Blanco takes blame for state response

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco yesterday took responsibility for failures and missteps in the immediate response to Hurricane Katrina and pledged a united effort to rebuild areas ravaged by the storm.

“We all know that there were failures at every level of government: state, federal and local. At the state level, we must take a careful look at what went wrong and make sure it never happens again. The buck stops here, and as your governor, I take full responsibility,” Mrs. Blanco told lawmakers in a special meeting of the Louisiana Legislature.

Mrs. Blanco’s statement came a day after President Bush said he would “take responsibility” for federal failures in dealing with Katrina. The Democratic governor, who has criticized the response of federal officials to the storm and subsequent flood that deluged New Orleans, yesterday told legislators that Mr. Bush is “a friend and partner” in Louisiana’s recovery effort.

In New Orleans yesterday, test results released showed that floodwaters still pose a health risk because of dangerous levels of sewage-related bacteria and toxic chemicals, potentially delaying the mayor’s plan to reopen parts of the city by Monday.

The Army Corps of Engineers estimates that up to 50 percent of the floodwaters that had covered 80 percent of the city had been removed and said New Orleans would be almost completely drained by Oct. 8.

Pumps are removing more than 8 billion gallons a day, and Mayor C. Ray Nagin was deliberating time frames for reopening parts of the city that are dry, including the French Quarter and Central Business District.

Addressing Louisiana lawmakers yesterday, Mrs. Blanco said she would appoint an outside financial adviser to oversee the expenditure of billions of dollars in federal money that Congress has allocated to help the recovery from the disaster.

“I assure the Congress and every American taxpayer that every nickel will be properly spent,” Mrs. Blanco said.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Senate Republicans scuttled an attempt by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat, to establish an independent, bipartisan panel patterned after the September 11 commission to investigate what went wrong with federal, state and local governments’ response to the hurricane.

Separately, a Senate committee opened a hearing on the disaster, with the panel’s Republican chairman saying that changes instituted after September 11 in the government’s emergency preparedness failed their first major test during Katrina.

With billions of dollars to boost disaster preparedness at all levels of government, “we would have expected a sharp, crisp response to this terrible tragedy,” said Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican. “Instead, we witnessed what appeared to be a sluggish initial response.”

The official death toll from Hurricane Katrina rose to 708 yesterday after Louisiana confirmed 51 more deaths. In addition to Louisiana’s 474 deaths, 218 deaths have been recorded in Mississippi, two in Alabama and 14 in Florida, according to officials in the different states.

At least two of the Katrina evacuees scattered across the country have committed suicide, and 55 others have died, authorities said yesterday.

Most of the post-Katrina dead were elderly or already sick, with heart conditions, cancer or other terminal illnesses, authorities said. Many had been living in hospitals, hospices and nursing homes. Several suffered heart attacks.

On Tuesday, Mrs. Blanco had lashed out at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), saying she was “outraged” at the slow pace of recovering bodies of those who perished in the storm. Yesterday, FEMA responded by saying that Louisiana officials asked to take over the effort last week.

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