Let's put together a timeline

[rhetorica]

OK folks, let's get this thing under control. We need to build a timeline of (1) events relating to Katrina (e.g. landfall, levee breeches, flooding, etc)(2)events relating to LA, MS and AL and Fed government responses to Katrina (e.g. evacuation orders, activating guard, etc) (3) events as reported by major media outlets (e.g. hurrincane hits and misses, breeches, flooding, evacualtions, looting, etc.) Let's see if we can put a timeline together that chronicles all these events.

I am willing to assemble all the information if Freepers will help me locate the evidence. It will be very important that we have documentation of all these events and reports of event, so links to wire reports, news stories and video will be essential. I won't be able to do assembly work today because (1) I'm helping to raise money for the hurricane victimes taking refuge in East Central Alabama, (2) I'm going to the AU-Ga Tech game tonight (WAR EAGLE!) and (3) It's my birthday and I'm going to squeeze in a little (just a little) celebrating! I can work tomorrow to get the timeline together if my good Freepers can find the information and documentation.

[TomGuy]

If you trace through the Katrina Live threads during last weekend, you find allow of information.

As for Nagin, I recall his interview. In it, he said he could not order a mandatory evac order because his lawyers said it would create liability issues.

That was broadcast on one of the NO tv streaming feeds. It was a tape. The original interview was around 1 or 2 a.m., I think, and the replay I saw was around 3-4 a.m. the morning Katrina was just starting to come ashore.

I recall the news commentator at the TV station commenting after the tape that, if Nagin ordered a mandatory evac, the local government would have to provide a way to get the people out and a place to put them.


Link:

Mandatory Evacuations ordered in New Orleans

1 posted on 08/28/2005 9:36:13 AM CDT by Jeff400000

[ConservativeStatement]

Cat. 5 Hurricane Katrina Heads Towards New Orleans

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0508/S00294.htm

Press Release: International Committee of the Red Cross
Cat. 5 Katrina Heads Towards New Orleans
Written by Lesly Simmons , Writer, Redcross.org


Sunday, August 28, 2005 — Hurricane Katrina is now an incredibly strong Category 5 storm heading straight for New Orleans with sustained winds at 175 miles per hour.

“This is a once in a lifetime event,” said New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. ““We are telling all of our citizens to leave New Orleans. Never before has the city of New Orleans seen a storm this big heading directly toward it.”

Mandatory evacuations are in place for the entire New Orleans metropolitan area. About 70 percent of New Orleans is below sea level, and the city is protected by a series of levees. Katrina could cause storm surges up to 20 feet, which would completely overwhelm the levees and cause massive flooding.

“The problem we are having is that if the storm surges are that high, they will pop our levels and lots of New Orleans will be under water,” said Nagin, who is urging seriousness, but not panic.

Katrina is now moving west/northwest at 12 mph, putting its arrival time in the New Orleans area sometime tomorrow morning or early afternoon.

This storm is stronger than Hurricane Camille, the devastating storm that hit New Orleans in 1969. Camille killed 256 people after it slammed ashore with winds at over 200 miles per hour. Thousands of people were left homeless all along the shore and far inland.

Only three Cat. 5 storms have ever hit the United States:

• The unnamed Labor Day hurricane of 1935;

• Hurricane Camille in 1969; and

• Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Katrina might also disrupt the nation’s oil supply, as Nagin said nearly one-third of the nation’s oil moves through the area. He added that at least 1,500 National Guard troops are available, to deploy and assist with cleanup efforts after the storm moves through the area.

All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of this disaster and thousands of other disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting http://www.redcross.org/.

[Sacajaweau]

Someone let a little bit of History out....altering the course of the Mississippi etc. which has added to the problem. It was attributed to the Democrats. Don't know when though.

[TXLady]

Bookmark

[BushCountry]

This needs to be done, yesterday the police chief was hysterically/repeatily screaming, "It been six days, why no help!?!"

Then Geraldo and Sheppard started spouting the same nonsense. Hell, Tuesday morning they were celebrating in streets near the dome that they missed the worse of it. Friday morning (less than 3 days later) is when the massive military presence came, but they already saved thousands off of the rooftops, transported thousands to the Superdome, feeds thousands upon thousands in outlaying areas. I am so sick of the media!!!

http://www.wsav.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSAV/MGArticle/SAV_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031784753009&path=!frontpage

Excerpt from a Tuesday morning story:

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/341577p-291681c.html


In New Orleans' historic French Quarter of Napoleonic-era buildings with wrought-iron balconies, water pooled in the streets from the driving rain, but the area appeared to have escaped the catastrophic flooding that forecasters had predicted.

On Jackson Square, two massive oak trees outside the 278-year-old St. Louis Cathedral came out by the roots, ripping out a 30-foot section of ornamental iron fence and straddling a marble statue of Jesus Christ, snapping off only the thumb and forefinger of his outstretched hand.

At the hotel Le Richelieu, the winds blew open sets of balcony French doors shortly after dawn. Seventy-three-year-old Josephine Elow of New Orleans pressed her weight against the broken doors as a hotel employee tried to secure them.

"It's not life-threatening," Mrs. Elow said as rain water dripped from her face. "God's got our back."

For years, forecasters have warned of the nightmare scenario a big storm could bring to New Orleans, a bowl of a city that is up to 10 feet below sea level in spots and relies on a network of levees, canals and pumps to keep dry from the Mississippi River on one side, Lake Pontchartrain on the other.

The fear was that flooding could overrun the levees and turn New Orleans into a toxic lake filled with chemicals and petroleum from refineries, as well as waste from ruined septic systems.

Officials said a levee broke on one canal, but did not appear to cause major problems.

Blanco took little comfort in the fact that the hurricane may have spared New Orleans much worse flooding, given the still uncertain toll in surrounding parishes.

"I can't say that I feel that sense that we've escaped the worst," she said. "I think we don't know what the worst is right now."

[The Mayor]

Excellent Wolverine !

For all MEDIA as you prepare the Sunday talk Shows... Here is the research YOU WON'T DO..!

Quick summary:

It takes 72 hours to evacuate New Orleans.
The state of emergency was declared on Friday. Katrina was forecast to make landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm as of Friday at 7:00 PM CDT.

The voluntary evacuation notice was given Saturday afternoon at 2:30 PM CDT.

The mandatory evacuation order was given Sunday at 9:30 AM CDT.

The storm hit the Louisiana coast on Monday morning at 6:00 AM CDT.

[JeffersonRepublic.com]

If you listen to the MSM, we don't need facts. Just put someone on TV who hates whites and/or republicans and have them blame the "evil white leader" Bush.

It's the same game plan as Cindy Sheehan. They take a "victim", have them denounce Bush and when claim that she is a "victim" and has a right to speak. The MSM is doing the same thing with Katrina -finding victims who hate Bush... Same old game plan.

[HawaiianGecko]

	Hmmm... Seems to me that thousands of people owe their lives to the competence and compassion of President Bush. Why Was New Orleans Evacuated? Power Line, MN - 2 hours ago ... Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low ...   Looters Take To Streets; Martial Law Declared New Orleans Channel.com, LA - Aug 30, 2005 ... Gov. Blanco said President George W. Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding. ...   New Orleans Mayor Issues Evacuation Order Guardian Unlimited, UK - Aug 28, 2005 ... Blanco said President Bush called and personally appealed for the mandatory evacuation for the city, which sits below sea level.   Nightmare named Katrina bears down on New Orleans KTBS, LA - Aug 28, 2005 ... all flights. Gov. Kathleen Blanco said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying.

!

 

Hmmm... Seems to me that thousands of people owe their lives to the competence and compassion of President Bush.

Why Was New Orleans Evacuated?
Power Line, MN - 2 hours ago
... Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low ...
 

Looters Take To Streets; Martial Law Declared
New Orleans Channel.com, LA - Aug 30, 2005
... Gov. Blanco said President George W. Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding. ...
 

New Orleans Mayor Issues Evacuation Order
Guardian Unlimited, UK - Aug 28, 2005
... Blanco said President Bush called and personally appealed for the mandatory evacuation for the city, which sits below sea level.
 

Nightmare named Katrina bears down on New Orleans
KTBS, LA - Aug 28, 2005
... all flights. Gov. Kathleen Blanco said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying.

 

[BushCountry]

Day after the storm:

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050830/NEWS0110/508300384/1260

NEW ORLEANS — Gail Henke could think of no better way to celebrate the French Quarter's survival of Hurricane Katrina than to belly up to a bar on Bourbon Street with a vodka and cranberry juice. Call it a libation to the storm gods.

"You know what? There's a reason why we're called the Saints," the 53-year-old tour booker said Monday as she communed with 20 or so other survivors. "Because no matter what religion you are, whether you're a Catholic, whether you're voodoo, whether you're Baptist or so on, so on, and so on — we all pray. We all pray. I'm not a religious fanatic. But God has saved us."

[backhoe]

You rang?

Should be a timeline here or among the links:

HURRICANE KATRINA- archive of links Click the picture:

[GodBlessUSA]

LOL! I'm working on this also. I want to lay it out for a skeptical Friend, who has been laying it on Bush a bit harsh. I've been going through threads and threads today. :)

[BushCountry]

Another story of how New Orleans survived!

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12511256.htm

French Quarter survives -- with luck and a prayer

The French Quarter was damaged by Katrina, but it was not destroyed, and tourists and residents let the good times roll and wondered why they were so lucky.

By ERIKA BOLSTAD

ebolstad@herald.com


NEW ORLEANS - At the start of hurricane season, the historic St. Louis Cathedral in the heart of the French Quarter offers a short prayer in the Sunday church bulletin to Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

Each year, the city's Catholics clip out the prayer, place it on their refrigerators and repeat the entreaty whenever a tropical depression appears in the Gulf of Mexico: Spare New Orleans from a direct hit by a hurricane.

''Consequently, these things never hit us dead on,'' said Jim Dartez, 62, who evacuated his lakefront home with his wife and daughter and spent Hurricane Katrina at a high-rise hotel in the city's downtown.

CITY SPARED

It may be prayer or geographic luck, but when Hurricane Katrina made landfall Monday morning, it sideswiped New Orleans.

[Amalie]

Good idea; pinging for reference...

[2nd amendment mama]

Photo of the flooded school buses....Sept 1, 2005

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050901/480/flpc21109012015

[GodBlessUSA]

Thank you BushCountry ;)

[rlmorel]

bttt

[gitmo]

Hurricane Pam, July 2004 Preparedness Exercise

Scientific American 10/2001 Drowning New Orleans

[2nd amendment mama]

In case it get's taken down, I've saved a copy of the mayor's press release dated Aug. 27, 2005 re: Katrina. it was originally located at (it's still there righ now but who knows for how long):

http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=1&load=~/PortalModules/ViewPressRelease.ascx&itemid=3139

City Of New Orleans
Mayors Office of Communications
1300 Perdido Street, Suite 2E04
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
504-658-4940

C. Ray Nagin
MAYOR FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 27, 2005


Mayor Nagin Urges Citizens to Prepare For Hurricane Katrina

(New Orleans, LA) In response to the potential threat of Hurricane Katrina, Mayor C. Ray Nagin is urging all citizens to begin preparations now for the coming storm. Mayor Nagin will hold the next press briefing at 5 p.m. today in the Mayor’s Press Room, second floor of City Hall.

“Although the track could change, forecasters believe Hurricane Katrina will affect New Orleans,” said Mayor Nagin. “We may call for a voluntary evacuation later this afternoon or tomorrow morning to coincide with the instatement of contraflow. This will give people more options to leave the area. However, citizens need to begin preparing now so they will be ready to leave when necessary. Do everything to prepare for a regular hurricane, but treat this one differently because it is headed our way. This is not a test.”

The Mayor also recommended that residents of Algiers, the Lower Ninth Ward and low-lying areas begin evacuating now.

Gov. Blanco also urged citizens to take the storm seriously. “We can restore property, but we cannot restore lives,” she said.

Mayor Nagin is working with Gov. Kathleen Blanco and other City, local and State officials are watching the storm’s path and working together to make decisions that affect citizens. Gov. Blanco has declared a state of emergency in Louisiana, which provides city government with additional authority and improved access to resources needed when responding to elevated threats, such as natural disasters.

A state of emergency has been declared for the City of New Orleans. Citizens are advised to:
• Fill their cars with gas. Tolls have been suspended on roadways.
• Remove potential debris from their yards (including lawn furniture, potted plants, loose tree branches, etc.)
• Board windows and glass doors
• Make sure that nearby catch basins are clear of leaves or trash
• Stock up on bottled water, batteries, and non-perishable food items
• Check on family, friends and neighbors, especially the elderly, to make sure everyone has an evacuation plan
• Make provisions for pets. Shelters and many hotels do not accept pets.
-MORE-


“The key is being prepared for the event,” said Mayor Nagin. “We’re doing everything we can to make sure our city is safe.”

Shelters for Citizens with Special Medical Needs

There are two shelters for people with special medical needs open in the state. Citizens should call prior to going to the shelters. The shelter in Alexandria can be reached at (800) 841-5778; the number for Monroe’s shelter is (866) 280-7287. If it becomes necessary, other shelters will be opened in various cities. The Superdome will be opened as a refuge of last resort for special needs patients if it becomes necessary. All individuals may have one caretaker.

Anyone planning to spend time in a shelter should bring three to four days’ worth of food, sleeping gear, and medical supplies including oxygen, medicine and batteries for any necessary devices. No weapons or bulky items are allowed in any shelters.

New Orleans EMS is responding to medical emergencies only. For non-emergency transportation needs, citizens should contact local non-emergency ambulance providers:

Acadian: (504) 366-0911
Lifeguard: (504) 214-1911
Guardian: (504) 818-2600
A-Med: (504) 362-9490
Care: (504) 367-4231
On-Call: (504) 866-0481

Closings
New Orleans Public Schools will be closed Monday, August 29, 2005. All NOPS activities scheduled for this weekend have been cancelled.

New Orleans Public Libraries will close at 3 p.m. today, Saturday, August 27, 2005, and remain closed through Monday, August 29, 2005.

The City of New Orleans will be issuing additional advisories as the storm progresses. Citizens are asked to remain alert, monitor news stories and be prepared to respond promptly to any public safety advisories.


--END--

[Les_Miserables]

Good thread. After you get the time line assembled lets posit elements that are missing that could have ameliorated the situation. Like....When Nagin declared mandatory evacuation why did he not commandeer all city and school district buses and private carrier tour buses rampant in NO to evacuate the poor and disabled? or or after the fact ...why helicopter landings of MRE's and water were not done for the Superdome and Convention Center crowds .

[Albertafriend]

There is a link to a GREAT article about what the President was doing while "vacationing" last weekend. go to Michelle Malkin's blog, archives for August, August 28, link to article by AP reporters on all the stuff he was doing getting things prepared and urging people to get out.