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Hurricane Katrina timeline

From dKosopedia

This page needs to be cleaned up

Please see the Katrina timeline created by ePluribus Media.

From this diary, there is a dkos effort to come up with a Hurricane Katrina timeline. Here it is, please don't waste time trying to use non-wiki means to do what wiki does best. See also the Hurricane Katrina for an overview of articles, and the Hurricane Katrina issue page for a preliminary list of the problems that were encountered in dealing with the disaster, discussion of their causes and who was accountable for handling those problems. The latter is in issue/position/argument form to help us keep neutral point of view.

New visitors: anyone can edit this page and improve the timeline. Just create an account in the upper right to do so. In most cases you should be able to have the same username as on dailykos.com. If you act fast that is!


Formerly at Hurricane Katrina Timeline, please integrate with table below.

Contents

Friday, August 26, 2005

Hurricane Katrina will make a "big shift" to the west on its way across the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to reach dangerous Category 4 intensity before making landfall Monday afternoon in Mississippi or Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center said Friday.
Hours later, in anticipation of a possible landfall, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco declare states of emergency.
Blanco said "very well-coordinated evacuations" were planned that will be enacted "if there's a direct threat."
(Note to self: There already *was* a direct threat, as forecasted by the national hurricane center, shown above.)
Robert Latham, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said evacuations of tourists along the coast could begin late Saturday afternoon, followed by mandatory evacuations of coastal residents on Sunday. The National Guard had been activated to help with storm preparations, he said. 10,000 National Guard troops are dispatched across the Gulf Coast.
Red Cross emergency officials also were keeping an eye on Katrina, said the Red Cross' Renita Hosler. "If it were a Category 4 storm, the scale and scope of what we would do would be much greater," Hosler said. "We would have more emergency response vehicles already pre-positioned the area. We would have more Red Cross kitchens identified and ready to open."
(Note to self: Ms. Hosler apparently is now an expert in hurricane forecasting, since she has ignored the national hurricane's prediction for a Category 4 hitting on monday. This is clear negligence.)
Friday afternoon, the Air Force began evacuating aircraft from at least two bases in the Florida Panhandle to minimize any possible damage.
(Note to self: Why weren't these aircraft flown into new orleans en route to their final destination, in order to evacuate residents who had no means to evacuate?)

Saturday, August 27

- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declares a state of emergency and urges residents in low-lying areas to evacuate.
-Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour declares a state of emergency. A mandatory evacuation is ordered for Hancock County.
-President Bush declares a state of emergency for Louisiana and Mississippi.
Coastal Gulf residents jam freeways and gas stations as they rush to evacuate.

Sunday, August 28

As Katrina hits 175 mph winds, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin orders mandatory evacuations as the storm seems to beat a direct path to the city.
Coastal Gulf residents jam freeways and gas stations as they rush to evacuate.
Nagin warned that Katrina's expected storm surge -- which could top 28 feet -- would likely topple those levies. "We are facing a storm that most of us have feared," Nagin said. "I don't want to create panic, but I do want the citizens to understand that this is very serious, and it is of the highest nature."
Nagin said the city's shelters should be used as a last resort and said that people who use them should bring enough food, water and supplies to last for several days. He said that the Superdome, the city's main shelter, "is not going to be a very comfortable place at some point in time."
"The shelters will end up probably without electricity or with minimum electricity from generators in the end," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. "There may be intense flooding that will be not in our control which would be ultimately the most dangerous situation that many of our people could face." Blanco said that New Orleans could expect a complete loss of electricity and water services as well as intense flooding.
Residents who had delayed their departure jammed Interstate 10 westbound, prompting Blanco to urge evacuees to go north.
Between 20,000 and 25,000 others who remained in the city lined up to take shelter in the Louisiana Superdome, lining up for what authorities warned would be an unpleasant day and a half at minimum.
10 shelters are also set up, including the Superdome, for those unable to leave.
- Evacuation orders are posted all along the Mississippi coast.
- Alabama Gov. Bob Riley declares a state of emergency.
Federal Emergency Management Agency teams and other emergency teams were already in place to move in as soon as the storm was over, FEMA Under Secretary Michael Brown said.
"There's about 36 hours for folks to get ready," said Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown. "Beyond that, it's just too late."
-----------------------------------------
Offical NOAA advisory
000
WWUS74 KLIX 281550
NPWLIX
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005
...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...
.HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED
STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.
MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELYDAMAGED OR DESTROYED. THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK. POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS. THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED. AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS. ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!

Monday, August 29

4 a.m.: Hurricane Katrina is downgraded to a strong Category 4 storm.
7 a.m.: Katrina makes landfall on the Louisiana coast between Grand Isle and the mouth of the Mississippi River.
11a.m. Katrina makes another landfall near the Louisiana-Mississippi state line with 125 mph winds. The storm's daylong rampage claims lives and ravages property in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, where coastal areas remained under several feet of water.
Katrina rips two holes in the Superdome's roof. Some 10,000 storm refugees are inside.
Two major flood-control levees are breached, and the National Weather Service reports "total structural failure" in parts of New Orleans. A section of the roof of the Louisiana Superdome, where 10,000 people are taking refuge, opens. Many are feared dead in flooded neighborhoods still under as much as 20 feet of water.
In Mississippi, dozens are dead and Gov. Haley Barbour describes "catastrophic damage" along the coast. More than 1.3 million homes and businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were without electricity, according to utility companies.
Airports close in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Biloxi, Mobile and Pensacola.
10 p.m.: More than 12 hours after making landfall, one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit the northern Gulf Coast in half a century is downgraded to a tropical storm. Remnants head north toward Tennessee and the Ohio River Valley, spurring harsh storms and tornadoes.

Tuesday, August 30

New Orleans is left with no power, no drinking water, dwindling food supplies, widespread looting, fires -- and steadily rising waters from major levee breaches. Efforts to limit the flooding are unsuccessful and force authorities to try evacuating the thousands of people at city shelters.
Bush puts short his vacation to focus on the storm damage.

Wednesday August 31

The looting grows exponentially. Thieves use a forklift to smash into one pharmacy.
Blanco asks the White House to send more people.
New Orleans police are called off search-and-rescue missions to combat out-of-control looting.
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt declares a federal health emergency throughout the Gulf Coast, sends in medical supplies and workers.
- Army Corps of Engineers estimates it will be at least 30 days or more before New Orleans will be pumped out.
An estimated 52,000 people are in Red Cross shelters. An additional 25,000 are in the Superdome, where conditions are worsening by the hour.
- An exodus from the Superdome begins, with the first buses leaving for Houston's Astrodome, 350 miles away.
- Pentagon mounts one of largest search-and-rescue operations in U.S. history, sending four Navy ships with emergency supplies.
- Water levels stop rising in New Orleans. Engineers work to close a 500-foot gap in a failed floodwall.
President Bush flies over the Gulf Coast in Air Force One to survey the damage.

Thursday, September 1

People in New Orleans are assured that buses are waiting for them in Gretna, across the river. A crowd of up to 500 fleeing people, mostly poor black residents of New Orleans and some stranded white tourists, moves across the bridge, only to be held back at gunpoint by Gretna police who are reported to have said they did not want their town to become "another Superdome." (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9324538/)
In flooded New Orleans, stranded people remain in buildings, on roofs, in the backs of trucks or gathered in large groups on higher ground.
Violence disrupts relief efforts as authorities rescue trapped residents and try to evacuate thousands of others living among corpses and human waste. Those stranded express growing frustration with the disorder evident on the streets, raising questions about the coordination and timeliness of relief efforts.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown said his agency was attempting to work "under conditions of urban warfare."
Police snipers were stationed on the roof of their precinct, trying to protect it from armed miscreants roaming seemingly at will.
Officers warned a CNN crew to stay off the streets because of escalating danger, and cautioned others about attempted shootings and rapes by groups of young men.
"This is a desperate SOS," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said in a statement Thursday afternoon, with thousands of people stranded at the city's convention center with no food, water or electricity -- and fading hope.
Charity Hospital, one of several facilities attempting to evacuate patients, was forced to halt the effort after coming under sniper fire.
Despite the deteriorating conditions in the city, hurricane survivors from neighboring Plaquemines Parish have started streaming into the city, according to Nagin.
"We are overwhelmed and out of resources, but we welcome them with open arms and will figure this out together," the mayor said in a written statement.
Police officers told CNN that some of their fellow officers had simply stopped showing up for duty, cutting manpower by 20 percent or more in some precincts.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday that 4,200 National Guard troops trained as military police will be deployed in New Orleans over the next three days, which he said would quadruple the law enforcement presence in the city.
Pentagon officials said the first contingent of 100 military police officers would arrive at Louis Armstrong International Airport at 10 p.m. (11 p.m. ET) -- combat-ready for immediate deployment in New Orleans.
The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday those New Orleans residents who chose not to heed warnings to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina bear some responsibility for their fates.
Michael Brown also agreed with other public officials that the death toll in the city could reach into the thousands.
"Unfortunately, that's going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings," Brown told CNN.
"I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans," he said.
"And to find people still there is just heart-wrenching to me because, you know, the mayor did everything he could to get them out of there.
"So, we've got to figure out some way to convince people that whenever warnings go out it's for their own good," Brown said. "Now, I don't want to second guess why they did that. My job now is to get relief to them."
Brown was upbeat in his assessment of the relief effort so far, ticking off a list of accomplishments: more than 30,000 National Guard troops will be in the city within three days, the hospitals are being evacuated and search and rescue missions are continuing.
"Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans -- virtually a city that has been destroyed -- that things are going relatively well," Brown said.
Nevertheless, he said he could "empathize with those in miserable conditions."
Asked later on CNN how he could blame the victims, many of whom could not flee the storm because they had no transportation or were too frail to evacuate on their own, Brown said he was not blaming anyone.
"Now is not the time to be blaming," Brown said. "Now is the time to recognize that whether they chose to evacuate or chose not to evacuate, we have to help them."
Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, whose father was a longtime New Orleans mayor, said there was "plenty of blame to go around," citing underinvestement by federal authorities over many years "despite pleas and warnings by officials."
Earlier on CNN, Brown was asked why authorities had not prepared for just such a catastrophe -- given that the levees were designed to withstand only a Category 3 hurricane and Katrina was stronger than that.
"Government officials and engineers will debate that and figure that out," he replied. "Right now, I'm trying to focus on saving lives. I think we should have that debate, but at an appropriate time."
Brown said Katrina was unlike other hurricanes in which the magnitude of the disaster typically subsides after the initial blow. That was not the case Monday, when the Category 4 storm blew ashore.
"What we had in New Orleans is a growing disaster: The hurricane hit, that was one disaster; then the levees broke, that was another disaster; then the floods came; that became a third disaster."
Brown said he had to be careful about getting rescue teams to the site earier.
"Otherwise, we would have faced an even higher death toll," he said.
Blanco said Thursday she has requested the mobilization of 40,000 National Guard troops to restore order and assist in relief efforts.
A humanitarian catastrophe unfolded at the convention center, where thousands of increasingly frustrated people waited for help amid dead bodies, feces and garbage.
Numerous bodies could be seen, both inside and outside the facility, and one man died of a seizure while a CNN crew was at the scene.
A National Guard helicopter dropped food and water Thursday afternoon, although the amount was far short of enough to meet the needs of the throngs that had gathered.
Nagin advised those gathered at the center to march over the Crescent City Connection bridge to the west bank of the Mississippi River to find relief in neighboring Jefferson Parish.
"The convention center is unsanitary and unsafe, and we are running out of supplies," said Nagin, adding that officials did not expect to have enough buses for evacuations.
Brown told CNN Thursday evening that federal officials only found out about the convention center crisis earlier in the day, and that he had since directed that "all available resources" be made available there.
Boat rescue teams looking for Katrina survivors told CNN they had been ordered to stand down Thursday by FEMA officials concerned about security.
However, FEMA issued a statement from Washington denying it had suspended operations, though the agency conceded there had been "isolated incidents where security has become an issue."
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that the Coast Guard has rescued about 3,000 people from flooded areas in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes.
At the city's airport, a field hospital set up by FEMA was "overwhelmed" with patients, a medical team commander said.
Equipment normally used to move luggage was instead ferrying patients to a treatment center and to planes and buses for evacuation.
"I do not have the words in my vocabulary to describe what is happening here," said Ozro Henderson. "'Catastrophe' and 'disaster' don't explain it."
Outside the Superdome, throngs of people waiting for a bus ride to Texas completely covered an outside plaza, where they waited in the heat and rain.
Buses ferried displaced residents to Houston's Astrodome, which will serve as a shelter until FEMA can come up with more permanent housing.
"We're finding more and more people coming out of the woodwork," Brown said. "They're appearing in places we didn't know they existed."
Blanco said more school buses would be brought in from across Louisiana to increase the pace of the evacuation.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it expected to complete the sealing off of the 17th Street Canal, where a flood-control levee breached.
Looting, carjacking and other violence spreads, and the military decides to increase National Guard deployment to 30,000.
-Outside the New Orleans Convention Center, the sidewalks are packed with people without food, water or medical care, waiting for buses that do not come. Tempers flare.
-Nagin, the New Orleans mayor, calls the situation critical and issues ``a desperate SOS for more buses.
-Crowds at the Superdome swell to 30,000 with another 25,000 at the convention center. The first refugee buses arrive at the Houston Astrodome. Elsewhere, 76,000 people are Red Cross shelters.
-Violence escalates. Rescue boats are stolen by marauders, shots are fired at helicopters evacuating hospital patients.
-Doctors at two New Orleans hospitals plead for help, saying food, water and power are almost gone. Helicopters evacuate up to 600 patients but an estimated 1,500 others remain stranded.
-Texas agrees to take in 75,000 hurricane evacuees.
-Six hundred massive sand bags arrive to help shore up New Orleans' broken levees.

Friday September 2

Tired and angry people stranded at the convention center in New Orleans welcome a supply convoy carrying food, water and medicine.
-President Bush visits Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and later signs a $10.5 billion disaster relief bill.
-The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimate it will take 36 to 80 days to drain the city.
-Texas officials say nearly 154,000 evacuees have arrived there.
-Bush tours hard-hit Gulf coast areas and acknowledges the failure so far of government hurricane relief efforts. ``The results are not acceptable, he says.
-Thousands of National Guardsmen arrive in New Orleans in truck convoys carrying food, water and weapons.
-Congress approves $10.5 billion to cover the immediate rescue and relief efforts.
-The United States and European nations tap oil-and-gasoline stockpiles for 2 million barrels a day, hoping to stem gas shortages.
-Explosions rock a chemical storage plant in New Orleans and other scattered fires break out.
-Fifteen airlines get permission to fly up to 25,000 refugees out of New Orleans to San Antonio.
-Texas opens two more giant centers for victims after the Astrodome fills up. States as far away as Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming and Michigan offer to accept refugees.
-More than 50 nations pledge hurricane assistance.

Saturday, September 3

Officials in New Orleans clear tens of thousands of evacuees from the Louisiana Superdome and Ernest Morial Convention Center where they were living under squalid conditions with little food or water.
-Firefighters battle two fires along the Mississippi River waterfront, where 50-foot flames engulfed an industrial district.
-The Army Corps of Engineers brings in pumps and generators from around the nation to help get New Orleans pumps back on line and bail out the city.
-Bush orders more than 7,000 active duty forces to the Gulf Coast.
-More than 25,000 residents have evacuated from New Orleans since Friday, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says.

Sunday, September 4

Water and air rescue efforts continue in New Orleans the U.S. Coast Guard said it has rescued more than 17,000 people, almost twice as many as it had saved in the previous 50 years combined, but that thousands of people remain stranded. Helicopters drop emergency food and water to people awaiting rescue.
-New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin announces plans to move traumatized police and firefighters out of the city so they can receive medical and psychological treatment. Police officials said two officers committed suicide.
-Suburban Jefferson Parish, across the 17th Street Canal from the levee breach that flooded much of New Orleans, begins allowing residents to return temporarily to retrieve their belongings.
-The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finishes patching a levee breach on the 17th Street Canal in New Orleans and begins pumping water out of the city's streets. A corps spokesman said it will take nearly three months before some neighborhoods are drained.
-Officials encourage residents remaining in New Orleans to evacuate. Deputy Police Chief Warren Riley said that "there is no reason -- no jobs, no food -- no reason for them to stay."
-Body recovery teams conduct house-to-house searches for human remains in New Orleans, while helicopters continue search-and-rescue operations for survivors. The U.S. Coast Guard said that it has rescued more than 22,000 people.
President Bush makes his second visit to the stricken region since Katrina struck, meeting with Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and other officials at the state's relief headquarters in Baton Rouge.

Monday, September 5

Public health officials report "minor outbreaks" of diarrheal diseases in children evacuated from the flood zone. The Centers for Disease Control says five people have died from infection with Vibrio vulnificus, a form of the bacteria that causes cholera. An official in the New Orleans mayor's office says the standing floodwater is contaminated with E. coli bacteria.
-New Orleans Mayor Nagin orders police and law enforcement officials to remove everyone from the city who is not involved in recovery efforts. The order authorizes state and local police, firefighters, National Guard troops and other military forces "to compel the evacuation of all persons from the City of New Orleans, regardless of whether such persons are on private property or do not desire to leave."
-Several fires burn near downtown New Orleans. Several buildings in the city's Garden District are destroyed. New Orleans Fire Chief Charles Parent said crews often are unable to respond to fires until they are well developed because there is no working 911 system for reporting the blazes.
-The House Government Reform Committee announces it will begin hearings next week to investigate the local, state and federal response to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
-The looting grows exponentially. Thieves use a forklift to smash into one pharmacy.
-Blanco asks the White House to send more people.
-New Orleans police are called off search-and-rescue missions to combat out-of-control looting.
-Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt declares a federal health emergency throughout the Gulf Coast, sends in medical supplies and workers.
-Army Corps of Engineers estimates it will be at least 30 days or more before New Orleans will be pumped out.
-An estimated 52,000 people are in Red Cross shelters. An additional 25,000 are in the Superdome, where conditions are worsening by the hour.
-An exodus from the Superdome begins, with the first buses leaving for Houston's Astrodome, 350 miles away.
-Pentagon mounts one of largest search-and-rescue operations in U.S. history, sending four Navy ships with emergency supplies.
-Water levels stop rising in New Orleans. Engineers work to close a 500-foot gap in a failed floodwall.
-President Bush flies over the Gulf Coast in Air Force One to survey the damage.




Date Time Actor Action
2002/03/01 -- Homeland Security FEMA Head Allbaugh testifies before congress: "Disaster mitigation and
     prevention activities are inherently grassroots. These activities involve 
     local decision-making about zoning, building codes, and strategy planning 
     to meet a community's unique needs. It is not the role of the Federal Government 
     to tell a community what it needs to do to protect its citizens and infrastructure. 
     [...] At the same time we are giving more control to State and local 
       governments through the Managing State concept of the Hazard Mitigation 
       Grant Program and other initiatives, we are asking that they take a more 
       appropriate degree of fiscal responsibility to protect themselves. 
    The original intent of Federal disaster assistance is to supplement 
       State and local response efforts. Many are concerned that Federal disaster 
       assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program 
       and a disincentive to effective State and local risk management. Expectations 
       of when the Federal Government should be involved and the degree of involvement 
       may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level. We must restore 
       the predominant role of State and local response to most disasters. Federal 
       assistance needs to supplement, not supplant, State and local efforts. 

Having Federal assistance supplement, not supplant State and local efforts is, most likely, going to be one of the more difficult measures aimed at responsibility and accountability that this Administration will have to work through. FEMA is looking at ways to develop meaningful and objective criteria for disaster declarations that can be applied consistently. These criteria will not preclude the President's discretion but will help States better understand when they can reasonably turn to the Federal government for assistance and when it would be more appropriate for the State to handle the disaster itself.

[...] President Bush's compassionate conservatism is a hallmark of his core philosophy. The President is promoting faith-based organizations as a way to achieve compassionate conservatism. Not only does FEMA work with the faith-based organizations that I mentioned, but FEMA's Emergency Food and Shelter Program is the original faith-based initiative and is a perfect fit with President Bush's new approach to helping the poor, homeless and disadvantaged. Through this program, FEMA works with organizations that are based in the communities where people need help the most.</td> </tr>

2002/03/01</td> --</td> Homeland Security</td> [http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp
     Dept. of Homeland Security] takes over:In the event of a terrorist attack, 
     natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of 
     Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring 
     that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This 
     will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any 
     large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The 
     new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. 
     Educating America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster 
     and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special 
     attention at DHS. 
 </tr>
2004/06/09</td> --</td> Insurance Journal</td> [http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2004/06/09/43008.htm
     IEM to Lead Development of Hurricane Plan for Louisiana] -- IEM ([http://www.ieminc.com/ 
     Innovative Emergency Management]) tasked with " the development of a catastrophic 
     hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans 
     under a more than half a million dollar contract with the U.S. Department 
     of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA"</td>
 </tr>
2004/07/23</td> --</td> FEMA</td> [http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=13051
     Hurricane Pam] -- a hurricane preparedness exercise -- eerily predicted 
     what could subsequently happen if a major hurricane hit Louisiana, and purportedly 
     prepared and informed FEMA and The White House for this contingency "to 
     help officials develop joint response plans for a catastrophic hurricane 
     in Louisiana". A [http://www.lsu.edu/highlights/052/pam.html White House 
     staffer] was briefed.
Ivor Van Heerden, a hurricane researcher from Louisiana State University who ran the exercise, says "the federal government didn't take it seriously. ... Those Corps of Engineers people giggled in the back of the room when we tried to present information." One recommendation from the exercise: Tent cities should be prepared for the homeless. "Their response to me was: 'Americans don't live in tents,' and that was about it," [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9178501/ recalls Van Heerden].</td> </tr>
2005/08/24</td> -</td> Red Cross</td> [http://www.redcross.org/article/0,1072,0_507_4454,00.html
     Tropical Storm Katrina Heads for Miami] "A hurricane watch and tropical 
     storm warning is currently in effect for Florida's east coast from Vero 
     Beach, about 150 miles north of Miami, south into the Florida Keys. As of 
     Wednesday afternoon the storm is about 200 miles off the coast of Florida."</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/25</td> 6:30 PM EDT</td> </td> "[http://www.majorityreportradio.com/data/op-ed/archives/002780.php
     Hurricane Katrina hit Florida late Thursday, August 25th, as a Category 
     1 hurricane.] 9 people were killed. The storm then moved into the Gulf of 
     Mexico, where it gained momentum and power."</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/25</td> 11 PM EDT</td> </td> National Hurricane Center indicates Hurricane Katrina is likely to become a dangerous storm in 3 days

</td> </tr> [http://thinkprogress.org/2005/08/24/vacation-denial/

   Thursday Aug. 25, Day 1] - As Hurricane Katrina makes landfall in southern 
   Florida, Bush is at his ranch in Crawford, Texas and defends his habit of 
   taking lengthy vacations. 
   <p> "I think the people want the president to be in a position to make 
     good, crisp decisions and to stay healthy, and part of my being is to 
     be outside exercising. So I'm mindful of what goes on around me. On the 
     other hand, I'm also mindful that I've got a life to live, and will 
     do so." 

Later, White House spokesperson David Almacy denies Bush is on vacation
     claiming the reason that Bush is in Crawford is "due to the renovation of 
     the West Wing of the White House." This is clearly false, as Bush took a 
     similar long vacation in 2001 just before 9/11 and also in other years. 
2005/08/26 5:00 PM CDT Governor Kathleen Blanco Governor Kathleen Blanco declares [http://gov.louisiana.gov/2005%20%20proclamations/48pro2005-Emergency-HurricaneKatrina.pdf State of Emergency]
2005/08/26 9:00AM EDT [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/refresh/KATRINA+shtml/145512.shtml NOAA] Windspeed/category: 75 MPH / 1 Barometer 987 "some strengthening" expected.
2005/08/26   [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html White House] White House [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html
     declares] impending disaster area and orders DHS and FEMA to prepare "to 
     coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating 
     the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, 
     and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures" 
     in the path of the storm. It will be 8 days before a significant National 
     Guard presence is seen in many of the affected areas in Louisiana and Mississippi. 

The declaration does not include parishes on the Gulf of Mexico: "The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn." Bob Harris <a href="http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/637/1/";>created a map</a> showing the parishes included (red) and excluded (blue, green) in the declaration. Excluded parishes are on the Gulf coast.

2005/08/26 11:00AM EDT [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/refresh/KATRINA+shtml/145512.shtml NOAA] Windspeed/category: 80 MPH / 1 Barometer
     981 "category 2 by Saturday." Center of most likely landfall: Apalachicola, 
FL.
2005/08/26 5:00PM EDT [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/refresh/KATRINA+shtml/145512.shtml NOAA] Windspeed/category: 100 MPH / 2 Barometer
     965 "forecast to become Category 3 major hurricane today or on Saturday." 
     Center of most likely landfall: A very broad area indicative of the shift 
     away from Florida. The cities of Apalachicola, FL to the Buras, LA have 
about an equal probability.
2005/08/26 - Red Cross [http://www.redcross.org/article/0,1072,0_507_4462,00.html
     Red Cross Responds to Hurricane Katrina] "Katrina made came ashore of Fort 
     Lauderdale, around 6:30 p.m. last night with sustained winds of 75 mph and 
     reports of gusts up to 95 mph. Trees and power lines went down all across 
     the region and at least four people were killed, three of them by trees 
     falling on their vehicles. The other was killed in a traffic accident. A 
family of five is also listed as missing as sea."
2005/08/26 US daytime [http://www.jtfcs.northcom.mil/pages/news20050901.html Joint Task Force Katrina] [http://www.dod.gov/transcripts/2005/tr20050901-3843.html
     Friday Aug. 26, Day 2] - Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, commander, Joint Task Force 
     Katrina, acknowledges in Special Defense Department Briefing held on Sept. 
     1 that a request from the state governors in Louisiana, Mississippi was 
     requested a week earlier Friday Aug. 26. (Dates corrected. Thanks to 
     many comments) 

 :Q General, Jamie McIntyre from CNN. To what extent is this additional assistance you've outlined today a response to a request from the state governors in Louisiana, Mississippi? And if so, can you tell us when specifically you got that request? <p> :GEN. HONORÉ: Yes, sir. The process starts, sir, in this particular event, with a request Friday of last week, as the approximate date for defense coordinating offices to be established in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Those were established in those states over Friday and Saturday. <p> Bush is still not on vacation in Crawford where he is living his life. </td> </tr>

2005/08/26</td> 11:00PM EDT</td> [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/refresh/KATRINA+shtml/145512.shtml
     NOAA]</td>
Windspeed/category: 110 MPH / 2 Barometer
     965 "forecast to become Category 3 in the next day or two." Center of most 
     likely landfall: Gulfport, MS to New Orleans, LA.</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/27</td> UK daytime</td> BBC</td> [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4184580.stm
     Sat. Aug. 27, Day 3] - BBC: Katrina, the sixth deadliest hurricane to hit 
     Florida in a year, moves westwards toward the Gulf Coast at nearly 7mph 
     (11kph). Forecasters said the hurricane, expected to make landfall on Monday, 
     could hit anywhere from Florida to Louisiana. Bush remained on the grounds 
     of his ranch behind a security perimeter and made his case for the [[Iraq 
     occupation]] in his Saturday radio address.</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/27</td> 2:00AM EDT</td> [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/refresh/KATRINA+shtml/145512.shtml
     NOAA]</td>
Windspeed/category: 110 MPH / 2 Barometer
     963 "forecast to become major hurricane today."</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/27</td> 5:00AM EDT</td> [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/pub/al122005.public.016.shtml
     NOAA]</td>
Katrina winds are recorded at 115mph upgrading
     it to a Category 3, or major hurricane, with the Gulf Coast in its path.</td>
2005/08/27</td> 9:00 AM CDT</td> St. Charles Parish Orders Mandatory Evacuation State Evacuation guidelines call for St. Charles to evacuate 40 hours before expected landfall for an effective evacuation.

</td> </tr>


2005/08/27</td> 10:00AM EDT</td> [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/refresh/KATRINA+shtml/145512.shtml
     NOAA]</td>
Windspeed/category: 115 MPH / 3 Barometer
     940 "some strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours and Katrina 
     could become a category 4 hurricane." Center of most likely landfall: Gulfport, 
     MS to New Iberia, LA.</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/27</td> ?</td> </td> "[http://www.majorityreportradio.com/data/op-ed/archives/002780.php
     Forecasters are predicting that Hurricane Katrina will hit Louisiana and 
     Mississipi early Monday] and that it probably would be a Category 3 or 4 
     storm. Meteorologist warn that Katrina has the potential to be a major hurricane. 
     Bush was at his vacation home in Crawford Texas avoiding Cindy Sheehan and 
     the dueling protests outside his ranch and delivered his weekly radio address 
     asking for patience in Iraq ? and saying that it will take more time for 
     U.S. troops to complete their work in Iraq."</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/27</td> by Midday</td> </td> Placquemine Parish Declares Mandatory Evacuation. Jefferson Parish calls for voluntary evacuation except for coastal areas that are under mandatory evacuation orders. St. Bernard Parish has recommended all residents evacuate, though it likely will not declare a mandatory evacutation because the parish won’t offer shelters. All three areas declaring mandatory evacuation are in the 50 hour red zone for coordinated evacuations.

</td>

 </tr>
2005/08/27</td> Day</td> Evacuation</td> [http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-0827katrinalouisiana,0,7618783.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines
     Residents in Louisiana told to pack up and get out as Katrina heads for 
     coast]- During the day, residents of Louisiana's low-lying areas are told 
     they must evacuate; residents in other low-lying areas are urgently advised 
     to do so. Highways leading out of New Orleans are filled with bumper-to-bumper 
     traffic. Several major interstates are converted to one-way routes away 
     from the city. Lines at gas stations spilled onto nearby streets and stretched 
     for blocks. Hotels 150 miles inland were booked up.</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/27</td> </td> Governor Kathleen Blanco</td> [http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf
     Governor Kathleen Blanco request federal assistance] from President Bush. 
     Note: Although this document is dated Aug. 28 [http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2005/9/7/142737/2117 
     Larry Johnson writes] that it was actually published on Lexis Nexis and 
     delivered to Bush on Sat. Aug. 27. 
     <p>Bush declares a [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html 
       state of emergency]. However, Bush's disaster declaration [http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/637/1/ 
       mysteriously omits the Parishes most at risk], including Orleans, Jefferson, 
       and Plaquemines.  <p>These omissions are particularly odd since Gov Blanco's Disaster Relief Request, to which President Bush was responding specifically states that the Parishes expected to receive major damage were - Ascension, Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St Charles, St James, St Tammany, Tagipahoa, Terrebone and Washington - all of which are in the southeast corner of the state. 
   </td>
 </tr>
2005/08/27</td> 17:00</td> Mayor Ray Nagin</td> "[http://www.majorityreportradio.com/data/op-ed/archives/002780.php
     Mayor Ray Nagin called for a voluntary evacuation of the city. Greyhound 
     & Amtrak stop service in New Orleans late Saturday Night.]"  Mayor says he is having his legal team determine if he can order a mandatory evacuation without exposing the city to legal liability for the closure of hotels and other businesses.</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/27</td> 20:00 EDT</td> Gov. Blanco, Gov. Barbour, Mayor Nagin</td> [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002472774_mayfield05.html
     National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield briefs Louisiana Gov. Blanco, New Orleans Mayor Nagin and Mississippi Gov. Barbour on Katrina's status.]</td>
 </tr>


2005/08/28</td> daytime</td> President Bush</td> [http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/30/State/For_forecasting_chief.shtml
     National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield briefs President Bush] during a video conference call.</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/28</td> -</td> Governor Kathleen Blanco</td> After Bush's [http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/637/1/
     incomplete disaster declaration] the day before, Governor Blanco sends [http://www.gratisnet.com/KatrinaHelp.pdf 
     a second letter] requesting a federal disaster declaration and specifically 
     naming the Parishes most at risk. 
     <p> "I have determined that this incident will be of such severity and 
       magnitude that effective response will be beyond the capabilities of the 
State and the affected local governments"

2005/08/28? FEMA director Mike Brown/Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff/National Hurricane Center [http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054595
     Brown and Chertoff receive Hurricane Center briefings about risk of levee 
     breach in New Orleans] - FEMA director Mike Brown and Homeland Security 
     Secretary Michael Chertoff listen in on electronic briefings from National 
     Hurricane Center warning of storm's dangers. Hurricane Center staff warns 
     both men of storm's potential for catastrophic damage and that it may produce 
"storm surge capable of overtopping levees in New Orleans."
2005/08/28 1:00AM CDT [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/refresh/KATRINA+shtml/145512.shtml NOAA] Windspeed/category: 145 MPH / 4 Barometer
     935 "some additional strengthening is possible today." Center of most likely 
landfall: Gulfport, MS to New Iberia, LA.
2005/08/28 7:00AM CDT [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/refresh/KATRINA+shtml/145512.shtml NOAA] Windspeed/category: 160 MPH / 5 Barometer
     908 "some fluctuations in strength are likely during the next 24 hours." 
Center of most likely landfall: Gulfport, MS to New Iberia, LA.
2005/08/28

From his Texas ranch where he was not on vacation Bush warned, "We cannot stress enough the danger this hurricane poses to Gulf Coast communities. We will do everything in our power to help the people and the communities affected by this storm." <p> Later, Bush pressed for an emergency declaration in Alabama, which would allow federal operations in. Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi were already declared disaster states. <p> "These declarations will allow federal agencies to coordinate all disaster relief efforts with state and local officials," Bush said.

Note: [http://www.livejournal.com/community/poor_planning/30810.html according to this], Blanco requested a disaster declaration on August 27th, and received one that day, but it did not list Orleans Parish and several nearby parishes, so Blanco made a second request on August 28th - it's not clear if or when Bush responded to that one, needs more research. -- User: cos </td>

2005/08/28</td> 9:30 AM CDT</td> Mayor Ray Nagin</td>
     "[http://www.majorityreportradio.com/data/op-ed/archives/002780.php Mayor 
       Ray Nagin orders mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.] Experts predict 
       that Hurricane Katrina will hit the city with all the force and power 
of a Category 5 storm ? and that 60-80% of the city?s homes will be destroyed.

[http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_08.html#074564 Times-Picyune Provides Evacuation Details] 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. 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 </td> </tr>

2005/08/28</td> 10:11AM CDT</td> Offical NOAA advisory</td>

000 WWUS74 KLIX 281550 NPWLIX

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...

.HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!

</td>

 </tr>


2005/08/28</td> 5:00 PM CDT</td> </td> Contraflow Shut down.Chapman said it will take another two to four hours before the southbound lanes of Interstate 55 and I-59 in Mississippi are cleared to allow northbound traffic to use the southbound lanes.

</td> </tr>

2005/08/28</td> Evening</td> </td> 26,000 shelter at SuperdomeAbout 26,000 New Orleans residents sought refuge from Hurricane Katrina at the Superdome, which authorities describe as the "shelter of last resort," Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said late Sunday. To help keep them fed and hydrated, the Louisiana National Guard delivered three truckloads of water and seven truckloads of MREs — short for "meals ready to eat." That's enough to supply 15,000 people for three days, according to Col. Jay Mayeaux, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Emergency Preparedness.

</td> </tr>

2005/08/28</td> 11:00</td>  </td>
     'All indications are that this is absolutely worst-case scenario,'" Ivor 
       van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane 
       Center, said Sunday afternoon. 
     <p> Bush is still on vacation at his Crawford ranch. He holds a press conference 
       in a helicopter hanger at his Crawford Texas Ranch ? taking a moment to 
       urge Gulf Coast residents to evacuate before hailing the Iraqi draft constitution 
       an inspiring success. 
     <p> Governors of Louisiana and Mississippi request additional security forces 
       from the federal government."
   </td>
 </tr>
2005/08/29</td> 06:10 AM CDT</td> </td> "[http://www.majorityreportradio.com/data/op-ed/archives/002780.php
     Katrina hit land at 6:10am.] The storm hammered the Gulf Coast with huge 
     waves and tree-bending winds. Exploding transformers lit up the predawn 
     sky in Mobile, Ala., while tree limbs littered roads and a blinding rain 
     whipped up sand on the deserted beach of Gulfport, Miss. Katrina's fury 
     also was felt at the Louisiana Superdome, which became the shelter of last 
     resort for the area's poor, homeless and frail. Electrical power at the 
     Superdome failed at 5:02 a.m., but the backup power runs only reduced lighting 
     and cannot run the air conditioning. Entire neighborhoods were submerged 
     up to the roofs. Numerous people had to be rescued from rooftops and attics 
     as the floodwaters rose higher and higher. President Bush hits the road 
     to promote prescription-drug plan to. His first stop is Arizona, where he 
     eats birthday cake with Senator John McCain and talks to senior citizens 
     in Phoenix at a golf resort. In late afternoon, there are early reports 
     of broken levees. The National Weather Service reported that a levee broke 
     on the Industrial Canal near the St. Bernard-Orleans parish line. President 
     Bush travels to Southern California to talk to more seniors about changes 
     to Medicare. He also plays golf. He spends the evening in San Diego to prepare 
     for a Tuesday speech commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the end of World 
     War Two.]"</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/29</td> 7:00 AM CDT</td> </td>Power Out At Superdome

The Superdome has lost power triggering groans from more than 10,000 storm evacuees who are riding out the storm in the 77,000-seat stadium. Backup generators only run dimmed lights and no air conditioning.


.</td>

 </tr>


2005/08/29</td> before 8:00 AM CDT</td> Army Corps of Engineers</td> Storm surge sends water over the Industrial Canal. Soon afterwards, Army Corps of Engineers officials believe "a barge broke loose and crashed through the floodwall, opening a breach that accelerated flooding into the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish." (credit Talking Points Memo)</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/29</td> 08:14 CDT</td> National Weather Service</td> The National Weather Service New Orleans office issues a flash flood warning stating there had been a breach in the Industrial Canal levee with 3 to 8 feet of water expected in the 9th Ward and Arabi. (credit Talking Points Memo)</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/29</td> late morning</td> Times-Picayune</td> [http://www.nola.com/weblogs/print.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/print074994.html
     Levee breach floods Lakeview, Mid-City, Carrollton, Gentilly, City Park] 
     - "A large section of the vital 17th Street Canal levee, where it connects 
     to the brand new 'hurricane proof' Old Hammond Highway bridge, gave way 
     late Monday morning in Bucktown after Katrina's fiercest winds were well 
     north."</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/29</td> Approx. five hours after landfall</td> FEMA director Michael Brown</td> [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12574946.htm
     FEMA director Brown waits five hours after Katrina hits to dispatch 1000 
     employees to the region and gives them two days to arrive] - Five hours 
     after Katrina makes landfall, FEMA chief Michael Brown asks Homeland Security 
     Secretary Chertoff for permission to dispatch 1000 Homeland Security employees 
     to the Gulf Coast region. He gives them two days to arrive. His memo tells 
     employees that among their duties, they will be expected to "convey a positive 
     image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations 
     and the general public."</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/29</td> </td> FEMA director Michael Brown</td> [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12574946.htm
     FEMA director Brown tells outside fire and rescue departments not to enter 
     disaster area unless invited] - Brown urges local fire and rescue departments 
     outside Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi not to send trucks or emergency 
     workers into disaster area without explicit requests for help from state 
     or local governments. Brown says it is vital to coordinate fire and rescue 
     efforts.</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/29</td> (when?)</td> White House</td> Bush issues [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050829-2.html
     a second disaster declaration] for Louisiana, which lists the formerly omitted 
     Parishes - most of southern Louisiana.</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/29</td> US daytime</td> CBS NEWS</td> [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/27/national/main798725.shtml
     Mon. Aug. 29, Day 5] - Hurricane Katrina comes ashore just east of Grand 
     Isle, Louisiana, at 6:30 a.m. ET. About a hundred miles to the north, New 
     Orleans is said to be 80 percent evacuated, with the potential for historic 
     damage. Evacuations were also ordered in Alabama and Mississippi. Bush was 
     briefed by Michael Brown, the director of the Federal Emergency Management 
     Agency on hurricane preparedness then headed to Arizona for a speech 
     on Medicare. Bush weighed a decision on whether to release oil from 
     the nation's petroleum reserves as the price of light sweet crude rose to 
     more than $70. No decision was made. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050829-9.html 
     The White House did announce] new low-cost options under the Medicare Prescription 
     Drug Benefit that will be available beginning in January 2006. According 
     to a White House press release on Aug. 29, "This is great news for people 
     with Medicare. They will be able to choose prescription drug plans costing 
     $20 a month, or even less, while still getting medically necessary treatments 
     and prescriptions at convenient pharmacies." It is reported by the [http://www.nola.com/hurricane/t-p/katrina.ssf?/hurricane/katrina/stories/083005_a1_risingwater.html 
     New Orleans Times-Picayune] that the 17th St. levee broke late Monday morning 
     in Bucktown after Katrina's fiercest winds were well north The Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency [http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/29/katrina.washington.ap/index.html 
     went into disaster mode] as it and other federal agencies prepared to deal 
     with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. President George W. Bush joins 
     Arizona Senator John McCain in a small [http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/images/20050829-5_p082905pm-0125-515h.html 
     celebration of McCain's 69th birthday.]</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/29</td> Between 9-11 PM CDT</td> Mayor Nagin/FEMA

</td>

Mayor Nagin intervied on WWL TV concerning the state of New Orleans. Quotes FEMA employee Marty as saying this is the worst he has ever seen. He also indicates he has made initial requests of FEMA and will submit a longer list of needs on Tuesday the 30th.

</td> </tr>

2005/08/30</td> </td> FEMA/Volunteer Firefighters from Houston</td> [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/5/105538/7048
     FEMA refuses to allow volunteer firefighters into New Orleans] - A team 
     of volunteer firefighters with experience helping after hurricanes who also 
     had special expertise with oil infrastructure and repairs arrives outside 
     of New Orleans and is refused entry into the city by FEMA who will not let 
     them in until "the National Guard has secured the city." When the teams 
     asks if they should help out in other communities along the Gulf Coast impacted 
     by the storm, they are told no, because their special expertise is needed 
     in New Orleans. However, FEMA turns down any advice or help from them, and 
     after waiting in a parking lot until Saturday, Sept 3, the expert team finally 
     gives up and returns home to Houston.</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/30</td> </td> FEMA Director Mike Brown</td> says on CNN that roads are impassable and that people need to turn to local
     officials and Red Cross. Meanwhile, CNN and other media outlets broadcast 
     reports from the Superdome and Convention Center where people are, according 
     to CNN "clearly visible."</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/30</td> </td> FEMA Director Mike Brown</td> [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/weather/hurricane/bal-storm0830,1,519957.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
     Tue. Aug. 30, Day 6] - Water pours into New Orleans a full day after the 
     hurricane hit. Breached levees from Monday submerged 80 percent of the city 
     in water from Lake. There is no power. There is no fresh water or sewage 
     systems. </td>
 </tr>
2005/08/30</td> Evening</td> VP Dick Cheney</td> The office of Vice President Dick Cheney begins making phone calls to power distributors and utilities in Southern Mississippi, ordering them to divert repair crews away from other projects -- including two hospitals and several water systems -- to Colonial Pipelines, in order to keep oil flowing to the northeast. They are told that this urgency is due to a "national emergency." Obviously the White House is right on top of this aspect. Hattiesburg American. Josh Marshall's comments.
</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/31</td> -</td> CTV.ca</td> [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20050831_katrina_template_050831?s_name=&no_ads=
     B.C. urban rescue team headed to Louisiana] - Canada was prepared to send 
     aid directly to Louisiana, "after Louisiana officials asked for help". However, 
     they were reportedly [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/31/235829/261 
     blocked from doing so] by the Department of Homeland Security. ' Canadian 
     agencies are saying that foreign aid is probably not being permitted into 
     Louisiana and Mississippi because of "mass confusion" at the U.S. federal 
     level in the wake of the storm.'</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/31</td> </td> DHS Secretary Chertoff</td> Chertoff claims in media interviews that relief and evacuation efforts are
     "going well." per CNN/Aaron Brown timeline report 9/5 </td>
2005/08/31</td> </td> FEMA Director Mike Brown</td> FEMA Director clains that he is "surprised by what has happened" with the
     levees and the flooding and the extent of the damage, but that "caravans 
     are moving tonight and that you will see them Thursday morning." per CNN/Aaron 
     Brown timeline report 9/5 </td>
?</td> ?</td> Governor Kathleen Blanco</td> "[http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09.html#076405
     Gov. Kathleen Blanco Friday night called on President Bush to order the 
     expeditious return to the state of the 256th Brigade Combat team of the 
     National Guard] which is now serving in Iraq because they are needed in 
     Hurricane Katrina cleanup and rescue efforts."</td>
 </tr>
?</td> ?</td> Department of Homeland Security</td> "[http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09.html#076408
     The Forest Service has offered fixed plane aircraft used to fight forest 
     fires to help extinguish blazes in New Orleans], according to two congressional 
     sources. But the sources said the planes, which can pour large amounts of 
     water on fires, remained grounded in Missouri Friday because the Department 
     of Homeland Security hasn?t authorized their use."</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/31</td> Evening</td> Jabbor Gibson</td> [http://www.newschannel5.tv/2005/9/1/4255/Taking-refuge-in-the-Astrodome
     18-yr-old hero helps 100 escape New Orleans ordeal ] - The first 100 refugees 
     to arrive at the Houston Astrodome from flooded New Orleans are evacuated 
     not be FEMA but by 18-year-old Jabbor Gibson who commandeers an abandoned 
     school bus and drives his fellow citizens seven hours to the refuge of the 
     Houston Astrodome collecting passengers as he goes until the bus is full. 
     Gibson has never before driven a bus. Included in the evacuees is an 8-day-old 
     infant. When the bus first arrives at the Astrodome, the refugees are not 
     welcomed. Finally, however, they are allowed inside. Gibson, however, may 
     be charged with stealing the bus. </td>
 </tr>
2005/08/31</td> Evening</td> Another Recess Appointment</td> [1]
     - Bush Bypasses Senate to Install Official By KEN THOMAS, Associated 
     Press Writer Thu Sep 1, 9:38 PM ET WASHINGTON - President Bush has used 
     a constitutional provision to bypass the Senate and fill a top Justice Department 
     slot with an official whose nomination stalled over tactics at the Guantanamo 
     Bay, Cuba, naval facility.Bush used a "recess appointment" Wednesday to 
     name Alice S. Fisher to lead the agency's criminal division. Sen. Carl Levin 
     (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., had blocked the nomination because 
     he wants to talk to an agent who named Fisher in an e-mail about allegedly 
     abusive interrogations at the U.S. military prison camp at Guantanamo. </td>
 </tr>
2005/09/1</td> Late afternoon</td> Air Transport Association/Homeland Security
     Department</td>
[http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12574946.htm
     Four days after landfall, federal government finally requests help from 
     airline industry to evacuate Katrina victims] - The Department of Homeland 
     Security Department finally calls the Air Transport Association and asks 
     if the group can participate in an airlift of refugees.</td>
 </tr>
2005/09/01</td> ? </td> President Bush</td> [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aImt4qvpdSmY&refer=us
     Bush Urges `Zero Tolerance' on New Orleans Looting ] Responding to reports 
     of widespread looting, the president says there should be "zero-tolerance" 
     for lawbreakers during the disaster. Bush says he's told law officials to 


     move against anyone who engages in looting, price-gouging, insurance fraud 
     or any other crime to take advantage of the situation. </td>
 </tr>
2005/09/01</td> ? </td> FEMA Director Mike Brown</td> The caravans that FEMA Director Mike Brown
     claims were to arrive in the morning do not arrive. </td>
 </tr>
2005/09/01</td> </td> U.S. Navy/Halliburton</td> [http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3335685
     Halliburton awarded Navy contract for storm cleanup ] - U.S. Navy announces 
     it has hired Halliburton to "restore electric power, repair roofs and remove 
     debris at three naval facilities in Mississippi damaged by Hurricane Katrina. 
     No mention is made of whether the contract was bid out, but due to the limited 
     time-frame, competitive bidding is unlikely.</td>
 </tr>
2005/09/01</td> Evening</td> FEMA</td> [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/01/acd.01.html
     Rescues by California swift water rescue teams halted ] - Hundreds of people 
     in Orleans and Jefferson parishes are rescued by swift water rescue teams 
     from California. However, at the end of the day, FEMA halts further rescues 
     due to supposed security concerns, though no security incidents involving 
     the teams are reported by CNN journalist Rick Sanchez who was embedded with 
     the teams during the rescues.</td>
 </tr>
2005/09/02</td> 21:10</td> </td> "[http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09.html#076412
     The total evacuation of the 2,200 storm-stranded patients and staff at Charity 
     and University hospitals is now complete], a top hospital official said 
     Friday night."</td>
 </tr>
2005/09/02</td> </td> Armed Officials in Gretna</td> Armed officials, described as "Gretna sheriffs" in this [http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_18337.shtml
     first hand report by California paramedics] or as "troops" in this [http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/02.html#a4763 
     report from Fox News Channel] prevent the evacuation of New Orleans by pedestrians 
     crossing the [http://www.digitalmediatree.com/onelap/?32996 Crescent City 
     Connection] over the Mississippi River. The Gretna Blockade was enforced 
     by gunfire over the heads of people attemping to evacuate and escape rapidly 
     deteriorating conditions in New Orleans.(Additional info, including statements from Gretna's sheriff, here.)</td>
 </tr>
2005/08/31</td> </td> FEMA Director Mike Brown</td> The caravans that FEMA Director Mike Brown promised would arrive on Thursday
     morning arrive in NOLA, just in time for Bush visits. Director Brown also 
     claims that he only heard about evacuees at the Convention Center on Thursday 
     morning. per CNN/Aaron Brown timeline report 9/5 </td>
2005/09/03</td> </td> LOUISIANA's Department of Homeland Security/American
     Red Cross</td>
[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/01/acd.01.html
     News breaks that the Red Cross has been kept out of New Orleans by the LOUISIANA (not Federal) Department 
     of Homeland Security ] -Media reports and an announcement on the American 
     Red Cross's own website 
     (page created Friday, September 2nd) explains that the Red Cross has stayed 
     out of New Orleans and not provided food and water to New Orleans residents 
     dying of heat exhaustion and hunger on orders of the Louisiana's Department of Homeland 
     Security. (This is NOT the same agency as the Federal Department of Homeland Security.) Local American Red Cross CEO, Tom Foley, states to KWY Newsradio 
     in Philadelphia: "The state Department of Homeland Security in Louisiana 
     asked the Red Cross not to go into the city because they want that message 
     to be, 'You need to leave the city. This isn't going to be a sheltering 
     spot.' " </td>
 </tr>
2005/09/04</td> </td> FEMA</td> [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9179790/ News
     breaks that FEMA blocked aid to Jefferson Parish, New Orleans] - Aaron Broussard, 
     president of Jefferson Parish, New Orleans, says on Meet the Press 
     that FEMA blocked life-saving aid to Jefferson Parish. According to Broussard, 
     FEMA prevented the 
     delivery of three trailer trucks of water donated by Wal-Mart, forbade the 
     Coast Guard from donating 1000 gallons of diesel fuel that happened to be 
     on a Coast Guard vessel docked in Jefferson Parish, and cut all emergency 
     communication lines out of the parish. The communication lines were repaired 
     and put under armed guard, according to Broussard. Broussard then broke down as he described 
     how the mother of the head of emergency management in the parish was trapped 
     in a nursing home and phoned her son every day asking when help would come, before
     drowning on Friday, September 2. Identified in later news stories as the mother of Tom
     Rodrigue, she was one of the elderly patients at the St. Rita's nursing home who 
     actually drowned in the initial flooding on Monday, August 29. Rodrigue, interviewed by
     MSNBC and asked about Broussard's Meet the Press comments, called them "not true";
     a Broussard spokesperson attributed the discrepancy between Broussard's story 
     and the true timeline of the St. Rita's fatalities to "a misunderstanding." (See 
     An emotional moment and a misunderstanding.) </td>
 </tr>
2005/09/12</td> </td> Congressional Research Service</td> Congressional Research Service responds to query from Senator John Conyers verifying that " . . . the Governor did take the steps necessary to request emergency and major disaster declarations . . . . In response to the Governor's requests, it appears that the President did take the steps necessary to trigger the availability of Stafford Act emergency assistance and disaster assistance . . . "</td>
2005/09/12</td> morning</td> FEMA Director Mike Brown</td> "Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Brown resigned Monday after coming under fire over his qualifications and for what critics call a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina's destruction."</td>
 </tr>
2005/09/12</td> </td> Congressional Research Service</td> Congressional Research Service responds to query from Senator John Conyers verifying that " . . . the Governor did take the steps necessary to request emergency and major disaster declarations . . . . In response to the Governor's requests, it appears that the President did take the steps necessary to trigger the availability of Stafford Act emergency assistance and disaster assistance . . . "</td>
 </tr>
2005/09/13</td> approx 11:30pm </td> FEMA Employee Leo Bosner</td> FEMA employee appeared on Nightline (speaking for himself not the Agency) and said "Right now as we talk, unfortunately, Homeland Security is actually impeding - in my view - impeding the rescue effort."</td>
 </tr>
</table>


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