One point that hasn't been made strongly enuf IMO is this:

[karlrschneider]

There was a Cat 4 (and at least a 3) for several days ALREADY IN the Gulf of Mexico and even though the science is inexact and Katrina may have missed the predicted landfall by -some- variable amount, there was absolutely no doubt that it WOULD HIT SOMEWHERE on the USA. So even if it had done something totally bizarre like turning toward Houston or even 'reversed course' to the FL west coast, FEMA should have had major activity in motion even if they couldn't know EXACTLY where it would be needed.
The whole debacle is completely beyond belief.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. very good point

And since we knew it would hit on the Gulf Coast somewhere, why in the world wasn't the hospital ship set out sooner?

[Catherine Vincent]

2. Yup. It was heading somewhere.

FEMA/Bush fucking up.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. CAT 5 the day before it struck land.

This was a huge storm.

But incompetence gets us to Tuesday. It was Friday when any relief at all arrived. Where is the outrage?

Tuesday morning the Democratic Party congressional leadership had better go to war on capitol hill or I am finished with them.

[tulsakatz]

4. for about 2 days before..........

.....it was pretty clear it was going to hit near New Orleans. Sure, there's always a chance it could have changed course and went near Galveston but, in my opinion, it was highly unlikely that it would go back to Florida. Plus this was such a HUGE storm, it was obvious it was going to cause MAJOR damage no matter where it landed.

So at the very least, FEMA had to know they were going to be needed pretty quickly. The questions still remains........what took them so long?

[karlrschneider]

9. Exactly my point! I wrote a post about 24 hours B4 landfall after studyin

some winds aloft and other aviation wx charts and predicted it would come ashore at Biloxi. I missed it by about 10 miles.
:eyes:

[NYC]

5. Keep reminding people.

Also remind them that Homeland Security is also in charge of our defense against terrorism. If they can't handle Katrina, how can they protect us from terrorism.

[Old and In the Way]

6. Very good point.

They should have been ready to go by Saturday....they could have been modifying their interdiction plan as the storm came closer. By Sunday, they should have had planes loaded and ready to react, the minute the storm was past the impact area.

Obviously, Bush had no great sense of urgency on Monday....

[Roland99]

7. It wasn't Cat 3 until, I think Fri. night...Cat 5 on Sun morning

Anyway,

Gov. Blanco requested military assistance LAST FRIDAY! Gen. Honore said so in an interview.

[karlrschneider]

11. Here's a summary of the track from weatherunderground

You are right, became Cat 3 during the late night Fri.

http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/at200512.asp

But of course at that time it was projected to strike at or very near NOLA and as we know (and knew) that's the limit of the design/condition of the levees.

[Old and In the Way]

8. Kick/Nominate this....a very obvious point that needs to stay visible

[ToolTex]

10. True, of course.

Good point Karl. It was going to land somewhere, and everyone knew it was big and strong.

[Cleita]

12. Thank you and we need to point this out everytime they try

to say no one could know how bad it was.

[ToolTex]

13. Reached my limit.

I do not recall ever being more angry or more fed-up. I am furious at the bastards in the Whitehouse for hundreds reasons now. What to do next besides kicking tires? Elections won't work anymore. Do we just wait for them to come and get us one at a time? I don't think gathering at Boston Harbor in warpaint and polluting the water will do much good these days.

[Lindsay]

15. Welcome to DU, ToolTex.

Wish I had an answer for ya. We need to convince our Reps, both Dem and Repug, that impeachment of the entire junta is required.

[ToolTex]

16. Thanks Lindsay

New to DU as a poster, but not as a lurker, and certainly no virgin to the cause.

[Catchawave]

14. Bush and Congress were on Vacation.....

Please keep that point on the Top Ten List of Miserable Failures...and I'm including our Dem leaders too :(

[ToolTex]

17. K, seems to me I remember...

that you suggested a potential solution back in the mid seventies. Maybe we should dust it off and polish it up. Might be easier now with the web.

[karlrschneider]

18. Hmph, I probably had lots of solutions back then! :D

Lost your email in all the commotion since Katrina, here's mine, it's no secret on the net
[e-mail]