David told me about some of these stories, and I ran across some of them today and decided to stick them all together.

NPR : Reporters Give Voice to Post-Katrina Desperation

Others are also pressing senior public figures for specific answers. On National Public Radio Thursday afternoon, Robert Siegel questioned Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff about the dire conditions for thousands of people who were not allowed into the New Orleans Superdome but were directed instead to the city’s convention center.

Chertoff said aid workers were confronted by a “double catastrophe” – a hurricane followed by a flood that complicated the delivery of supplies. But he said several times that any refugee from the flood who got to a “staging area” like the Superdome — and presumably, the convention center — would have food and water.

When Siegel asked him again about the convention center, Chertoff said, “You know, the one thing about an episode like this is if you talk to someone and you get a rumor or you get someone’s anecdotal version of something, I think it’s dangerous to extrapolate it all over the place…”

But Siegel bored in on the nation’s top homeland security official, “But, Mr. Secretary, when you say that there is — we shouldn’t listen to rumors, these are things coming from reporters who have not only covered many, many other hurricanes; they’ve covered wars and refugee camps. These aren’t rumors. They’re seeing thousands of people there.”

Chertoff said he was unaware of it. Immediately after that conversation, however, NPR correspondent John Burnett austerely set out precisely what he and producer Anne Hawke had witnessed. After the interview was taped, a spokeswoman for Chertoff called back. She confirmed Burnett’s report — and said supplies would be directed to the convention center.

There are links to Siegel’s and Burnett’s reports on the NPR page. Also, Anderson Cooper ripped Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) a new one for going on and on with a long list of thanks and congratulations to other politicians and how Congress is going to pass a supplemental aid bill. Rather than accept all the back-slapping and congratulatory shout-outs, he replied:

Here Cooper interrupted: “I haven’t heard that, because, for the last four days, I’ve been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi,” he said sharply. “And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated.

“And when they hear politicians slap — you know, thanking one another, it just, you know, it kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours. And there’s not enough facilities to take her up. Do you get the anger that is out here?”

I saw the live news conference by members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Rep. Elijah Cummings ended his statement with a Bible reading (“I was naked, and you clothed me,”)and after finishing, remarked “God cannot be pleased.” It was rather ironically and pointedly directed at President Bush, from one Christian believer to another. The state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans share some measure of responsibility for not making sure in advance that their most vulnerable and poverty-ridden people could have gotten out before the storm hit, or right after. But the Feds bear the brunt for the slowness of the response, because some of the assets they needed in the area could have been headed to staging areas in the days before the storm hit, so they would have been within range wherever Katrina made landfall.

Profile In Blurrage

When President Bush left Texas for Washington DC, he left just as storm refugees were set to arrive at the Houston Astrodome, which has been turned into highly organized emergency housing. Very convenient timing – he gets away from Cindy Sheehan and her supporters, and also gets away from all those icky refugee people who might make him look like he’s not helping very much. He can certainly do more from Washington, can’t he?

If this were 1977, Jimmy and Rosalind would have been in N’Awlins for 3 days already, coordinating relief efforts and handing out food and supplies at a shelter. But this is 2005, and Presidential photo ops must only show happy clean grateful Republican supporters, not pissed off, foul-mouthed, smelly, hungry refugees of dubious political views.

Air Force One diverted for a flyover, and passed right over the beleagered Superdome, where the preparations were not so well organized and where reportedly conditions were horrible, unsanitary, and possibly dangerous. The next day, the evacuation of the Superdome was halted because shots had been fired at a military helicopter, and arson fires had broken out in the area. The presidential flight also overflew Biloxi and other areas.

I get the impression that the poor of New Orleans were simply left to fend for themselves, while more prosperous people with cars were able to get out. Why weren’t people loaded onto buses and trains before the storm hit? Why weren’t there better preparations for sheltering a large number of people?

Well, their evacation plan at first glance seems geared toward people driving their own cars.

Hurricane evacuation planning is made more difficult for the City, due to the large percentage ofresidents without access to a private automobile. Only 27% of Orleans Parish residents evacuatedthe city during Hurricane Georges, while 45% of Jefferson Parish residents evacuated. Orleans Parish residents were more likely to stay during a storm for lack of transportation, financial resources or a tendency to ignore evacuation warnings. Evacuation is also closely related to income. During Hurricane Georges only 16% of those with incomes below $25,000 left town, while 54% of those with incomes over $80,000 left.6In addition to those unable to afford vehicles or transportation there are the disabled, hospitalized, elderly and incarcerated who would not beable to drive from the area. Development of alternative means for citizens to leave the area iscrucial. RTA provides transportation for citizens to shelters and places where out of town transportation may be obtained, but has no provision to use its buses to evacuate citizens out of the city (emphasis mine). While the RTA has expressed a willingness to assist in emergency evacuation, a regional cooperative agreement with other jurisdictions is needed. Visitors and some residents may choose commercial transportation, but at some point commercial bus, rail, and air transportation out of the city will not be available. Greater involvement of local churches, businesses and non-profit groups in providing transport and assisting people without their own transportation or with special needs is needed. — Special Emergency Transportation Planning and Massive Evacuation

So although the plan notes that up to a million people may need to move at least 80 miles inland, the bulk of the planning assumes they’re driving their own vehicles, while recognizing that the very poorest people are the ones least likely to leave. There were plans on paper to provide transportation for them, but now I hear on the TV news in the break room that they’re scrambling to bring in school buses from all over the state. What, now? Why weren’t they queued up to bring them in before the storm? Why weren’t people put on the freaking City of New Orleans? Oh, right, this train got the disappearin’ railroad blues.

Why, indeed.

Chicago Tribune | Flood-control funds short of requests

WASHINGTON — Despite continuous warnings that a catastrophic hurricane could hit New Orleans, the Bush administration and Congress in recent years have repeatedly denied full funding for hurricane preparation and flood control.

…”I’m not saying it wouldn’t still be flooded, but I do feel that if it had been totally funded, there would be less flooding than you have,” said Michael Parker, a former Republican Mississippi congressman who headed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from October 2001 until March 2002, when he was ousted after publicly criticizing a Bush administration proposal to cut the corps’ budget.

Meanwhile, BoingBoing notes that someone is blogging from inside a data center that’s still operational in the city. It’s fascinating and disturbing reading.

And finally, the item that infuriates me the most: Mississippi Goddamn. On August 30, our Duh Leader is shown picking and grinning at an event at a Mississippi military base to commemorate V-J day. That same day, some other people in Mississippi were being picked up and are definitely not grinning.