Monday, September 05, 2005
The Katrina Timeline
Courtesy of CNN. Here's the starting point (emphases mine):
August 25 • 4 p.m.: Katrina officially becomes a Category 1 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center. • 7 p.m.: Lumbering ashore in south Florida, Katrina causes nine deaths and kills power to more than 1.2 million people. • 11 p.m.: Despite being over land for more than four hours, Katrina's maximum sustained winds are still being clocked at 75 mph. It came ashore with 80 mph winds between Hallandale Beach and North Miami Beach. August 26 • 5 a.m.: After weakening briefly to a tropical storm, Katrina regains hurricane status and moves on to the Gulf of Mexico. • 11:30 a.m.: The hurricane is upgraded to Category 2, with the storm's feeder bands continuing to pound the lower Florida Keys. • 4 p.m.: The National Hurricane Center warns that Katrina is expected to reach dangerous Category 4 intensity before making landfall in Mississippi or Louisiana. Hours later, in anticipation of a possible landfall, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco declare states of emergency.So, by 4 p.m. of Friday, August 26, 2005, not only did everyone of importance know that Katrina was going to hit Mississippi and Louisiana's Gulf Coast, but states of emergency were declared in both states as soon as this became clear. (I emphasize this because one of the lies that the Bush White House is feeding to its tame media stooges at the WP and Newsweek is that Louisiana's Governor, Kathleen Blanco, did not declare a state of emergency.) Furthermore, it was known that Katrina would not hit the Gulf Coast until early Monday morning, so Bush had a two-and-a-half-day head start on getting some C-130s loaded with sandbags and sent to shore up the levees in places like New Orleans -- levees which should have already been shored up, but weren't because Bush cut the Federal funding for this. And what were Bush and FEMA doing at that time? Well, Bush was on vacation. He did declare a state of emergency in the area the next day, but no Federal aid was forthcoming for several days after that. And it turned out that under the shocking mismanagement of Bush crony Michael Brown, FEMA may have done more harm than good. Not only was FEMA late on the scene, but FEMA turned back aid offers (and in many cases, actual convoys) of extensive aid from the city of Chicago, the USS Bataan (which is set up to purify 100,000 gallons of fresh drinking water every day), the International Red Cross, and the governments of Canada and Cuba. In the interim, thousands died that didn't need to die. Meanwhile, the guy who actually won the 2000 election was quietly doing his bit for the people of the Gulf Coast.
Comments:
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As of the 26th, Katrina was a LEVEL TWO hurricane and not taken terribly seriously as a threat. New Orleans officials were on the record making jokes about it at that point (read the New Orleans paper from that period). So much for the "cover-up" of a threat. There are holes like that throughout your post, but you want to make a point, not diiscern the facts.
# posted by 
: 9/08/2005 07:08:00 AM
: 9/08/2005 07:08:00 AM
I'm not sure how your timeline supports the accusation that the federal government (read Bush) failed. The storm really didn't clear the area until Tuesday (can't fly helicopters in high winds). The levees didn't break until Tuesday - after everyone thought they had averted that problem.
If you had any concept of logistics you'd understand that it takes time to actually move people and supplies to a stricken area - need clear roads and clear waters. Can't have those supplies in the potential path of the Hurricane (well over 1000 miles of Coast). Also, the storm moves from the disaster area as it moves inland towards where relief must come from. Some can and did come from Texas but again, this is still a good distance that would require a days travel in perfect conditions.
Regardless of what you want to beleive, the National Guard is under the control of the States unless specifically federalized but the govenor (this still hasn't been done).
Your own link praising Al Gore shows him doing something on Saturday (4 days after the storm, 3 after the levee breaks). Where was he on Tuesday morning. This isn't a criticism, of Gore just pointing out that this doesn't support your argument.
If you had any concept of logistics you'd understand that it takes time to actually move people and supplies to a stricken area - need clear roads and clear waters. Can't have those supplies in the potential path of the Hurricane (well over 1000 miles of Coast). Also, the storm moves from the disaster area as it moves inland towards where relief must come from. Some can and did come from Texas but again, this is still a good distance that would require a days travel in perfect conditions.
Regardless of what you want to beleive, the National Guard is under the control of the States unless specifically federalized but the govenor (this still hasn't been done).
Your own link praising Al Gore shows him doing something on Saturday (4 days after the storm, 3 after the levee breaks). Where was he on Tuesday morning. This isn't a criticism, of Gore just pointing out that this doesn't support your argument.
# posted by : 9/08/2005 07:26:00 AM
: 9/08/2005 07:26:00 AM
You conveniently hid the fact that FEMA is not a first responder. They usually support the Red Cross with whatever is needed. You should also research the Posse Comitatus Act which clearly states that federal troops cannot enter a state without the governor's permission (which did not come until later). It's ironic that the same people who wanted the federal government to jump in without permission from the state are the same people who are always complaining that the federal government is violating states rights. Maybe we should initiate legislation that permits the federal government to enter any state without permission when there is a diaster. Would that suit you?
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# posted by : 9/08/2005 01:58:00 PM
: 9/08/2005 01:58:00 PM << Home
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