# What exactly did Bush do to prepare for Katrina hitting New Orleans. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 10, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946 "2005-09-10T03:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/21 "2005-09-11T03:31:32Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > Sure they do, but most of us americans never heard the governors of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and the mayors of southern cities tell us over and over that their most important responsibility is to protect and defend the American people. > > The blame goes a lot further than that. A robust emergency response system should be able to tolerate a few incompetents at the top. FEMA clearly can’t, and yes, the governors and mayors should have done better too; but when disaster comes to _my_ city, I’d like to have some confidence that my competent mayor won’t be fucked over by an incompetent federal bureaucracy. A robust emergency plan has to be followed in order to work. The Mayor trapped the poor inside the city while the plan called for evacuation outside the city. Which is where the supplies were. Not only did the Governor refuse to approve National Guard troops for police duty (to stop the riots) those same Guards blocked supplies into the city. The entire NO fiasco started with the Mayor and continued on through to the Governor. Since the Hurricane did not hit New Orleans directly the Mayor’s indecision was certainly responsible for the redirection of rescue efforts from area’s that were harder hit. Your “competent” Mayor (a former cable TV executive) totally miscalculated the situation. He just finished taping a public announcement video describing the need for complete evacuation in a hurricane of level 2 or greater so he was briefed on the seriousness of the situation. Ironically that was to air this month. On top of that, the Director of NOAH’s National Hurricane Center (Max Mayfield) went out of his way to call the Mayor directly to warn him (as well as the Governor). What did Bush do? He declared the area a disaster area before the hurricane hit (which is unusual). There were 30,000 National Guardsman inserted into the area before it struck. 35% of all the Coast Guard Rescue helicopters were brought in for a total that of something like 370 for the region. FEMA brought in rescue squads from all over the country including the Texas Park Ranger fan boats that you saw on TV trying to work around the riots. This in a state that is lousy with boats. There were supplies staged all over the region behind the hurricane in cities like Mobile and Birmingham. Additional troops (both National Guard and army) were brought in after the Governor lost control of the situation. In short, the Federal Government had to step in and fix a mess that never should have occurred. All the money used for rescuing the people stranded by the Mayor could have gone back into the area for reconstruction. It could also have been used to rescue people in remote areas of Mississippi which were harder hit… It would have been a simple matter to go into New Orleans with a fleet of small boats and rescue the stragglers stayed behind. Instead, the Mayor trapped 20,000 people in a city that was at serious risk of flooding. The ensuing riots further prevented the rescue boats from moving through the city. Instead, helicopters were used almost exclusively in the first critical days of rescue. Not only did the Mayor piss away his chance to use school and metro buses for evacuation (per the emergency plan) he lost them all in the flood. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/22 "2005-09-11T03:36:28Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Your “competent” Mayor (a former cable TV executive) totally miscalculated the situation. No, you misread. _My_ competent mayor lives 1000 miles from New Orleans. Nagin’s made blunders. If they’re bad enough, he’ll pay at the polls. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/23 "2005-09-11T03:38:07Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > It is not that simple for presidents to “step in” as you say. [President Bush would have had to invoke the Insurrection Act](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/national/nationalspecial/09military.html?ei=5090&en=aa642b8c89c27c01&ex=1283918400&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1126238795-dGCl9WlaN8lbkCHBy9hw2w&pagewanted=print) to take control from Gov. Blanco. As I said in a different thread, that excuse could barely fly if Democrats controlled congress. When lives are on the line, you have to err on the side that will save lives. When one considers the fact that Bush’s side controls congress, not acting sooner then reeks of cowardice. Besides, Blanco had declared on her August 27 declaration 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.” The mainstream media via “unnamed” sources on the Bush administration denied that declaration ever happened! The media had to correct the reports later, but I am sure you heard the correction, no? Oh, and the timeline really shows a clueless president: [http://www.thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline](http://www.thinkprogress.org/katrina-timeline) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/24 "2005-09-11T03:54:24Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > What did Bush do? Spoil FEMA. > **[FEMA Spoils System: Bloomberg](https://rconversation.blogs.com/rconversation/2005/09/fema_spoils_sys.html)** > > My friend, Bloomberg correspondent Mike Forsythe, has given me permission to reproduce his article on FEMA in full, as it's not easily available online: FEMA Spoils System Leaves Few Experts Managing Crisis Agency By Michael Forsythe Sept. 8... > [@](#): > > FEMA Spoils System Leaves Few Experts Managing Crisis Agency > > By Michael Forsythe > Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) – The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s upper ranks are mostly staffed with people who share two traits: loyalty to President George W. Bush and little or no background in emergency management. > Director Michael Brown served as commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association for a decade before coming to FEMA in 2001. Acting Deputy Director Patrick Rhode is a veteran of Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, and Acting Deputy Chief of Staff Brooks Altshuler worked in the White House in 2001 planning presidential trips. And I mentioned in other threads, that a cattle prod should be applied to the local authorities and to the Bush administration for the failures. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/25 "2005-09-11T04:09:49Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > No, you misread. _My_ competent mayor lives 1000 miles from New Orleans. > Nagin’s made blunders. If they’re bad enough, he’ll pay at the polls. Come on, ya know what I meant. I hope your Mayor is on top of things. Can’t say I’m convinced mine is but I’m not one to count on government help. I"m not giving FEMA a pass (simply because of who heads it) but they’re getting blamed for the wrong thing. I’ve been on this from day one and the things FEMA screwed up had nothing to do with the fiasco in NO. This was one of the largest rescue operations ever and it turned into a political witch-hunt from day one instead of rallying people to the cause. Although the Governor may have had more to do with dragging out the rescue efforts I’m more irritated by the Mayor’s behavior when it was all his mess in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/26 "2005-09-11T04:16:15Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As I said in a different thread, that excuse could barely fly if Democrats controlled congress. When lives are on the line, you have to err on the side that will save lives. When one considers the fact that Bush’s side controls congress, not acting sooner then reeks of cowardice. I agree he should have taken control from the state/local authorities after it was abvious people were dying due to their fuck-ups. But surely you aren’t suggesting he should have done it prepare for, or immediately (first 2 days) after the hurricane hit. **I have no doubt** that if he did it at all that many (especially on this board) would scream bloody murder if he invoked the Inurresction act and virtually nullified Louisiana’s State’s Rights, and the conspiracy theorists would be coming out of the woodwork, over “a few desperate looters just trying not to starve to death”. I guess then we would be debating this in the thread titled “Should Bush be impeached for overreacting in NOLA”. I would prefer that than the reality that I cannot depend on my government if something happened in my city. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/27 "2005-09-11T04:34:30Z")
> [@AFAIKnow](#): > > I agree he should have taken control from the state/local authorities after it was abvious people were dying due to their fuck-ups. But surely you aren’t suggesting he should have done it prepare for, or immediately (first 2 days) after the hurricane hit. **I have no doubt** that if he did it at all that many (especially on this board) would scream bloody murder if he invoked the Inurresction act and virtually nullified Louisiana’s State’s Rights, and the conspiracy theorists would be coming out of the woodwork, over “a few desperate looters just trying not to starve to death”. I guess then we would be debating this in the thread titled “Should Bush be impeached for overreacting in NOLA”. I would prefer that than the reality that I cannot depend on my government if something happened in my city. Still reeks of cowardice, the fact was that Blanco gave Bush a big butt-covering device on her earlier proclamation. One has to ask: since when a conspiracy theorist has been taken seriously by the feds? Oh, and it is amusing to see that it would be scary to debate a strong action by the president, (an action that could be explained later and the conspiracy theorists discredited then) rather than what it is happening now: discussing why a president froze because he decided to anticipate the blame game, rather than do the right thing. ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/28 "2005-09-11T04:46:33Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Still reeks of cowardice, the fact was that Blanco gave Bush a big butt-covering device on her earlier proclamation. > > One has to ask: since when a conspiracy theorist has been taken seriously by the feds? Oh, and it is amusing to see that it would be scary to debate a strong action by the president, (an action that could be explained later and the conspiracy theorists discredited then) rather than what it is happening now: discussing why a president froze because he decided to anticipate the blame game, rather than do the right thing. So, do you think he should have done it “to prepare for Katrina hitting New Orleans”? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/29 "2005-09-11T04:47:24Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > It is not that simple for presidents to “step in” as you say. [President Bush would have had to invoke the Insurrection Act](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/national/nationalspecial/09military.html?ei=5090&en=aa642b8c89c27c01&ex=1283918400&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1126238795-dGCl9WlaN8lbkCHBy9hw2w&pagewanted=print) to take control from Gov. Blanco. Why does Bush have to take control? I checked the references given for the entry on Disaster Relief found [here](http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/97autumn/lujan.htm) and found this in the relevant miltary regulation. [(pdf)](https://134.11.61.26/CD4/Publications/DA/AR%20Pub/AR%20500-60%2019810801.pdf) > [@](#): > > Chapter 2 > MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO DISASTER RELIEF > Section I > DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE POLICY > 2–1. General policy > a. Responsibility for disaster relief is mainly that of the individual, families, private industry, local and State governments, the ANRC, and Federal agencies designated by statute. > > b. DOD components may assist civil authorities, recognized relief agencies, and Federal agencies charged with disaster relief. Assistance will be provided as needed or as directed by higher authority. Military assistance normally may be provided when- > > (1) The situation is so severe and so widespread that effective response is beyond the capacity of the State and local governments (including the National Guard). I’m not entirely clear as to why Bush would need to assume control in order to hasten aid as the NYT article claims. The logistics of deploying, the actual time needed to get troops and equipment from A to B, wouldn’t change had Bush invoked the Insurrection Act. He already has the authority to order troop deployment, and the Governor of the state made it clear that the situation warranted such aid. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/30 "2005-09-11T04:50:51Z")
> [@AFAIKnow](#): > > So, do you think he should have done it “to prepare for Katrina hitting New Orleans”? Not to do what he did on post #24 for starters. ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/31 "2005-09-11T05:00:35Z")
> [@The Tooth](#): > > I’m not entirely clear as to why Bush would need to assume control in order to hasten aid as the NYT article claims. The logistics of deploying, the actual time needed to get troops and equipment from A to B, wouldn’t change had Bush invoked the Insurrection Act. He already has the authority to order troop deployment, and the Governor of the state made it clear that the situation warranted such aid. Per NYT article > [@](#): > > While combat troops can conduct relief missions without the legal authority of the Insurrection Act, Pentagon and military officials say that no active-duty forces could have been sent into the chaos of New Orleans on Wednesday or Thursday without confronting law-and-order challenges. Take that however you will. ---
**Author:** ![Sequent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Sequent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sequent)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/32 "2005-09-11T05:53:20Z")
I actually have an answer for the OP: he approved Michael Brown to be the Director of FEMA, or, well, I should use his technical title: _Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response_. Of all the Americans who might be able to prepare for Katrina hitting New Orleans, it was Mr. Brown, with his extensive background in horses, who President Bush $elected for the task. ---
**Author:** ![AFAIKnow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@AFAIKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AFAIKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/33 "2005-09-11T05:59:32Z")
> [@Sequent](#): > > I actually have an answer for the OP: he approved Michael Brown to be the Director of FEMA, or, well, I should use his technical title: _Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response_. Of all the Americans who might be able to prepare for Katrina hitting New Orleans, it was Mr. Brown, with his extensive background in horses, who President Bush $elected for the task. I don’t think he exactly did that to prepare for Katrina. I don’t know why he did it. But your “answer” too is a non sequitur. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/34 "2005-09-11T08:25:37Z")
Here’s [an account on the Hurricane Pam exercise](http://suspect-device.blogspot.com/2005/09/hurricane-pam-where-it-all-started-to.html). Excerpts (bolding mine): > [@](#): > > There was a certain amount of contention, a few turf wars, some loud talk. None if it consequential, in the end, because of the single greatest emollient: FEMA. **The Federal Emergency Management Agency promised the moon and the stars. They promised to have 1,000,000 bottles of water per day coming into affected areas within 48 hours. They promised massive prestaging with water, ice, medical supplies and generators. Anything that was needed, they would have either in place as the storm hit or ready to move in immediately after. All it would take is a phone call from local officials to the state, who would then call FEMA, and it would be done.** There were contracts-in-place with major vendors across the country and prestaging areas were already determined … > > …The organizers of the exercise – particularly the former commender of LOHSEP, Col. Michael Brown (not that one) – insisted that the plans contain no “fairy dust”: no magical leaps of supply chains or providers: if you said you would need 500 semis for your part of the plan, you had to specify where the 500 semis were coming from. Everyone tried to keep the fairy dust to a minimum, and they did so, for the most part, despite having big plans: LSU, Southern, Southeastern and other campuses dismissed for the semester and turned into giant triage centers/tent cities; acres of temporary housing built on government-owned land; C-130 transport planes ferrying evacuees to relatives in other states, and so on. Bold plans, but doable, with cooperation. A comprehensive plan was beginning to emerge. > > Except that it didn’t. A followup conference, to iron out difficulties in some of the individual plans and to formalize presentation of the final package, scheduled for either late '04 or early '05 – I can’t remember and can find no mention of the followup event on the web – was cancelled at the last minute, due to lack of funding (which agency called the cancellation, I’m not sure, although the lack of funds would take it all back to FEMA, in the end)… > > … **The problem is FEMA, and by extension the Department of Homeland Security, which gobbled FEMA up in 2003. FEMA promised more than they could deliver. They cut off deeper, perhaps more meaningful discussion and planning by handing out empty promises. The plans that were made – which were not given any sort of stamp of authority – were never distributed or otherwise made available to those who most needed stable guidance** ; they vanished into the maw of FEMA and LOSHEP ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/35 "2005-09-11T09:00:29Z")
Well, it seems obvious, that all FEMA has to do is to stop promising. Then next time, all they have to say is, “Well, we didn’t promise, bitches!” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/36 "2005-09-11T12:31:14Z")
> [@AFAIKnow](#): > > Take that however you will. I will take it as a copout on the Bush Administration’s behalf. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/37 "2005-09-11T15:05:23Z")
[The states were not ready.](http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/state/epaper/2005/09/10/m1a_response_0910.html#) And how can the federal gov’t assess what the states need if the states don’t know themselves? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/38 "2005-09-11T16:19:39Z")
Not by hiring unqualified campaign flunkies to head Emergency Management Agencies, that’s for sure. Clueless leadership(Who knew the levees could break? Who knew?), cronyism replacing expertise in critical positions, the Bush Administration has no end of excuses for its entirely inadequate response to a national disaster. It’s a good thing Bush didn’t campaign on being better than his opponent at keeping people safe otherwise this fiasco might reflect poorly on his leadership skills. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/39 "2005-09-11T16:57:59Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > [The states were not ready.](http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/state/epaper/2005/09/10/m1a_response_0910.html#) > > And how can the federal gov’t assess what the states need if the states don’t know themselves? “State and local governments are looking to us for leadership. They are looking to FEMA to tell them where are the holes in response plans? Where are the holes in our mutual aid agreements? What incentives can you provide us to fill those holes? I think my role is a very serious one. I think the agency’s role is a very serious one, that we should not just wait for someone to petition or request that we evaluate, that those types of plans should be evaluated (plans regarding evacuations) on an ongoing basis. It would be my intent to somehow implement the ongoing evaluation so we do not have to look in hindsight and say, gosh, we wish we had looked at that. We should be looking at that all the time to make sure they (plans) are adequate, and I will pledge to you that we will certainly do that.” Michael Brown at his FEMA confirmation hearing. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946/40 "2005-09-11T18:29:18Z")
[Here](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/10/AR2005091001529.html) is a good article from the Sunday Washington Post that identifies how everyone up and down the line, from the local to the Federal level, screwed up. Finally, a balanced assessment. Everybody screwed up. I also recommend [this](http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showfast.html?article=60246) Op Ed piece originally published in the Washington Post by Charles Krauthammer. He reminds us that this was first and foremost a natural disaster. If we must search for whom to blame, “The suffering was augmented, aided and abetted in descending order of culpability by the following:” The Mayor of New Orleans, the Governor of Louisiana, the head of FEMA, the President, Congress, and the American People. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-did-bush-do-to-prepare-for-katrina-hitting-new-orleans/320946.md?page=3)