Required Katrina reading ...........

[twowords]

.......... before you make another ignorant post.

factual schedule of events from Factcheck
"

Tuesday August 30, 2005 - 1 Day After Katrina

Dawn - Water has continued to rise overnight and is coursing through the city's central business district, still rising. Eventually, at least least 80 percent of New Orleans is under water. Reports of looting surface.

—John McQuaid, " Katrina trapped city in double disasters ," New Orleans Times-Picayune , 7 Sep 2005.

11:04 a.m. - In San Diego, California, Bush delivers a 31-minute speech marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Of Katrina, he says, "we're beginning to move in the help that people need."

—"President Commemorates 60th Anniversary of V-J Day" Naval Air Station North Island San Diego, California 30 Aug 2005.

Immediately after the speech, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan tells reporters that Bush will return to Crawford, then cut short his Texas stay and go to Washington. McClellan says, "This is one of the most devastating storms in our nation's history. I think that's becoming clear to everyone. The devastation is enormous."

—"Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan ," Naval Air Station North Island San Diego, California, 30 Aug 2005.

3 p.m. - With water still pouring into the city, officials report that the Army Corps of Engineers has surveyed the damage to levees and will soon attempt repair.

At a Baton Rouge briefing, Sen. Mary Landrieu reports that "most of the roads and highways are impassable, and water is still coming into the city of New Orleans. The water is up to the rooftops in St. Bernard and Plaquemine. We think there may be only one major way into the city right now and it has to be used for emergency personnel to get food and water and rescue equipment to people who are in desperate need."

But even now, federal and state officials alike seem unaware of the full extent of the unfolding disaster.

US Sen. David Vitter said of the still-rising water:

Sen. Vitter: In the metropolitan area in general, in the huge majority of areas, it's not rising at all. It's the same or it may be lowering slightly. In some parts of New Orleans, because of the 17th Street breach, it may be rising and that seemed to be the case in parts of downtown.

I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening.

None of the officials present at the press conference correct the mistaken remark. And Blanco seems puzzled when a reporter asks the governor about the water pollution that will later emerge as a major public health risk:

Q: Does the water that's downtown -- does this represent what everyone feared before the hurricane would come, that you would have this toxic soup that has overrun the city?

Blanco: It didn't -- I wouldn't think it would be toxic soup right now. I think it's just water from the lake, water from the canals. It's, you know, water.

Q: Well, something could be underneath that water.

Blanco: Pardon?

—"The Situation Room; Hurricane Katrina Aftermath ; Rescue Efforts and Assessing the Damage," Transcript, CNN, 30 Aug 2005.

Wednesday August 31, 2005 - 2 Days After

Morning - Bush, still in Crawford, participates in a half-hour video conference on Katrina with Vice President Cheney (who is in Wyoming) and top aides. Later, he boards Air Force One and flies over New Orleans on his way back to Washington. His press secretary tells reporters: "The President, when we were passing over that part of New Orleans, said, 'It's devastating, it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground.'"

—"Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan " Aboard Air Force One, En Route Andrews Air Force Base, MD, 31 Aug 2005.

Looting intensifies in New Orleans. Nagin orders most of the police to abandon search and rescue missions for survivors and focus on packs of looters who are becoming increasingly violent. The AP reported, "Police officers were asking residents to give up any guns they had before they boarded buses and trucks because police desperately needed the firepower."

—"Mayor: Katrina may have killed thousands ," Associated Press , 31 Aug 2005

Late Afternoon - Bush, back at the White House, holds a cabinet meeting on Katrina and speaks for nine minutes in the Rose Garden to outline federal relief efforts. He says FEMA has moved 25 search and rescue teams into the area. As for those stranded at the Superdome, "Buses are on the way to take those people from New Orleans to Houston," the President says.

—"President Outlines Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts ," The Rose Garden, 31 Aug 2005.

Thursday September 1, 2005 - 3 Days After

7 a.m. - Bush says "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." His remark comes in a live interview on ABC's Good Morning America :

Bush: I want people to know there's a lot of help coming. I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm. These levees got breached and as a result, much of New Orleans is flooded and now we're having to deal with it and will.

—“Good Morning America,” Transcript, ABC News, 1 September 2005.

Time Uncertain - Red Cross President Marsha Evans asks permission to enter the city with relief supplies, but Louisiana state officials deny permission.

—"Red Cross: State rebuffed relief efforts: Aid organization never got into New Orleans, officials say" CNN.com , 9 Sep 2005.

Thirty-thousand National Guard Troops from across the country are ordered to report to the Gulf Coast, but many do not arrive for several days.

—"More Navy Ships, National Guard troops head to the Gulf Coast ," Associated Press, 1 Sep 2005.

The first buses arrive at the Superdome to take evacuees to the Astrodome in Houston, 355 miles away. But the evacuation goes slowly and will take several days.

—Evan Thomas, "The Lost City," Newsweek , 12 September 2005.

Associated Press photographer Phil Coale makes an aerial shot of scores of school busses sitting unused in a flooded New Orleans lot. Many will later question why city officials did not use these busses to evacuate residents who lacked transportation prior to the hurricane, or at least move them to higher ground for use later.

—AP Photo/Phil Coale "Aerial view of flooded school busses," Yahoo News, 1 Sep 2005.

Evening - In a special report that is typical of the picture that television is conveying to the world, CNN Correspondent Adaora Udoji reports: "Three days after Hurricane Katrina, and the situation is getting more desperate by the minute. Thousands are still stranded in misery. . . . They are marching in search of food, water and relief. They're surrounded by a crumbling city and dead bodies. Infants have no formula, the children no food, nothing for adults, no medical help. They're burning with frustration, and sure they have been forgotten."

And CNN's Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, reports live from Charity hospital in New Orleans: "It doesn't appear to be safe now, but it seems that a sniper standing atop one of the buildings just above us here and firing down at patients and doctors as they were trying to be evacuated, unbelievable. It just boggles my mind, actually."

—"Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees, Special Edition: Hurricane Katrina ," CNN Transcripts , 1 Sept 2005.

Brown says FEMA officials were unaware for days that – besides the hurricane victims stranded in the Superdome – thousands more had taken refuge in the New Orleans Convention Center nearby. Speaking from Baton Rouge in a live interview with CNN's Paula Zahn, he says:

Brown : And so, this -- this catastrophic disaster continues to grow. I will tell you this, though. Every person in that Convention Center, we just learned about that today . And so, I have directed that we have all available resources to get to that Convention Center to make certain that they have the food and water, the medical care that they need...
Q: Sir, you aren't telling me...
Brown : ... and that we take care of those bodies that are there. . . .
Q: Sir, you aren't just telling me you just learned that the folks at the Convention Center didn't have food and water until today, are you? You had no idea they were completely cut off?
Brown: Paula, the federal government did not even know about the Convention Center people until today.

—Paula Zahn Now, "Desperation in New Orleans; Interview With FEMA Director Mike Brown," Transcript , 1 Sep 2005.

Later, Brown will say he was wrong and that FEMA actually knew about the victims at the Convention Center 24 hours earlier but was unable to reach them until Thursday.

—David D. Kirkpatrick and Scott Shane, "Ex-FEMA Chief Tells of Frustration and Chaos," New York Times 15 Sep 2005: A1

Evening - Nagin delivers a rambling diatribe in an interview with local radio station WWL-AM, blaming Bush and Blanco for doing too little:

Nagin : I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. . .
I've got 15,000 to 20,000 people over at the convention center. It's bursting at the seams. The poor people in Plaquemines Parish. ... We don't have anything, and we're sharing with our brothers in Plaquemines Parish.
It's awful down here, man.
. . . Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here. They're not here. It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and do something , and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country.

—"Mayor to feds: 'Get off your asses,'" Transcript of radio interview with New Orleans' Nagin, CNN.com, 2 Sep 2005.

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[OtisTheMarsupial]

good post. bump