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by Wikipedia
Before landfall
-
August 23,
2005 - The
U.S.
National Hurricane Center (NHC) issues a statement saying that
Tropical Depression Twelve had formed over the southeastern Bahamas.
-
August 24 morning - The storm
system is upgraded to Tropical Storm Katrina.
-
August 25 - The storm is
upgraded to become the fourth hurricane of the 2005 season.
First landfall
- 6:30PM - Katrina makes its first landfall in
Florida
as a Category 1 hurricane. At least 11 deaths in Florida are attributed
to the storm.
- Katrina is upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane.
- New Orleans Mayor
Ray
Nagin calls for a voluntary evacuation of the city. The emergency
plans rely on citizens to bring their own 3-day supply of food and water
to the
Superdome and Convention Center. Current Louisiana Emergency
Evacuation guidelines allow use of public school buses
[2]. It is currently disputed whether or not they were used to
transport the poor to the superdome.
[3]
- National Hurricane Director Max Mayfield and
President Bush call on Mayor Nagin to declare a mandatory evacuation.
[4] and
[5]
- Governor Blanco requests that President Bush declare
a major disaster for the State of Louisiana in a letter through FEMA
Region VI Director
[6] Gary Jones
[7]. In the 4-page letter, she makes specific requests under the
Stafford Act for aid (housing, counseling, unemployment, and Small
business funding) as well as requesting "direct Federal assistance for
work and services to save lives and protect property" (by removing
debris) and agrees to reduced liability but does not request federal
troops to be deployed in the state until August 31.[8]
Note, Blanco's letter was published on 27 August 2005 on Lexis Nexis but
was dated 28 August 2005. Bush received the letter on Saturday and
responded on that same day -- see
[9].
- In response to Governor Blanco's request,
President Bush declares a Federal state of emergency in Louisiana
under the authority of the
Stafford Act
[10]. The emergency declaration provides for federal assistance and
funding
[11] and assigns to FEMA, by law, the responsibility for
coordinating relief efforts
[12]. The declaration
[13] does not cover the parishes expected to receive the most
damage, like
Jefferson Parish and
New Orleans (Orleans
Parish). This was due to Governor Blanco not requesting same in her
request to President Bush. See[14]
- 12:40AM CDT - Katrina becomes a Category 4 hurricane.
- 10AM CDT -
National Weather Service issues a
bulletin predicting "devastating" damage.
- 10AM CDT - Mandatory evacuation is ordered for
New Orleans City by Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco[15]
after having been requested the previous day by National Hurricane
Director Max Mayfield and President George Bush. However, neither of
these sources are primary and other sources for this information seem to
be missing.
[16]. No public transportation is afforded the mostly poor citizens
contrary to what the disaster plans called for. However, 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,
although these are quickly overwhelmed.
- 1PM CDT - Katrina becomes a
Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained wind speeds of 175 mph
and gusts up to 215 mph. What normally takes 2 hours to drive to central
Louisiana, becomes a 10 hour crawl.
- President Bush declares a state of emergency in
Alabama
[17] and Mississippi
[18], and a major disaster in Florida
[19] under the authority of the
Stafford Act.
- President Bush meets in videoconference with National
Hurricane Director Max Mayfield to discuss hurricane Katrina while at
his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
[20]
[21]
Second landfall
- 6:10AM CDT - Katrina makes second landfall
near
Grand Isle, Louisiana as a Category 4 Hurricane, with maximum
sustained winds of 145 mph
- Katrina makes third landfall
near Louisiana/Mississippi border. NOAA records winds at Category 3
level.
- 8AM CDT - New Orleans: Rising water on both sides of
the Industrial Canal
[22].
- 10AM MST President Bush appears at the Pueblo El
Mirage RV Resort and Country Club in El Mirage, Arizona for a Medicare
event as the huricane makes second landfall.
[23] He adds, "I want to thank the governors of the affected regions
for mobilizing assets prior to the arrival of the storm to help citizens
avoid this devastating storm."
[24]
- 9AM CDT - New Orleans: 6-8 feet of water in the Lower
Ninth Ward
[25].
- 11AM CDT - New Orleans: 10 feet of water in St.
Bernard
[26].
- 2PM CDT - New Orleans officials publicly confirm 17th
Street Canal breach
[27].
- 3PM CDT - New Orleans Homeland Security Director
Terry Ebbertt said “Everybody who had a way or wanted to get out of the
way of this storm was able to."
[28]
- AP: "FEMA
director
Brown also urged local fire and rescue departments outside
Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi not to send trucks or emergency
workers into disaster areas without an explicit request for help from
state or local governments." Brown sought the approval from Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff five hours after landfall to
activate 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region. Brown
acknowledges that this process will take two days. Brown's memo to
Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic event" but
otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, "Thank
you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities."
[29]
[30]
- Brown defines role of requested assigned personnel
and additional aid from the Department of Homeland Security: "Establish
and maintain positive working relationships with disaster affected
communities and the citizens of those communities. Collect and
disseminate information and make referrals for appropriate assistance.
Identification of potential issues within the community and reporting to
appropriate personnel. Convey a positive image of disaster operations to
government officials, community organizations and the general public.
Perform outreach with community leaders on available Federal disaster
assistance."
[31]
- President Bush declares a major disaster for
Louisiana
[32], Mississippi
[33], and Alabama
[34] under the authority of the
Stafford Act.
Immediate aftermath
- 1:30AM CDT - CNN reports that a
levee on
the 17th Street Canal, which connects into
Lake Pontchartrain, suffered a two city-block wide breach. It is
later reported that a total of three levees are breached.
- Noon CDT - Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff becomes aware that the New Orleans levee breaches cannot be
plugged
[35].
- FEMA official Bill Lokey briefs the press that "I
don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up
like a bowl. That's just not happening."
[36]
- President Bush spends the day making a speech to
commemorate the ending of WWII at the North Island Naval Base in San
Diego
[37]
- 10PM CDT - New Orleans Mayor
Ray
Nagin announces that the planned sandbagging of the 17th Street
levee breach has failed.
- 80 percent of New Orleans is underwater.
- Many instances of looting, including looting by
police officers, reported in the city of New Orleans.
- Michael Chertoff, released a memo to other cabinet
members and the EPA stating "the President has established the `White
House Task Force on Hurricane Katrina Response.' He will meet with us
tomorrow to launch this effort." The memo also announced "I hereby
declare Hurricane Kartina an Incident of National Significance and
designate Michael Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness and
Response (EP&R), as Principal Federal Official (PFO) for incident
management purposes."
[38]
[39]
- FEMA refuses to allow volunteer firefighters into New
Orleans.
-
USS Bataan was positioned near
New Orleans prior to Katrina making landfall, and begins relief
operations.
- The
U.S. military moves additional ships and helicopters to the region
at the request of the FEMA. Hurricane Katrina gets downgraded to a
tropical depression.
[40]
- 10:00AM Governor Blanco finally makes the request for
President Bush to send Federal troops to help with evacuations and
rescues. She admits that she should have requested them much sooner.[41]
- President Bush heads back to Washington from
vacationing at
his ranch in
Crawford, Texas. Though he does not stop in Louisiana,
Air Force One flies low over the Gulf Coast so that he can view the
devastation.
[42]
- President Bush declares Gulf Coast a Public Health
Emergency.
[43]
- Governor
Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana orders that all of New Orleans,
including the Superdome, be evacuated.
- First
report of relief supplies delivered to Superdome.
- New Orleans's 1,500 member police force is ordered to
abandon search and rescue missions and turn their attention toward
controlling the widespread looting and a curfew is placed in effect.
Mayor Ray Nagin calls for increased federal assistance.
- The National Guard remain under their respective
governors' control, which enables them to provide law-enforcement
support in the affected regions -- something the Posse Comitatus Act
prohibits active-duty forces from doing within the United States.
[44]
- State workers begin work at closing 17th Street Canal
breach, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers adds resources to the task.
- 11PM EDT - U.S. government weather officials announce
that the center of the remnant low of what was Katrina has been
completely absorbed by a frontal boundary in southeastern Canada, with
no discernible circulation. The remnants of the hurricane cause roads in
northern Quebec to be sectioned by heavy rainfall, isolating the north
shore communities for several days.
- President Bush tells ABC's Diane Sawyer: "I fully
understand people wanting things to have happened yesterday"
(ABC)
- A 50 member Canadian search-and-rescue team from
Vancouver reached a flooded New Orleans suburb to help save trapped
residents (the Canadians arrive 5 days before the U.S. military does
according to Louisiana State Senator Walter Boasso)
[45]
- National Guardsmen accompanied by buses (475 in all)
and supply trucks arrived at the Superdome.
- A day after the National Guard out of Camp Beauregard
began delivering food, water and ice in New Orleans, the national
president of the American Red Cross, Marsha Evans, requests to pass out
food and water to those taking shelter at the Superdome. The Red Cross
is rebuffed by state officials because of concerns over logistical
difficulties.
[46] The state officials did not want to provide residents an
incentive to stay inside the city during an evacuation.
- Knight Ridder Newspapers reports "few buses" arrived
at Superdome, and about 5,000 refugees made it by bus to Houston's
Astrodome.[47]
- The shelter in Houston's Astrodome is ruled full and
could not accept any more people.
- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
announces that 4,200 National Guard troops trained as military police
will be deployed to New Orleans over the next three days. Louisiana Gov.
Kathleen Blanco requests the mobilization of 40,000 National Guard
troops.
- California swift water rescue crew units each rescue
hundreds in Orleans and Jefferson parishes.
[48]
- FEMA halts California swift water rescue crews from
conducting further rescues, citing safety concerns.
[49]
- DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff is informed by NPR's
Robert Siegel during an interview on All Things Considered that 2000
people are at the New Orleans Convention Center with no food or water.
Chertoff has no knowledge of the situation, and initially dismisses it
as a rumor: "I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the
Convention Center who don't have food and water. "
[50]
- Ted Koppel on ABC News Nightline interviews FEMA
Director Brown who declares that FEMA only became aware of crisis at the
Convention Center on this date. Koppel questions how FEMA could not have
known that 1,000s were without food, water, or toilets for days.
[51]
- Sealing of 17th Street Canal from lake with sheet
pilings begins, while closing breach continues.
- The Bush administration sent Gov. Blanco a proposed
legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the
evacuation of New Orleans. Louisiana officials rejected the request
after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be
comparable to a federal declaration of martial law.
[52] This matter may also have been discussed by Pres. Bush and Gov.
Blanco in phone conversations or a meeting aboard
Air Force One.
- Sheet piling blocks water flow into 17th Street
Canal, making closure of breach not relevant to city flooding; work on
closing breach continues for purposes of pumping.
- Singer Kanye West goes off-script on NBC's "Concert
for Hurricane Relief" and says, "George Bush doesn't care about black
people."
[53]
- The Superdome is completely evacuated.
Second week aftermath
- 17th Street Canal breach closed with truckloads of
rock and sandbags. Canal reopened so it can be used for pumping water
out of city.
- Forced evacuation of New Orleans ordered by mayor.
- "Hundreds of firefighters who volunteered to help
rescue victims have instead been playing cards, taking classes on the
history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and lounging at an
Atlanta airport hotel for days while they await orders." Some had been
waiting for four days.
[54]
[55]
- Some firefighters handed their first assignment: "to
stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas."
[56]
- Senator
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) calls for
Michael D. Brown's resignation. Representative
Nancy Pelosi and Senator
Harry Reid begin to voice criticism of the disaster's handling, and
of the Bush administration's management, delegation of control,
leadership, and human consideration.
[57]
-
NBC news crew prevented from
filming National Guard activities in New Orleans, and a police officer
points her weapon at members of the media.
[58]
- President Bush issued an executive order suspending
the
Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, allowing federal contractors rebuilding
after Katrina to pay below the prevailing wage.
Third week aftermath
- 45 more bodies were found in the flooded-out Memorial
Medical Center in New Orleans. At this time, this is the largest cluster
of corpses to be discovered in post-Katrina New Orleans. With this,
Louisiana's death toll rises to nearly 280
[60].
Parallel political timeline
President of the
United States,
George W. Bush's response to
Hurricane Katrina.
Before landfall
- Tuesday,
August 23 - The U.S.
National Hurricane Center (NHC) issues a statement saying that
Tropical Depression Twelve had formed over the southeastern Bahamas.
- Thursday,
August 25 - The storm is upgraded to
become the fiurth hurricane of the 2005 season.
First landfall
- 6:30PM - Katrina makes its first landfall in
Florida
as a Category 1 hurricane. At least 11 deaths in Florida are attributed
to the storm.
- 10AM CDT -
National Weather Service issues a bulletin predicting "devastating"
damage.[62]
- 10AM CDT - Mandatory evacuation is ordered for
New Orleans City.
- 1PM CDT - Katrina becomes a Category 5 hurricane with
a highest sustained wind speed of 175 mph and gusts up to 215 mph.
Second landfall
President George W. Bush meets victims of Hurricane
Katrina on September 2, 2005, during his tour of Biloxi.
- 6:10AM CDT - Katrina makes second landfall
near
Grand Isle, Louisiana as a Category 4 Hurricane, with maximum
sustained winds of 145 mph
- Morning (prior to 10AM MST) - President Bush shares
birthday photo-op at Luke AFB in Arizona with Senator
John McCain
[63]
- 10AM MST President Bush urges citizens affected by
Katrina to continue to listen to local authorities during his appearance
at the Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort and Country Club in El Mirage, Arizona
for a Medicare event as the huricane makes second landfall.
[64]
- At the event in El Mirage, Bush also mentioned a
conversation with Michael Chertoff:
"I spoke to Mike Chertoff today -- he's the head of the
Department of Homeland Security. I knew people would want me to discuss
this issue, so we got us an airplane on -- a telephone on Air Force One,
so I called him. I said, are you working with the governor? He said, you
bet we are. That's the most effective way to do things, is to work with
the state and local authorities. There are more resources that will be
available, we'll have more folks on the border; there will be more
detention space to make sure that those who are stopped trying to
illegally enter our country are able to be detained."
[65]
-
Air Force One flyover the Gulf
Coast, pilot descends for the President to take a glimpse at the
devastation. He then returns to the White House, ending his vacation
prematurely.
[68]
- Bush gives an interview with ABC television saying
I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did
appreciate a serious storm but these levees got breached and as a result
much of New Orleans is flooded and now we're having to deal with it and
will.
[69]
The levees were designed for a Category 3 hurricane.
Officials are on record as stating that water pouring over the top of the
levees was to be expected. President Bush correctly stated a levee failure
was not. It should be noted that as Katrina made landfall, and approached
New Orleans, the National Hurricane Center reports Katrina was weakening
and was a Category 3 at her second landfall: "MAKING LANDFALL IN
PLAQUEMINES PARISH LOUISIANA JUST SOUTH OF BURAS WITH 140 MPH
WINDS...CATEGORY 4...AT 610 AM CDT ON 29 AUGUST. CONTINUING
NORTHWARD...KATRINA MADE A SECOND LANDFALL NEAR THE LOUISIANA/MISSISSIPPI
BORDER AT 1000 AM CDT...WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF NEAR 125 MPH...CATEGORY 3."
[70]
- Bush declares Gulf Coast a Public Health Emergency
[71]
- U.S. Senate passes a relief package.
- Bush signs the $10.5 billion relief package after
Congress passed it.
[72]
- Bush tours the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast, saying
that he is ordering additional active duty forces to the region. He also
authorizes a drawdown of oil from the
Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
[73]
Second week aftermath
Third week aftermath
- FEMA director
Michael Brown resigns from the department for "the best interest of
the agency and the best interest of the president".
[74]
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