FRIDAY, AUGUST 26
Gov. Blanco Declares State of Emergency
Gulf Coast States Request Troops from Pentagon: At a 9/1 press conference, Lt. Gen. Russel Honoro, commander, Joint Task Force Katrina, said that the Gulf States began the process of requesting additional forces on Friday, 8/26.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27
Gov. Blanco Asks Bush to Declare A Federal State of Emergency: "I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster."
Bush, Brown, Chertoff Warned of Levee Failure By National Hurricane Center Director: Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center: "‘We were briefing them way before landfall. ... It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped.’"
Reports of Water Toping Levees: "Waves crashed atop the exercise path on the Lake Ponchartrain levee in Kenner early Monday as Katrina churned closer."
WH Circulates Internal Memo About Levee Breach: "Flooding is significant throughout the region and a levee in New Orleans has reportedly been breached sending 6-8 feet of water throughout the 9th ward area of the city."
Bush Calls Sec. Chertoff to Talk Immigration: "I spoke to Mike Chertoff today — he’s the head of the Department of Homeland Security. I knew people would want me to discuss this issue [immigration], so we got us an airplane on — a telephone on Air Force One, so I called him. I said, are you working with the governor? He said, you bet we are."
Bush Has a Birthday Cake Photo-op w/ McCain
Bush Visits AZ Resort to Promote Medicare Drug Benefit
Donald Rumsfeld Attends Padres Baseball Game
Blanco Again Request Assistance From WH: "Mr. President, we need your help. We need everything you’ve got."
Bush Goes To Bed w/o responding to Blanco's Request
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30
Bush Speaks About Iraq @ Naval Base
Bush Goes Back To Crawford For Final Night Of Vacation
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31
FEMA Requests Ambulances That Don't Exist: "Almost 18 hours later, [FEMA] canceled the request for the ambulances because it turned out, as one FEMA employee put it, ‘the DOT doesn’t do ambulances.’"
Brown Warned By FEMA People Dying IN Superdome: Three hours later, Brown’s press secretary wrote to colleagues complaining that Brown needed more time scheduled to eat at a restaurant: "He needs much more that (sic) 20 or 30 minutes. We now have traffic to encounter to go to and from a location of his choice (sic), followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc. Thank you."
Bush Organizes Federal Task Force: Bush says on Tuesday he will "fly to Washington to begin work...with a task force that will coordinate the work of 14 federal agencies involved in the relief effort."
3,000 Stranded At Convention Center w/o Food Or Water: "With 3,000 or more evacuees stranded at the convention center — and with no apparent contingency plan or authority to deal with them — collecting a body was no one’s priority. ... Some had been at the convention center since Tuesday morning but had received no food, water or instructions."
Bush Does Air Force One Flyover of Gulf Coast: President Bush flew over New Orleans on Air Force One. "During the 35-minute tour, Bush clearly saw from his vantage point the damage to the football stadium in New Orleans as well as the flooded neighborhoods, wiped out bridges and slabs of foundations where houses used to stand."
Chertoff "Extremely Pleased With Response"
Blanco Again Requests Help From WH: "She was transferred around the White House for a while until she ended up on the phone with Fran Townsend, the president’s Homeland Security adviser, who tried to reassure her but did not have many specifics. Hours later, Blanco called back and insisted on speaking to the president. When he came on the line, the governor recalled, "I just asked him for help, ‘whatever you have’." She asked for 40,000 troops."
Bush Gives First Address On Katrina
Rice Takes In Broadway Show
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
Bush Claims Nobody Expected The Levees To Break
Rice Attends US Open
Nagin Issues "Desperate SOS" To WH: "This is a desperate SOS. Right now we are out of resources at the convention center and don’t anticipate enough buses. We need buses. Currently the convention center is unsanitary and unsafe and we’re running out of supplies."
Rice Shops For Shoes
Brown First Learns Of People In Convention Center
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
Bush Watches DVD Of The Damage
Bush Praises Brown: "Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job."
Bush Satisfied With The Response: "I am satisfied with the response. I am not satisfied with all the results."
Bush Comments On Lott's House
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
Bush Starts To Blames State & Local Officials: "[T]he magnitude of responding to a crisis over a disaster area that is larger than the size of Great Britain has created tremendous problems that have strained state and local capabilities. The result is that many of our citizens simply are not getting the help they need."
Chertoff Claims That No One Could Have Predicted Katrina
Bush First Addresses The Nation: "This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. We are going to review every action and make necessary changes, so that we are better prepared for any challenge of nature, or act of evil men, that could threaten our people."