Conference Calls Detail Katrina Concerns, Failings
by Chris Christensen Add commentscategories: News
NPR has published a series of conference calls from before and after Katrina hit New Orleans.
In the days before Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, officials in local, state and federal governments held a series of telephone conference calls aimed at coordinating their responses to the storm. The sessions were recorded by Walter Maestri, emergency manager for Jefferson Parish, who shared them with NPR.
In tapes of the disaster planning meetings, emergency managers and civic officials evinced a growing concern with the strengthening hurricane’s possible effects — and after the storm made landfall, a growing frustration with the aid effort mounted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
As emergency preparations gave way to coordinated actions and pleas for equipment, the recorded calls depict an emergency command center in Baton Rouge that became a center of frenzied activity.
A lot of attention will be given to these recordings and people try and answer the frustrated questions asked in the recordings like what happened to generators that Fema was supposed to have ready and in place in case of disaster for people on life support.
Inside Chris’s Head » George Carlin’s Rant on New Orleans… Not
Says:October 14th, 2005 at 11:12 am
[...] I think many people would agree with parts of this and that probably explains why someone penned it. The parts about “shoes, TV’s, DVD’s and CD’s are not edible” and “If someone comes in to help you, don’t shoot at them” resonated with me. But I do think that whoever the author is overestimates how good a job the city did of telling people to get out (according to the recordings that I have heard part of from NPR). Also I think he/she underestimates the sudden nature of thee collapse of a levee. Even if you had a great store of food and water in your house because you prepared, what do you do when that house is underwater. The question of paying to rebuild a city that will flood again is a more difficult question. [...]
Celebrities
Says:April 21st, 2006 at 6:50 am
Brad Pitt Sponsors Design Contest
Brad Pitt has a longstanding passion for architecture and now he’s putting it to good use by helping New Orleans as the city rebuilds after Hurricane Katrina.
Pitt and the environmental organization Global Green USA are sponsoring the Sust…