Factcheck.org shows a good timeline of Katrina and who did what

[noahmijo]

Some good snippets to remember

Friday, Aug 26 2005 - 3 Days Prior to Katrina's Louisiana Landfall

Hurricane Katrina strikes Florida between Hallandale Beach and North Miami Beach as a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds. Eleven people die from hurricane-related causes.

—"A chronology of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath," Associated Press, 3 Sep 2005.

The storm heads into the Gulf of Mexico and by 10:30 am CDT is reported to be "rapidly strengthening."

—"Hurricane Katrina Special Advisory Number 13 ," National Hurricane Center, 26 Aug 2005.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declares a State of Emergency in Louisiana.

9:30 a.m. - With wind speeds reaching 175 mph, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin orders a mandatory evacuation of the city after speaking with Bush. The evacuation call comes only 20 hours before Katrina would make landfall – less than half the time that researchers had determined was necessary to evacuate the city.

8:30 p.m. - An empty Amtrak train leaves New Orleans, with room for hundreds of potential evacuees. "We offered the city the opportunity to take evacuees out of harm's way…The city declined," said Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black. The train left New Orleans no passengers on board.

—Susan Glasser, " The Steady Buildup to a City's Chaos ," The Washington Post , 11 Sep 2005.

Two weeks later, Nagin denies on NBC's Meet the Press that Amtrak offered their services. "Amtrak never contacted me to make that offer," the mayor tells host Tim Russert. "I have never gotten that call, Tim, and I would love to have had that call. But it never happened."

11 a.m. - New Orleans is spared a direct hit, as the center of the storm passes over the Louisiana-Mississippi state line 35 miles away from the city. Maximum sustained winds are now reduced, but still a strong Category 3 storm with 125 mph winds.

—"Hurricane Katrina Advisory Number 27," National Hurricane Center , 29 Aug 2005.

11:06 a.m . - Bush promotes his Medicare prescription drug benefit at a 44-minute event in El Mirage, Arizona. He devotes 156 words to the hurricane, among them: "I want the folks there on the Gulf Coast to know that the federal government is prepared to help you when the storm passes. I want to thank the governors of the affected regions for mobilizing assets prior to the arrival of the storm to help citizens avoid this devastating storm."

http://www.factcheck.org/article348.html