By Robert Windrem and Dan Linden
If the sky is falling, FEMA is prepared to catch it.
That was the message from FEMA - the agency made famous by its anemic response to Hurricane Katrina - to the threat posed by a spy satellite that could soon come crashing to Earth.
FEMA has produced a memo and 18-page guide, a “First Responder Guide for Space Object Re-Entry,” that have been sent to thousands of local police, fire and emergency service agencies around the country. It also has helpful hints for the public.
FEMA also has placed six “Federal Joint Interagency Task Forces” on alert in FEMA regions, ready to be deployed, just in case, according to the FEMA memo. A “Consequence Management Group” has been assembled at the Department of Homeland Security’s National Operations Center in Washington to manage the crisis, the memo adds.
There will be real-time contact with the Pentagon tonight during a planned shoot-down of the spy satellite, and even a FEMA representative at the DoD operations center, a FEMA spokesman says.
So why is FEMA even involved, at taxpayer expense?
Military and space experts doubt that debris from the spy satellite - about the size of a legendary FEMA trailer - will hit anywhere near land. Moreover, assuming the Pentagon’s shoot-down is successful, the most likely consequence would be a “meteor shower” of small bits of debris north of Vancouver. As in Canada.
Neither the memo nor the guide, sent out Wednesday, takes into account the Pentagon shoot-down. It’s not even mentioned, a week after the Pentagon announced the ambitious plan to great fanfare. The FEMA documents are written as if the satellite will fall to earth, intact. But even if that happened, experts say, the consequences would be limited to a debris shower that would look like shooting stars.
“The debris cloud would cross the dark Canadian coast north of Vancouver 15 minutes after the shoot-down,” said Jim Oberg, NBC’s space analyst. “I expect that some of the most energetically expelled fragments will be hitting the atmosphere all along this track. It could be a meteor shower to remember.”
Nonetheless, the FEMA documents make it sound as if all of America could be at risk.
“Some of you may find yourself dealing with this issue within your community and response area,” reads the memo from FEMA’s Disaster Operations Directorate. It adds: “Please keep in mind that the probability that it will fall upon the United States is low, yet we must be ready.”
In the guide, FEMA warns first responders to avoid coming in contact with, inhaling or swallowing any of the chemicals that could survive the descent through the atmosphere. Should the satellite strike a tank truck, watch out, it cautions. “Consider evacuation for 800 meters (0.5 miles) in all directions,” it says. And if someone is hurt by the falling debris, “call 9-1-1 or emergency medical services”.
There are also helpful hints for the public: “Citizens who observe or encounter falling debris should notify your local public safety agency and stay away from it.”
Tonight, FEMA is unapologetic about its efforts and says these are the kinds of precautions the agency should be taking.
“This is what we do," said Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA. "We've been on this for weeks," Knocke said, adding that FEMA’s philosophy with potential national disasters is: “Take no chances, and spare no expense.
"This is one of several issues that are on our plate at the National Operations Center this evening," added Knocke, along with watching the U.S. ports, borders, and potentially dangerous weather. "In terms of planning and coordination, that's something we do on a daily basis."
Knocke could not offer any estimates tonight on how much money the agency is spending on the first-responder guide or the overall falling-satellite operation.
Dan Linden is a production assistant at NBC Nightly News.
