Timeline

Katrina Timeline

It has been a week since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast,
leveled New Orleans and left hundreds of thousands of Americans
homeless. We saw the best of America during that time—millions of
people stepped forward to offer help. Meanwhile, the Bush
administration failed at their most important job: keeping America
safe. The federal effort was too little, too late and it is now
becoming obvious that hundreds or even thousands of people died as a
result.

Then, starting Friday, in a Karl Rove-led campaign, the White House
started to blame state and local officials and even the victims who
were stranded without transportation when the Hurricane arrived. Sign
our petition demanding that the Bush administration stop blaming
victims, including state and local officials, and focus on helping
them.

Friday, Aug. 26: Gov. Kathleen Blanco declares a state of emergency in
Louisiana and requests troop assistance.

Saturday, Aug. 27: Gov. Blanco asks for federal state of emergency. A
federal emergency is declared giving federal officials the authority
to get involved.

Sunday, Aug. 28: Mayor Ray Nagin orders mandatory evacuation of New
Orleans. President Bush warned of Levee failure by National Hurricane
Center. National Weather Service predicts area will be "uninhabitable"
after Hurricane arrives. First reports of water toppling over the
levee appear in local paper.

Monday, Aug. 29: Levee breaches and New Orleans begins to fill with
water, Bush travels to Arizona and California to discuss Medicare.
FEMA chief finally responds to federal emergency, dispatching
employees but giving them two days to arrive on site.

Tuesday, Aug. 30: Mass looting reported, security shortage cited in
New Orleans. Pentagon says that local authorities have adequate
National Guard units to handle hurricane needs despite governor's
earlier request. Bush returns to Crawford for final day of vacation.
TV coverage is around-the-clock Hurricane news.

Wednesday, Aug. 31: Tens of thousands trapped in New Orleans including
at Convention Center and Superdome in "medieval" conditions. President
Bush finally returns to Washington to establish a task force to
coordinate federal response. Local authorities run out of food and
water supplies.

Thursday, Sept. 1: New Orleans descends into anarchy. New Orleans
Mayor issues a "Desperate SOS" to federal government. Bush claims
nobody predicted the breach of the levees despite multiple warnings
and his earlier briefing.

Friday, Sept. 2: Karl Rove begins Bush administration campaign to
blame state and local officials—despite their repeated requests for
help. Bush stages a photo-op—diverting Coast Guard helicopters and
crew to act as backdrop for cameras. Levee repair work orchestrated
for president's visit and White House press corps.

Saturday, Sept. 3: Bush blames state and local officials. Senior
administration official (possibly Rove) caught in a lie claiming Gov.
Blanco had not declared a state of emergency or asked for help.

Monday, Sept. 5: New Orleans officials begin to collect their dead.

(Adapted from: Katrina Timeline,
http://thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline/ )

Those are the facts. State and local officials BEGGED for help as
people in their city suffered. The Bush administration didn't get the
job done and when their failure became an embarrassment they attacked
those asking for help.

The New York Times reported on Friday that Karl Rove and White House
communications director Dan Bartlett "rolled out a plan... to contain
the political damage from the administration's response to Hurricane
Katrina." The core of the strategy is "to shift the blame away from
the White House and toward officials of New Orleans and Louisiana."

This is the same pattern of smearing that the Bush political machine
has used for a decade. John McCain and John Kerry had their war
records smeared. The CIA cover of Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife was
blown after he criticized the Bush Iraq policy. Now, Hurricane victims
are attacked when the Bush administration failed to do their duty to
help them.

It isn't just the Bush administration. Republican Senator Rick
Santorum blamed victims in a TV interview and House Speaker Dennis
Hastert suggested New Orleans should not be rebuilt.
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