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curmudgeon:
The big disconnect on New Orleans The official version vs. the reality on the ground.
And seriously, don't forget the classic disconnect from the President himself, talking on NPR September 1st:
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breaking of the levees, I don't think anybody anticipated such a severe storm."
Let's take part two first: "...I don't think anybody anticipated such a severe storm."
Karina hit Florida as a Cat. 2 hurricane, and once in the Gulf went up to a Cat. 4. A full day before hitting New Orleans, she went Cat. 5. She dropped to "only" Cat. 4 just before making landfall.
Given the amount of news coverage, I would have to guess that Bush was the only one not aware of how severe a storm was coming.
Back to part one: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breaking of the levees"
Ever single study of the situation in the past few decades predicted levy failure. The city and state governments were predicting it before the hurricane hit, based on these years of studies. (There is not ONE study that has said this wouldn't happen.) It wasn't just reported in the scientific literature - mainstream publications have been bringing the details to the public for years. A couple of those with the widest reach:
curmudgeon:The big disconnect on New Orleans The official version vs. the reality on the ground.
And seriously, don't forget the classic disconnect from the President himself, talking on NPR September 1st:
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breaking of the levees, I don't think anybody anticipated such a severe storm."
Let's take part two first: "...I don't think anybody anticipated such a severe storm."
Karina hit Florida as a Cat. 2 hurricane, and once in the Gulf went up to a Cat. 4. A full day before hitting New Orleans, she went Cat. 5. She dropped to "only" Cat. 4 just before making landfall.
Given the amount of news coverage, I would have to guess that Bush was the only one not aware of how severe a storm was coming.
Back to part one: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breaking of the levees"
Ever single study of the situation in the past few decades predicted levy failure. The city and state governments were predicting it before the hurricane hit, based on these years of studies. (There is not ONE study that has said this wouldn't happen.) It wasn't just reported in the scientific literature - mainstream publications have been bringing the details to the public for years. A couple of those with the widest reach:
- Award-winning FIVE-part investigative series "Washing Away" by two investigative resporters at The New Orleans Times Picayune in June 2002 discussed several studies from the past few decades. (They even predicted how many people would be left behind in the city due to lack of transportation.)
- National Geographic's "Gone With The Water" from October 2004 detailed a worst-case scenario based on information from agencies such as FEMA.