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Also Try About Hurricanes Disaster Preparation Evacuation Helping Hurricane Victims Hurricane Archives Hurricane Preparation Hurricane Rita Past Hurricanes Materials -Video History of Katrina (Washington Post) Provides a sequence of photos and articles to show how events followed each other before, during, and after Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast. 9-05 Katrina Hurricane Beginning to Strike (NOAA.gov) Provides a picture from space of Katrina as it begins to damage the area north of the Gulf of Mexico. 8-05 Katrina Hurricane Inland (NOAA.gov) Provides a picture from space of Katrina as it damages the area north of the Gulf of Mexico. 8-05 News -01-11-07 Sen. Lieberman Gives Bush a Pass on Katrina (MSNBC News) "Sen. Joe Lieberman, the only Democrat to endorse President Bush’s new plan for Iraq, has quietly backed away from his pre-election demands that the White House turn over potentially embarrassing documents relating to its handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans." 01-07 -01-26-06 White House Resists Katrina Investigation (ABC News) "Lieberman is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is conducting the investigation." " 'A lot of federal government employees who we've interviewed, they've been told by the White House that they can't answer any questions about communications they had with people at the White House,' Lieberman told ABC News. 'Now, that's stonewalling. For the administration to simply tell people in the federal government they can't talk to our investigators about any of the conversations they had with people at the White House is unacceptable.' " 01-06 -01-28-06 Post-Katrina Promises Largely Unfulfilled (MSNBC News) "President Bush announced a lofty post-Katrina reconstruction plan in his Sept. 15, 2005, speech from New Orleans' Jackson Square. But the government's record of action has largely failed to match Bush's words." "Officials from both parties credit the president for committing $85 billion in federal funds and for approving tax relief and incentives such as the Gulf Opportunity Zone, which provides tax breaks for businesses in Mississippi and Louisiana. Still, they say the overall cost of the rebuilding is a major concern." "Trailer costs have swelled from $19,000 to $75,000 apiece." "Layers of subcontractors have caused debris removal costs to quadruple from $8 per cubic yard to $32 per cubic yard, said Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who visited the region on Jan. 17 as part of a Senate delegation." "As of this week, the SBA said that 190,000 of 363,000 applications for disaster loans to homeowners and businesses are still pending." " 'This great city will rise again,' said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.). 'The question is whether the city and the region will be doing it alone, dragging the federal government with us every step of the way, or will this administration get in gear and put their mind to the task at hand.' " 01-06 -01-30-06 Investigation: FEMA Ignored Available Resources and Then Left Early (USA Today) "At one point, Scarlett's letter said, FEMA asked U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to help with search and rescue in New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish and St. Tammany Parish but that the rescuers 'never received task assignments.' The agency, a branch of the Interior Department, apparently went ahead anyway, according to the letter, which said that Fish and Wildlife helped rescue 4,500 people in the first week after Katrina." "Other Interior Department resources that were offered, but unused, included flat-bottom boats for shallow-water rescues. 'Clearly these assets and skills were precisely relevant in the post-Katrina environment,' Scarlett wrote." 01-06 -02-01-06 Investigators: Bush Responsible for Slow Katrina Response (ABC News) "The White House and Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff failed to provide decisive action when Hurricane Katrina struck, congressional investigators said Wednesday in a stinging assessment of slow federal relief efforts." "The White House had no clear chain of command in place, investigators with the Government Accountability Office said, laying much of the blame on President Bush for not designating a single official to coordinate federal decision-making for the Aug. 29 storm. Bush has accepted responsibility for the government's halting response, but for the most part then-FEMA Director Michael Brown, who quit days after the hurricane hit, has been the public face of the failures.” 02-06 -02-07-06 Hotel Deadline Arrives for Katrina Evacuees (CNN News) "Thousands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees who have been staying in hotels at FEMA's expense will have to pay their own way beginning Tuesday, unless they were able to arrange extensions from federal officials." -02-13-06 House Republicans: Katrina Was a Failure of Leadership (CNN News) " 'If this is what happens when we have advance warning, we shudder to imagine the consequences when we do not. Four and a half years after 9/11, America is still not ready for prime time. This is particularly distressing because we know we remain at risk for terrorist attacks, and because the 2006 hurricane season is right around the corner.' ""Having a national response plan to deal with disasters "is not enough," the committee said."What's needed is a National Action Plan. Not a plan that says Washington will do everything, but one that says, when all else fails, the federal government must do something, whether it's formally requested or not. Not even the perfect bureaucratic storm of flaws and failures can wash away the fundamental governmental responsibility to protect public health and safety," the panel said." -02-23-06 White House Report: Urgent Changes Needed for Crisis Responses (MSNBC News) "A White House report concluded Thursday that inexperienced disaster response managers and a lack of planning, discipline and leadership contributed to vast federal failures during Hurricane Katrina." "The 228-page report by White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend urges changes in 11 key areas -- mainly in better disaster relief coordination among federal agencies -- before the next hurricane season begins June 1." 02-06 -03-01-06 Bush Knew of Katrina's Wrath Before It Hit (CBS News) "In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage" 02-06 -03-14-07 Army Corps of Engineers Placed Faulty Pumps in New Orleans (ABC News) "The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet President Bush's promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment would fail during a storm, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press." 03-07 -03-17-06 Students Hit Beaches--To Help (ABC News) "Instead of stripping down to bathing suits and sunglasses, thousands of young people from across the country are putting on coveralls and goggles and gutting hurricane-blighted houses, repairing roofs and hauling away storm debris." 03-06 -03-24-06 Abandoned Cars Still a Big Problem (MSNBC News) "Nearly seven months after Katrina, the streets of New Orleans are still strewn with thousands of abandoned cars — many of them flooded-out, some stolen, some left by residents who have not returned since the Aug. 29 storm." 03-06 -03-24-06 FEMA Breaks Promise on Katrina Contracts (MSNBC News) "FEMA has broken its promise to reopen four multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts for Hurricane Katrina work, including three that federal auditors say wasted significant amounts of money." 03-06 -04-13-06 FEMA: New Orleans Homes Need to be Raised Three Feet (CNN.com) "A long-awaited government projection on this city's flood danger recommends that thousands of homes and businesses in areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina be raised at least 3 feet." "The job can take one to two weeks and generally costs about $40,000 for the first foot, and $8,000 to $12,000 for each additional foot, said Phil Pieri, regional manager for a Texas-based foundation-repair company that operates in 18 states." 04-06 -04-26-06 Katrina Victims Sue Army Corps of Engineers (Fox News) "Five people whose homes were flooded during Hurricane Katrina sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday, accusing the agency of ignoring repeated warnings that a navigation channel it built would turn into a 'hurricane highway.' " 04-06 -04-28-07 U.S. Failed to Use Most of the Aid from Allies for Katrina Victims (MSNBC News) "Allies offered $854 million in cash and in oil that was to be sold for cash. But only $40 million has been used so far for disaster victims or reconstruction, according to U.S. officials and contractors. Most of the aid went uncollected, including $400 million worth of oil. Some offers were withdrawn or redirected to private groups such as the Red Cross. The rest has been delayed by red tape and bureaucratic limits on how it can be spent." "In addition, valuable supplies and services -- such as cellphone systems, medicine and cruise ships -- were delayed or declined because the government could not handle them. In some cases, supplies were wasted." 04-07 -05-02-06 New Disaster Plan for New Orleans: Get Out of Town (CNN News) "Mayor Ray Nagin unveiled a new evacuation strategy for New Orleans on Tuesday that relies more on buses and trains and eliminates the Superdome and Convention Center as shelters." 05-06 -05-22-06 Report: Katrina Cleanup Too Expensive (CBS News) "A major contractor would take a large cut and pay smaller amounts to the subcontractors, down to the company with the truck hauling debris to the dump." "The lion's share of the money has gone to firms like politically-connected AshBritt of Florida. The company received $500 million, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson." " 'It seems you get more than half,' [Rep. D-Calif.] Waxman told Randall Perkins, president of AshBritt Inc. in Pompano Beach, Fla., after Perkins said his company received $23 a cubic yard in a debris removal contract but paid a subcontractor $10 to haul the material." 05-06 -05-22-06 Report: New Orleans Levees Underfunded (CBS News) "New Orleans' levee system was routinely underfunded and therefore inadequate to protect against hurricanes, according to an independent report released Monday. " "The report also called for an overhaul of the agencies that oversee flood protection. It took aim at Congress for its piecemeal funding over the past 50 years, and at state and local levee authorities for failing to properly oversee maintenance of the levees." "The [Los Angeles Times] newspaper reports that these findings — laid out in a 600-page report — undermine assurances by both the Bush administration and the Corps of Engineers that the federal levee repair program will provide a higher level of protection to New Orleans." 05-06 -05-25-06 Judge Rules Against State Farm in Katrina Case (CNN News) "Provisions in a State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. policy that exclude certain damage from Hurricane Katrina are unenforceable, a federal judge in Mississippi has ruled." 05-06 -06-16-06 Fish Control Mosquitoes (CNN News) "The mosquito fish, native to this region and probably the world's most effective biological mosquito control agent, are surface-breathers and capable of surviving in polluted waters with low oxygen levels. Their primary food source is mosquito larvae, though they also can live off algae." 06-06 -06-19-06 National Guard Ordered to New Orleans (CBS News) "Acting at the mayor's request, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Monday she would send National Guard troops and state police to patrol the streets of New Orleans after a bloody weekend in which six people were killed." 06-06 -08-25-07 Doctor Tells Why Patients Died During Katrina Flooding (MSNBC News) "Dr. Anna Pou was accused of murdering nine patients in a New Orleans hospital wracked by Katrina, but a grand jury declined to indict her. Now she gives her side of the story." 08-07 -08-28-06 Louisiana Coast Sinking and Slipping Slowly into the Gulf (MSNBC News) "A new report by scientists studying Louisiana’s sinking coast says the land here is not just sinking, it’s sliding ever so slowly into the Gulf of Mexico." 08-06 -08-28-06 New Orleans and Katrina, One Year Later (ABC News) "Tied to the restoration of the Gulf Coast is, perhaps, the president's credibility. Critics and Gulf residents alike wait to see if the president — who sells himself as man of his word — will deliver on the promises he's made." 08-06 -09-09-05 What Went Wrong: Everything (MSNBC News) "What went wrong? Just about everything. How the system failed is a tangled story, but the basic narrative is becoming clearer: hesitancy, bureaucratic rivalries, failures of leadership from city hall to the White House and epically bad luck combined to create a morass." 9-05 -09-12-05 ABC: Warnings Ignored (ABC News) " 'The fact that the [simulation] exercise predicted this kind of an outcome makes this response even more, just incompetent, at all levels of government' Hauer said." "Under the disaster plan, preparations for the storm should have begun at least three days before it made landfall. With Katrina, New Orleans ordered a mandatory evacuation 20 hours before the storm struck. FEMA officials were supposed to have critical resources in place before landfall." 9-05 -09-12-05 Largest Migration in US History (CBS News) ""This is the biggest resettlement in American history. A whole city has been uprooted," says Stephen Kleinberg, a sociology professor at Rice University in Houston." "If nothing else, the resettlement is already a story in state-to-state generosity. As of Sunday, there were an estimated 374,000 hurricane Katrina refugees in shelters, hotels, homes and other housing in 34 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Red Cross and state relief officials." "The total number of refugees may surpass 1 million, but a large percentage have been absorbed into their own relative's homes, say experts." 9-05 -09-13-05 Chertoff: New Phase of Response to Katrina (CBS News) "Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the relief operation was entering a new phase." "Initially, he said, the most important priority was evacuating people, getting them to safety, providing food, water and medical care." " 'Now we have to reconstitute the communities that have been devastated,' Chertoff added." 9-05 -09-14-05 Bush Supporters Get "No Compete" Contracts (CNN News) "Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration's first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina." "At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President Bush's former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast." 9-05 -09-14-05 Lost Dolphins Found (MSNBC News) "In an 'unheard of' rescue operation, eight dolphins that were swept out of their oceanarium by Hurricane Katrina have been rediscovered hundreds of yards out at sea where trainers are tracking, feeding and caring for them." 9-05 -09-14-05 What Went Wrong in New Orleans (MSNBC News) "By the predawn hours, most state and federal officials finally realized that the 17th Street Canal levee had been breached, and that the city was in serious trouble. [President] Bush was told at 5 a.m. Pacific Coast time and immediately decided to cut his vacation short. Bush blithely proceeded with the rest of his schedule for the day, accepting a gift guitar at one event and pretending to riff like Tom Cruise in 'Risky Business.' " "At 2 o'clock on the morning of the storm, only 82 of 120 cops had obeyed a summons to report for duty. Now the numbers were dwindling; within a day, only 28 or 30 officers would be left to save the stranded and fight the looters, recalled a sad and exhausted Capt. Eddie Hosli, speaking to a NEWSWEEK reporter last week." "Normally, the Guard is under the control of the state governor, but the Feds can take over—if the governor asks them to. [New Orleans Mayor] Nagin suggested that Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, the Pentagon's on-scene commander, be put in charge." "More than a week later, there was still no agreement. [Governor] Blanco didn't want to give up her authority, and Bush didn't press." 9-05 -09-24-05 Sediment in New Orleans Dangerous (MSNBC News) "A new health risk emerged Friday from the sediment of New Orleans — test results showing that diesel and fuel oils, which can take years to break down, make up as much as a 10th of the weight of some sediment samples." 9-05 -09-26-05 Bush Tries Enterprise Zones Again (Bloomberg.com) "President George W. Bush's main proposal for reviving the storm-stricken Gulf Coast has a history of failing to deliver on the promise of prosperity." "The Gulf Opportunity Zone that Bush outlined in a national address from New Orleans on Sept. 15 is the latest version of a Reagan-era idea for using tax breaks and other incentives to revitalize blighted urban areas. Backers of enterprise zones -- mainly Republicans, though they were also supported by Democratic President Bill Clinton -- argue that jobs and economic growth will flow into such areas." "In the two decades since such initiatives have come into widespread use, researchers have found little evidence they work very well. Critics say the main beneficiaries often aren't the people the zones are designed to aid, but businesses that end up with tax incentives for investments they would have made anyway." 9-05 -09-27-05 Dispute on FEMA Roles (MSNBC News) Congressman Tom Davis "pushed [ex-FEMA Director Michael] Brown on what he and the agency he led should have done to evacuate New Orleans, restore order in the city and improve communication among law enforcement agencies." "Brown said: 'Those are not FEMA roles. FEMA doesn’t evacuate communities. FEMA does not do law enforcement. FEMA does not do communications.' " 9-05 -10-07-05 Aftermath of Hurricanes (C-Span News) Provides news on the aftermath of the hurricanes striking the United States." 9-05 -10-10-05 Lawyer: Beaten Man not Drunk (MSNBC News) New Orleans - "A 64-year-old man who was repeatedly punched in the head by police in an incident caught on videotape was not drunk, as police have alleged, and put up no resistance as he was being pummeled, his lawyer said Monday." 9-05 -10-11-05 Beating Victim: Sober for 25 Years (MSNBC News) Police officers in New Orleans beat a resident and claimed they were subduing the man for "public intoxication." The victim claimed that he had not had an alcoholic drink for 25 years. "A federal civil rights investigation has been launched into the police beating of a man in the French Quarter of New Orleans on Saturday night." "Two city officers accused in the beating, and a third officer accused of grabbing and shoving an Associated Press Television News producer who helped document the confrontation, pleaded not guilty Monday to battery charges. A trial date was set for Jan. 11. Afterward, officers Lance Schilling, Robert Evangelist and S.M. Smith were released on bond." 9-05 -10-17-05 FEMA Memos Reveal Chaos (MSNBC News) "FEMA struggled to locate food, ice, water and even body bags in the days following Hurricane Katrina, a frantic effort punctuated by bureaucratic chaos, infighting and concerns about media coverage, according to memos obtained Monday by The Associated Press." 10-05 -10-17-05 Katrina Leaves Two Tales of Recovery (USA Today) "Long before Hurricane Katrina came and went, much more than a drawbridge separated these two neighborhoods and their people. Color, class, misconceptions, fear — differences of the heart and mind, as much as the pocketbook, made these two places two very different 'New Orleans.' " "Now there are other differences. In Uptown, a booming ballet of bulldozers scoop up tree limbs and drywall as workmen in hardhats direct traffic. Homeowners have hired crews to clear out and sanitize houses. Smiles have returned, along with some optimism." "In the Ninth Ward, an eery silence prevails as residents slowly arrive home." 10-05 -10-19-05 Chertoff: Hurricane Response (CBS News) "Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff defended his actions before and after Hurricane Katrina, telling lawmakers Wednesday he relied on Federal Emergency Management Agency experts with decades of experience in hurricane response." "Several Democratic congressmen from the affected areas have attended the hearings and questioned witnesses. They were joined Wednesday by Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., who blasted what she called a lack of leadership in the Bush administration's response to Katrina." "Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-Texas, objected when McKinney asked Chertoff why he should not be charged with negligent homicide because of the federal response." 10-05 -10-20-05 FEMA Official: Leadership Out of Touch (MSNBC News) "...on Aug. 31, Bahamonde frantically e-mailed Brown to tell him that thousands are evacuees were gathering in the streets with no food or water and that 'estimates are many will die within hours.' " " 'Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical,' Bahamonde wrote." "Less than three hours later, however, Brown’s press secretary wrote colleagues to complain that the FEMA director needed more time to eat dinner at a Baton Rouge restaurant that evening." " 'He needs much more that (sic) 20 or 30 minutes,' wrote Brown aide Sharon Worthy." 10-05 -11-01-05 FDIC Chair to Lead Gulf Coast Recovery (USA Today) "Donald Powell, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., has been assigned to oversee the federal government's disaster recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast, the Bush administration announced Tuesday." "Powell, a wealthy contributor to President Bush's presidential campaign, will be in charge of the long-term plans to rebuild the states hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the late summer. The sluggish federal response to Hurricane Katrina, the first and most damaging of the two, particularly has been widely criticized." 10-05 -11-22-05 Thousands Still Missing After Katrina (ABC News) "Three months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, thousands of people are still unaccounted for, and authorities are at a loss about how to track them down." 11-05 -12-12-05 Email Analysis: Governor's Staff Worried About Her Appearance (MSNBC News) "Trying to avoid a public relations disaster, aides to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco fretted over her not appearing in charge after Hurricane Katrina hit, even worrying about her clothing, documents released Monday show." 11-05 -12-15-05 Rumsfeld's Katrina Memos Subpoenaed (MSNBC News) "A House committee investigating the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina issued a subpoena Wednesday to force Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to turn over documents but stopped short of sending a similar legal demand to the White House." 11-05 -Katrina News Coverage (ABC News) Provides comprehensive news. 9-05 -Katrina News Coverage (CBS News) Provides comprehensive news. 9-05 -Katrina News Coverage (MSNBC News) Provides comprehensive news. 9-05 -Katrina News Coverage (USA Today) Provides comprehensive news. 9-05 -Katrina News Coverage (Yahoo.com) Provides comprehensive news. 9-05 01-11-07 State Farm Insurance Found Liable in Katrina Case (MSNBC News) "A jury on Thursday awarded $2.5 million in punitive damages to a couple who sued State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. for denying their claim after Hurricane Katrina, a decision that could benefit hundreds of other homeowners challenging insurers for refusing to cover billions of dollars in storm damage." 01-07 Bias in News Coverage in New Orleans (Seattle Times) "In one photo, a man wades through chest-deep waters with a large black bag filled with items from a grocery. In another, two people wade through equally high waters, carrying bread and soda." "What has drawn attention to these two photos, both taken Tuesday, is their captions." "In the first, the young man, who is black, is described as having 'looted' the items. In the second, a white or light-skinned couple are described as 'finding' the items." 9-05 Emergency Disinfection of Water (EPA.gov) "When the home water supply is interrupted by natural or other forms of disaster, you can obtain limited amounts of water by draining your hot water tank or melting ice cubes. In most cases, well water is the preferred source of drinking water. If it is not available and river or lake water must be used, avoid sources containing floating material and water with a dark color or an odor." Editor's Note: Flood water gains dangerous chemicals that will not be removed by boiling or adding chemicals such as iodine. Distillation of the water may be the only method for making it safer. Likewise, water from Lake Pontchartrain was also made undrinkable. 9-05 Katrina News Coverage (C-SPAN.org) Provides news updates on activities of the federal government and others. 9-05 Papers "Unimaginable" Cleanup (BBC News) "In the state’s first major assessment of the environmental havoc in southern Louisiana, Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Mike McDaniel said large quantities of hazardous materials in damaged industrial plants, the danger of explosions and fires, and water pollution were his main concerns eight days after the storm struck." "He said that in New Orleans alone, it would take 'years' to restore water service to the entire city." 9-05 -09-14-05 Amid Chaos, Congressman Used National Guard to Check Own Home (ABC News) "Amid the chaos and confusion that engulfed New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck, a congressman used National Guard troops to check on his property and rescue his personal belongings — even while New Orleans residents were trying to get rescued from rooftops, ABC News has learned." 9-05 -09-15-05 Grandmother, 73, Held - Injustice? (MSNBC News) "Police say the grandmother from New Orleans took $63.50 in goods from a looted deli the day after Katrina struck." "Family and eyewitnesses have a different story. They say Maten is an innocent woman who had gone to her car to get some sausage to eat but was wrongly handcuffed by tired, frustrated officers who couldn’t catch younger looters at a store in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans." "Even the deli owner doesn't want her charged. "Becnel, family members and witnesses said police snared Maten, a diabetic, in the parking lot of a hotel where she had fled the floodwaters that swamped her New Orleans home. She had paid for her room with a credit card and dutifully followed authorities’ instructions to pack extra food, they said. "She was retrieving a piece of sausage from the cooler in her car and planned to grill it so she and her frail 80-year-old husband, Alfred, could eat, according to her defenders. The parking lot was almost a block from the looted store, they said." 9-05 -Catastrophic Plan for FEMA for S.E. Louisiana 2004 (IEM) Provides the plans that were designed to guide the actions of FEMA for a disaster in New Orleans. 9-05 -Destruction of the Delta (AmericanRadioWorks.com) "Right now, an entire region of the United States is crumbling and sinking into the sea. Scientists say it's causing one of the worst and least-publicized environmental disasters in America's history." "But when French settlers showed up in the 1700s, they tried to stop the Mississippi from flooding: they started building these walls. Eventually, the U.S. Army took over the job, and every time they thought they'd conquered nature, the river proved them wrong. So the army built more walls and they built them higher, they've built two thousand miles of levees as of today along the Mississippi River and its branches. And Houck says, the army has finally won the war—they've tamed the Mississippi." " 'And so,' describes Houck, 'the project was—from an engineering point of view— brilliant, brilliant. It was hugely successful. From an environmental standpoint, it was a disaster.' " 9-05 -Editorial: What Does It Mean to Lose New Orleans? (International Herald Tribune) Describes what New Orleans means to the American culture. 9-05 -Prediction in 2002: The Levees Will Destroy New Orleans (PBS.org - Moyers) Daniel Zwerdlig: "The American Red Cross lists the worst natural disasters that might strike America. They worry about earthquakes in California, and tropical storms in Florida. But they say the biggest catastrophe could be a hurricane hitting New Orleans." "The main debate seems to be, when the country is facing different kinds of threats, which ones should get the most attention? The federal government has been cutting money from hurricane protection projects. Partly to pay for the war against terrorists." "Do you think that the President of the United States and Congress understand that people like you and the scientists studying this think the city of New Orleans could very possibly disappear?" Walter Maestri [director of emergency management for Jefferson Parish]: "I think they know that, I think that they've been told that. I don't know that anybody, though, psychologically, you know has come to grips with that as-- as a-- a potential real situation. Just like none of us could possibly come to grips with the loss of the World Trade Center. And it's still hard for me to envision that it's gone." 9-05 ABC: FEMA Unprepared (ABC News) "FEMA was an independent agency, answering directly to the president, until it was folded into the Department of Homeland Security two years ago." "However, the latest government figures show that 75 cents out of every $1 spent on emergency preparedness goes to anti-terrorism programs. Well before Katrina, FEMA insiders were sounding the alarm." 9-05 Building a Maritime Ridge in Louisiana (USDA.gov) "The NRCS Golden Meadow Plant Materials Center (PMC) is working with the Barataria-Terrebourn National Estuary Program and the Greater Lafourche Port Commission to help reestablish a maritime-forest ridge and marshland that protect the southeast Louisiana coast and provide habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife." Editor's Note: Maritime ridges are believed to greatly reduce the effects of hurricanes on inland cities. 9-05 CNN: Homeland Security Chief's Excuses for Delay Unfounded (CNN News) "Defending the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argued Saturday that government planners did not predict such a disaster ever could occur." "Chertoff, fielding questions from reporters, said government officials did not expect both a powerful hurricane and a breach of levees that would flood the city of New Orleans." "He called the disaster 'breathtaking in its surprise.' " "But in fact, government officials, scientists and journalists have warned of such a scenario for years." "But Chertoff seemed unaware of all the warnings." Chertoff said, " 'It wasn't until comparatively late, shortly before -- a day, maybe a day and a half, before landfall -- that it became clear that this was going to be a Category 4 or 5 hurricane headed for the New Orleans area.'" CNN noted, in direct contradiction to Chertoff's claim, that "As far back as Friday, August 26, the National Hurricane Center was predicting the storm could be a Category 4 hurricane at landfall, with New Orleans directly in its path." Editor's Note: The Mayor of New Orleans ordered the city to be evacuated before the hurricane arrived because he knew the city was in danger of being flooded. The levees were only designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane. 9-05 Cities Face Economic Peril (New York Times) "Without money, governments cannot run buses so that residents without cars can search for jobs and go to work. They cannot educate the children of families that might try to return. They cannot provide health care, pick up garbage or begin the detailed planning and engineering necessary to bring a city back to life." "They are locked in a painful loop, unable to lure back exiled residents without services, but unable to provide the services without tax bases." 10-05 Coast Guard Admiral to Lead (CNN News) "Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown was replaced Friday as the man in charge of the Hurricane Katrina federal relief effort." "Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff named Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen to replace Brown. 9-05 Coast Guard Heroes (FreeRepublic.com) "The men and women of the Coast Guard have been flying countless rescue missions, pulling Katrina's exhausted victims to safety." "What is it that keeps these brave crews going in again and again to make daring rooftop rescues?" 9-05 EPA: Keeping Safe After Katrina (EPA.gov) "EPA emergency response personnel are working in partnership with FEMA to help assess the damage and prepare for cleanup from Katrina. In emergency situations such as this, EPA serves as the lead Agency for the cleanup of hazardous materials, including oil and gasoline." Editor's Note: Flood water gains dangerous chemicals that will not be removed by boiling or adding chemicals such as iodine. Distillation of the water may be the only method for making it safer. Likewise, water from Lake Pontchartrain was also made undrinkable. 9-05 Economic Impact of Katrina (Knight Ridder) "Katrina may bring unexpected consequences far from the Gulf region. James Lee Witt, a former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director, told Knight Ridder that the massive housing reconstruction and repairs, and the need for temporary housing, could strain homebuilding supplies. That’s likely to further drive up national housing prices and contribute to the nation’s construction boom, he said." "If Katrina proves damaging to the oil sector, it could have steep economic aftershocks. A mock oil shock conducted in Washington earlier this year envisioned a natural disaster, followed by terror attacks would produce world oil prices above $100 a barrel." 9-05 Editorial: Oversight Needed for Federal Spending After Katrina (USA Today) "The federal government's track record on spending after disasters is a disaster in itself." "The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general reported in May that $31 million poured into Miami after Hurricane Frances last year, even though that storm passed well to the north. " "This woeful record argues for the immediate creation of centralized oversight body headed by a reconstruction czar of national stature. This body would decide which tasks are so critical they merit no-bid contracts and which can wait for a more cost-effective and transparent process. It would also have to begin addressing some thorny issues — such as levee improvements, whether the government should help rebuild uninsured facilities, the role of private insurers, and whether parts of New Orleans should be rebuilt at all." 9-05 Editorial: Police Keep Public Trust, Private Pain (MSNBC News - Cha) "They sleep on the concrete sidewalk or in their cars. They scavenge for food from abandoned stores and cook by fire. They wash the laundry by hand and leave it to dry on lines hung from lampposts." "This is what life has been like for New Orleans police officers since Hurricane Katrina tore apart their city nearly two weeks ago." 9-05 Environmental Damage from Katrina Huge (Guardian Unlimited) "The extent of the environmental damage inflicted on the southern US states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama began to emerge yesterday with reports of an entire group of islands disappearing, serious oil slicks and the potential ruin of the seafood industry." 9-05 FEMA Director Removed from Katrina Leadership (CBS News) "Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown is being relieved of his command of the Bush administration's Hurricane Katrina onsite relief efforts." 9-05 Help Arrives -- Too Late for Many (CBS News) "No one knows how many were killed by Hurricane Katrina's floods and how many more succumbed waiting to be rescued. But the bodies are everywhere: hidden in attics, floating among the ruined city, crumpled on wheelchairs, abandoned on highways." "And the dying goes on — at the convention center and an airport triage center, where bodies were kept in a refrigerated truck." " 'The first few days were a natural disaster. The last four days were a man-made disaster,' said Phillip Holt, 51, who was rescued from his home Saturday with his partner and three of their aging Chihuahuas." 9-05 Heroes of New Orleans (USA Today) "The stories of Americans pitching in to help each other, without regard to color or class, are inspiring." "After four days without food, seven young children were rescued from a New Orleans home last week by helicopter. In the chaos, the helicopter didn't return for their parents. The oldest child, Deamonte Love, watched over the others at an evacuation center — a 6-year-old in charge of six toddlers and infants." 9-05 Hopelessness Lifting in New Orleans (CBS News) "Workers here began picking up trash, a small miracle under the circumstances. The airport opened to cargo traffic. A bullhorn-wielding volunteer led relief workers in a chorus of 'Amazing Grace.' " "Nearly two weeks after Hurricane Katrina's onslaught, Sunday was marked by signs that hopelessness was beginning to lift in this shattered city. While the final toll from the disaster remains unknown, there were indications New Orleans had begun to turn a corner." 9-05 International Reactions to Katrina (WorldPress.org) Provides "comment and analysis from London, Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Edmonton, Auckland and Moscow" 9-05 Katrina Proved Experts Right (ABC News) "While not exactly a prophet of doom, Penland spoke bluntly in the winter of 2000 about the fate he foresaw for New Orleans. Ancient levees that protected the city from the Mississippi and nearby Lake Pontchartrain were inadequate and in desperate need of upgrading. The barrier islands that protected the coastline from storm surges were eroding away at an alarming rate, and little was being done to restore them. The land on which New Orleans and many other communities sat was slowing sinking into the Gulf of Mexico." "It would have cost a few bucks to take care of some of these problems. A multi-agency task force, for which Penland served as a scientific adviser, came up with a price tag for protecting the Louisiana coastline from a hurricane like Katrina. It would cost about $14 billion, the panel concluded." 9-05 Katrina Third Strongest Hurricane (USA Today) "Hurricane Katrina was the third-most intense hurricane to ever hit the United States since reliable records began in 1851, according to the National Weather Service. Only the 'Labor Day Hurricane' that hit the Florida Keys in September 1935 and 1969's Hurricane Camille were more intense." "As measured by barometric pressure, Katrina was more intense than Hurricane Andrew, which roared across south Florida in August 1992." "Katrina's winds at landfall were 140 mph, which places the storm as a strong Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. Andrew was a Category 5 storm, with winds of 165 mph when it made landfall south of Miami." 8-05 Lessons from Katrina (MSNBC News) "After seeing New Orleans residents refuse to leave their homes, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he’d 'get a court order, if we have to,' to get people out." "The mayor of Moore, Okla., Glenn Lewis, heard another message: Citizens, he said, should increase sevenfold the amount of food and supplies they store at home — three weeks’ worth, instead of the previously recommended three days’ — 'after we saw the disaster in Louisiana.' " 9-05 Long Term Housing Nightmare (MSNBC News) "Long after the chaos and corpses of Katrina fade from the spotlight there will be the quiet desperation of hundreds of thousands of the hurricane’s refugees struggling with the prospect that they may be homeless for years to come." "Estimates of the number left homeless by Katrina range in the tens of thousands or more. Finding long term shelter for those victims is the biggest single challenge the Federal Emergency Management situation has ever undertaken, an agency spokesman told MSNBC.com." 9-05 Michael D. Brown - Qualifications for Job (Boston Herald) "The federal official in charge of the bungled New Orleans rescue was fired from his last private-sector job overseeing horse shows." "And before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a deputy director in 2001, GOP activist Mike Brown had no significant experience that would have qualified him for the position." 9-05 Michael D. Brown, Director of FEMA (FEMA.gov) "Michael D. Brown was nominated by President George W. Bush as the first Under Secretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response in the newly created Department of Homeland Security in January 2003. As the head of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Under Secretary Brown leads federal disaster response and recovery operations and coordinates disaster activities with more than two dozen federal agencies and departments and the American Red Cross. He also oversees the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration, and initiates proactive mitigation activities." 9-05 Michael D. Brown, Director of FEMA (Knight Ridder) "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." "But as the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brown now faces furious criticism of the federal response to the disaster that wiped out New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast. He provoked some of it himself when he conceded that FEMA didn't know that thousands of refugees were trapped at New Orleans' convention center without food or water until officials heard it on the news." 9-05 New Orleans Before and After Katrina (MSNBC News) Provides an aerial view of New Orleans just before Katrina arrived and just after. 9-05 One Woman and Her Grandson (MSNBC News) "The woman and child walked toward the interstate exit ramp. She held his hand and he held a box of Scooby-Doo cereal. 'Granny,' he said, 'where are we going?' " "Adrienne Picou didn't know the answer." 9-05 Poll: Katrina Response Inadequate (CBS News) "Americans think the response to Hurricane Katrina was inadequate, and spread the blame around all levels of government. President George W. Bush finds disapproval on his handling of the matter, too -- and the public now shows diminished confidence in his abilities to handle a crisis or provide leadership, as well as in the government’s ability to protect the country." 9-05 Response and Responsibilities (USA Today) Describes local, state, and federal responsibilities--and responses to Katrina. "The burden of planning for and responding to natural disasters is shared by scores of agencies at all levels of government. As the debate rages over what went wrong in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and who was responsible, here's a look at the lines of authority when disaster strikes:" In a nutshell, the first responsibility is with local government. When local government cannot handle the disaster, state assistance can be called in. When state level assistance is inadequate, federal assistance is requested by the state. 9-05 Russert: The "Haves" vs. the "Have Nots" After Katrina (MSNBC News - Russert) Russert: "As recently as a year ago there was a tabletop disaster scenario played out as to what would happen to New Orleans in a major hurricane. And the results of those studies have now been proven to be true." "So the questions that have to be asked are:" "Why weren’t the poor people evacuated? They don’t have SUVs. They travel by public bus. Could they have been evacuated?" "Secondly, in terms of pre-positioning, where were the troops, where were the National Guard? If people were to be sent to the Superdome, why weren’t there cots and water and food there?" "President George W. Bush said the other day that no one expected the levees to break." "Well, with all respect, study after study, including FEMA's own tabletop exercises last year, all included the breaking or the giving of the levees. Everyone who had studied the issue knew that with a Category 3, 4 or 5 storm, that was a very strong likelihood." 9-05 Shane and Lipton: Agencies Knew of Danger Far in Advance (International Herald Tribune) "Disaster officials, who had drawn up dozens of plans and conducted preparedness drills for years, had long known that the low-lying city was especially vulnerable. But despite all the warnings, Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed the very government agencies that prepared for such a calamity. On Thursday, as the flooded city descended into near anarchy, frantic local officials blasted the federal and state emergency response as woefully sluggish and confused." " 'We're in our fifth day and adequate help to quell the situation has not arrived yet,' said P. Edwin Compass 3rd, the New Orleans police superintendent." Marth Madden, former Louisiana secretary of environmental quality, commented on the lack of preparation for a breach of the levees. She said that the Army Corps "should have had arrangements in place with contractors who had emergency supplies at hand, like sandbags or concrete barriers, the way that environmental planners have contracts in place to handle oil spills and similar events. 'I'm just shocked,' she said." 9-05 Simulation Predicted Havoc (CBS News) "As Katrina roared into the Gulf of Mexico, emergency planners pored over maps and charts of a hurricane simulation that projected 61,290 dead and 384,257 injured or sick in a catastrophic flood that would leave swaths of southeast Louisiana uninhabitable for more than a year." "These planners were not involved in the frantic preparations for Katrina. By coincidence, they were working on a yearlong project to prepare federal and state officials for a Category 3 hurricane striking New Orleans." 9-05 Small Businesses Make Big Contributions to Relief (ABC News) "Large corporations have been making a splash in the headlines for their Hurricane Katrina relief efforts — like Exxon Mobil donating $7 million to the Red Cross or MCI setting up three communication centers in the devastated area. But many small businesses are making big contributions, too. Lacking the manpower, budget and connections of the big guys, they are still finding ways to improve the situation for Katrina survivors." 9-05 Surprised Europeans Offer Help (MSNBC News) "As the enormity of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath sinks in, Europeans have been moved to help in ways great and small: from an Austrian university proposing to take in 500 students from New Orleans, to nations agreeing to tap into strategic oil reserves." "Amid the compassion, there was also surprise that America was so vulnerable and unprepared, and dismay the Bush administration plays down the global warming threat that so many Europeans link to the force and frequency of such storms." 9-05 Victims - Poor, but Not Unemployed (ABC News) "Median household income in the most devastated neighborhood was $32,000, or $10,000 less than the national average. Two in 10 households in the disaster area had no car, compared with 1 in 10 in nationwide. Nearly 25 percent of those living in the hardest-hit areas were below the poverty line, about double the national average. About 4.5 percent in the disaster area received public assistance...." 9-05 Wells: New Orleans Shames Americans (BBC News - Wells) "At the end of an unforgettable week, one broadcaster on Friday bitterly encapsulated the sense of burning shame and anger that many American citizens are feeling." "The only difference between the chaos of New Orleans and a Third World disaster operation, he said, was that a foreign dictator would have responded better." 9-05 Wilson, Johnny - Swimming for Hurricane Victims (CBS News) "Going stroke for stroke with two adult swimmers, fourth-grader Johnny Wilson made history as the youngest person to ever swim San Francisco Bay from the legendary Alcatraz prison island in just under two hours." "The 1.4 mile swim wasn't just for glory. It was Johnny's idea to raise money for charity — $30,000 in all." " 'Give it to the Red Cross for Katrina Victims Fund,' Johnny said." 10-05

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