White House was warned in advance on Katrina


The Washington Post reported that the White House "received detailed [advance] warnings about [Katrina's] likely impact, including eerily prescient predictions of breached levees, massive flooding, and major losses of life and property".

According to the Post, a document prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a meeting two days before Katrina made landfall said the storm surge "could greatly overtop levees and protective systems" and predicted "incredible search and rescue needs (60,000-plus)".

The Post also reported that a second 41-page assessment by the Department of Homeland Security, delivered to the White House at 1:47 AM the day the storm hit, "predicted economic losses in the tens of billions of dollars, including damage to public utilities and industry that would take years to fully repair." The Post said the document "accurately predicted the collapse of floodwalls along New Orleans's Lake Pontchartrain shoreline."

Three days after Katrina hit, President Bush lied to the American people in an interview on "Good Morning America". He said, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." He might blame the under qualified FEMA chief that he appointed for not doing a better job, but he can't blame anyone else for his own lies.

The truth is that the Bush administration new well in advance what was likely to happen in New Orleans, and they were not prepared and failed to respond quickly.

Posted: Tuesday - January 24, 2006 at 11:35 PM          

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