Then you have to remember that everything seemed ok when the eye of the hurrican passed to the east of New Orleans. The catastrophe began when the levee failed. Aid arrived in about 72 hours....which is how long FEMA guides local authorities to prepare for their own support.
Because it was common knowledge in the disaster planning community that NO's levees would be breached/overtopped by anything stronger than a Cat 3 hurricane. If the levees failed, New Orleans would flood and become largely uninhabitable.
Katrina was a Cat 5 and hit the coast as a Cat 4.
You missed the point. The hurricane could have veered and hit Houston. The food would then have been mis-positioned to the disadvantage of Houston.
The common knowledge comes into play organizationally with the standard operating procedure that individuals and local authorities store enough food to last for 72 hours until the federal and state authorities can organize larger disaster efforts. We don't have to make this up on the spot, its been this way for years.
When I lived in St. Tammany parish, I stocked up. It was the mayor's plan to use the superdome, where was his 72 hours of food?