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by wildmap at democrats.com
Created 2005-09-10 14:34
Timeline shows the depths of callousness
Bush & Co. displayed after Katrina hit
For further proof of what a sorry, callous,
shitty response the Bush administration made to Hurricane Katrina, check
the following timeline.
Bush & Co. were warned days in advance, and still Bush stayed on his
five-week vacation and focused on ignoring the wishes of a mother of a
soldier who died in Iraq to meet him.
The day after the hurricane hit, killing more than 1,000 people and
leaving thousands more stranded and in danger of dying, Bush spoke about
immigration with his Department of Homeland Security director and at a
public forum in Arizona, did a birthday cake photo op, and attended at
least one political fund-raiser on the West Coast, more than a thousand
miles from the Gulf Coast. The next day, Bush tried to play guitar with a
country singer as more people in New Orleans died.
Bush didn’t even call for a task force to work on the federal response to
the disaster until a full two days after the hurricane hit. In his first
major address on the crisis three days after Katrina hit, Bush “seemed
casual to the point of carelessness” and did not seem to understand the
depth of the problem, according to news reports.
Meanwhile, Bush administration officials like Secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice spent the days after the hurricane hit going shopping in
New York for shoes that cost several thousand dollars and seeing a
Broadway show and the U.S. Open. Vice President Dick Cheney was missing in
action and believed to be finalizing the purchase of a $2.9 million
mansion in Maryland. And Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld took in a
San Diego Padres baseball game.
Five days after the hurricane hit, when the criticism of Bush’s response
to Katrina even reached the inner sanctum of the White House, Bush
unleashed his campaign hatchet nazi Karl Rove to try to blame the slow
response on Louisiana officials. Bush claimed no one knew the levees would
break, despite reports from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and New
Orleans for years that would occur. In 2002, Bush’s head of the Army Corps
even resigned in frustration partly due to Bush’s budget cuts for flood
control.
The message to this story? If you are hit by a major disaster and clinging
to your life as floodwaters threaten to drown you in your home, don’t
expect any help from the Bush administration. Bush & Co. are too busy
going on vacation, attending sporting events, shopping for expensive shoes
and homes and trying to hide from the mother of a son killed in a war they
started to further their dreams of empire.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
KATRINA, A LEVEL ONE HURRICANE, HITS SOUTHERN FLORIDA, GENERATING HEAVY
FLOODING AND KILLING AT LEAST SEVEN [from The Associated Press].
Friday, August 26
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA AS KATRINA
PICKS UP SIGNIFICANT SPEED AS IT HEADS TOWARDS THAT STATE: [Office of the
Governor].
GULF COAST STATES REQUEST TROOP ASSISTANCE FROM PENTAGON: At a Sept. 1
press conference, Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, commander of the Katrina Joint
Task Force, said that the Gulf States began the process of requesting
additional forces on Friday, Aug. 26 [DOD].
Saturday, August 27
5 a.m. — KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE: [CNN].
GOV. BLANCO ASKS BUSH TO DECLARE FEDERAL STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA:
“I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude
that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and
affected local governments, and that supplementary federal assistance is
necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or
to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster [Office of the Governor].”
FEDERAL EMERGENCY DECLARED, DHS AND FEMA GIVEN FULL AUTHORITY TO RESPOND
TO KATRINA: “Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and
provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate
the impacts of the emergency [White House].”
Sunday, August 28
2 a.m. – KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE: [CNN].
7 a.m. – KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE: [CNN].
LOUISIANA NEWSPAPER SIGNALS LEVEES MAY GIVE: “Forecasters feared Sunday
afternoon
that storm driven waters will lap over the New Orleans levees when monster
Hurricane Katrina pushes past the Crescent City tomorrow [Lafayette Daily
Advertiser].”
9:30 a.m. — MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES FIRST-EVER MANDATORY EVACUATION OF NEW
ORLEANS, A CITY WITH ABOUT 500,000 RESIDENTS: “We’re facing the storm most
of us have feared,” said Nagin. “This is going to be an unprecedented
event [Times-Picayune].”
4 p.m. – NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ISSUES SPECIAL HURRICANE WARNING: In the
event of a category 4 or 5 hit, “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. …Power outages will last for weeks. …
Water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards
[National Weather Service].”
AFTERNOON — BUSH, FEMA DIRECTOR BROWN, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
SECRETARY CHERTOFF WARNED OF LEVEE FAILURE BY NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER
DIRECTOR: Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center
said, “We were briefing them way before landfall. … It’s not like this was
a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped
[Times-Picayune; St. Petersburg Times].”
LATE EVENING – REPORTS OF WATER TOPPLING OVER LEVEE: “Waves crashed atop
the exercise path on the Lake Pontchartrain levee in Kenner early Monday
as Katrina churned closer [Times-Picayune].”
APPROXIMATELY 30,000 EVACUEES GATHER AT SUPERDOME WITH ROUGHLY 36 HOURS
WORTH OF FOOD: [Times-Picayune].
Monday, August 29
5 a.m. – KATRINA ROARS INTO LOUISIANA WITH WINDS UP TO 150 MPH. IT PASSES
INTO MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA: [CNN].
8 a.m. – MAYOR NAGIN REPORTS THAT WATER IS FLOWING OVER LEVEE: “I’ve
gotten reports this morning that there is already water coming over some
of the levee systems. In the lower ninth ward, we’ve had one of our
pumping stations to stop operating, so we will have significant flooding,
it is just a matter of how much. [NBC’s Today Show].”
MORNING — BUSH CALLS SECRETARY CHERTOFF TO DISCUSS NOT KATRINA, BUT
IMMIGRATION: “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 [immigration], 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 [White House].’”
MORNING – BUSH SHARES BIRTHDAY CAKE PHOTO-OP WITH SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: [White
House].
11 a.m. — BUSH VISITS ARIZONA RESORT TO PROMOTE MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT:
“This new bill I signed says, if you’re a senior and you like the way
things are today, you’re in good shape, don’t change [White House].”
LATE MORNING – LEVEE BREACHED: “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 [Times-Picayune].”
FEMA PUTS OUT A NEWS RELEASE LISTING THE PRO-ASSASSINATION REV. PAT
ROBERTSON’S OPERATION BLESSING AS ONE OF THE TOP ORGANIZATIONS TO WHICH TO
GIVE CASH DONATIONS FOR KATRINA VICTIMS: “It’s important that volunteer
response is coordinated by the professionals who can direct volunteers
with the appropriate skills to the hardest-hit areas where they are needed
most,” said Brown. …. Here is a list of phone numbers set up solely for
cash donations and/or volunteers. Donate cash to: American Red Cross,
America’s Second Harvest, Humane Society of the United States, Operation
Blessing…[FEMA news release].”
11:30 a.m. — MICHAEL BROWN FINALLY REQUESTS THAT DHS DISPATCH 1,000
EMPLOYEES TO REGION, GIVES THEM TWO DAYS TO ARRIVE: “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 [AP].’”
2 p.m. — BUSH TRAVELS TO CALIFORNIA SENIOR CENTER TO DISCUSS MEDICARE DRUG
BENEFIT: “We’ve got some folks up here who are concerned about their
Social Security or Medicare [White House].”
9 p.m. — RUMSFELD ATTENDS SAN DIEGO PADRES BASEBALL GAME: Rumsfeld “joined
Padres President John Moores in the owner’s box…at Petco Park [Editor &
Publisher].”
BUSH ATTENDS REPUBLICAN FUND-RAISER IN SAN DIEGO: [Associated Press].
Tuesday, August 30
9 a.m. – BUSH ADMITS IRAQ INVASION RELATES TO OIL AT NAVAL BASE IN
CALIFORNIA: “President Bush on Tuesday answered growing anti-war protests
with a fresh reason for American troops to continue fighting in Iraq:
protection of the country’s vast oil fields that he said would otherwise
fall into the control of terrorist extremists [Associated Press].”
MIDDAY – CHERTOFF FINALLY BECOMES AWARE THAT LEVEE HAS FAILED: “It was on
Tuesday that the levee – may have been overnight Monday to Tuesday – that
the levee started to break. And it was midday Tuesday that I became aware
of the fact that there was no possibility of plugging the gap and that
essentially the lake was going to start to drain into the city [Meet the
Press, Sept. 4, 2005].”
PENTAGON CLAIMS THERE ARE ENOUGH NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS IN REGION:
“Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the states have adequate
National Guard units to handle the hurricane needs [WWL-TV].”
MASS LOOTING REPORTED, SECURITY SHORTAGE CITED: “The looting is out of
control. The French Quarter has been attacked,” Councilwoman Jackie
Clarkson said. “We’re using exhausted, scarce police to control looting
when they should be used for search and rescue while we still have people
on rooftops [Associated Press].”
U.S.S. BATAAN SITS OFF SHORE, VIRTUALLY UNUSED: “The USS Bataan, a
844-foot ship designed to dispatch Marines in amphibious assaults, has
helicopters, doctors, hospital beds, food and water. It also can make its
own water, up to 100,000 gallons a day. And it just happened to be in the
Gulf of Mexico when Katrina came roaring ashore. The Bataan rode out the
storm and then followed it toward shore, awaiting relief orders.
Helicopter pilots flying from its deck were some of the first to begin
plucking stranded New Orleans residents. But now the Bataan’s hospital
facilities, including six operating rooms and beds for 600 patients, are
empty [Chicago Tribune].”
3 p.m. – BUSH TRIES TO PLAY GUITAR WITH COUNTRY SINGER MARK WILLIS: In the
photo, Willis looks like he’s trying to take the guitar back before Bush
hurts himself [AP].
EVENING – BUSH RETURNS TO TEXAS FOR FINAL NIGHT OF VACATION BEFORE FLYING
TO HIS OFFICE ON WEDNESDAY: [AP].
Wednesday, August 31
TENS OF THOUSANDS TRAPPED IN SUPERDOME; CONDITIONS DETERIORATE: “A
2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom.
Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers. ‘We
pee on the floor. We are like animals,’ said Taffany Smith, 25, as she
cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. … By Wednesday, it had degenerated into
horror. … At least two people, including a child, have been raped. At
least three people have died, including one man who jumped 50 feet to his
death, saying he had nothing left to live for. There is no sanitation. The
stench is overwhelming [The Los Angeles Times].’”
BUSH FINALLY ORGANIZES TASK FORCE TO COORDINATE FEDERAL RESPONSE: Bush
flies to Washington to “begin work…with a task force that will coordinate
the work of 14 federal agencies involved in the relief effort [“Th New
York Times_].”
JEFFERSON PARISH EMERGENCY DIRECTOR SAYS FOOD AND WATER SUPPLY GONE:
“Director Walter Maestri: FEMA and national agencies not delivering the
help nearly as fast as it is needed [WWL-TV].”
80,000 BELIEVED STRANDED IN NEW ORLEANS: Former Mayor Sidney Barthelemy
“estimated 80,000 were trapped in the flooded city and urged President
Bush to send more troops [Reuters].”
3,000 STRANDED AT CONVENTION CENTER WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER: “With 3,000 or
more evacuees stranded at the convention center — and with no apparent
contingency plan or authority to deal with them — collecting a body was no
one’s priority. … Some had been at the convention center since Tuesday
morning but had received no food, water or instructions [Times-Picayune].”
5 p.m. — BUSH GIVES FIRST MAJOR ADDRESS ON KATRINA: “Nothing about the
president’s demeanor… — which seemed casual to the point of carelessness —
suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis [The New York
Times].”
8 p.m. – CONDOLEEZZA RICE TAKES IN A BROADWAY SHOW: “On Wednesday night,
Secretary Rice was booed by some audience members at Spamalot!, the Monty
Python musical, at the Shubert, when the lights went up after the
performance [New York Post].”
9 p.m. — FEMA DIRECTOR BROWN CLAIMS SURPRISE OVER SIZE OF STORM: “I must
say, this storm is much, much bigger than anyone expected [CNN].”
CHENEY REMAINS ON VACATION IN WYOMING: The vice president has not said a
word publicly about Katrina as he remained on vacation all week in
Wyoming. Reports showed that Cheney was also finalizing the purchase of a
$2.9 million mansion in Maryland near Rumsfeld’s mansion. The nine-acre
estate includes “ornamental pools and extensive gardens,” according to
news reports. Cheney was not even expected to visit the Gulf Coast until
Sept. 8 [Salon].
Thursday, September 1
8AM — BUSH CLAIMS NO ONE EXPECTED LEVEES TO BREAK: “I don’t think anybody
anticipated the breach of the levees.” That was despite warnings for years
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the levees could break
[Washington Post].
CONDOLEEZZA RICE VISITS U.S. OPEN: “Rice, [in New York] on three days’
vacation to shop and see the U.S. Open, hitting some balls with retired
champ Monica Seles at the Indoor Tennis Club at Grand
Central [New York Post].”
STILL NO COMMAND AND CONTROL ESTABLISHED: Terry Ebbert, New Orleans
Homeland Security Director: “This is a national emergency. This is a
national disgrace. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command
and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we
can’t bail out the city of New Orleans [Fox News].”
2 p.m. — MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES “DESPERATE SOS” TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: “This
is a desperate SOS. Right now, we are out of resources at the convention
center and don’t anticipate enough buses. We need buses. Currently, the
convention center is unsanitary and unsafe, and we’re running out of
supplies [Guardian].”
MICHAEL BROWN CLAIMS NOT TO HAVE HEARD OF REPORTS OF VIOLENCE: “I’ve had
no reports of unrest, if the connotation of the word unrest means that
people are beginning to riot, or you know, they’re banging on walls and
screaming and hollering or burning tires or whatever. I’ve had no reports
of that [CNN].”
NEW ORLEANS DESCENDS INTO ‘ANARCHY:’ “Storm victims were raped and beaten,
fights and fires broke out, corpses lay out in the open, and rescue
helicopters and law enforcement officers were shot at as flooded-out New
Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday. ‘This is a desperate SOS,’ the
mayor said [AP].”
CONDOLEEZZA RICE GOES SHOE SHOPPING: “Just moments ago at the Ferragamo on
5th Avenue, Condoleeza Rice was seen spending several thousands of dollars
on some nice, new shoes [we’ve confirmed this, so her new heels will
surely get coverage from the WaPo’s Robin Givhan]. A fellow shopper,
unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the secretary
of state and reportedly shouted, ‘How dare you shop for shoes while
thousands are dying and homeless!’ Rice reportedly had the woman thrown
out of the store by security [Manhattan Gawker].”
MICHAEL BROWN FINALLY LEARNS OF EVACUEES IN CONVENTION CENTER: “We learned
about that (Thursday), so I have directed that we have all available
resources to get that convention center to make sure that they have the
food and water and medical care that they need [CNN].”
U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER DENNIS HASTERT [R-ILL.] HINTS AT NO FEDERAL MONEY TO
REBUILD NEW ORLEANS: “It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to
rebuild a city that’s seven feet under sea level, House Speaker Dennis
Hastert said of federal assistance for hurricane-devastated New Orleans
[The Associated Press].”
Friday, September 2
MORNING – ROVE-LED CAMPAIGN TO BLAME LOCAL OFFICIALS BEGINS: “Under the
command of President Bush’s two senior political advisers, the White House
rolled out a plan…to contain the political damage from the
administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina.” Bush’s comments from the
Rose Garden Friday morning formed “the start of this campaign [New York
Times].”
9:35 a.m. — BUSH PRAISES MICHAEL BROWN: “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a
job [White House].”
10 a.m. — BUSH STAGES PHOTO-OP ‘BRIEFING:’ Coast Guard helicopters and
crew diverted to act as backdrop for Bush’s photo-op.
BUSH VISIT DELAYS FOOD AID: “Three tons of food ready for delivery by air
to refugees in St. Bernard Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent
City Connection bridge Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because
of President Bush’s visit to New Orleans, officials said
[Times-Picayune].”
LEVEE REPAIR WORK ORCHESTRATED FOR BUSH’S VISIT: Louisiana Sen. Mary
Landrieu said, “Touring this critical site yesterday with the president, I
saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on
a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again
this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday
we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a presidential photo
opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning
reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment [Sen. Mary Landrieu].”
BUSH USES 50 FIREFIGHTERS AS PROPS IN DISASTER AREA PHOTO-OP: A group of
1,000 firefighters convened in Atlanta to volunteer with the Katrina
relief efforts. Of those, “a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered
onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew’s first assignment: to stand
beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas [Salt Lake Tribune;
Reuters].”
3 p.m. — BUSH ‘SATISFIED’ WITH THE RESPONSE: “I am satisfied with the
response. I am not satisfied with all the results [AP].”
Saturday, September 3
EARLY MORNING – SENIOR BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL LIES TO WASHINGTON
POST, CLAIMS GOV. BLANCO NEVER DECLARED STATE OF EMERGENCY: The Post
reported in its Sunday edition, ‘As of Saturday, Blanco still had not
declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.’ The White
House was forced to issue a correction hours later [Washington Post].”
9 a.m. — BUSH SAYS HE DOESN’T WANT TO PLAY ‘BLAME GAME,’ THEN BLAMES STATE
AND LOCAL OFFICIALS: ”[T]he magnitude of responding to a crisis over a
disaster area that is larger than the size of Great Britain has created
tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities. The
result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they
need [White House].”
Sunday, September 4
10 a.m. – LOUISIANA OFFICIAL TELLS NATIONAL TELEVISION AUDIENCE ABOUT
STATE BEING ABANDONED BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, ELDERLY WOMAN WHO DROWNED
WAITING FOR HELP FOR FIVE DAYS: “Jefferson Parish, La., President Aaron
Broussard told a heartbreaking story Sunday of a woman who pleaded for
help, but drowned before it came…..On NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ Sunday
morning, Broussard complained bitterly about the slow federal response to
the New Orleans flood, demanding investigations and resignations. ‘We have
been abandoned by our own country,’ Broussard said. ‘Whoever is at the top
of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chain-sawed off, and we’ve
got to start with some new leadership.’…Then the parish president put the
tragedy on a personal level. He said the man who runs the building where
he is based spoke every day last week to his mother, who was trapped in a
nursing home in St. Bernard, near the city. ‘Every day she called him and
said, `Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?’ And he said, `Yeah, Mama,
somebody’s coming to get you. Somebody’s coming to get you on Tuesday.
Somebody’s coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on
Thursday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Friday.’ Breaking into sobs,
Broussard said, ‘And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night
[The Dallas Morning News].’”
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