timeline of hurricane katrina events
this timeline of events is not complete. it's only half the story, in many cases. much of what was reported...and what actually happened...were not necessarily the same thing. also, please note, this timeline was created in 2001, original sources may no longer be there, tho a quick search of google should find the information.
December 2001
FORETELLING OF A DEADLY DISASTER IN NEW ORLEANS: FEMA ranked hurricane scenario highly likely in '01 - (source)
In the face of an approaching storm, scientists say, the city's less-than-adequate evacuation routes would strand 250,000 people or more, and probably kill one of 10 left behind as the city drowned under 20 feet of water. Thousands of refugees could land in Houston.
March 2002
FEMA HEAD ALBAUGH TESTIFIES TO CONGRESS - (source)
"Disaster mitigation and prevention activities are inherently grassroots. These activities involve local decision-making about zoning, building codes, and strategy planning to meet a community's unique needs. It is not the role of the Federal Government to tell a community what it needs to do to protect its citizens and infrastructure.
DHS TAKES CONTROL OF FEMA - (source)
In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS.
June 2002
FIVE PART SERIES DETAILING LOUISIANA'S VULNERABILITY - (source)
It's only a matter of time before South Louisiana takes a direct hit from a major hurricane. Billions have been spent to protect us, but we grow more vulnerable every day.
June 2004
DISASTER PLAN CONTRACTED TO IEM BY DHS/FEMA - (source)
IEM to Lead Development of Hurricane Plan for Louisiana -- IEM (Innovative Emergency Management) tasked with " the development of a catastrophic hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans under a more than half a million dollar contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA"
July 2004
HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS EXERCISE PREDICTS WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF MAJOR HURRICANE HIT LOUISIANA - (source)
Hurricane Pam -- a hurricane preparedness exercise -- eerily predicted what could subsequently happen if a major hurricane hit Louisiana, and purportedly prepared and informed FEMA and The White House for this contingency "to help officials develop joint response plans for a catastrophic hurricane in Louisiana". (
A White House staffer was briefed.)
(
Ivor Van Heerden), a hurricane researcher from Louisiana State University who ran the exercise, says "the federal government didn't take it seriously. ... Those Corps of Engineers people giggled in the back of the room when we tried to present information." One recommendation from the exercise: Tent cities should be prepared for the homeless. "Their response to me was: 'Americans don't live in tents,' and that was about it," recalls Van Heerden.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
HURRICANE KATRINA MAKES LANDFALL IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA, CATEGORY 1 - (source) and (source)
Friday, August 26
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA - Attach:48pro2005-Emergency-HurricaneKatrina.pdf - (source)
MILITARY ASSISTANCE REQUESTED BY GOVERNORS IN LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI - (source)
Q General, Jamie McIntyre from CNN. To what extent is this additional assistance you've outlined today a response to a request from the state governors in Louisiana, Mississippi? And if so, can you tell us when specifically you got that request?
GEN. HONORÉ: Yes, sir. The process starts, sir, in this particular event, with a request Friday of last week, as the approximate date for defense coordinating offices to be established in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Those were established in those states over Friday and Saturday.
12 PLATFORMS EVACUATED IN GULF AS KATRINA BLOWS IN - (source) and (source)
Saturday, August 27
GOV. HALEY BARBOUR DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN MISSISSIPPI - (source)
5AM CDT — KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE - (source)
Katrina moves towards Gulf Coast at 7mph. Forecasters say hurricane expected to make landfall Monday and could hit anywhere from Florida to Louisiana. - (
source)
GOV. BLANCO ASKS BUSH TO DECLARE FEDERAL STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA - (source)
“I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster.”
GOVERNOR BLANCO REQUESTS FEDERAL ASSISTANCE, Attach:DisasterReliefRequest.pdf
Note, the letter was published on 27 August 2005 on Lexis Nexis but was dated 28 August 2005. Bush received the letter on Saturday and responded on the same day by declaring a State of Emergency. - (
source)
PRESIDENT BUSH DECLARES A STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA - (source)
"The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe..."
For some reason, NO COASTAL AREAS are listed in the declaration of emergency? Click on map below for more information.
FEMA officials coordinate with state authorities in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, and have pre-positioned supplies in areas expected to be affected. - (
source)
EVACUATIONS: State Evacuation Guidelines, Attach:Web_StateMap.pdf
NEW ORLEANS MAYOR, RAY NAGIN, TELLS RESIDENTS TO LEAVE TOWN - (
source) and (
source)
PLACQUEMINE PARISH DECLARES MANDATORY EVACUATION - - (
source)
JEFFERSON PARISH CALLS FOR VOLUNTARY EVACUATION, EXCEPT FOR COASTAL AREAS UNDER MANDATORY ORDERS - - (
source)
ST BERNARD PARISH RECOMMENDS ALL RESIDENTS EVACUATE - - (
source)
State Evacuation Guidelines call for all four areas to evacuate 50 hours before expected landfall. All are within this time frame.
ST CHARLES PARISH ORDERS MANDATORY EVACUATION - (
source)
State Evacuation Guidelines call for St. Charles to evacuate 40 hours before expected landfall. Also, within time frame.
WHITEHOUSE ASKS LOUISIANA RESIDENTS TO HEED AUTHORITIES' ADVICE TO EVACUATE - (
source)
Sunday, August 28
2AM CDT – KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE - (source)
7AM CDT – KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE - (source)
EXPERTS WARN OF POSSIBLE LEVEE BREACHES - (source) and (source) - See Bush's comment on levee breach being unanticipated.
Experts have warned about New Orleans' vulnerability for years, chiefly because Louisiana has lost more than a million acres of coastal wetlands in the past seven decades. The vast patchwork of swamps and bayous south of the city serves as a buffer, partially absorbing the surge of water that a hurricane pushes ashore.
Experts have also warned that the ring of high levees around New Orleans, designed to protect the city from floodwaters coming down the Mississippi, will only make things worse in a powerful hurricane.
LSU scientists took projected tracks of Hurricane Katrina on Saturday evening and produced a frightening scenario: A wall of water surging in from all sides pushing up against the urban levees. Wave action is seen topping levees in Kenner, eastern New Orleans and along the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet.
Attach:katrina_projected_flooding082805.pdf - (
source)
from editorandpublisher article (
source)
1995: SELA (Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project) authorized by Congress
1995 - 2005: $430 million spent on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. $250 million in crucial projects remained.
2003: federal funding drops to a trickle. spending pressures of the war in iraq are cited as reasons for the funding cuts.
Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune Web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't see it coming. ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."
EARLY 2004: Bush proposes spending less than 20% of what the Corps needs.
On JUNE 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; told the Times-Picayune: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
JUNE 2004: Corps Project manager, Al Naomi, begs $2 million for urgent work from a local agency.
From the JUNE 18, 2004 Times-Picayune: "The system is in great shape, but the levees are sinking. Everything is sinking, and if we don't get the money fast enough to raise them, then we can't stay ahead of the settlement," he said. "The problem that we have isn't that the levee is low, but that the federal funds have dried up so that we can't raise them."
JULY 2004: local agency funds another $250,000, by raising property taxes.
OCTOBER 2004: levee board notes that the feds not paying for a hoped-for $15 million project to better shore up the banks of Lake Pontchartrain
SPRING 2005: federal gov't comes back with the steepest reduction in hurricane and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history. the corps imposes a hiring freeze: SELA project funds -- 10.4 million, down from 36.5 million -- not enough to start new jobs.
The Newhouse News Service article published Tuesday night observed, "The Louisiana congressional delegation urged Congress earlier this year to dedicate a stream of federal money to Louisiana's coast, only to be opposed by the White House. ... In its budget, the Bush administration proposed a significant reduction in funding for southeast Louisiana's chief hurricane protection project. Bush proposed $10.4 million, a sixth of what local officials say they need."
SPRING 2005: growing recognition that more research needed on NO protecting itself from cat 4 or 5 hurricane. money is not there.
As the Times-Picayune reported last Sept. 22: "That second study would take about four years to complete and would cost about $4 million, said Army Corps of Engineers project manager Al Naomi. About $300,000 in federal money was proposed for the 2005 fiscal-year budget, and the state had agreed to match that amount. But the cost of the Iraq war forced the Bush administration to order the New Orleans district office not to begin any new studies, and the 2005 budget no longer includes the needed money, he said."
SUMMER 2005: senate seeking to restore some SELA funding cuts for 2006. too late.
SUMMER 2005: contractor racing to finish a bridge and levee job right at 17th street canal, site of main breach on monday.
MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES MANDATORY EVACUATION - (source)
Times-Picyune Provides Evacuation Details - (
source)
GOVERNOR BLANCO AGAIN REQUESTS FEDERAL ASSISTANCE, AFTER BUSH'S INCOMPLETE AUG 27 STATEMENT, Attach:KatrinaHelp.pdf
"I have determined that this incident will be of such severity and magnitude that effective response will be beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments"
LA Governor Blanco accepts National Guard help from other states,
but paperwork allowing NG requests to go forward isn't completed until Sept 1st. - (
source)
WATER BREACHES LEVEE - (source)
BETWEEN 25,000 TO 35,000 SEEK REFUGE AT THE SUPERDOME - (source) and (source)
"They may be here for a while," said Gen. Ralph Lupin, the National Guardsman in charge of the shelter. "The electricity will be out after the storm; streets will be almost impassable. So once they get here, they'll have to stay for the duration."
About 26,000 New Orleans residents sought refuge from Hurricane Katrina at the Superdome, which authorities describe as the "shelter of last resort," Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said late Sunday. To help keep them fed and hydrated, the Louisiana National Guard delivered three truckloads of water and seven truckloads of MREs — short for "meals ready to eat." That's enough to supply 15,000 people for three days, according to Col. Jay Mayeaux, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Emergency Preparedness. - (
source)
LOUISIANA NATIONAL GUARD REQUESTS 700 BUSES FROM FEMA FOR EVACUATIONS: FEMA sends only 100 buses. - (source)
BROWN AND CHERTOFF WARNED OF RISK OF LEVEE BREACH - (source) Both express surprise over damage. See FEMA DIRECTOR BROWN CLAIMS SURPRISE OVER SIZE OF STORM, Aug 31 and CHERTOFF TELLS REPORTERS THAT GOV'T OFFICIALS DID NOT EXPECT DAMAGE CAUSED BY KATRINA, Sept 03
Monday, August 29
7AM CDT – KATRINA MAKES LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE - (source)
LIFE FLIGHT EVACUATIONS HALTED DUE TO HIGH WINDS - (
source)
KATRINA RIPS TWO HOLES IN ROOF OF SUPERDOME - (
source) and (
source)
"And we sent another 400 to hospitals," said Gen. Ralph Lupin, who commands the 550 National Guard troops in the Dome.
"We've got sick babies, sick old people and everything in between," Dr. Kevin Stephens Sr., in charge of the medical shelter in the Superdome, said. "We're seen strokes, chest pain, diabetes patients passing out, seizures, people without medicine, people with the wrong medicine. It's been busy."
Doug Thornton, regional manager of the company that manages the huge arena, worried about how everyone would fare over the next few days: "We're expecting to be here for the long haul," he said. "We can make things very nice for 75,000 people for four hours. But we aren't set up to really accommodate 8,000 for four days."
OVERPASSES ON I-10, BETWEEN NO AND SLIDELL COLLAPSE, SOME SPANS ON I-10 IN MISS DOWN - (
source) and (
source)
POWER OUT TO MORE THAN THREE QUARTERS OF A MILLION PEOPLE FROM LA TO FLA, COULD BE 2 MONTHS BEFORE RESTORED - (
source) and (
source)
10 HOSPITALS IN NEW ORLEANS RUNNING ON EMERGENCY BACK UP POWER - (
source) and (
source)
MICHAEL BROWN REQUESTS THAT DHS DISPATCH 1,000 EMPLOYEES TO REGION, GIVES THEM TWO DAYS TO ARRIVE - (source)
“Brown’s memo to Chertoff described Katrina as ‘this near catastrophic event’ but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, ‘Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities.’”
BROWN ALSO URGES LOCAL FIRE AND RESCUE DEPTS OUTSIDE LA, ALA, AND MISS NOT TO SEND TRUCKS OR EMERGENCY WORKERS INTO DISASTER AREAS - (source)
LEVEE BREACHED - (source)
“A large section of the vital 17th Street Canal levee, where it connects to the brand new ‘hurricane proof’ Old Hammond Highway bridge, gave way late Monday morning in Bucktown after Katrina’s fiercest winds were well north.”
GOV. BLANCO AGAIN REQUESTS ASSISTANCE FROM BUSH - (source)
“Mr. President, we need your help. We need everything you’ve got.”
BUSH ISSUES SECOND DISASTER DECLARATION FOR LOUISIANA, THIS TIME INCLUDING PREVIOUSLY OMITTED PARISHES - (source) See PRESIDENT BUSH DECLARES A STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA, Aug 27
FEDERAL RESPONSE:
federal gov't begins rushing supplies into hard-hit areas: baby formula, communications equipment, generators, water and ice, along with doctors, nurses, and first-aid supplies. pentagon sending search-and-rescue operators. - (
source) and (
source)
fema director, Michael Brown, says medical teams, rescue squads, and groups prepared to supply food and water are poised in a semi-circle around new orleans. - (
source) and (
source)
Speaking from Baton Rouge, just upriver from New Orleans, Brown told NBC's "Today" show his agency had "planned for this kind of disaster for many years because we've always known about New Orleans' situation."
See Bush's comment on levee breach being unanticipated.
National Guard says plenty of forces available - (
source) and (
source)
Tuesday, August 30
FEDERAL RESPONSE - (source)
Hurricane Katrina may mark the moment when the Federal Emergency Management Agency finally avoids criticism for its response to natural disasters - (
source)
er...ah-ha ha ha?
THEN, A team of volunteer firefighters with experince helping after hurricanes who also had special expertise with oil infrastructure and repairs arrives outside of New Orleans and is refused entry into the city by FEMA who will not let them in until "the National Guard has secured the city." When the teams asks if they should help out in other communities along the Gulf Coast impacted by the storm, they are told no, because their special expertise is needed in New Orleans. However, FEMA turns down any advice or help from them, and after waiting in a parking lot until Saturday, Sept 3, the expert team finally gives up and returns home to Houston. - (
source)
verification of dailykos story anywhere?
CONDITIONS DETERIORATE IN SUPERDOME - (source)
Desperate for fresh air, dozens of refugees from Hurricane Katrina slept on the walkway surrounding the Louisiana Superdome as conditions inside worsened and even more people were brought to the huge arena today.
National Guardsmen let some of the 10,000 people sheltering inside the arena take their bedding out onto the concourse, where it was cooler and the breeze was welcome.
The bathrooms were filthy and barrels overflowed with trash. With the air conditioning off since power went out Monday morning, the bricks were slick with condensation.
Despite the conditions, the Superdome was a welcome refuge for people rescued from the rising water in the city today. National Guard troops brought refugees in their big 2 1/2 -ton trucks, and Louisiana's wildlife enforcement department brought more people by pickup.
"We're doing everything we can to keep these people comfortable," Gen. Ralph Lupin, commander of the National Guard troops at the Superdome, said this morning. "We're doing our best. It's not getting any better but we're trying not to let it get any worse."
CONGRESS PREPARES TO PASS EMERGENCY AID - (source)
LEVEE BREACH:
an hour or two after midnight, levee is breached at the 17th street canal and pumps fail - (
source) and (
source) and (
source)
by late tuesday, mayor ray nagin declares city must be evacuated, because the breach cannot be closed - (
source)
army corps scrambles to try to close the breach - (
source)
CHERTOFF FINALLY BECOMES AWARE THAT LEVEE HAS FAILED - (source)
“It was on Tuesday that the levee–may have been overnight Monday to Tuesday–that the levee started to break. And it was midday Tuesday that I became aware of the fact that there was no possibility of plugging the gap and that essentially the lake was going to start to drain into the city.”
LOOTING IN NEW ORLEANS - (source)
At a drug store on Canal Street just outside the French Quarter, two police officers with pump shotguns stood guard as workers from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel across the street loaded large laundry bins full of medications, snack foods and bottled water. "This is for the sick," Officer Jeff Jacob said. "We can commandeer whatever we see fit, whatever is necessary to maintain law." Another office, D.J. Butler, told the crowd standing around that they would be out of the way as soon as they got the necessities. "I'm not saying you're welcome to it," the officer said. "This is the situation we're in. We have to make the best of it." The looting was taking place in full view of passing National Guard trucks and police cruisers.
Inmates at a prison in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans have rioted, attempted to escape and are now holding hostages, a prison commissioner told ABC News affiliate WBRZ in Baton Rouge, La. - (
source)
UPDATE - STORY BOGUS: (source)
RISING WATER, PROMPTS EVACUATION AT VA HOSPITAL - (source)
"I'm really worried about the medical infrastructure in New Orleans," said Dr. Kenneth Mattox, the chief of staff at Ben Taub General Hospital who saw the facility through the Allison crisis. "They tell me they cannot communicate across the street to their sister hospitals because the local phones don't work ... I really think with the levee breaking they need outside help, like the military coming in."
GULFPORT, IN THE LINE OF FIRE, TAKES A SEVERE BEATING - (source)
Wednesday, August 31
BUSH CUTS VACATION SHORT TO ORGANIZE TASK FORCE TO COORDINATE FEDERAL RESPONSE - (source)
Recovery from storm will take years, Bush says - (
source)
BUSH TO RELEASE FEDERAL PETROLEUM RESERVES - (source)
The Bush administration will release oil from federal petroleum reserves to help refiners affected by Hurricane Katrina, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said today.
FEDERAL RESPONSE:
FEMA REQUESTS AMBULANCES THAT DO NOT EXIST - (
source)
“Almost 18 hours later, [FEMA] canceled the request for the ambulances because it turned out, as one FEMA employee put it, ‘the DOT doesn’t do ambulances.’”
NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS ARRIVE IN LOUSIANA, MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA, AND FLORIDA: Troops arrive two days after they are requested. - (
source) and (
source)
TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD BEING ASSEMBLED TO HEAD TO NEW ORLEANS - (
source)
"The Forest Service has offered fixed plane aircraft used to fight forest fires to help extinguish blazes in New Orleans, according to two congressional sources. But the sources said the planes, which can pour large amounts of water on fires, remained grounded in Missouri Friday because the Department of Homeland Security hasn't authorized their use." - (
source)
B.C. urban rescue team headed to Louisiana - Canada was prepared to send aid directly to Louisiana, "after Louisiana officials asked for help". However, they were (reportedly blocked from doing so) by the Department of Homeland Security. ' Canadian agencies are saying that foreign aid is probably not being permitted into Louisiana and Mississippi because of "mass confusion" at the U.S. federal level in the wake of the storm.' - (
source)
CHERTOFF “EXTREMELY PLEASED WITH THE RESPONSE” OF THE GOVERNMENT - (source)
“We are extremely pleased with the response that every element of the federal government, all of our federal partners, have made to this terrible tragedy.”
BUSH GIVES FIRST MAJOR ADDRESS ON KATRINA - (source)
“Nothing about the president’s demeanor… — which seemed casual to the point of carelessness — suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis.”
FEMA DIRECTOR BROWN CLAIMS SURPRISE OVER SIZE OF STORM - (source) See BROWN AND CHERTOFF WARNED OF RISK OF LEVEE BREACH, Aug 28
“I must say, this storm is much much bigger than anyone expected.”
PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY DECLARED FOR THE GULF COAST - (source)
GOVERNOR BLANCO PLEADS ONCE AGAIN FOR ASSISTANCE:
"Gov. Kathleen Blanco Friday night called on President Bush to order the expeditious return to the state of the 256th Brigade Combat team of the National Guard which is now serving in Iraq because they are needed in Hurricane Katrina cleanup and rescue efforts." - (
source)
“She was transferred around the White House for a while until she ended up on the phone with Fran Townsend, the president’s Homeland Security adviser, who tried to reassure her but did not have many specifics. Hours later, Blanco called back and insisted on speaking to the president. When he came on the line, the governor recalled, “I just asked him for help, ‘whatever you have’.” She asked for 40,000 troops.” - (
source)
HUNDREDS -- MAYBE THOUSANDS -- MAY BE DEAD IN NEW ORLEANS - (source)
Nagin, whose pre-hurricane evacuation order got most of his city of a half a million out of harm's way, estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people remained, and said that 14,000 to 15,000 a day could be evacuated in ensuing convoys.
JEFFERSON PARISH EMERGENCY DIRECTOR SAYS FOOD AND WATER SUPPLY GONE - (source)
“Director Walter Maestri: FEMA and national agencies not delivering the help nearly as fast as it is needed.”
80,000 BELIEVED STRANDED IN NEW ORLEANS - (source)
TALES OF TRAPPED AND DYING PATIENTS EMERGING - (source)
Former Mayor Sidney Barthelemy “estimated 80,000 were trapped in the flooded city and urged President Bush to send more troops.” [Reuters]
3,000 STRANDED AT CONVENTION CENTER WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER - (source)
“With 3,000 or more evacuees stranded at the convention center — and with no apparent contingency plan or authority to deal with them — collecting a body was no one’s priority. … Some had been at the convention center since Tuesday morning but had received no food, water or instructions.”
MORE ON LOOTING IN NEW ORLEANS - (source)
Amid the turmoil Wednesday, thieves commandeered a forklift and used it to push up the storm shutters and break the glass of a pharmacy. The crowd stormed the store, carrying out so much ice, water and food that it dropped from their arms as they ran. The street was littered with packages of ramen noodles and other items.
Looters also chased down a police truck full of food. The New Orleans police chief ran off looters while city officials themselves were commandeering equipment from a looted Office Depot. During a state of emergency, authorities have broad powers to take private supplies and buildings for their use.
AIRLINES CANCEL FLIGHTS INTO NEW ORLEANS, GULFPORT - (source)
23,000 SUPERDOME REFUGEES BOARDING BUSES FOR ASTRODOME - (source)
COMPANIES MOVE TO GIVE TO HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS - (source)
DENNIS HASTERT SPEAKS AGAINST REBUILDING NEW ORLEANS - (source)
“It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that’s seven feet under sea level… It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed.” –House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Aug. 31, 2005
MISSISSIPPI SEARCH CREWS PULLING BODIES FROM RUBBLE - (source)
Thursday, Sept 1
BUSH STATES NO ONE COULD HAVE ANTICIPATED LEVEE BREACH - (source) See EXPERTS WARN OF POSSIBLE LEVEE BREACHES, Aug 28
“I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.” –President Bush, on “Good Morning America,” Sept. 1, 2005, after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from Hurricane Katrina
SITUATION AT CONVENTION CENTER DEPLORABLE - (source)
"We are out here like pure animals. We don't have help," the Rev. Issac Clark, 68, said outside the New Orleans Convention Center, where corpses lay in the open and evacuees complained that they were dropped off and given nothing.
CHERTOFF UNAWARE OF SITUATION AT CONVENTION CENTER - (source) See 3,000 STRANDED AT CONVENTION CENTER WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER, Aug 31
“I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don’t have food and water.” –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Sept. 1, 2005
BROWN BLAMES THE VICTIMS - (source)
“...those who are stranded, who chose not to evacuate, who chose not to leave the city...” –FEMA Director Michael Brown, on New Orleans residents who could not evacuate because they were too poor and lacked the means to leave, CNN interview, Sept. 1, 2005
NO FEMA CONTROL CENTER ESTABLISHED - (source)
Terry Ebbert, New Orleans Homeland Security Director: “This is a national emergency. This is a national disgrace. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can’t bail out the city of New Orleans.”
The emergency chief says the evacuation of thousands from New Orleans to Texas has been "almost entirely" a Louisiana operation — saying he hasn't seen "a single FEMA guy." - (
source)
MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES “DESPERATE SOS” TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT - (source)
“This is a desperate SOS. Right now we are out of resources at the convention centre and don’t anticipate enough buses. We need buses. Currently the convention centre is unsanitary and unsafe and we’re running out of supplies.”
GRETNA POLICE BLOCK PEOPLE TRYING TO LEAVE NEW ORLEANS - (source)
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR LOOTING - (source)
Responding to reports of widespread looting, the president says there should be "zero-tolerance" for lawbreakers during the disaster. Bush says he's told law officials to move against anyone who engages in looting, price-gouging, insurance fraud or any other crime to take advantage of the situation.
MICHAEL BROWN CLAIMS NOT TO HAVE HEARD OF REPORTS OF VIOLENCE - (source) See all previous reports of looting.
“I’ve had no reports of unrest, if the connotation of the word unrest means that people are beginning to riot, or you know, they’re banging on walls and screaming and hollering or burning tires or whatever. I’ve had no reports of that.”
MICHAEL BROWN FINALLY LEARNS OF EVACUEES IN CONVENTION CENTER See 3,000 STRANDED AT CONVENTION CENTER WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER, Aug 31
“We just learned of the convention center – we being the federal government – today.” –FEMA Director Michael Brown, to ABC’s Ted Koppel, Sept. 1, 2005, to which Koppel responded “Don’t you guys watch television? Don’t you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters have been reporting on it for more than just today.” - (
source)
“We learned about that (Thursday), so I have directed that we have all available resources to get that convention center to make sure that they have the food and water and medical care that they need.” - (
source)
CANADIANS TRYING TO SEND AID - (source)
On tonight's news, CTV (Canadian TV) said that support was offered from Canada. Planes are ready to load with food and medical supplies and a system called "DART" which can provide fresh water and medical supplies is standing by. Department of Homeland Security as well as other U.S. agencies were contacted by the Canadian government requesting permission to provide help. Despite this contact, Canada has not been allowed to fly supplies and personnel to the areas hit by Katrina. So, everything here is grounded. Prime Minister Paul Martin is reportedly trying to speak to President Bush tonight or tomorrow to ask him why the U.S. federal government will not allow aid from Canada into Louisiana and Mississippi. That said, the Canadian Red Cross is reportedly allowed into the area.
VIRGINIA TRIES TO SEND AID, CANNOT REACH FEMA OR LA OFFICIALS - (source)
A group of Loudoun County sheriff's deputies heading to Louisiana to help maintain order among hurricane refugees had to turn around at the Virginia border when they couldn't get confirmation from emergency management officials, the Loudoun County sheriff said.
Canadian agencies are saying that foreign aid is probably not being permitted into Louisiana and Mississippi because of "mass confusion" at the U.S. federal level in the wake of the storm.
SCHOOL BUS COMANDEERED BY REFUGEES, FIRST TO ARRIVE AT ASTRODOME - (source) Sent email to authors of this article to verify that this man is not going to face charges, as has been speculated elsewhere. UPDATE: Bus Driver has headed to L.A. for possible movie option - (source)
NAVY HIRES HALLIBURTON TO REBUILD - (source)
U.S. Navy announces it has hired Halliburton to "restore electric power, repair roofs and remove debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi damaged by Hurricane Katrina. No mention is made of whether the contract was bid out, but due to the limited time-frame, competitive bidding is unlikely.
Note: this is part of a deal reached in June, 2005: Kellogg, Brown & Root Services Inc. of Arlington, Va., won the competitive-bid contract last July to provide debris removal and other emergency work associated with natural disasters. - (source).
FEMA HALTS RESCUES DUE TO SUPPOSED SECURITY CONCERNS - (source)
Hundreds of people in Orleans and Jefferson parishes are rescued by swift water rescue teams from California. However, at the end of the day, FEMA halts further rescues due to supposed security concerns, though no security incidents involving the teams are reported by CNN journalist Rick Sanchez who was embedded with the teams during the rescues.
FEMA FINALLY APPROACHES AIRLINE INDUSTRY FOR HELP EVACUATING, FOUR DAYS AFTER STORM HITS - (source)
CHRIS MATTHEWS CHEERS GOVERNMENT RESCUE EFFORT - (source)
“Last night, we showed you the full force of a superpower government going to the rescue.” –MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Sept. 1, 2005
EXCHANGE BETWEEN SENATOR LANDRIEU AND CNN'S ANDERSON COOPER, WHO WAS IN MISSISSIPPI - (source)
“Thank President Clinton and former President Bush for their strong statements of support and comfort today. I thank all the leaders that are coming to Louisiana, and Mississippi and Alabama to our help and rescue. We are grateful for the military assets that are being brought to bear. I want to thank Senator Frist and Senator Reid for their extraordinary efforts. Anderson, tonight, I don’t know if you’ve heard – maybe you all have announced it—but Congress is going to an unprecedented session to pass a $10 billion supplemental bill tonight to keep FEMA and the Red Cross up and operating.” –Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Aug. 31, 2005, to which Cooper responded:
“I haven’t heard that, because, for the last four days, I’ve been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated. And when they hear politicians slap – you know, thanking one another, it just, you know, it kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours. And there’s not enough facilities to take her up. Do you get the anger that is out here?”
Friday, Sept 2
RADIO INTERVIEW WITH MAYOR NAGIN, Attach:atspodcast_62.mp3 - (source)
"They're feeding the people a line of bull, and they are spinning and people are dying,"
2,200 PATIENTS AND STAFF EVACUATED FROM NO HOSPITALS - (source)
"The total evacuation of the 2,200 storm-stranded patients and staff at Charity and University hospitals is now complete, a top hospital official said Friday night."
400 STUDENTS STILL TRAPPED AT XAVIER UNIVERSITY, ONE DEAD - (source)
ST BERNARD PARISH OFFICIALS SAY THEY HAVE NOT HEARD FROM FEMA...FIVE DAYS AFTER THE STORM - (source)
WWL-TV ON CONDITIONS AT I-10 AND CAUSEWAY - (source)
2:54 P.M. - WWL Reporter Jonathan Betz says the refugees at I-10 and Causeway are standing in squalid conditions. He said there are only 10 portable toilets for thousands of people and the Interstate median is full of human waste.
2:50 P.M. - WWL-TV LIVE pictures show thousands still wait to be picked up from I-10 and Causeway. Buses arrived a few hours ago, but the refugees say that it's the first sighting of buses in 12 hours. Some of the refugees have been waiting four days. State Police say five people died Thursday while waiting.
FEMA STALLS FLORIDA AIRBOAT PILOTS - (source)
FEMA SPOKESPERSON ON FEMA RESPONSE - (source)
The magnitude of this overwhelmed us. The first estimate we got was that about 10,000 at the Superdome had to be rescued and it's been in the tens of thousands. I'm probably going to lie awake at night for a long time second guessing how we responded.
BUSH CONGRATULATES MICHAEL BROWN ON RESPONSE - (source)
“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” –President Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, while touring Hurricane-ravaged Mississippi, Sept. 2, 2005
BUSH VISIT GROUNDS FOOD AID - (source)
“Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said.”
LEVEE REPAIR WORK ORCHESTRATED FOR PRESIDENT’S VISIT - (source)
Sen. Mary Landrieu, 9/3: “Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment.”
BUSH USES 50 FIREFIGHTERS AS PROPS IN DISASTER AREA PHOTO-OP - (source)
A group of 1,000 firefighters convened in Atlanta to volunteer with the Katrina relief efforts. Of those, “a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew’s first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas.”
BUSH “SATISFIED WITH THE RESPONSE” - (source)
“I am satisfied with the response. I am not satisfied with all the results.”
FEMA’S NO. 2 OFFICIAL “IMPRESSED” WITH GOVERNMENT RESPONSE - (source)
“I am actually very impressed with the mobilization of man and machine to help our friends in this unfortunate area….I think it’s one of the most impressive search-and-rescue operations this country has ever conducted domestically.”
COMBAT OPERATIONS BEGIN AGAINST NEW ORLEANS INSURGENTS - (source)
Combat operations are underway on the streets “to take this city back” in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. While some fight the insurgency in the city, other carry on with rescue and evacuation operations. Helicopters are still pulling hundreds of stranded people from rooftops of flooded homes.
ANALYSIS BY FACTCHECK.ORG ON RESPONSIBILITY FOR NEW ORLEANS FLOODING - (source)
Is Bush to Blame for New Orleans Flooding? - He did slash funding for levee projects. But the Army Corps of Engineers says Katrina was just too strong.
AIRLINES RESPOND - (source)
(AP): The nation's airlines have been putting aside their own financial troubles to fly in supplies and take out refugees from hurricane devastated areas. Relief flights donated by airlines poured into Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport today.
BUSH TOURING HURRICANE DAMAGE- (source)
“We’ve got a lot of rebuilding to do… The good news is — and it’s hard for some to see it now — that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott’s house— he’s lost his entire house— there’s going to be a fantastic house. And I’m looking forward to sitting on the porch.” (Laughter) —President Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005
DISCONNECT ON NEW ORLEANS: A COMPARISON OF CONFLICTING STATEMENTS - (source)
...the conflicting views on Thursday came within hours, sometimes minutes of each of each other, as reflected in CNN's transcripts. The speakers include Michael Brown, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, evacuee Raymond Cooper, CNN correspondents and others.
Saturday, Sept 03
STATE DHS BLOCKS RED CROSS AID - (source)
Media reports and an announcement on the American Red Cross's own (
website) (page created Friday, September 2nd) explains that the Red Cross has stayed out of New Orleans and not provided food and water to New Orleans residents dying of heat exhaustion and hunger on orders of the Department of Homeland Security. Local American Red Cross CEO, Tom Foley, states to KWY Newsradio in Philadelphia: "The state Department of Homeland Security in Louisiana asked the Red Cross not to go into the city because they want that message to be, 'You need to leave the city. This isn't going to be a sheltering spot.' "
SENIOR BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL LIES TO WASHINGTON POST, CLAIMS GOV. BLANCO NEVER DECLARED STATE OF EMERGENCY - (source) See GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA, Aug 26
The Post reported in their Sunday edition “As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.” They were forced to issue a correction hours later.
CHERTOFF TELLS REPORTERS THAT GOV'T OFFICIALS DID NOT EXPECT DAMAGE CAUSED BY KATRINA - (source) See BROWN AND CHERTOFF WARNED OF RISK OF LEVEE BREACH, Aug 28
FEMA FINALIZES BUS REQUEST - (source)
“FEMA ended up modifying the number of buses it thought it needed to get the job done, until it settled on a final request of 1,335 buses at 8:05 p.m. on Sept. 3. The buses, though, trickled into New Orleans, with only a dozen or so arriving the first day.”
Sunday, Sept 4
FEMA BLOCKS AID TO JEFFERSON PARISH - (source)
Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, New Orleans, announces on Meet the Press that FEMA blocked life-saving aid to Jefferson Parish. FEMA prevented the delivery of three trailer trucks of water donated by Wal-Mart, forbade the Coast Guard from donating 1000 gallons of diesel fuel that happened to be on a Coast Guard vessel docked in Jefferson Parish, and cut all emergency communication lines out of the parish. The communication lines were repaired and put under armed guard. Mr. Broussard then broke down as he described how the mother of the head of emergency management in the parish was trapped in a nursing home and phoned her son every day asking when help would come. The son tried to reassure her that help was coming, but the woman died Friday evening (after President Bush's flyby) when she drowned to death.
FORMER MIAMI-DADE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CHIEF ON MICHAEL BROWN'S BACKGROUND - - (source)
From failed Republican congressional candidate to ousted
czar of an Arabian horse association, there was little in Michael D. Brown's background to prepare him for the fury of Hurricane Katrina.
"He's done a hell of a job, because I'm not aware of any Arabian horses being killed in this storm," said Kate Hale, former Miami-Dade emergency management chief who oversaw emergency response during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. "The world that this man operated in and the focus of this work does not in any way translate to this. He does not have the experience."
Monday, Sept 5
HURRICANE CENTER DIRECTOR SAYS HE BRIEFED BROWN AND CHERTOFF ON DANGER OF FLOODING - (source)
NEW YORK Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, told the Times-Picayune Sunday afternoon that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi--and were advised of the storm’s potential deadly effects.
Chertoff told reporters Saturday that government officials had not expected the damaging combination of a powerful hurricane levee breaches that flooded New Orleans.
BARBARA BUSH SAYS DISASTER WORKING OUT VERY WELL FOR VICTIMS - (source)
Barbara Bush, on American Public Media's "Marketplace" program: In a segment at the top of the show on the surge of evacuees to the Texas city, Barbara Bush said: "Almost everyone I’ve talked to says we're going to move to Houston." Then she added: "What I’m hearing which is sort of scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this--this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them."
Tuesday, Sept 6
MURDER AND RAPE IN NEW ORLEANS - FACT OR FICTION? - (source)
OFFICIALS SAY RED TAPE HINDERED RELIEF - (source)
An outraged Broussard said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the agency needs to bring in all its "force immediately, without red tape, without bureaucracy, act immediately with common sense and leadership, and save lives."
Some of the delays can be explained by the need to control a volatile situation. FEMA spokeswoman Natalie Rule said Monday she had not had a chance to research what happened at Jefferson Parish, but unsolicited donations and services have been hard to manage.
"You can imagine some of the actual problem of everyone just driving toward the disaster zone," she said.
Even skilled volunteers with the best intentions can be more trouble than help if they arrive needing food, shelter or fuel, some say.
BUSH TO LEAD INVESTIGATION ON DISASTER RESPONSE -(source)
Wednesday, Sept 7
FEMA WAITS HOURS AFTER HURRICANE STRIKE TO SEND AID - (source)
The top U.S. disaster official waited hours after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast before he proposed to his boss sending at least 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region to support rescuers, internal documents show.
The memo from FEMA Director Mike Brown to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff:
Attach:dhskatrina.pdf
FIREFIGHTERS PLAY CARDS, WAITING DAYS FOR DEPLOYMENT ORDERS - (source)
"On the news every night you hear, 'How come everybody forgot us?'" said Joseph Manning, a firefighter from Washington, Penn. "We didn't forget. We're stuck in Atlanta drinking beer."
PELOSI URGES BUSH TO FIRE MICHAEL BROWN - (source)
At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had "absolutely no credentials."
She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on Tuesday to fire Michael Brown.
"He said 'Why would I do that?'" Pelosi said.
"'I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week.'
And he (Bush) said 'What didn't go right?'"
"Oblivious, in denial, dangerous," she added.
MULTIPLE FAILURES CAUSED RELIEF CRISIS - (source)
The breakdown of the relief operation in New Orleans was the result of multiple failures by city, state and federal authorities. There was no one cause. The failures began long before the hurricane with a gamble that a Category Four or Five hurricane would not strike New Orleans. They continued with an inadequate evacuation plan and culminated in a relief effort hampered by lack of planning, supplies and manpower, and a breakdown in communications of the most basic sort. On top of all this, there is the question of whether an earlier intervention by President Bush could have a made a big difference.
Thursday, Sept 08
FEMA FINALLY OPENS RELIEF CENTER IN OCEAN SPRINGS, MISS - (source)
FEMA has opened its first relief center in Mississippi in the town of Ocean Springs. Hundreds of people at a time piled into the old vacant store yesterday to talk with officials from FEMA and other federal and state agencies.
Friday, Sept 09
BUSH SUSPENDS PAY ACT IN AREAS HIT BY STORM - (source)
President Bush yesterday suspended application of the federal law governing workers' pay on federal contracts in the Hurricane Katrina-damaged areas of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The action infuriated labor leaders and their Democratic supporters in Congress, who said it will lower wages and make it harder for union contractors to win bids.
The Davis-Bacon Act, passed in 1931 during the Great Depression, sets a minimum pay scale for workers on federal contracts by requiring contractors to pay the prevailing or average pay in the region. Suspension of the act will allow contractors to pay lower wages. Many Republicans have opposed Davis-Bacon, charging that it amounts to a taxpayer subsidy to unions.
Monday, Sept 12
FEMA DIRECTOR, MICHAEL BROWN, RESIGNS - (source)
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Brown resigned Monday after coming under fire over his qualifications and for what critics call a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina's destruction.
