edges of Hurricane Rita resulted in a number of
repaired levees being breached once more, causing parts of New
Orleans to be flooded once again.
2. Hurricane Rita affected an area of Texas
and Louisiana in which some 60,000 British nationals live and
work, a sharp contrast to the much smaller numbers directly affected
by Katrina. Parts of Houston and coastal areas were placed under
mandatory evacuation. The tower block housing our Consulate-General
office in Houston was closed on the morning of 22 September and
was not open again until 26 September. Our Consul General and
her staff then worked from home. Because of this, a Rapid Deployment
Team of five was sent to Dallas as a precaution on 23 September,
ready to deploy to affected areas once the hurricane had passed.
The Consul in Washington also deployed to Dallas on 23 September.
3. The Consular Directorate's Emergency
Response Team was activated at noon on Friday 23 September to
take calls from friends and relatives of those that might be affected
in the path of Rita. Because of the swift response of the US authorities,
casualties as a result of Hurricane Rita were low: 107 deaths
(including 23 elderly people who died when the coach in which
they were being evacuated was engulfed in flames).
4. We are not aware of any British casualties.
Nor have there been any complaints about assistance being provided
by our officials on the ground.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
October 2005
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