Now What?The Lessons of Katrina( a must read )

[Stephanie]

WOW, WOW, WOW Everyone should read this. Popular Mechanic lays out how this was the fastest rescue effort ever, and then they lay out a plan on things that could and should be done for another major disaster THIS BIG.. They also tell how it is up to the people who live in hurricane and torndo areas, need to take the responsibilty to prepare for this.....

Published in the March, 2006 issue.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/2315076.html?page=1&c=y
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NO ONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SURPRISED.
Not the federal agencies tasked with preparing for catastrophes. Not the local officials responsible for aging levees and vulnerable populations. Least of all the residents themselves, who had been warned for decades that they lived on vulnerable terrain. But when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, it seemed as though the whole country was caught unawares. Accusations began to fly even before floodwaters receded. But facts take longer to surface. In the months since the storm, many of the first impressions conveyed by the media have turned out to be mistaken. And many of the most important lessons of Katrina have yet to be absorbed. But one thing is certain: More hurricanes will come. To cope with them we need to understand what really happened during modern America's worst natural disaster. POPULAR MECHANICS editors and reporters spent more than four months interviewing officials, scientists, first responders and victims. Here is our report.--THE EDITORS

Read the rest at their site, I found this so interesting http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/2315076.html?page=1&c=y

 

[Annie]

Links at site, how many degrees of separation?

http://wizbangblog.com/2006/03/02/the-ap-katrina-briefing-story-rathergate-connection.php

The AP Katrina Briefing Story - Rathergate Connection

Yesterday, in looking at the AP piece on the Bush Katrina briefings (Rewriting Katrina History - AP Style), I had this to stay about the AP's work:

...t has all the hallmarks of the Bush Air National Guard story on 60 Minutes II by Dan Rather and Mary Mapes. The AP has dressed up mundane video to try and prove that President Bush (and everyone else) knew that the levees in New Orleans were going to breech. The problem is the evidence they present in their story to make that point does nothing of the sort.
​

It turns out that there's much more to that analogy than even I knew at the time. Have a look at the byline to the AP story:

By MARGARET EBRAHIM and JOHN SOLOMON

WASHINGTON (AP) - In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.

Here's an interesting detail on someone who certainly looks like one of the story authors from the French-American Foundation's membership roles:

Margaret Ebrahim (2003)
Producer
CBS News, 60 Minutes II

This CBS News page confirms that a Margaret Ebrahim was a 60 Minutes II producer in 2005. Ironically it was Mary Mapes who gave her away...

What are the odds that there are two people with that name, one an AP writer and one a CBS News producer? I'm guessing they're minuscule. The odds are that it's the same person in a new job.

Given the tatters the story has been shredded into by the blogosphere, it's hardly surprising that it comes from an alum of 60 Minutes II...
By: Kevin Aylward at 02:23 PM

 

[fuzzykitten99]

I read this article while doing the 3-hour gestational diabetes test at the dr's office...i meant to post about it, but thanks to preggo-brain...i forgot. among other things. Very good article, especially the part saying the people of NO were told for a long time they were at risk/danger because of where they lived, yet they chose to stay.

 

[dilloduck]

I read this article while doing the 3-hour gestational diabetes test at the dr's office...i meant to post about it, but thanks to preggo-brain...i forgot. among other things. Very good article, especially the part saying the people of NO were told for a long time they were at risk/danger because of where they lived, yet they chose to stay.

Apparently they claim they couldn't because they were too poor ???