We all remember how, um, well the Department of Homeland Security handled Hurricane Katrina. As such, one would expect that the President-elect would ensure that his choice for Secretary of that department (Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano) had a decent record in disaster preparedness in her tenure as Governor.
One would be wrong (Trust for America’s Health via Weekly StandardBlog):
Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released the sixth annual Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report . . . The report contains state-by-state health preparedness scores based on 10 key indicators to assess health emergency preparedness capabilities. More than half of states and D.C. achieved a score of seven or less out of 10 key indicators. Louisiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin scored the highest with 10 out of 10. Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Montana, and Nebraska tied for the lowest score with five out of 10.
So our incoming Homeland Security Secretary’s state (which she ran for six years) is tied for last in disease, disaster, and bioterror preparedness.
How comforting.
