[Knitting A Conundrum]

They reacted late, and didn't do enough to get people out, IMHO. The people there just didn't believe it would happen, I think. It probably comes from years and years and years of it not happening. I had friends I begged to get out a day earlier, and they just wouldn't.

But I don't fault the NWS. They told'em that it was going to be devastating.

[Howlin]

The sickening thing is that many of us on the Katrina thread here at the time were pointing out that New Orleans was a potential bullseye on the THURSDAY before it hit. The NHC still had it as a likely Florida panhandle strike at the time, but we had a lively discussion about the landfall likelihood. We all know what happened at the end of that weekend. Nagin and Blanco had ample warning. They did nothing until President Bush personally intervened, and it was largely too late at that point. Yet, the conventional wisdom is that Katrina is all Bush's fault.

To: Howlin

For future reference, this repeated line by the mayor and governor that "We went to bed Friday night being told it was a Florida storm, and woke up Saturday to find us threatened" to excuse why they waited so long to start the evacuation plan is total bullshit. (excuse my French)

Friday 4pm NO time report from the NWS, warns of a significant shift west, Mississippi landfall (88.5 on the grid, NO is 90), and possible more movement expected (post #388):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471043/posts?page=388#388


By at least Friday 6pm computer models were converging on LA (post #478):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471043/posts?page=478#478


Turns out those computer models had been run at 2pm (post #526):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471043/posts?page=526#526


In fact some computer models run at 7am NO time Friday had predicted a NO hit(post #224):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471043/posts?page=224#224

So unless the gov and mayor went to bed Friday afternoon, they knew then that it likely was headed their way.


But wait, lookee here, Blanco declares a state of emergency about 8pm Friday night. Why do that if they were told it was going to be a Florida hurricane? (post #585)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471043/posts?page=585#585

2,374 posted on 08/28/2005 5:30:44 PM EDT by Diddle E. Squat