First Anniversary of Katrina Day

It's been exactly one year since the American Goverment completely abandoned an America City and all it's inhabitants to the elements and let the Gult Coast be scattered to the winds and drowned by the sea.

One year since Biloxi, Gulfport and many other cities along the Mississipi were destroyed. One year before the beginning of the long wait for help. For food. For medicine. For water.

One year before the New Orleans Superdome, Convention Center and I-10 became a living hell. Imagine running upstairs to escape the rising water, climbing into your attic in desperation, being trapped or days - finally the Coast Guard or even local voluanteers cut you out and take you to "safety" -- only to find that you need to be rescued again from the place they just took you.

This is day that should be remembered in infamy the same way that December 7th or November 22nd are remembered as markers for tragedy. Only the difference is that this isn't just about one day -- it's about the next week where these events unfolded. Not only should we remember today - the day the Levees broke, we should remember the day before when Mayor Nagin called for the first every mandatory evacation the morning before Katrina made. From the Times Picayune Aug 28, 2005:

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin called for a first-ever mandatory evacuation of the city this morning, saying that Hurricane Katrina’s devastating power may well create the sort of cataclysmic damage that residents have long worried that a killer storm could cause in a city that lies mostly below sea level.

“I wish I had better news, but we’re facing the storm most of us have feared,” said Nagin, flanked by city and state officials, including Gov. Kathleen Blanco. “This is very serious. This is going to be an unprecedented event. ”

Nagin said Katrina’s “awesome” winds are likely to create storm surges that overwhelm the city’s system of levees, causing water to pour into lower-lying areas. Blanco said the water could get as high as 20 feet in places.

The city has 30 boats at its disposal, the mayor said.

The governor also said that President Bush had telephoned shortly before the 9:30 a.m. press conference began. She said Bush said he was “very concerned about the storm’s impact” and urged Blanco and Nagin to order the evacuation.

“We need to get as many people out as possible,” she said.

Around 112,000 Orleanians do not own cars, according to census data. Nagin urged those people to seek rides with friends, family, neighbors and church members. Those who could not find rides were urged to get to the Superdome as quickly as possible.

Regional Transit Authority buses were scheduled to ferry people to the dome from 12 locations around the city beginning at noon today.

Meantime, to make sure word of the mandatory evacuation gets out, Nagin said that police and fire crews would be driving through neighborhoods Sunday with bullhorns, directing people to leave.

We should remember the day after, when most of the cities boats, regional transit buses (which had been used to get people to the Superdome) and schoobuses which might have allowed them to escape were all destroyed, the day when no one in the Federal government except the Coast Guard and Wildlife and Fisheries Commision responded. The resources of the City of New Orleans and other towns in the area were soon exhausted, they needed help from the State and from the Federal Government, but that help simply wasn't coming anytime soon.

On this Day President Bush was warned by Max Mayfield that the Levees might be overtopped but instead went to a photo op with John McCain and an Arizona Resort to promote his Medicare Drug Benefit program. He then went to California.

He was contacted by Govenor Blanco - "Send everything you've got", but at the end of the day - he went to bed.

This is the kind of decisive "take charge" leader this guy truly is. In the moment of crisis, he flinched rolled over and went to bed. I wonder if he had a copy of "My Pet Goat: The Extended Version" handy to help him get to sleep?

Is this all Bush's fault? Did he make the Hurricane hit the Gulf Coast? Did he make the Levees fail?

The clear answer to all these questions is "No". But he's also the one guy, who has the ability to cut through the red-tape via executive order and makes sure the fucking rubber hits the road. This the guy who thinks we need to suspend habeous corpus, re-write the 4th and 8th Amendments on the back of some toilet paper in order to "Protect America", yet when America is truly in danger and jeopardy - he can't figure out a way to the job done other than to suspend the Davis Bacon Act and remove the minimum wage in the Gulf Region?

Let's put this in some perspective, a decade previously we had a similar food. The Great Flood of 1993:

The 1993 midwest flood was one of the most significant and damaging natural disasters ever to hit the United States. Damages totaled $15 billion, 50 people died, hundreds of levees failed, and thousands of people were evacuated, some for months. The flood was unusual in the magnitude of the crests, the number of record crests, the large area impacted, and the length of the time the flood was an issue.


Figure 1. Area Impacted by the 1993 Midwest Flood

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated, some never to return to their homes. At least 10,000 homes were totally destroyed, hundreds of towns were impacted with at least 75 towns totally and completely under flood waters. At least 15 million acres of farmland were inundated, some of which may not be useable for years to come.

In 1993 we had 534 counties in nine states were declared disaster areas. 168,340 people registered for federal assistance. And FEMA didn't collapse on itself like a paper accordian. Honed and sharpened by then President Clinton's "Reinventing Government" program, the response by FEMA and other emergency agencies was sharp and crisp, even considering the incredibly large area of destruction. When the Northridge Earthquake hit California - FEMA was ready.

What we saw in 2005 was BushGov in full in action. This is how Conservatives see Government - as useless, ineffective, inefficient and untrustworthy. You can't rely on it - you have to rely on yourself (that is if you have the money to pay for what you need from some corporate entity which has just gotten another fat taxcut from BushGov) And if you don't have the money - that's tough Macaca for you pal.

"Compassionate Conservatism" my left nut ball.

We're now one year down the Road after Katrina and President Bush is taking more photo-ops in Biloxi, while the entire region still looks like Hiroshima. Meanwhile the right-wing is coming after Mayor Nagin for saying Ground Zero in New York is still a "Hole in the Ground".

How dare he violate our Sacred Ground, with a rude comment!

And exactly why isn't New Orleans Sacred Ground too? Nearly 1,500 hundred people died there, and it wasn't nearly as quick as what happened in New York. Many of those people could have been saved - but weren't! Yes, 9-11 was a tragedy - but so is 8-29, and 8-30, 8-31, 9-1, and 9-2 and 9-3... and 9-4!

Here's the burning question - Where the FUCK were the 475 Buses that Michael Brown promised Blanco and Nagin? Why did it take nearly a week for them to show up? Where was the food? Where was the Medicine? Why did they keep the Red Cross out for days? Why did they turn back supply trucks from Walmart, and experienced Firefighters who'd traveled across country to help? How did the Royal Canadian Mounted Police manage to get to New Orleans before our own National Guard?

Certainly Nagin deserves some blame for waiting until the last moment before calling for the Manditory evacuation, as does Blanco - but the buck has to stop somewhere and apparently it's not with Bush.

Nagin on 9-1:

“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.”

Nagin was screaming and crying on the radio, uttering explicitives that would have given FCC chief Michael Powell a hot flash. It wasn't until after that moment that help finally started to arrive.

There's no good excuse, America should be deeply ashamed of it's government. It should be ashamed of itself.

And it should never, ever forget that feeling or allow anything like this to happen again when so much of it is so clearly and easily preventable.

Vyan

Katrina Timeline from Thinkprogess.org