[Howlin]

The wind was "only" about 100 mph in NO itself, because it was on the west side of the eye, which is much weaker.

And there ends the story: that was the END of the hurricane; the rest was flooding; and that is NOT the fault of George W. Bush.

[Torie]

Ya, the flooding was not Bush's fault. The hurricane in fact wasn't either. Good point.

[razorback-bert]

What happened to all the executive orders signed by Clinton, just for national emergency?

[Darlin']

"And there ends the story: that was the END of the hurricane; the rest was flooding; and that is NOT the fault of George W. Bush."

All things considered, New Orleans was not in such bad shape until that levee was breached..... Of course, the levee was protected by 19th century equipment put in place after Betsy and everyone has said for years that it would not withstand anything greater than a category 3 hurricane. FOR YEARS every Mayor of New Orleans, in one democratic administration after another, including Mary Landrieu's father, has said the city would not be able to survive the "Big One" yet NONE of them EVER put a new plan in place or upgraded the system. BUT to a person they're all now whining and pointing fingers and trying to cover their behinds.