What has been constantly missed (ignored?) by all the critics of the administration’s “failures,” FEMA’s “failures,” the “failures” of all who had anything whatsoever to do with the Katrina run-up and aftermath is that this storm was a HUGE event. No amount of previous work and prep by the administration and/or various agencies, not to mention the same during the storm’s aftermath, could have prevented the massive destruction and loss of life which happened.

The only way anything close to such a rapid response could occur is if every town, city, county in the country had emergency crews sitting by, 24/7, 365 days a year, with engines idling and gear on, ready to go at a second’s notice. And that ain’t going to happen, nowhere, no how.

Do you have any substantiation to the claim of contradictory reports by the “City of New Orleans, the State of Louisiana, and others at FEMA who are more technically competent”?

I think Martin Morgan has it right above when he points out that once the levees were breached, it was a done deal. That really makes this rather a silly thing to write:

Even Mr. Bahamonde’s report didn’t mention that the pump system would be unable to handle the flooding as of Monday night.

Unfortunately your blog software won’t let me follow your “gave way” link, but it should be patently obvious to anyone that thinks about it that once any of the levees “broke” (NOLA quote) that the City was doomed. There isn’t a pump system in the world that is going to be big enough to wage a successful battle the rain-swollen Mississippi or Lake Ponchatrain (which equates the entire damn ocean in essence). And an massively overtopped levee very quickly turns into a breeched one; that’s Hydraulics 101.

But back to the apocryphal conflicting reports for a second…

You claim:

What were those media reports based on? Why information coming from city officials and state DHS employees of course.

My recall is somewhat different. While early reports did indeed report the Federal government’s line, I distinctly recall the news media quickly disconnecting from the ‘official’ proclamations and beginning to report that the true dimensions of what was unfolding were much more severe than what officials (i.e., Chertoff’s clueless interview on NPR) were saying publicly, especially as they, too, began to talk to people on the ground.

None of this is to say that any one party is the guilty one - certainly there was enough confusion frosted with incompetence to go around. But my most salient memory of those times was of that political photo-op Bush on Tuesday. You know the one - it was much-ballyhooed by the Left.

Here’s what I wrote to friends and family that Wednesday:

It just gets under my skin. I mean, here is Bush literally goofing around instead of doing anything remotely Presidential (can you say “leadership”?). Look at the grin. Then look at the guitar presented to him by Mark Wills. Now those of you have some familiarity with the instrument he holds may understand my use of the word “goofing”. You see, when you learn to play guitar, inevitably either the first of second chord you learn is G major in the open position. And Bush is certainly aping the hand position like he’s playing said chord (maybe he saw it in a picture book). But the notes fingered actually spell out something more like an AbMa7#9#11, which in reality is horribly discordant.

And so maybe in a weirdly ironic way, the note cluster depicted is really quite the fitting analogy to the President’s actions over the past two days as well as the appropriateness of this particular photo op. I just am not sure the White House realized it at the time.

The tradegy that unfolded in New Orleans was in no way surprise. That is clear from reading about the reports, disaster simulations, etc. that were done for years and years preceding the event. It was one of FEMA’s two most critical worries (the other being a disasterous West Coast quake). The preparation and response by everyone - but most especially at the Federal level, owing to the magnitude of resources that can be mobilized only at this level of government - really borders on criminally negligent IMHO.

I’ll guess this comment will count among your readers as a Bush-bashing, anti-American screed, so I’ll now withdraw prepare to get flamed out of existence…

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569608/Federal_Emergency_Management_Agency.html

Has FEMA worked as designed in the past? Have they fouled up before?

My British relatives were questioning the plight of New Orleans too. I told them 60% of the population wouldn’t leave if a major hurricane came along.
“Many residents won’t evacuate New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS, July 22 (UPI) — A major hurricane, with 130 mph winds and an 18-foot-high storm surge, would not scare 60 percent of southeast Louisiana residents, a survey found.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20050722-18422300-bc-us-hurricanes.xml#

I told my relatives, ACE have been tinkering around with the Mississippi River for over 75 years trying to make the river run straight and in the process LA is losing their coastal wetlands. In the 70’s the ACE wanted to build floodgates around the city but the eco’s put a court order to stop construction. They were concerned over wildlife being displaced from development. Why couldn’t they compromise to save the city and the birds and bees? Couldn’t they create a National Park like the Everglades? I told them it was a ecological disaster.

People are People. Sometimes they don’t listen to authorities to clear out of the soup bowl. Was it due to people being too poor to leave or just plain stubborness? Or did the populace put too much faith in the levee systems and the city pumps?

New Orleans did not take a direct hit from Katrina. That was the main concerned for the engineers. They were prepared for a direct hit not the storm surge.

Floyd was the same way. FEMA was prepared for the hurricane but not the floods. The poor lived in the flood zones and they got the short end of stick too. Many faced pollution from pig farms.

What are we going to do if terrorist used a chemcial attack on a major city. Were SOL! The past evacuation from hurricanes is futile. Cars were back up for miles in recent hurricanes and it was the same way during Floyd.

The problem is like a Rubic’s Cube. You think you have it solve but you don’t.

It’s scary if you live in a urban area.

The NY Times has sold it’s soul for partisan purposes. In yet another example, today Eric Lipton takes another stab at President Bush over Hurrican Katrina. In making a case it references a communication timeline that shows several hours earlier

a little silly,yeah.

but you’ve got several outs:

-when the city is 80% below lake level,
either one will cause
the low elevation areas to flood.

the only “plus” of a levee topping is that the water level can subside.

with a breach the levee needs repair before a subsidence in level will show any benefits(ie Lake Ponchartrain would continue to empty water into NO until the city and lake reached the same water level across the barrier of the now broken levee).

it’s like the difference between an overflowing bath-tub flooding your bathroom,
and a bath-tub with a hole in the side of it.
_____________________

martin’s point about the city’s (failed)pump-system being of minimal help once the levee has been breached
is well taken.

given what was likely faulty levee construction(due to graft?corruption?
inadequate funding or specifications??
take your pick)the levee was going to break regardless of the pump-system performance….

the whole system was overloaded:lake level,storm surge,pump failure,levee breach.

I think a levee topping is when the water is at the top of the levee and a breech/opening is called a levee breach, but I’m no expert.

Also, as was mentioned briefly in the post, the damned politics. It’s likely that had a much greater impact than any one like me can ever know. It seems clear that the NO’s city/County officials really bear the brunt of the planning failures, certainly in the pre-disaster portion.

The inherent problem with crooked or incompetent people throughout (as I said earlier) the various agencies has a great deal to do with what’s lacking. GOOD leadership is built long before and even during the hard times. Cops on payroll that don’t exist and cops walking out are clues to the who’s, if someone wants to find out what’s broke and fix it, as opposed to those pointing fingers blaming the White House for every thing under the sun. (I wonder how many knee replacement surgeries would’ve been done if Jack Bauer had been site)

Personal responsibility seemed as rare as clean water. Big screen TV’s and shopping carts heaped with clothes being toted off, filled our TV screens every day over here(JAPAN). My Japanese friends were trying to figure out why all these things were being done and why people were there at all. I told them that many who stayed behind were thieves and gang members. Others were likely people who wanted to protect their belongings from the irresponsible jerks that thrive in situations such as those.

Martin:
The US is the best place I know of, but it most certainly can be better. It’s up to good people to do good things as a matter of habit, as natural as breathing. Feeling is not an actionable resolve, though it serves as internal motivation, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. GAMBATTE!

Lisa,
Yes there is a big difference. A levee topping is just water flowing over the top of the INTACT levee, a breech means the levee is damaged and has a hole in it, with topping the water will stop flowing and you get a lot less water if it is breeched there is nothing holding the water back and you get massive flooding. As I recall from watching the news when this was happening they reported the Army Corps of Engineers were reporting the levee was just being topped.