[theknife]

Originally Posted by Drakonix

I think Louisiana residents need to look closer to home for most of the "unpreparedness" problems.

i'll post this again:

In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort.

and nobody is suggesting the feds needed a crystal ball to anticipate thier situation - this warning, from the National Weather Service, issued at 10 am on Sunday morning, August 28th, was clear and explicit:

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...

HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER.

AT LEAST HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED...ALL WINDOWS WILL BE BLOWN OUT.

THE VAST MAJORITY...OF TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

could the warning have been any clearer this was going to be a natural disaster and a large scale emergency of epic proportions? and that therefore, by law, this was going to be the federal government's responsibility, as defined in the Homeland Security regulations? this was as devastating as any terrorist attack, only with advance warning.

but perhaps FEMA and the Dept of Homeland Security were lulled into a false sense of complacency by these photos of the prez, taken Monday the 29th, and Tuesday the 30th. he wasn't worried about it - why should they have been?