Really? Please document that one, my FRiend...
I'll see what I can dig up.
Katrina was a three-way disaster. The mayor didn't get them out (and they didn't get themselves out), the governor woulnd't let the guard or the rescue teams in, and the cops on the other side of the bridge wouldn't let refugees out after the storm.
Bush took the blame but they did it to themselves. The federal stuff worked. The navy and coast guard were there working it before the wind stopped blowing. FEMA pre-deployed into the area days before the storm. Guard units from neighboring states were called up and ready to be loaned to Louisiana.
Bush's team did their job. This disaster was home grown.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/09/BAGL1EL1KH1.DTL
Mainly I remember it. Its one of those things that got dropped down the memory hole because it didn’t fit the “Bush’s fault” story. The Gretna cops had their reasons of course, but the fact remained that the mayor didn’t get his people out before the storm, the governor wouldn’t let help in after the storm, and the cops wouldn’t let the refugees out in the aftermath. Help couldn’t get in and people couldn’t get out. Disaster. Criminal, in my mind.
And no, Bush was not at fault for this disaster. He waited as long as he decently could for the local authorities to do their job, and then federalized it, and then the help went in.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0916-01.htm