Good morning everyone,

Well, I’ve been obviously busy working on the web site over the past couple weeks, and particularly the past several days so I haven’t had the chance to take a step back and recall the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. However, with the news specials, and most importantly, Spike Lee’s documentary, I finally took some time to look back and reflect. I recalled how the storm created mayhem in South Florida and the Keys as only a Category One Hurricane.

While I was at work over that fateful weekend, I monitored developments on Katrina, and noticed that it strengthened to a major hurricane on Saturday, and it didn’t stop there. Katrina would strengthen to a monsterous Category Five Hurricane, which is the optimum level a tropical cyclone can go in the Atlantic by that Sunday afternoon before landfall on August 29th. Winds got as high as 175 mph. Seas were as high as 48 feet in the Gulf far from the Central Gulf Coast. I could recall the concern that grew in my mind as I looked at the satellite imagery of Katrina at peak intensity.

The vastness of the storm with all that energy. Not only was this a massive storm, but also a large storm that had a great deal of fury associated with it as you saw the colors of the coldest cloud tops. The only storm that I could compare it to was Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and Hurricane Linda in the Eastern Pacific back in 1997. Little would I know that we would have two storms (Rita and Wilma) in the same season that would surpass Katrina’s power, and make 2005 the year of the Atlantic Hurricane.

The thing about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that strikes me the most is that many do not realize how much worse it could have been. Hurricane Katrina spared New Orleans by turning slightly to the right in the hours preceding landfall. In addition, the storm moved away from the Loop Current, and into waters less conducive for the explosive development that it had some 24 to 36 hours earlier. There could have been much more damage, death, and devastation had Katrina stayed on course for the Big Easy and maintained Category Five intensity. As a matter of fact, the Crescent City at first appeared to have emerged from the storm relatively unscathed compared to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. However, leeves along the Industrial Canal were breached, and what ensued was a terrible flood that consumed eight percent of this cultural gumbo that many have called home or spent time in over the years.

All levels of government from the federal on down to the state and local levels deserve their fair share of the blame. The Army Corps of Engineers failed to design an adequate system of leeves and pumps to protect New Orleans from even what was expected following the devastation by Hurricane Betsy in 1965. In a book that I’m reading for one of my next book reviews, Path Of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms, John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein of the Times-Picayune of New Orleans fault the corps for not getting the job done in the 40 years since Betsy, and prior to Katrina.

FEMA and Homeland Security contributed to the federal government bungling by placing an unwanted wall of bureaucracy in front of those who survived the storm and tried to live in the days following it. President Bush failed to sense the urgency of the situation not just early on, but for almost a week after the storm. More ironically, he didn’t apparently learn one of the big lessons he should have learned from his father’s experience with Hurricane Andrew, and not talk about things such as the “blame game”, and appear disengaged with what was happening.

State and local officials appeared to be unprepared for the event as well. Even as recent as a month and a half before the cataclysmic event, there were problems with evacuation when Hurricane Dennis threatened the Central Gulf, and eventually came ashore along the Alabama and Florida border, McQuaid and Schleifstein mention how there were problems with evacuation. Jefferson Parish President, Aaron Broussard, known for his emotional plea on Meet the Press on the Sunday after the hurricane made landfall, indicated that the state government in Louisiana was not acting quickly enough in revising its evacuation plans and he didn’t see reason to continue following them.

This stemmed from the year before. During the 2004 season, Hurricane Ivan threatened the Gulf Coast, and made landfall very close to where Dennis made landfall. State police waited too long to order contraflow be set up on the interstates out of the New Orleans area and the Southeastern Parishes. What resulted was a massive traffic jam to Baton Rouge. In July, 2005, Broussard learned from this lesson, and defied state procedures by calling for an evacuation before it was clear for him and his residents to do so.

Despite the false alarm created by Dennis, the evacuation of Jefferson Parish caused a tremendous firestorm as Governor Blanco chided Broussard for acting to quickly, and Broussard replied by stating that he couldn’t in good faith support the current state procedures for evcauating the region. The call for a mandatory evacuation took too long to occur because of the legal ramifications.

According to Quaid and Schleifstein’s book, Mayor Nagin had spoken with Max Mayfield, Director of the National Hurricane Center on the Saturday evening before the storm hit on August 29th, and after that call, the mayor talked to the city attorney about making an evacuation mandatory. Prior to that, Nagin waited until that Saturday afternoon to declare a voluntary evacuation since he wanted to do things according to the state procedures in place, and not cause the controversy that occurred during Hurricane Dennis.

There are also personal stories that come out of this terrible storm and its aftermath that remind me of certain things that have to be done when a storm threatens you. You must have all your important documents in a safe place so that you don’t lose them if your house is flooded, or swept away by wind and surge. You must have in place a evacuation plan to be in touch with those out of the area to let them know your safe, plenty of cash and gas with you since ATM machines, credit cards, and gas stations will be out of service. Have a safety kit with such things as batteries, bandages, and other medical supplies. Don’t forget plenty of food and water for your family. And finally, make sure you have flood insurance on your house, and even more importantly, know what is covered in your plan.