Apparently Chertov does not have a radio, televison, or computer.
I've missed a lot of the coverage, I'm sure but I never heard about the convention center until much later in the week and I'll venture a guess that it was Thursday because I didn't watch TV on Wed..
I heard one say they heard about it on TV..called a local official and it was denied..WHO knows.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1477598/posts
Nagin said slow response cost lives (singles out Gov, who asked for 24 hours to make a key decision)
Lots of stories..pick one..
I personally heard Air Force One trying to find Mayor Nagin via shortwave radio for a while when they were doing the flyover on Wednesday afternoon. There was no communications from N.O. and the North Shore to Baton Rouge from the storm until that time, as the radio comms were all down from the Hurricane. (The City of New Orleans system was destroyed, as well as certain cells of the State system)
National Hurricane Center also finally made a contact with Slidell NWS during the same time, getting initial estimates. Bush was the first one from the Administration to see the damage.
from CNN
Bush, who cut short his Texas vacation to return to Washington following Hurricane Katrina, sat somberly on a couch on the left hand side of the presidential jumbo jet peering out of the window during the 35-minute flight over the hurricane-damaged areas.
"There wasn't a whole lot of conversation going on," McClellan said. "I think it's very sobering to see from the air.
"And I think at some point you're just kind of shaking your head in disbelief to see the destruction that has been done by this hurricane."
Air Force One descended as low as 2,500 feet (750 meters) over New Orleans during the flight and 1,700 feet (510 meters) over parts of Mississippi. Air Force One normally flies at an altitude of around 37,000 feet (11,100 meters).
Air Force One flew over the Superdome sports stadium in New Orleans, where thousands of refugees from Katrina are being sheltered, and downtown areas of the city before heading east over the devastated Mississippi coast.
At one point, Air Force Colonel Mark Tillman, the plane's chief pilot, brought the jet so low that it seemed to be barely above the skyscrapers of New Orleans.
From the air, New Orleans appeared to be almost completely under water. Residential neighborhoods were flooded up to the roofs and even above in some places.
Heading east, some suburban and rural communities were demolished. Forests were leveled and buildings reduced to matchsticks.
After flying over Louisiana and Mississippi, Air Force One circled over Mobile, Alabama, and headed north for Washington.
---Apparently Chertov does not have a radio, television, or computer.---
So, he's supposed to watch these things on CNN and FOX and call up the local authorities and see if he can wheedle the information out of them, like reluctant children? Or should he just send out resources following Geraldo's directions?
This is why they call it a break down in communication.
As you say, this, if used, is an appallingly stupid excuse for not knowing what was happening.
Geez, not you too. No one even said a word about the Convention Center until Thursday. Everyone was talking about the Superdome.
Doug, there were 2 million people displaced, 90,000 square miles of this country destroyed, and you want Chertov watching TV?
I think the Secretary has more important things to do than watch cnn or the other misleading media outlets.
Now, perhaps his subordinates should have had someone monitoring the media and reporting to him.
By the time it was reported on TV, the troops had already been deployed, but had not yet arrived, IIRC.....
It takes time, even after the decision has been made.
That's "Chertoff", and do you honestly think he's sitting in front of a TV while this is going on?
I too find Michael Chertoff's denial of any knowledge of conditions in the Superdome very unconvincing. Everyone else in America knew it, what world is he living in? It's particularly off-putting when he sat there and denied any knowledge to Chris Wallace as though he were denying that he knew about an unpaid parking ticket. I think if the DHS truly did not have that information (very doubtful), it must be because they didn't want it. As it was, he came across at best as a bloodless bureaucrat who was covering his arse.
None of this excuses the Major or the Governor in any way, they are culpable of homicidal bungling and worse. That doesn't change the fact that the Dir of Homeland Security looks to be sidestepping any responsibility for action in a national disaster and it makes the whole administration look bad.
I don't remember the media finding the convention center until thursday. The first I remember it mentioned in FR was when it came up at the press conference.
I imagine that Chertoff and Brown were too busy doing their jobs to watch hours of coverage.
Of course, SOMEONE in government should have had time to do so, but then again maybe they were all on vacation.