The 22nd Paragraph

Apparently Gov. Blanco's office has released 100,000 pages or so of documents regarding the state's response to Katrina (just to "set the record straight," mind you) and, what do you know, although all that paper has only been available for less than 72 hours, the Post already has a story that goes a long way towards rehabilitating the Governor's image. Her office may have been overwhelmed, but she was assertive, struggling hard, just let down by the failures of the federal government. (Oh, what do you know, we're back to the original narrative.)

But look at this tidbit buried in paragraph 22:

Overnight the crisis deepened. Although FEMA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel in New Orleans reported witnessing a massive break hundreds of feet long in the 17th Street Canal levee that afternoon -- effectively dooming the city -- the first report of the collapse in the state police log came at 3 a.m. the next day, Aug. 30. (My emph.)

Oh, let me guess. That wasn't the state being out of it, that was more evidence of a failure of communication.

Alright, well, look at what I found in paragraph 27, the very last paragraph:

The night of Aug. 30 , police recorded a cry for help every 25 seconds, or 900 calls between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. By 11 a.m. Aug. 31, the police log shows, National Guard units abandoned air rescues, changing over to dropping food and water. (My emph.)

That made me sit bolt upright, because we have heard the press demanding to know all along why the military couldn't have been doing air drops of food and water.

Doesn't this suggest that they were?

Comments

[Tuna]

That made me sit bolt upright, because we have heard the press demanding to know all along why the military couldn't have been doing air drops of food and water.

Doesn't this suggest that they were?

Nobody has suggested that there was not a single food or water drop. The main issue is the response to the people at the Convention Center and Super Dome. If you recall, there was a problem with insufficient food/water for the thousands of people at the evacuation shelters. Of course, Bush didn't know about the situation until 3-4 days after the hurricane hit, he didn't know until Dan Bartlett had to bring a DVD of television coverage and show it to the President... because I guess the President didn't have a chance to turn on the news or receive a decent briefing about a major natural disaster in the US.

[Sgt. Mom]

Well, considering all the hopelessly inaccurate stuff that was breathlessly reported as gospel-truth by the TV networks, perhaps it was just as well that he wasn't taking his briefings from the networks.

[Tara]

http://wizbangblog.com/archives/007010.php

The Red Cross had supplies ready to go to the Superdome and the Convention Center but the Louisiana Homeland Security and Company would not allow them to distribute the stuff..This had nothing to do with Bush.FEMA and other related agencies like the Red Cross aren't first responders..that's what state and local government is for and then FEMA and agencies like the Salvation Army and Red Cross co-ordinate with the local and state governments and officials.

MG: The answer is the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security, that is the state agency responsible for that state's homeland security, told the Red Cross explicitly, you cannot come.

HH: Now Major Garrett, on what day did they block the delivery? Do you know specifically?

MG: I am told by the Red Cross, immediately after the storm passed.

HH: Okay, so that would be on Monday afternoon.

MG: That would have been Monday or Tuesday. The exact time, the hour, I don't have. But clearly, they had an evacuee situation at the Superdome, and of course, people gravitated to the convention center on an ad hoc basis. They sort of invented that as another place to go, because they couldn't stand the conditions at the Superdome.

HH: Any doubt in the Red Cross' mind that they were ready to go, but they were blocked?

MG: No. Absolutely none. They are absolutely unequivocal on that point.

HH: And are they eager to get this story out there, because they are chagrined by the coverage that's been emanating from New Orleans?

MG: I think they are. I mean, and look. Every agency that is in the private sector, Salvation Army, Red Cross, Feed The Children, all the ones we typically see are aggrieved by all the crap that's being thrown around about the response to this hurricane, because they work hand and glove with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. When FEMA is tarred and feathered, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army are tarred and feathered, because they work on a cooperative basis. They feel they are being sullied by this reaction.

HH: Of course they are. Now Major Garrett, what about the Louisiana governor's office of Homeland Security. Have they responded to this charge by the Red Cross, which is a blockbuster charge?

MG: I have not been able to reach them yet. But, what they have said consistently is, and what they told the Red Cross, we don't want you to come in there, because we have evacuees that we want to get out. And if you come in, they're more likely to stay. So I want your listeners to follow me here. At the very moment that Ray Nagin, the Mayor of New Orleans was screaming where's the food, where's the water, it was over the overpass, and state officials were saying you can't come in.