This is the most unbelievable political ass-covering I have ever seen any man have the gall to utter.  Any faith I might have ever had in any political appointee is gone.  Read THIS Times-Picayune series from 3 years ago, then read the article below and see if you aren't fuming mad.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/03/katrina.chertoff/index.html

Chertoff: Katrina scenario did not exist
However, experts for years had warned of threat to New Orleans

Defending the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argued Saturday that government planners did not predict such a disaster ever could occur.

But in fact, government officials, scientists and journalists have warned of such a scenario for years.

Chertoff, fielding questions from reporters, said government officials did not expect both a powerful hurricane and a breach of levees that would flood the city of New Orleans.

"That 'perfect storm' of a combination of catastrophes exceeded the foresight of the planners, and maybe anybody's foresight," Chertoff said.

He called the disaster "breathtaking in its surprise."

But engineers say the levees preventing this below-sea-level city from being turned into a swamp were built to withstand only Category 3 hurricanes. And officials have warned for years that a Category 4 could cause the levees to fail.

Katrina was a Category 4 hurricane when it struck the Gulf Coast on August 29.

Last week, Michael Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told CNN his agency had recently planned for a Category 5 hurricane hitting New Orleans.

Speaking to "Larry King Live" on August 31, in the wake of Katrina, Brown said, "That Category 4 hurricane caused the same kind of damage that we anticipated. So we planned for it two years ago. Last year, we exercised it. And unfortunately this year, we're implementing it."

Brown suggested FEMA -- part of the Department of Homeland Security -- was carrying out a prepared plan, rather than having to suddenly create a new one.

Chertoff argued that authorities actually had assumed that "there would be overflow from the levee, maybe a small break in the levee. The collapse of a significant portion of the levee leading to the very fast flooding of the city was not envisioned."

He added: "There will be plenty of time to go back and say we should hypothesize evermore apocalyptic combinations of catastrophes. Be that as it may, I'm telling you this is what the planners had in front of them. They were confronted with a second wave that they did not have built into the plan, but using the tools they had, we have to move forward and adapt."

But New Orleans, state and federal officials have long painted a very different picture.

"We certainly understood the potential impact of a Category 4 or 5 hurricane" on New Orleans, Lt. General Carl Strock, chief of engineers for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Thursday, Cox News Service reported.

Reuters reported that in 2004, more than 40 state, local and volunteer organizations practiced a scenario in which a massive hurricane struck and levees were breached, allowing water to flood New Orleans. Under the simulation, called "Hurricane Pam," the officials "had to deal with an imaginary storm that destroyed more than half a million buildings in New Orleans and forced the evacuation of a million residents," the Reuters report said.

In 2002 the New Orleans Times-Picayune ran a five-part series exploring the vulnerability of the city. The newspaper, and other news media as well, specifically addressed the possibility of massive floods drowning residents, destroying homes and releasing toxic chemicals throughout the city. (Read: "Times-Picayune" Special Report: Washing awayexternal link)

Scientists long have discussed this possibility as a sort of doomsday scenario.

On Sunday, a day before Hurricane Katrina made landfall, Ivor van Heerden, director of the Louisiana State University Public Health Research Center in Baton Rouge, said, "This is what we've been saying has been going to happen for years."

"Unfortunately, it's coming true," he said, adding that New Orleans "is definitely going to flood."

Also on Sunday, Placquemines Parish Sheriff Jeff Hingle referred back to Hurricane Betsy -- a Category 2 hurricane that struck in 1965 -- and said, "After Betsy these levees were designed for a Category 3."

He added, "These levees will not hold the water back."

But Chertoff seemed unaware of all the warnings.

"This is really one which I think was breathtaking in its surprise," Chertoff said. "There has been, over the last few years, some specific planning for the possibility of a significant hurricane in New Orleans with a lot of rainfall, with water rising in the levees and water overflowing the levees," he told reporters Saturday.

That alone would be "a very catastrophic scenario," Chertoff said. "And although the planning was not complete, a lot of work had been done. But there were two problems here. First of all, it's as if someone took that plan and dropped an atomic bomb simply to make it more difficult. We didn't merely have the overflow, we actually had the break in the wall. And I will tell you that, really, that perfect storm of combination of catastrophes exceeded the foresight of the planners, and maybe anybody's foresight."

Chertoff also argued that authorities did not have much notice that the storm would be so powerful and could make a direct hit on New Orleans.

"It wasn't until comparatively late, shortly before -- a day, maybe a day and a half, before landfall -- that it became clear that this was going to be a Category 4 or 5 hurricane headed for the New Orleans area."

As far back as Friday, August 26, the National Hurricane Center was predicting the storm could be a Category 4 hurricane at landfall, with New Orleans directly in its path. Still, storms do change paths, so the possibility existed that it might not hit the city.

But the National Weather Service prediction proved almost perfect.

Katrina made landfall on Monday, August 29.

Tens of thousands of people in New Orleans who did not or could not heed the mandatory evacuation orders issued the day before the storm made landfall were left in dire straits.

"I think we have discovered over the last few days that with all the tremendous effort using the existing resources and the traditional frameworks of the National Guard, the unusual set of challenges of conducting a massive evacuation in the context of a still dangerous flood requires us to basically break the traditional model and create a new model -- one for what you might call kind of an ultracatastrophe," Chertoff said.

He vowed that the United States "is going to move heaven and earth" to rescue those in need.

If preparation for evacuating and protecting NO was the feds' responsibility, so is the pothole out in front of my house. I'm just waiting for the first pack of shitburgers to take a poll on "Bush's handling of the situation in NO," which is about as meaningful as a poll on "Bush's handling of my last prostate exam."

My brakes are squealing! It's Bush's fault!

Chertoff is as full of shit as the Superdome and the Convention Center combined.

Nobody did think it would happen.

They live in La-la land.

AND PEOPLE HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THIS SINCE THE FRENCH FOUNDED NEW ORLEANS!


CRC

Oh I really want this guy in charge of national security!  

When is anyone going to talk about holding the governor of LA and the mayor of NO accountable?

You can't because:

The mayor is black (used to be a Republican so hard lefties MAY go after him)

The governor is a female Democrat (albeit white)

not sure when this was done
www.time.com/time/reports/mississippi/orleans.html

Just like nobody thought 9/11 could happen.....even though they envisioned it could happen and were practicing for it the very day it happened.

OK, I've fucking had it with government.  I say toss the Constitution and the government, make the country a fucking corporation where every citizen owns one share.  

Quoted: OK, I've fucking had it with government.  I say toss the Constitution and the government, make the country a fucking corporation where every citizen owns one share.

That's already been done, but citizens don't own any of it.

[liberal] It's a good thing that I don't believe in God and that Bush is president. I don't believe in God, so I can't blame the hurricane on him/her/it, so I'll blame Bush. [/liberal]

Quoted: If preparation for evacuating and protecting NO was the feds' responsibility, so is the pothole out in front of my house. I'm just waiting for the first pack of shitburgers to take a poll on "Bush's handling of the situation in NO," which is about as meaningful as a poll on "Bush's handling of my last prostate exam." My brakes are squealing! It's Bush's fault!

+1

I need a new computer since all this NO coverage has worn mine out. The .gov is responsible.

Quoted: ChertJerkoff is as full of shit as the Superdome and the Convention Center combined.

fixed it for ya.

If your Brother is the President, and its an election year FEMA can move pretty quick:

---------------------------------------------

FEMA has positioned a powerful list of disaster response personnel, equipment and supplies to help those who are displaced or suffer losses after Hurricane Frances continues to move across Florida. The advance preparations include:

FEMA's [national and regional operations centers] are operating around the clock, coordinating the pre-positioning of assets and responding to state requests for assistance.

FEMA has deployed an advanced emergency response team to the Florida State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee to facilitate state requests for assistance. In addition, three rapid needs assessment teams have been pre-deployed to Florida.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at FEMA's request, is coordinating the staging of 100 truckloads of water and 100 truckloads of ice at operational centers in Florida.

A first shipment of 30,000 tarps is en route to Atlanta, Ga., to be pre-staged for delivery to areas affected by Frances once the storm has cleared.

FEMA is working to provider 10 trailers of generators at the request of Florida that will be used to provide power to critical facilities affected by the hurricane . . .

Four urban search and rescue teams are deployed to Florida -- two in Miami and two in Jacksonville. Four teams are on alert.

Two disaster medical assistance teams (DMAT) have been deployed to Florida to support medical facilities and hospitals that are not fully operational following the storm . . .

Five pharmaceutical caches, containing emergency medical supplies, are being pre-positioned, and are currently en route to Atlanta and Tampa.

FEMA's Mobile Emergency Response Services (MERS) communications staff and equipment are available to provide telephone, radio and video links in support of response and recovery efforts . . .

. . . FEMA is working with the General Services Administration to analyze vacancy rates of various safe housing options . . . as part of pre-planning temporary housing strategies for those whose homes are severely damaged or destroyed.
FEMA
Press release on advance
preparations for Hurricane Frances
September 4, 2004

---------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to know why the levees did break.  When the water gets too high, I can see them overflowing, but not necessarily breaking.  It wouldn't suprise me one bit if these levees were built by one of the corrupt local contractors using Corps of Engineers money.  I bet the local politicians play a big role in who gets building contracts there, even federal contracts.  If the levees are constructed properly, I think it is reasonable to assume they will merely overflow in a Cat 4/5 hurricane versus crumble and collapse.

NR,
That's great if you want to ignore the truckloads of supplies that were prestaged by FEMA prior to the hurricane. By Tuesday there were over 13.4 million liters of water in the area, just one number I can remember off hand. There were many more truckloads in supplies lined up and ready to go.

The difference between FL and LA was two fold. One, the devastation in FL wasn't as widespread and catastrophic. Two, the state government of FL, and in this disaster MS, were capable of providing the leadership necessary until the Fed gov't could move in with more help. LA was not.

But go ahead and keep trying to take shots at the President. You're only exposing your ignorance to those who are informed.

'Chertoff' and 'disingenuous' come to mind.........

HH

Quoted: NR, That's great if you want to ignore the truckloads of supplies that were prestaged by FEMA prior to the hurricane. By Tuesday there were over 13.4 million liters of water in the area, just one number I can remember off hand. There were many more truckloads in supplies lined up and ready to go. The difference between FL and LA was two fold. One, the devastation in FL wasn't as widespread and catastrophic. Two, the state government of FL, and in this disaster MS, were capable of providing the leadership necessary until the Fed gov't could move in with more help. LA was not. But go ahead and keep trying to take shots at the President. You're only exposing your ignorance to those who are informed.

BINGO

This is more bullshit. MUCH of what was in that CNN hit piece was out of context or outright distortion.

The Federal response was pretty much as expected; major Federal assets begin arriving in 3 days. 3 day has pretty much been considered what would be needed to get completely mobilized and there.

The Federal Government preformed as well or better than could be expected considering the situation.

The major failure in the incident occurred at the local and state level…

CNN ain’t going to touch that because it don’t fit their agenda

Quoted: Oh I really want this guy in charge of national security!

NO shit!!  This is amazing to me.  A seaside town on the Gulf of Mexico that's below sea level.  And they didn't "think" this could ever happen.  WTF.  Unlikely, sure but possible abso-fuckin-lutely.  

If this doesn't confirm my perspective that it's only me I can count on in the end, nothing will.

Quoted: Quoted: OK, I've fucking had it with government.  I say toss the Constitution and the government, make the country a fucking corporation where every citizen owns one share.   That's already been done, but citizens don't own any of it.

We already have one share. It's called a vote. Many/most don't use it. Granted, in many races "None of the Above" should win, and might result in a larger turnout.

As for the people "in charge" down there, it's a good thing we don't practice the fine art of sepuku.

Quoted: NR, That's great if you want to ignore the truckloads of supplies that were prestaged by FEMA prior to the hurricane. By Tuesday there were over 13.4 million liters of water in the area, just one number I can remember off hand. There were many more truckloads in supplies lined up and ready to go. The difference between FL and LA was two fold. One, the devastation in FL wasn't as widespread and catastrophic. Two, the state government of FL, and in this disaster MS, were capable of providing the leadership necessary until the Fed gov't could move in with more help. LA was not. But go ahead and keep trying to take shots at the President. You're only exposing your ignorance to those who are informed.

Just because you are defending Bush in this fiasco does not mean that YOU are informed!  Bush owes it to the Nation to hold those in FEMA and DHS responsible.

The posted article from a FEMA news release shows the "anticipation" of a disaster not the aftermath.  There was none of this prior to Katrina.  Chertoff, on "Meet the Press" just a minute ago still blames those that were too sick, old or poor to get out of New Orleans for their own plight.

We have spent hundreds of billions on homeland defense since 9/11.  The GOV realignment was supposed to ensure that our GOV was capable of responding to just such a disaster.  What would have been the difference had a terrorist bomber blown a hole in the levee?  Same result.

Of course it is the "liberal medias" fault.  Right?

Quoted: Quoted: NR, That's great if you want to ignore the truckloads of supplies that were prestaged by FEMA prior to the hurricane. By Tuesday there were over 13.4 million liters of water in the area, just one number I can remember off hand. There were many more truckloads in supplies lined up and ready to go. The difference between FL and LA was two fold. One, the devastation in FL wasn't as widespread and catastrophic. Two, the state government of FL, and in this disaster MS, were capable of providing the leadership necessary until the Fed gov't could move in with more help. LA was not. But go ahead and keep trying to take shots at the President. You're only exposing your ignorance to those who are informed. Just because you are defending Bush in this fiasco does not mean that YOU are informed!  Bush owes it to the Nation to hold those in FEMA and DHS responsible. The posted article from a FEMA news release shows the "anticipation" of a disaster not the aftermath.  There was none of this prior to Katrina.  Chertoff, on "Meet the Press" just a minute ago still blames those that were too sick, old or poor to get out of New Orleans for their own plight. We have spent hundreds of billions on homeland defense since 9/11.  The GOV realignment was supposed to ensure that our GOV was capable of responding to just such a disaster.  What would have been the difference had a terrorist bomber blown a hole in the levee?  Same result. Of course it is the "liberal medias" fault.  Right?

Emotions and politics aside, I'm sure a levee break in NO wasn't even considered or if it was I'm sure not a primary concern.  That said, I agree that the response could have been better.  However, the ineptitude at the local and State level is what's most atrocious to me.  State government need to be prepared to take care of it's "citizens".  Clearly, with advanced notice of this storm, they blew it completely.

Quoted: Quoted: NR, That's great if you want to ignore the truckloads of supplies that were prestaged by FEMA prior to the hurricane. By Tuesday there were over 13.4 million liters of water in the area, just one number I can remember off hand. There were many more truckloads in supplies lined up and ready to go. The difference between FL and LA was two fold. One, the devastation in FL wasn't as widespread and catastrophic. Two, the state government of FL, and in this disaster MS, were capable of providing the leadership necessary until the Fed gov't could move in with more help. LA was not. But go ahead and keep trying to take shots at the President. You're only exposing your ignorance to those who are informed. Just because you are defending Bush in this fiasco does not mean that YOU are informed!  Bush owes it to the Nation to hold those in FEMA and DHS responsible. The posted article from a FEMA news release shows the "anticipation" of a disaster not the aftermath.  There was none of this prior to Katrina.  Chertoff, on "Meet the Press" just a minute ago still blames those that were too sick, old or poor to get out of New Orleans for their own plight. We have spent hundreds of billions on homeland defense since 9/11.  The GOV realignment was supposed to ensure that our GOV was capable of responding to just such a disaster.  What would have been the difference had a terrorist bomber blown a hole in the levee?  Same result. Of course it is the "liberal medias" fault.  Right?

Hold FEMA and DHS responsible for what? Doing their jobs.

The Federal Government did its job and all the lying bullshit will not change that simple fact. You can in hindsight nit-pick at the Federal response but the THUTH is the Federal government responded within a time frame that was expected before the storm.

The State of LA and the City of NO dropped the ball not the Feds. All the lies in the world won’t change the facts.

Quoted: It's about time that the end game comes out. To hell with socialism, people here are calling for trashing our Republic, trashing the Consitution, and become the Union of Socialist American States (USAS). That God that few here want a European government where the government is their lord.

Just reading above proves that fact most people really want to suck teat and have a nanny. And it is usually the ones that scream loudest about their rights that turn out to be the biggest teat suckers.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: NR, That's great if you want to ignore the truckloads of supplies that were prestaged by FEMA prior to the hurricane. By Tuesday there were over 13.4 million liters of water in the area, just one number I can remember off hand. There were many more truckloads in supplies lined up and ready to go. The difference between FL and LA was two fold. One, the devastation in FL wasn't as widespread and catastrophic. Two, the state government of FL, and in this disaster MS, were capable of providing the leadership necessary until the Fed gov't could move in with more help. LA was not. But go ahead and keep trying to take shots at the President. You're only exposing your ignorance to those who are informed. Just because you are defending Bush in this fiasco does not mean that YOU are informed!  Bush owes it to the Nation to hold those in FEMA and DHS responsible. The posted article from a FEMA news release shows the "anticipation" of a disaster not the aftermath.  There was none of this prior to Katrina.  Chertoff, on "Meet the Press" just a minute ago still blames those that were too sick, old or poor to get out of New Orleans for their own plight. We have spent hundreds of billions on homeland defense since 9/11.  The GOV realignment was supposed to ensure that our GOV was capable of responding to just such a disaster.  What would have been the difference had a terrorist bomber blown a hole in the levee?  Same result. Of course it is the "liberal medias" fault.  Right? Hold FEMA and DHS responsible for what? Doing their jobs. The Federal Government did its job and all the lying bullshit will not change that simple fact. You can in hindsight nit-pick at the Federal response but the THUTH is the Federal government responded within a time frame that was expected before the storm. The State of LA and the City of NO dropped the ball not the Feds. All the lies in the world won’t change the facts.

Yes hold them responsible.  There is not one American city capable of evacuating its people in the event of a natural disaster much less a terrorist attack.  If the cities and states did try to fund that ability then all resources would go for emergency management and not to schools, roads etc.

The federal government has assumed (taken) the responsiblity to aid and support all the states when disaster strikes.  Otherwise why doesn't the federal government just make disaster funding part of the highway bill and return tax money to the states so that they can coordinate the full evacuation of their cities?

Has nothing to do with sucking teats and everything to do with getting what you pay for.

Quoted: Just because you are defending Bush in this fiasco does not mean that YOU are informed!  Bush owes it to the Nation to hold those in FEMA and DHS responsible.

Since you were not informed of the resources that were put in the area in anticipation of this storm, I would say, at the very least, I'm more informed than you are.

The posted article from a FEMA news release shows the "anticipation" of a disaster not the aftermath.  There was none of this prior to Katrina.  Chertoff, on "Meet the Press" just a minute ago still blames those that were too sick, old or poor to get out of New Orleans for their own plight.

I did not see him on MtP, so I will not comment. I will say he is not the best spokesperson I have ever seen. In fact, he has contradicted himself many times. I'm guessing he's out of a job after this. That does not mean there was any more that could have been done any sooner.

It takes time to evacuate a city. You have to have a place for the people to go. Which means you have to now move supplies, instead of to one location NOLA, to many locations inside and outside the area where the hurricane hit. You also have to prep the area with cots, showers, set up an infrastructure for processing, set up medical aid stations. We're not talking about a hurricane where you have several thousand without homes. We have several hundred thousand without homes. That complicates the issue just based on the scope.

We have spent hundreds of billions on homeland defense since 9/11.  The GOV realignment was supposed to ensure that our GOV was capable of responding to just such a disaster.  What would have been the difference had a terrorist bomber blown a hole in the levee?  Same result.

You can never be prepared to evacuate an entire city, period. You can sit around and theorize all you want, but the actual preparation is impossible. How big of a city do you want to be prepared to evacuate? 500,000? 1 million? 8 million?

As for your terrorist scenario, that's total bullshit. We are talking about breeches in the levees some 200 feet long. Do you realize the amount of explosives needed to create one breech that long? Much less three breeches?

Which brings up another point. The levees broke on Tuesday. Remember the reports on Monday about how NO dodged a bullet? I do. That also means the initial supplies were probably diverted to MS where the devastation was the worst. Then the levees broke. Now we are going from a slightly worse than normal hurricane response to an all out disaster.

Of course it is the "liberal medias" fault.  Right?

Actually, I would lay blame on the hurricane, but that's just me.

While I like Bush and co., this guy is a bumbling fool.  He just needs to come clean and say they fucked up.  The least FEMA should have done is drop some MREs, water, and toilets down to the crowds via helicopter like we did in Indonesia.  

At the same time, Nagin and Blanco should have made sure the Natl Guard was notified to deploy no later than TUESDAY NOON after the hurricane.  Also Nagin could have marshalled a bus convoy to go round up these poor people and get them out as well as pass out life preservers for everyone who chose to stay.  The state of NO looks like it had no disaster plan at all in place.

So everyone needs to share some blame.

Quoted: While I like Bush and co., this guy is a bumbling fool.  He just needs to come clean and say they fucked up.  The least FEMA should have done is drop some MREs, water, and toilets down to the crowds via helicopter like we did in Indonesia.

We've been over this in detail on this site. It's a bad idea. I'll spare everyone the long list of reasons why.

At the same time, Nagin and Blanco should have made sure the Natl Guard was notified to deploy no later than TUESDAY NOON after the hurricane.  Also Nagin could have marshalled a bus convoy to go round up these poor people and get them out as well as pass out life preservers for everyone who chose to stay.  The state of NO looks like it had no disaster plan at all in place. So everyone needs to share some blame.

I think both LA and NO had disaster plans. I don't think they bothered to consult them.

The Three Star in charge of the military's contribution did a very good job at a recent press conference explaining why the response seemed as slow as it did.  Hopefully, some of you will watch it and get educated on the logistics behind the effort to feed and evacuate an entire city.

Some more numbers from before the hurricane in addition to the 13.4 million liters of water:
13.5 million MREs were prestaged.
360,000 MREs were delivered to the SuperDome on Sunday.
7,000 linemen and workers were prestaged to restore power and clear roads.
18 Disaster Medical Assistance Teams
3 Urban Seach and Rescue Teams

That's not to mention the USCG assets that were moving on Monday, nor does it take into account the USS BATAAN and her helos that were immediately dispatched to the area. And by Wednesday and Thursday there were swift water rescue teams in the area from all over the country, which had to stop their operations because they were being shot at.

New Orleans, a city surrounded by water, had three boats available to it, and two were broken down.