Who Knew? We All Did.
As Katrina was raging towards its target in the Gulf Coast, Matt and I sat staring at the newscast slackjawed. We live in major hurricane territory, and coming from the Boston area as we both did, we are not strangers to devestating storms. Almost my entire neighborhood was wiped out by the Blizzard of '78 when I was a kid.
Bryan Norcross, our venerated meterologist who is credited for saving many lives during Hurricane Andrew and whose words Floridians regard trustingly during each hurricane, told us flat out...Katrina was due to hit New Orleans or around its vicinity very soon and the devestation would be catastrophic. If Brian Norcross says it folks, it's no joke.
Matt, who lived in NOLA for 2 years, was more acutely aware of the consequences of a direct hurricane hit. He knew that if the levees failed New Orleans would be flooded. In fact, everyone in New Orleans knew what could happen if a major hurricane hit. It was no secret. Scientific studies were conducted on it. Not only did the residents know, but the state and federal government knew. "In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City."
That's why it's so ridiculous that all of the sudden it's being reported that the White House knew all along, that the president was personally briefed about the possible consequences the day before Katrina hit. Did anyone ever take him seriously when he got up in front of national TV and claimed he didn't know how bad it was going to be? That no one knew?
Something should have been done a long time ago to correct New Orlean's vunlnerabilities. The blame for that goes much farther than Bush. He also can't take full blame that the planet is going through a climate change...be it greenhouse gases or natural phenomena...that make conditions ripe for more frequent and violent hurricanes for the rest of the decade.
But to be surprised that he did know the worst case scenario if Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and in particular New Orleans is foolish. How he acted after is no surprise at all. It's just more of the same.
Bryan Norcross, our venerated meterologist who is credited for saving many lives during Hurricane Andrew and whose words Floridians regard trustingly during each hurricane, told us flat out...Katrina was due to hit New Orleans or around its vicinity very soon and the devestation would be catastrophic. If Brian Norcross says it folks, it's no joke.
Matt, who lived in NOLA for 2 years, was more acutely aware of the consequences of a direct hurricane hit. He knew that if the levees failed New Orleans would be flooded. In fact, everyone in New Orleans knew what could happen if a major hurricane hit. It was no secret. Scientific studies were conducted on it. Not only did the residents know, but the state and federal government knew. "In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City."
That's why it's so ridiculous that all of the sudden it's being reported that the White House knew all along, that the president was personally briefed about the possible consequences the day before Katrina hit. Did anyone ever take him seriously when he got up in front of national TV and claimed he didn't know how bad it was going to be? That no one knew?
Something should have been done a long time ago to correct New Orlean's vunlnerabilities. The blame for that goes much farther than Bush. He also can't take full blame that the planet is going through a climate change...be it greenhouse gases or natural phenomena...that make conditions ripe for more frequent and violent hurricanes for the rest of the decade.
But to be surprised that he did know the worst case scenario if Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and in particular New Orleans is foolish. How he acted after is no surprise at all. It's just more of the same.
posted by Bostonbootgirl at 8:47 AM
1 Comments:
You know what's disappointing about that Blizzard of '78 page? Not a single shot of the South Shore. As I remember, Hull was cut off from the rest of the state for nearly a week (only one way in and out)and Gunrock Beach was wiped out. I've got to get my mother to dig out those pictures...
You're right, though. Did anyone believe Bush and his "we had no idea" BS? The city is essentially below sea level and was being struck by a major hurricane. Doesn't take a friggin' genius to figure it out! It seems, though, that Brown shouldn't have copped as much blame as he did.
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