Chapter 4: Hurricane and Hesitation Disciplines of Obvious Relationship: math algebra, earth science

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Chapter 4Hurricane and HesitationDisciplines
of Obvious Relationshipmath (algebra), earth
science, physics, public safety and emergency
management,
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By 500 CDT, Friday August 26, 2005, it was
announced that Katrina would reach Category 3 on
the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.What do the
Saffir-Simpson categories mean?
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At 500 P.M. Louisiana governor Blanco declared a
state of emergency.
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The next day, Saturday, August 27 Governor Haley
Barbour of Mississippi did the same.
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In his August 27 Louisiana emergency declaration,
Bush authorized DHS and FEMA to manage the
disaster, but earlier in the day he hadnt
mentioned Katrina in his weekly radio
address.What did he talk about instead?
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Mayor Nagin of New Orleans finally issued a
voluntary evacuation at 500 p.m..
Saturday Nagin warned that come the first
break of light in the morning, you may have the
first mandatory evacuation of New
Orleans.(p.57) What stopped him from making the
Saturday evacuation order mandatory?
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In an ideal world, successful evacuation was a
matter of arithmetic and algebra.
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If New Orleans had 134,000 folk without
transportation 550 municipal buses 254 working
school busesthat adds up to804 buses with 60
seats each, enough for 48,240 folks. (p.58)How
many potential evacuees? How many buses and
seats?How many bus caravan trips?
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It would take three trips to get everyone to
safety.How much time would each trip
take?When would the mandatory evacuation have
had to begin to get everyone out to safety?
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At 100 a.m. Sunday morning, Nagin announced a
mandatory evacuation order.Katrina had climbed
dangerously to Category 4 at 100 a.m. and then
to Cat 5 with 161 mile-per-hour sustained winds
by 800 a.m. How long would an evacuation of
everyone take?When would it have had to
start?Was Sunday morning already too late?
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Mayor Nagin suggested that the 134,000 citizens
who didnt own cars should hitch rides with
friends, family, neighbors, and church members.
(p.59)Was that option realistic for all people
in New Orleans?Who might be left out of that
method of evacuation?
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Those who couldnt should go to the Superdome
stadium as the refuge of last resort. (p.59)
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Still thousand couldnt make it to the Superdome,
especially the elderly, the feeble, the sick, and
the desperately poor. (p.60)
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National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield
briefed President Bush by video teleconference
while the president was vacationing in Crawford,
Texas. (p.59)
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Early Monday morning in the dark, waves were
topping the banks of Lake Ponchartrain as well as
the man-made levees that held the lake back to
the south. (p.60)
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At 300 a.m., the 17th Street Canal levee, which
traces the boundary of Orleans and East Jefferson
parishes, was breeched.
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At 610 a.m. central time, Katrina made lethal
landfall as a Category 4 storm south of Buras,
Louisiana.
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6 to 8 feet of water rose into the homes of the
Lower 9th Ward (p.61)
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after the storm surge sent water over the
Industrial Canalbreaking loose a barge that
gashed a breech that accelerated the flooding in
the Lower Ninth and in St. Bernard Parish.
(p.61)Did anyone anticipate that such vessels
would become a threat to the levees within the
furies of the storm?
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The Army Corps of Engineers measured depths of 15
feet in places.
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In the meantime, FEMA director Michael
Brownwaited 5 hours after Katrina hit to request
in a memo to DHS chief Chertoff that 1,000
Homeland Security employees be dispatched to the
Gulf Coast. (p.63)
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In the memo, Brown refers to the situation as a
near catastrophic eventBrown asked that the
employees be given 48 hours to arrive.
(p.63)Does it matter that Brown said it was
near catastrophic?
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President Bush flew from Texas to Arizona for a
birthday cake photo with John McCainHe had
talked with Chertoff about immigration but not
the federal governments Katrina response.
(p.64)Was this inappropriate?Was the president
simply delegating/multi-tasking?What specific
things should/could he personally have done
immediately after the storm?
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Brown was in charge (p.64) The response to
Hurricane Katrina must be well coordinated
between federal, state, and local officials to
most effectively protect life and property
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We appreciate the willingness and generosity of
our Nations first responders to deploy during
disasters. But such efforts must be coordinated
so that fire-rescue efforts are the most
effective possible.(p.64)Given how unprepared
and unorganized FEMA was in response to Katrina,
what possible explanations are there for Browns
ironic emphatic statement above?
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To underscore the carefree attitude among
administration officials, Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld who was criticized for not
sending n troops to helptook in a San Diego
Padres baseball game. (p.65)
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Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was booed on
Broadway by audience members attending a
performance and a day later Secretary Rice hit
Fifth Avenue to buy two pairs of shoes at
Ferragamos for thousands of dollars. After
hitting tennis balls with Monica Seles, Rice
headed back to D.C. the next day.(p.75)What
should/could she and other officials have been
doing instead?
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The next chapter, chapter 5 Levees and Lies
deals with how the administration explained what
they knew about Katrina and when they knew it.
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End of Summary of chapter 4 Hurricane and
Hesitation