[Polybius]

For years, LSU Hurricane Center and the Federal Government scietists had predicted the nightmare scenario now unfolding in New Orleans.

The levies surrounding the New Orleans flood basin, designed decades ago, were never designed to cope with anything above a fast-moving (less rain that a slow-moving) Category 3 Hurricane.

The hypothetical "Hurricane Pam" was modeled as: "a hypothetical, slow moving, Class 3 storm used as a worst-case scenario for New Orleans."

New Orleans and Hypothetical Hurricane Pam Interactive Map

Katrina was predicted as a Category 5 and hit as a Category 4.

Note that the 2004 Hurricane Pam Excersise news release published by FEMA in 2004 states:

"....in the New Orleans area. More than one million residents evacuated and Hurricane Pam destroyed 500,000-600,000 buildings."

Everybody got that?

"EVACUATED"

Past tense.

First "residents evacuated" and then "Hurricane Pam destroyed destroyed 500,000-600,000 buildings".

The "Hurricane Pam" scenario called for the evacuation of New Orleans BEFORE New Orleans was destroyed and FEMA's job was to then come in and clean up the mess.

However, in spite of LSU Hurricane Center and U.S. Government scietists predictions of catastrophic damage in the New Orleans flood basin by only "a slow-moving Category 3" hurricane in a FEMA exercise conducted in 2004...............

in spite of the fact that Katrina was predicted as a Category 5 Hurricane...............

...........the Democrat Governor of Louisianna and the Democrat Mayor of New Orleans did nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to plan for the evacuation of New Orleans' low-income population before a predicted Category 5 hurricane although hundreds of city-owned buses remained neatly parked in city-owned parking lots.

Yes, Jesse Jackson, the Superdome did look like "the hold of a slave ship".

An incompetent Democrat Governor and an incompetent Democrat Mayor left them stranded there like drowning rats.

[Echo Talon]

[eurocon]

Sorry...don't yet know how to post hot links but, if you copy & paste, there is a good "pre-hurricane" time-line here;

http://www.americandaughter.com/timeline.html

[spinestein]

To those who are now complaining about the local, state, or federal government's response to the disaster of hurricane Katrina, I offer this rebuttal:

No one could have prevented this natural disaster or lessened its severity by any amount. The wind damage, flooding, and subsequent mass homelessness of hundreds of thousands of people, and the shortages of drinking water, food, electricity, fuel, sanitation and medicine, along with the presence of vermin, disease and lawlessness was inevitable with any large hurricane to hit New Orleans. The nature of the city's isolated environment and the way development expanded human habitation in a vast region near the ocean, nearly all of it below sea level was literally a disaster waiting to happen.

The fact that it has been known for years that the city was vulnerable to this exact tragedy does nothing to allow for a government solution where no solution is or was possible.

When there are so many people living in such a prosperous and comfortable and secure country as we do, then it's also inevitable that people come to expect that this standard of living is an entitlement, somehow guaranteed by the government, and that just by being a citizen of The United States of America we are somehow above the ravages of nature that periodically afflict "lesser countries". How many times in the last few days have you heard something like "You expect this sort of thing to happen in some third world country, but not here in America"? Such arrogance reminds me of the commercial for a flu medication in which the afflicted person says "I'm too busy to suffer from this cold." As if a virus cares that somebody has an active American lifestyle and that cold symptoms might be inconvenient.

Those Americans who think this way should collectively learn a valuable lesson from this: life involves many risks as well as opportunities, and many undesirable consequences of our choices, such as failing to heed the warnings to evacuate in the face of an approaching hurricane, or even the choice to live in a place prone to natural disasters in the first place, cannot be mitigated by what too many believe is an all powerful, nurturing and protecting government.

[Itzlzha]

BUMP!

[longshadow]

"State resources are adequate to operate shelters for the first 3-5 days. The group planned how federal and other resources will replenish supplies at shelters."

I 've been screaming this ever since the mantra went up that the FEDS were somehow responsible for relief starting the minute the flood waters hit NO. Municipal and state gov't provide disaster relief in the first 3-5 days, during which FEMA scopes out the requirements and figures out the logistics to supply needed materials and goods starting around day 5, which is exactly when they showed up in force.

It's the state and municipal relief efforts that were virtally non-existent for the first 5 days that is responsible for the horror show we've all been watching unfold before our eyes on cable TV.

[madison10]

Pam? What an insulting name for a hurricane. "Hillary" would be MUCH better.

[lepton]

State resources are adequate to operate shelters for the first 3-5 days. The group planned how federal and other resources will replenish supplies at shelters.

The local and state were responsible for the first 5 days. The Federal government was responsible not to run the shelters after that, but to resupply them. In fact, FEMA and Homeland Security have exceeded that.