For many people in the San Fernando Valley, Hurricane Katrina brought back memories of the 6.8 earthquake that struck Northridge at 4:30 a.m. on January 17, 1994

By Brad Sherman

For many people in the San Fernando Valley, Hurricane Katrina brought back memories of the 6.8 earthquake that struck Northridge at 4:30 a.m. on January 17, 1994.

Like Katrina, the quake was one of the worst natural disasters in our nations history. Like the storm victims along the Gulf Coast, people in the Valley experienced an outpouring of support from all across America. Unlike Katrina, there was a quick, coordinated, effective response by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

When the earth shifted beneath the Valley, FEMA was on the job within 15 minutes. The Headquarters Emergency Support team was activated 90 minutes after the earthquake. An Earthquake Service Center with representatives from all disaster agencies was opened almost immediately. President Clinton visited us and met with local leaders on the third day after the earthquake. In short, we saw results.

The quick response was particularly impressive because there was no advance warning. Sure, the geologists told us that an earthquake was likely sometime within a 500-year period somewhere in California. But there is no earthquake season. You cannot watch an earthquake develop on the Weather Channel. So it was all the more impressive that when the ground shook under Northridge, FEMA and the Clinton administration jumped quickly from a standing start.

You would think that 11 years later -- and four years after the September 11 terrorist attacks -- our response to disasters would be even more rapid and effective. You would particularly expect an effective response to a hurricane since FEMA could gear up for hurricane season, and begin to act when they saw it was possible that Katrina could hit the Gulf Coast.

That is why, as a first step, I called for the resignation of FEMA Director Michael Brown. Despite warnings for days that the killer hurricane was gathering strength and threatened to swamp New Orleans, Brown failed to move sufficient rescue workers and supplies into position before the storm struck. He was inexcusably sluggish in the critical hours after Katrina slammed ashore.

In the longer term, we need to find out what went wrong in order to make sure it never happens again. I have joined colleagues in introducing legislation to create an independent commission to investigate what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again. The legislation I support provides for an independent, bipartisan commission, modeled after the September 11 commission. Unfortunately, the Bush administration is angling for all inquiries to be dominated by Republican members of Congress.