Blanco blocked FEMA

Compiled from media and FreeRepublic.com | 9/16/2005 | zot

[zot]

Saturday 27 August

-- Seven of the 18 Urban Search and Rescue task forces FEMA has deployed were already in the region before the storm struck Sunday. (CNN) These US&R teams exist for the purpose of structuring local emergency personnel into integrated disaster response task forces. (FEMA)

-- FEMA Director Mike Brown. "There's about 36 hours for folks to get ready. Beyond that, it's just too late. I can't emphasize enough to viewers how serious FEMA is taking this storm. The agency has dispatched teams to both states." (CNN)

6:45 pm -- President Bush declares a federal state of emergency for Louisiana. This document dated Saturday, 27 August, orders Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina, effective Friday, 26 August 2005.

9:00 pm -- Governor Blanco says the President has declared a PRE-hurricane emergency, apparently the first time this has happened, and Max Mayfield of the Hurricane Center has called her and told her it is really serious.

Sunday 28 August

8:40 am -- People showing up outside the Superdome. Louisiana National Guard not letting them in. Mayor Nagin says Superdome is for special medical needs.

9:50 am -- FEMA Director Mike Brown says they have planned staging areas to the west, east and north, and will be ready to roll the moment they can. Said the convoys of utility trucks were amazing ... NJ, PA, etc., are all enroute.

-- President Bush calls Governor Blanco and personally appeals for mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.

10:30 am -- Mayor Nagin orders mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, but exempts hotels. He says the city has no liability for the hotels. Governor Blanco, standing beside Mayor Nagin at this news conference, says President Bush called "just before we came in" and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation of the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.

12:30 pm -- Hundreds of people are outside the Superdome waiting to get in.

3:41 pm -- Fox News: Long lines of people waiting to get into the Superdome.

4:00 pm -- Traffic cameras show torrential rain soaking New Orleans

4:30 pm -- Tempers are flaring outside the Superdome. Crowd chanting, "Let Us In!" Explanation: authorities are searching everyone for weapons and drugs.

Monday 29 August

6:30 am -- Katrina makes landfall 60 miles south of New Orleans. Winds 145 mph. Slate tiles blowing off roofs. Power goes out in the French Quarter.

8:00 am -- Wind tears two holes in roof of Superdome.

12:30 pm -- Emergency teams all along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida are standing by and ready to be deployed as soon as damage is assessed.

1:00 pm -- FEMA Director Mike Brown states that he has “water, ice and military MREs ready to be shipped into areas affected. Supply lines are backed up to Fort Worth and Atlanta.”

2:15 pm -- Weather clearing along the coast, but first responders are still blocked by the storm inland.

4:00 pm -- Winds reduced. CNN and other media reporting a party atmosphere in the French Quarter, saying New Orleans apparently dodged “the Big One.”

-- Red Cross [agent of FEMA] is ready to take food and water into New Orleans. Not allowed by the Director of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, because of concerns over logistical difficulties.

Tuesday 30 August

10:30 am -- Governor Blanco declares martial law throughout the State of Louisiana, tells state highway patrol to block all entrances into the state.

11:43 am -- Martial law is being enforced. Governor Blanco has instructed the highway patrol to block off all entrances into the state. (WDSU)

-- "I heard a FEMA contracted truck driver talking on Coast to Coast last night saying he was not allowed into New Orleans by the Louisiana State Patrol on Tuesday, and he was forced to wait til Thursday with 50 other semis." (Posted on FreeRepublic.com 09/14/2005 1:13:15 PM EDT by BurbankKarl)

[Grampa Dave]

The La and N O's mob is probably even more crooked and deadly than the thugs who have controlled Chicago for a century.

[Sacajaweau]

I think the bottom line is that Blank-o wanted to save the Louisiana "kitty" to buy votes. Doing nothing did just that. Everyone was on their own as far as she was concerned.

The Feds had to come in and straighten everything out. What's new about this with Dems in power?

[zot]

What is the time difference from when the hurricane passed to the time the barge broke the levy?

Leaks in the Industrial Canal wall and the 17th Street Canal wall were reported on Sunday before the storm passed. The major failure of the 17th Street Canal wall was late Sunday night or early Monday morning.

[zot]

-- Just for giggles, it might be fun to include Governor Blanco's September 2, 2005 Executive Order to use buses for for emergency evacuation. Always better late than never...

---- I have it in my large and growing chronology. My basic timeline is extracts from your live threads, for which I thank you.

[sageb1]

Interesting. I have spent the past week working on a similar timeline using FReeper comments and media reports. I would ask all of you to keep an eye out for all timeline-related info.

In the end, however, it is my opinion that the facts will show Governor Blanco refused to push aside legal obstacles allow to federal help. Ironically, one of the emails read by O'Reilly last night called Blanco a "heroine" for keeping the feds out. If this is the case, then she must also accept responsibility for being the "villain" who kept her citizens from receiving aid in a timely manner.

It will be up to all of us to be vigilant as certain parties try to enact legislation to "get around" posse comitatus. The left continues to be disingenuous, ignoring the fact that posse comitatus protects citizens FROM the federal government. Would they change their minds if the U.S. government was infiltrated by terrorists?

[Lady Jag]

About the first thing I heard from MSM toward the end of Katrina's wrath was that Blanco Loco refused to declare Marshal Law because she didn't want Bush to take over.

She sure was fast to blame him, though. Proof Democrats are idiots. I have the proving paperwork, but why preach to the choir.

[sageb1]

It seems to me that there must be freepers who were directly or indirectly involved in various relief efforts. It would be interesting for those who were involved in any way to add their times of call up to this thread.

[hershey]

Right, Brown fell on his sword for political reasons.

[zot]

Interesting. I have spent the past week working on a similar timeline using FReeper comments and media reports. I would ask all of you to keep an eye out for all timeline-related info.

Yes, that's what I've been doing all week, too. I have not seen this info published anywhere, that Governor Blanco ordered the state police to block all entrances to the state, so I decided to extract it from my timeline and publish it here.

[StayAt HomeMother]

What is the time difference from when the hurricane passed to the time the barge broke the levy?

I don't think it has been proven the barge broke the levy. Maybe the barge only floated only that it flowed through the break after the fact.

From the "Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part IX"

BurbankKarl's Post 2004, regarding events on MONDAY:

From the St. Bernard Parrish website:

11:00 a.m. - The National Weather Service reported that a levee broke on the Industrial Canal near the St. Bernard-Orleans parish line (Tennessee St.), and 3 to 10 feet of flooding was possible (with Arabi (MAP) receiving some degree of rising water). (Info: The Industrial Canal is the 5.5-mile waterway that connects the Mississippi River to the Intracoastal Waterway). ...

The storm was still raging at that time:

11 a.m. - New Orleans is spared a direct hit, as the center of the storm passes over the Louisiana-Mississippi state line 35 miles away from the city. Maximum sustained winds are now reduced, but still a strong Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds. ["Hurricane Katrina Advisory Number 27," National Hurricane Center , 29 Aug 2005.]

-------------

The next morning I remember watching CNN at 2:20am when the woman from the hospital made public the "worst case" news:

Water rising at a hospital in central NOLA that was previously dry, but in the last few hours the water has been rising at a foot an hour.

2,083 posted on 08/30/2005 2:24:55 AM EDT by Diddle E. Squat

---------------

What?

Is that woman on CNN speaking live?

She said the water around her hospital has been rising an inch ever five minutes and that they had NO water after the storm and now she has six feet around her?

They are contemplating AIRLIFTING 1000 patients out of Tulane Hospital!

2,086 posted on 08/30/2005 2:25:47 AM EDT by Howlin

--------------------

A breach in the levee two blocks long?

2,088 posted on 08/30/2005 2:26:51 AM EDT by Howlin

-----------------

Howlin, the worst case may have just been delayed by a day. There is a breach in the Lake P. levee.

2,089 posted on 08/30/2005 2:27:18 AM EDT by Diddle E. Squat

[devolve]

--

Some sleezy dem flack-spinster was on CNN & FNC criticizing former FEMA honcho Albaugh for lobbying for hurricane Katrina rebuilding contracts - and was unchalleged by any of the media

--

-- Unmentioned by the creepy dem:

(1) - The corporation Albaugh works for is headed by LA's top DNC boss

(2) - LA Governor Blanco hired Slick Willie's FEMA boss James Lee Witt for 1/2 million buckeroos to consult/advise her on Katrina

How did Witt-Blanco perform with Katrina?

Klintonista James Lee Witt has been all over CNN & FNC panning President GW Bush & Home Security Director Chertoff and (now ex) ex-FEMA Director Brown

BS'ing about all of his & Slick Willie's great FEMA record

Like in Chicago in 1995 when 1000 died from the heat - and 770 blacks were "hardest-hit"?

--

What did Clinton's FEMA Director Witt say after taking much longer to respond to a hurricane himself?

"It was very wet and hard to get in there!"


Welcome to Swamp Nuevo-Orleans Mr. James Lee Twitt!


Correct me on this if I am off-base - Didn't Witt once take 30 days to respond with his FEMA gang to a hurricane?

[zot]

About the first thing I heard from MSM toward the end of Katrina's wrath was that Blanco Loco refused to declare Marshal Law because she didn't want Bush to take over. She sure was fast to blame him, though. Proof Democrats are idiots. I have the proving paperwork, but why preach to the choir.

Can you FreepMail me a copy or extract of the proving paperwork? I'd like to use it further document my chronology.

[G Larry]

BUMP!

[zot]

-- Official State Of Louisiana Emergency Operations Plan January 2000 (supplement--Evacuation Plan)
from PDF | State of Louisiana

---- Thanks. Bookmarked.

[sageb1]

We freepers are a dedicated bunch, aren't we? :)

Thanks for your work in going through the threads. It has taken me the entire week to extract time-relevant reports and comments. As I will be away from my own computer all of next week, I won't be able to access my own file unless I can find some unused disks to load up and take with me. Please freepmail me if you dig up anything new. We may actually be able to come up with something worth submitting to whatever investigative committee is formed.

Sage

[Smartass]

FROM THE DEMOCRATS/SOCIALISTS PLAYBOOK

Michael Browm
Victim of the DNC Smear Machine

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

-- Joseph Goebbels,
German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945

[Smartass]

FROM THE DEMOCRATS/SOCIALISTS PLAYBOOK

Michael Browm
Victim of the DNC Smear Machine

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

-- Joseph Goebbels,
German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945

[Freee-dame]

Thanks for your work in going through the threads.

It does seem that no one in the MSM wants the public to know what actually happened and when.

[dixiechick2000]

Thanks for the timeline, zot.
You've gone to considerable trouble to put it together, and I appreciate it very much.

Thanks for the ping, Gramps!
We all learned the value of "saving" stuff during the fires. ;o)

I was streaming WWL on Sat. night when Nagin was interviewed.
He was, actually, in the studio.
He was very animated, and seemed almost in a panic.
He related the story about Mayfield's call, which surprised me.
He, also, stated that the shelters were further north in LA,
and they couldn't have shelters in NO.
He was emphatic that the Super Dome was a Shelter of Last Refuge,
and it was only for people with medical needs.

When asked why there hadn't been an evacuation order, yet, he said
they were looking at the legalities of issuing the order.
That's when my ears perked up.
He said they were looking into "liabilities" should the order be issued.
He, also, said the "call" wasn't his...that it was up to the Governor.


"10:30 am -- Mayor Nagin orders mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, but exempts hotels. He says the city has no liability for the hotels."


Blanco didn't want the city/state to be liable for the evacuees, apparently.
She issued it only after she was "urged" to do so by President Bush.

With every thing that I learn, I think Blanco tied his hands, and trumped him at every turn.
And, Miss Mary is every bit as culpable for this tragedy.

Nagin spent a considerable amount of time at WWL begging and pleading for people to leave.
His comments about Mayfield's call were simply putting the exclamation point on his pleas.

One last thing...I swear I remember him mentioning evacuating the buses.
I wish I could remember exactly what he said.
But, I thought at the time, "Why doesn't he fill 'em up, first?"

[dixiechick2000]

LOL!

That was funny, but it was dead on. ;o)