since we are on the subject of hurricanes

[wolfdogs]

interesting......... keep in mind, this web site was up a long time before Katrina hit.....

http://www.noaa.gov/galveston1900/

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Something all of the people who complain that the federal government didn't do enough to evacuate the New Orleans should thing about.

4 days before the hurricane hit it was a cat 1 storm with a storm track to take it straight into Panama City Florida. The storm did not track the way they thought it would and went due west.
3 days before the hurricane hit it was a cat 2 storm with a storm track to take it straight into Mobile Alabama. The storm did not track the way they thought it would and went due west.
2 days before the hurricane hit it was a cat 3 storm with a storm track to take it straight into New Orleans Louisiana. To be honest I was skeptical of the predicted storm path because it had been incorrect for the previous 2 days. It was less than 48 hours when the storm actually started it's turn north west and eventually north.

Under our system of government being a republic of states the states have the management authority for disaster relief. The state has to request aid from the federal government. It's starting to look like the department of homeland security called the governor of Louisiana and asked them if they wanted help. The news says one of two things happened. Either the governor refused help or the help was accepted but the governor didn't want to give up control of the situation and did not order any troops in. Either way it was the states authority to order help in not the federal government. It's still unclear to me right now because of conflicting stories but I'm not sure the state ever asked for help. The federal government did spring into action but in my opinion several days late when they realized that the situation was out of control of the state of Louisiana. I think they may have gotten notice from the governor on TV rather than through the official channels. A couple of days later the federal government realized it was out of their control they asked for help from other countries.

I hope the department of homeland security learns a lesson from this and makes some plans for evacuating a major city on a moments notice in case of a terrorist attack. I guess Galveston was too long ago for them to remember. Of coarse 9/11 was too long ago for some people to remember.

[fastTa]

This storm literally went from a CAT 3 to a CAT 5 overnight. And, I too was a bit skeptical of the projected path, but it seems they were pretty darn close this time which leads me to believe that the State's Government of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama had a fairly good idea of what was to come. It seems as if they almost in a way shrugged off the idea that this would be of catastrophic proportions to their respective State's.

Once this storm slammed the Gulf Coast, it seems as if the State almost was too embarrassed by their naive ignorance to ask for help from the appropriate higher levels in a decent amount of time. I think this significantly delayed and inappropriately portrayed an image of false hope after the storm. Heck, the day after Hurricane Katrina hit (Tuesday) even all the major news channels were all boasting that New Orleans and the surrounding areas were not hit as bad as they had anticipated. Because of this unfortunate inappropriately portrayed “Dodged the Bullet” scenario being perpetrated, this was another reason why the Homeland Security and the Feds were slower than normal to respond.

I too hope that the State, Homeland Security, and FEMA learn a great deal from this situation. I understand that mandatory evacuations that end up being unnecessary, can create panic, and even in the extreme of situations unnecessary deaths. But I believe in being better safe than sorry.