Jump to content
Washington Football Team Logo
Extremeskins
Forum Rules and Guidelines

Tape: Bush, Chertoff Warned Before Katrina

Baculus

By Baculus
in The Tailgate

Recommended Posts

Baculus

Baculus

Posted
Posted

Tape: Bush, Chertoff Warned Before Katrina

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060301/ap_on_go_pr_wh/katrina_video

By MARGARET EBRAHIM and JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writers 2 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned

President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.

Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."

The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press — show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.

Linked by secure video, Bush's confidence on Aug. 28 starkly contrasts with the dire warnings his disaster chief and a cacophony of federal, state and local officials provided during the four days before the storm.

A top hurricane expert voiced "grave concerns" about the levees and then-

Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown told the president and

Homeland Security Secretary

Michael Chertoff that he feared there weren't enough disaster teams to help evacuees at the Superdome.

"I'm concerned about ... their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe," Brown told his bosses the afternoon before Katrina made landfall.

Some of the footage and transcripts from briefings Aug. 25-31 conflicts with the defenses that federal, state and local officials have made in trying to deflect blame and minimize the political fallout from the failed Katrina response:

_Homeland Security officials have said the "fog of war" blinded them early on to the magnitude of the disaster. But the video and transcripts show federal and local officials discussed threats clearly, reviewed long-made plans and understood Katrina would wreak devastation of historic proportions. "I'm sure it will be the top 10 or 15 when all is said and done,"

National Hurricane Center's Max Mayfield warned the day Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast.

"I don't buy the `fog of war' defense," Brown told the AP in an interview Wednesday. "It was a fog of bureaucracy."

_Bush declared four days after the storm, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" that gushed deadly flood waters into New Orleans. But the transcripts and video show there was plenty of talk about that possibility — and Bush was worried too.

White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Brown discussed fears of a levee breach the day the storm hit.

"I talked to the president twice today, once in Crawford and then again on Air Force One," Brown said. "He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome, he's asking questions about reports of breaches."

_Louisiana officials angrily blamed the federal government for not being prepared but the transcripts shows they were still praising FEMA as the storm roared toward the Gulf Coast and even two days afterward. "I think a lot of the planning FEMA has done with us the past year has really paid off," Col. Jeff Smith, Louisiana's emergency preparedness deputy director, said during the Aug. 28 briefing.

It wasn't long before Smith and other state officials sounded overwhelmed.

"We appreciate everything that you all are doing for us, and all I would ask is that you realize that what's going on and the sense of urgency needs to be ratcheted up," Smith said Aug. 30.

Mississippi begged for more attention in that same briefing.

"We know that there are tens or hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana that need to be rescued, but we would just ask you, we desperately need to get our share of assets because we'll have people dying — not because of water coming up, but because we can't get them medical treatment in our affected counties," said a Mississippi state official whose name was not mentioned on the tape.

Video footage of the Aug. 28 briefing, the final one before Katrina struck, showed an intense Brown voicing concerns from the government's disaster operation center and imploring colleagues to do whatever was necessary to help victims.

"We're going to need everything that we can possibly muster, not only in this state and in the region, but the nation, to respond to this event," Brown warned. He called the storm "a bad one, a big one" and implored federal agencies to cut through red tape to help people, bending rules if necessary.

"Go ahead and do it," Brown said. "I'll figure out some way to justify it. ... Just let them yell at me."

Bush appeared from a narrow, windowless room at his vacation ranch in Texas, with his elbows on a table. Hagin was sitting alongside him. Neither asked questions in the Aug. 28 briefing.

"I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal after the storm," the president said.

A relaxed Chertoff, sporting a polo shirt, weighed in from Washington at Homeland Security's operations center. He would later fly to Atlanta, outside of Katrina's reach, for a bird flu event.

One snippet captures a missed opportunity on Aug. 28 for the government to have dispatched active-duty military troops to the region to augment the National Guard.

Chertoff: "Are there any DOD assets that might be available? Have we reached out to them?"

Brown: "We have DOD assets over here at EOC (emergency operations center). They are fully engaged. And we are having those discussions with them now."

Chertoff: "Good job."

In fact, active duty troops weren't dispatched until days after the storm. And many states' National Guards had yet to be deployed to the region despite offers of assistance, and it took days before the

Pentagon deployed active-duty personnel to help overwhelmed Guardsmen.

The National Hurricane Center's Mayfield told the final briefing before Katrina struck that storm models predicted minimal flooding inside New Orleans during the hurricane but he expressed concerns that counterclockwise winds and storm surges afterward could cause the levees at Lake Pontchartrain to be overrun.

"I don't think any model can tell you with any confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not but that is obviously a very, very grave concern," Mayfield told the briefing.

Other officials expressed concerns about the large number of New Orleans residents who had not evacuated.

"They're not taking patients out of hospitals, taking prisoners out of prisons and they're leaving hotels open in downtown New Orleans. So I'm very concerned about that," Brown said.

Despite the concerns, it ultimately took days for search and rescue teams to reach some hospitals and nursing homes.

Brown also told colleagues one of his top concerns was whether evacuees who went to the New Orleans Superdome — which became a symbol of the failed Katrina response — would be safe and have adequate medical care.

"The Superdome is about 12 feet below sea level.... I don't know whether the roof is designed to stand, withstand a Category Five hurricane," he said.

Brown also wanted to know whether there were enough federal medical teams in place to treat evacuees and the dead in the Superdome.

"Not to be (missing) kind of gross here," Brown interjected, "but I'm concerned" about the medical and mortuary resources "and their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe."

**************************************************

What is Bush's issue with making one statement when the exact opposite is true? For example, from the article: 'Bush declared four days after the storm, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" that gushed deadly flood waters into New Orleans. But the transcripts and video show there was plenty of talk about that possibility — and Bush was worried too.'

He blantantly avoided the truth when he denied that "no one" could have anticipated the levees breaking. Why wouldn't he be honest in this case? This reminds me of, after 9-11, when Bush said that "no one" could have imagined planes flying into the WTC, when in fact the military and other agencies had conducted exercises with this exact scenario, and, in fact, that scenario was being run in a military exercise the morning of 9-11.

I have really lost most semblence of believing Bush, and I have been trying.

Now, I am not trying to connect 9-11 and the Katrina incident, other than to decribe Bush's seeming insistence to either be less than honest or avoid blame by speaking the truth, such as "Yes, we had discussed the levees breaking, but we did not react in the manner that we should have. A lot of us blew it."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cjcdaman

cjcdaman

Posted
Posted
Except the president and everyone he works with.

Sorry man, but it is one of the laws of our country that no one at the federal level can just send people in to take over a city or state in times like Katrina unless requested by state and/or local officials. Guess what. The governor and Mayor Nagin NEVER asked for any help before Katrina. MY question to you is, "What do you think Bush should have done?" It's very simple to Monday morning quarterback.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PleaseBlitz

PleaseBlitz

Posted
Posted
Sorry man, but it is one of the laws of our country that no one at the federal level can just send people in to take over a city or state in times like Katrina unless requested by state and/or local officials. Guess what. The governor and Mayor Nagin NEVER asked for any help before Katrina. MY question to you is, "What do you think Bush should have done?" It's very simple to Monday morning quarterback.

Seriously man, its so simple. All the president had to do was stop a hurricane. :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Commander PK

Commander PK

Posted
Posted
Sorry man, but it is one of the laws of our country that no one at the federal level can just send people in to take over a city or state in times like Katrina unless requested by state and/or local officials. Guess what. The governor and Mayor Nagin NEVER asked for any help before Katrina. MY question to you is, "What do you think Bush should have done?" It's very simple to Monday morning quarterback.

It's no use man, don't bother. Your not going to slow the train that just keeps-on-a rollin... Bush is the anti-christ, and the father of all un-holy things. One day he's going to be giving a press conference, and his eyeballs are going to pop out of his skull, and he will start shooting flames out of his eyesockets burning all the journalists alive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
visionary

visionary

Posted
Posted
Obviously we need an immediate full-blown investigation into whoever broke the law by releasing these tapes, which clearly will cripple our ability to deal with hurricanes in the future.

Nah, it was just Scooter Libby again. He got it mixed up with his selfmade Grizzlyman porn tape that he was trying to send to the papers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SUNSTONE

SUNSTONE

Posted
Posted

Maybe those punks shooting at helicopters and rescue workers had something to do with the government not stepping in sooner.

I have seen cops bust up punks who run their mouths, maybe this is the same thing?

But either way, help was slow for florida as well, so if you want to be fair, that's fair.

They were told "Get out or you will die!" over and over and over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chief skin

Chief skin

Posted
Posted
Why did Bush lie about the levies after Katrina? I don't think anyone expected him to stop the hurricane, but is it too much to ask for our President to tell the truth, or at least, not tell lies?

It is sad the guy is totally clueless and stupid, and he thinks we are as stupid as he is. He knows he is being taped before the storm hit and on the tape he is being told that the LEVIE'S GONNA BREAK then he makes a speech telling us that no one knew that it could happen. Amazing he is on tape being informed then he goes on tape and lies to us. caught red handed From This point on the media shoud just label it the white lie house. This administration is a DISGRACE, 250 days until november elections and we can throw the bums who support this incompetent nonsense out

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Barney B

Barney B

Posted
Posted
Sorry man, but it is one of the laws of our country that no one at the federal level can just send people in to take over a city or state in times like Katrina unless requested by state and/or local officials. Guess what. The governor and Mayor Nagin NEVER asked for any help before Katrina. MY question to you is, "What do you think Bush should have done?" It's very simple to Monday morning quarterback.

Here's what good managers do:

-Place a telephone call to those people in positions of responsibility (in this case, the governor and mayor)

-Apprise these people of the situation

-Ask them if they require assistance

-Warn them of the potential risks

-Document everything (to cover your own ***)

If the president's people did all this, then I have no complaint about their actions. If not, well, at least let's hope that they learned from their mistakes. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ancalagon the Black

Ancalagon the Black

Posted
Posted

Let's be clear on this.

No one expected Bush to stop the hurricane.

No one expected Bush to declare martial law and evacuate New Orleans.

No one expected Bush to go in there and save everyone's lives.

What we do expect is consistent truth from the presidency. Instead, we get this:

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm. But these levees got breached. And as a result, much of New Orleans is flooded. And now we are having to deal with it and will."

That's from his interview with Diane Sawyer. Here's a link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/09/01/BL2005090100915.html. Here's another one: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4204754.stm.

Bush received a briefing that explicitly said the levees could break.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...