McCain said
"We must also prepare, far better than we have, to respond quickly and effectively to a natural calamity. When Americans confront a catastrophe they have a right to expect basic competence from their government. Firemen and policemen should be able to communicate with each other in an emergency. We should be able to deliver bottled water to
( Read more... )
I have a number of friends who live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast who are quite resentful of the stories about how well they're supposedly doing. The casinos backed by out-of-state money are rebuilt and booming, but there are still vast fields of ruins throughout the area.
I agree that the New Yorker has had some quite good articles.
"No one expected the storm to be as bad as it was and no one in authority actually expected the levees to fail."
Sorry, that is simply false. Demonstrably and totally.
Katrina was heading towards the coast as a Category 5, of which at the time the US had only been hit by three history. A direct hit without loss of strength was a distinct possibility. That would have resulted in the city being flattened like Homestead Florida, only Katrina was a hell of a lot WIDER than Andrew as well. And a direct hit by a cat 5 would have overtopped the levees even if they had been properly constructed.
And people knew. And warnings were given.
More than half the city had already left or were on the highway leaving before the weather service and news reports over the tv and radio started using language like:
HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED
STRENGTH.
MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT
LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL
FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL.
AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH
AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY
VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE
ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE
WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.
(read the whole National Weather Service Bulletin)
National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield told FEMA, Homeland Security, and the White House "I don't think anyone can tell you with confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not, but that's obviously a very, very great concern". (CNN: Transcripts, tape show Bush, Brown warned on Katrina.
Happy to correct the record for you.
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Who was left out of the loop, then? Cheney?
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