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Here's what I have learned. People, please correct any errors.

Our Constitution provides autonomy for the State governors. They are the only ones that can mobilize their National Guards within their States to assist in their States, except in the extreme situation where they themselves are defying a Supreme Court order (like 1954 in Little Rock, Arkansas) or if they request federalization of their troops.

President Bush urged Gov. Katherine Blanco on Friday last before hurricane Katrina hit to order a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans. She called for a "voluntary" evacuation on Saturday afternoon, saying the President Bush had urged her to evacuate. (I may assume incorrectly that was so she could blame him if the storm passed them by and people griped about evacuating for nothing.)

Bush declared Louisiana and Mississippi disaster areas of national emergencies two days BEFORE the hurricane hit. That is unprecedented as far as I know, but by doing that a lot of FEMA supplies and personnel could be pre-positioned in those States to assist. (But he first had to get the Governors to request that he make these declarations.) FEMA dropped water, food, medical supplies at the Superdome, enought to last 15,000 people for 3 days. Mayor C. Ray Nagin also instructed people to bring enough food, water,etc to last 3 days.

On Saturday night the Mayor Nagin of New Orleans was still dithering with lawyers about their liability if he should order the evacuation of New Orleans be mandatory. He and the lawyers decided to have people sign forms refusing mandatory evacuation so he wouldn't be liable if they didn't go, and then Sunday morning he finally ordered mandatory evacuation.

However, the Mayor of New Orleans didn't commandeer school buses or public transportation buses and start hauling people out. He pretty much left everybody to fend for themselves, as far as I know.

New Orleans has a Democrat Mayor, a Democrat City Council, a Democrat Chief of Police -- Louisiana a Democrat Attorney General, a Democrat Governor, a Democrat Lt. Governor, 24 of 39 Louisiana State Senators are Democrat, 67 of 105 Louisiana State House Representatives are Democrat, there's a Democrat Representative in the House from New Orleans, and one of two Senators in the Senate is a Democrat (The only Republican, Senator Vitter, was just elected last year, I believe.) This wasn't a case of people's needs being ignored because they were of a different political party than the politicians in power.

Governor Blanco did not request National Guard troops from outside Louisiana be pre-positioned before the hurricane, and then was out of communication with her own troops after the hurricane because of disaster took down all the communication systems. She had about 6000 Guard and 1000 police to control a city of 1.4 million or more, but the city had become almost inaccessible due to downed trees and power lines, broken bridges, sections of highway destroyed, train tracks torn up, airport down, debris on the streets, and then the flooding.

The levees in New Orleans with their concrete storm walls on top are built to withstand Category 3 hurricanes. Katrina was high Category 4, around 150 mph sustained winds when it hit, and before it hit the Coast it was a category 5, up to 175 winds for a while. The only plan on the books for dealing with a stronger hurricane was mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, which is 10-12 feet below sea level and surrounded by levees to keep the Mississippi River out on one side and an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico (called Lake Pontchartrain) out on the other side.

For many decades the government has had cost analysis that have led them to decide they do not want to spend a lot more to raise and strengthen the levees and storm walls to withstand Category 4 hurricanes. President Clinton and President Bush did not endorse extra funding to significantly strengthen the levees, but neither did either of them cut funding. Ironically, the 17th St levee and the London Canal levees that had the major breaks had both had just been updated and repaired up to code last year. The 17th St storm wall on the levee broke possibly because the storm surge took water over the levee's storm wall, which saturated it from the inside making it weak, and the fast moving water over the top eroded it from the top down taking out more and more chunks. Also it is reported that a barge rammed into it, breaking it, but this is not confirmed.

The disaster plans for New Orleans, laws passed by the State of Louisiana, called for mandatory evacuation of New Orleans if threatened by a Category 4 or 5 hurricane or a slow moving (5 mph or less) Category 3. It also calls for them to use public transportation and school buses to evacuated their nursing homes and other infirm residents. The Governor and Mayor simply didn't do what they were supposed to do in a timely manner, despite urging from the President.

Why did they balk at doing what was mandated by their own laws and plans? They may have feared political fallout if the evacuation turned out to be another "false alarm" They feared liability if they declared evacuation and then didn't provide transportation and care for the elderly and infirm, especially those in the care of the State, as required by law. Also they feared liability from businesses forced to shut who would suffer losses.

It was reported early Tuesday after the hurricane passed that there was a break in a levee, but it wasn't until Tuesday midnight that we heard it had become a major break (2 blocks long) and water was pouring down Canal St, inundating the city with water from Lake Pontchartrain.

The 17th St levee couldn't be fixed quickly because the force of the rushing water was carrying away everything they dropped in the breach--from sand bags to cars. A lot of the crane equipment they needed had been beached by the storm surge, and couldn't be used till it could be dug out and hauled out.

The first parish flooded was St. Bernard's parish, and later around 70 nursing home patients there were found all dead, presumably drowned when the water rose around them.

The Coast Guard was magnificent, taking people off roofs, chopping holes in roofs to get the people out of their attics where they'd fled as the water rose. They flew over 5000 missions in a couple days. Things were so desperate that a tough decision was made diverting Army helicopters trying to repair the levee breach to the desperate work of rescuing people from attics and roof tops.

But Governor Blanco did not request assistance from the National Guard in other states outside Louisiana till Wednesday, after those who did not evacuate New Orleans had already endured 2 days without help. The number who did not evacuate before the hurricane was estimated to be 25% of the city -- maybe over 300,000 people.

Democrats in my experience are always very reluctant to use military in their States, especially in situations that involve African-Americans which comprised 68% of the population of New Orleans, but probably of even more importance is that Governor Blanco was not able to get reports of conditions in New Orleans due to all communications being down. Regardless, Governor Blanco has been very much against having President Bush take control of the situation, as that would make her appear incompetent to handle the situation. She also fought the idea of putting New Orleans under martial law.

Horrific situation ensued. Looting had already been reported widely before the breach in the levee became significant, but to be fair a certain amount of that was survival commandeering of needed food, water, bandaids, soap, baby diapers, dry clothes, shoes to walk on the creepy things under the flood water, etc. The biggest problem from the lawlessness was that it impeded rescue and relief. The FEMA helicopter rescuers were shot at when they went in to try to make deliveries and rescue people, and they had to delay relief and rescue while they called for military assistance to organize security for the rescue helicopters.

Unable to get adequate reports on the situation along the Gulf, on Wednesday President Bush in Air Force One flew over the Gulf Coast and over New Orleans, having Air Force One descend to 1500-2500 feet for a better view.

Some people had taken refuge in the Superdome to weather out the storm, and some of the roof was peeled open during the raging wind, with water coming in. Later, people who sat out the storm in their homes went to the Superdome to try to get relief food/water and transportation out of the city. Because there was no electricity, there was minimal lighting only from generators, but no air conditioning. Later the generators were flooded. Because the flooding backed up the water and sewer lines, there were no functioning toilets. Add no medical care or security after dark (evidently the workers left at night) and the Superdome became a hell hole.

People without potable water began suffering dehydatration in the heat waiting for help to arrive.

Texas opened their hearts to them, and buses were sent to bring them over to the Astrodome in Houston, where they had electricity, air conditioning, bathrooms and kitchens. But as many as were taken away from the Superdome, more came out of the woodwork where they been hiding from thugs, and the number swelled ...on the I-10 bridge--5 000, at the convention center-- 15 to 30,000, and more and more at the Superdome. Over 20,000 evacuees were bused to Houston in the first 24 hours to Houston, but there were just as many left as when they started. Mayor Nagin refused to use his school buses to move the survivors, because they didn't have bathrooms. He insisted that Greyhounds with bathrooms be sent. (One 18 year old kid went and got one of those school buses, found the keys in the parking shed, and drove it out, picking up almost 80 people whom he managed to drive to Houston without the Mayor's permission or assistance.)

Friday, the National Guard (still under authority of Governor Blanco) finally rolled into New Orleans in a miles long convoy with FEMA supplies (food, water, generators, medical supplies) and medical teams, security teams, etc. and the evacuation speeded up considerably, with most people taken by helicopter to the airport to fly out or in buses to Texas, where the Astrodome (prepared with cots, food, showers, medical triage, children's services, etc.) quickly filled and the overflow was shunted to other facilities in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. The Superdome, the Convention Center, and I-10 overpass were cleared of refugees by Saturday afternoon. The Convention Center had never been designated as a refuge or an evacuation site--people evidently broke into it (or in another report the police unlocked it for them) looking for refuge.

But there was still a cat fight going on about control of the National Guard, and whether armed force regular troops would be allowed to come and help.

When President Bush visited the area Friday after the hurricane, Mayor Nagin told him and Governor Blanco that they needed to get the authority thing straightened out about who was running the show. (Bush is legally bound not to enter a State with our armed forces if not requested by the Governor, and Governor Blanco was still in charge of her National Guard). According to Mayor of New Orleans,Nagin, Bush gave Blanco two options on the controlling authority issue and she said she needed 24 hours to think it over. Nagin switched to Bush's side then, as he felt delaying the decision would cost more lives.

Next day, Saturday, Governor Blanco hired James Lee Witt (former FEMA director under President Clinton) to run relief services in Louisiana. And some arrangement was made short of having President Bush in control, but allowing units of the 82nd Airborne to arrive in a bunch of helicopters with medical teams to assist the ill and dying at the refugee staging areas, and to help in the search for survivors in the city. But still under posse comitatus restriction, the armed forces of the United States weren't allowed to do any law enforcement work, nor direct the activities of National Guard or police in Louisiana. One third of New Orleans police force has been reported as missing. (Some who couldn't manage to make it to their stations, some who felt first duty was to family and left with them, some who quit after days of being fired at by thugs and enduring hellish sights and experiences, and a couple committed suicide)

There are still maybe 100,000 people left in New Orleans, many still refusing to leave, unknown number dead or trapped in attics without sustenance.

Many people in New Orleans didn't leave because they had property they wanted to protect from criminals, because they had elderly or sick relatives or pets that they stayed to care for, because their welfare or Social Security checks were due to come on Sept 1 and they had no other means of support, because they didn't have means to leave, or because they felt they could ride the hurricane out because they always had in the past.

As the storm surge in Lake Pontchartrain subsided and its level fell, water began flowing back out of the city, and then became still as the two finally equalized.

By Sunday afternoon the big levee breach had been patched (30000 lb. sandbags hauled by Army helicopter, bolders, rock hauled by truck and bulldozed in by contractors hired by the Army Corps Engineers), and by Monday, one pump was operational and pumping water out of the city. The water was called a toxic soup of chemicals, sewage and rotting debris and bodies.

The question is mostly whether President Bush should have nationalized the Louisiana National Guard early in the crisis. That is the only move that would have made a difference in my opinion. But until the State proved itself incompetent to command its National Guard, there was no legal precedent for him to do that. Now that relief and rescue efforts are moving along, it's a bit late to do that.

Texas now is sheltering around 250,000 people from Louisiana. Baton Rouge has twice the population now as it normally does from evacuees there. Evacuees have been taken in all over the country. Many States have sent units from their National Guard to assist Governor Blanco.

President Bush visited the refuge center in Baton Rouge Monday and other Gulf Coast areas. He had toured in Mississippi and Alabama the previous Friday, talking with survivors and rescue personnel, and also Friday inspected the levee under repair in New Orleans.

And this information does not address any of the devastation in Mississippi or Alabama which is wide spread, some places taking 36 feet of storm surge. The beautiful historic antebellum homes in Biloxi and Gulf Port have been totally destroyed. The Governors of Alabama and Mississippi seem to have managed their situations better, but they didn't have the problem of dealing with a city below sea level with a huge percentage of that large population unable to fend for themselves.

Huge Navy hovercraft have been hitting the beaches all along the Gulf Coast for the last several days with massive supplies. Bataan is there and has been running chopper rescue mission off its decks for some time. Iwo Jima arrived Monday and Hospital ship Comfort is expected soon. Armed forces of all services have been involved in search and rescue and relief efforts. 350 helicopters are running back to back missions, and refueling in air. 70,000 or more of our armed forces are involved, and over a dozen States have sent units of their National Guard to supplement Governor Blanco's forces.

Katrina undoubtedly ranks as our worst disaster ever, wiping out 90,000 square miles of human habitation, and causing thousands of deaths, perhaps as many as 10,000, possibly more.

God preserve the United States of America.