Into The Breach
Chronology of what local, state and federal officials said about danger to levee system as Katrina approached. Material was drawn from media accounts and reports by U.S. House and the White House, and documents and videotapes obtained by the AP.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
U.S. disaster officials participate in a video briefing on the status of the developing storm. "The presentation is becoming more definitive of a strengthening system," reports Richard Pash of the National Hurricane Center. The focus is on landfall in Florida, according to the transcript.
|
|
|
|
Disaster officials participate in another video briefing on the storm. "I just want to make the point here that we've really got to pay attention all the way from Louisiana over into the Florida Gulf Coast," says Bill Reed of the National Hurricane Center in the transcript. Experts in the room predict the storm will hit Florida although it has veered toward the west. The storm is becoming a "strong Category 3 hurricane. It's going to be stronger than that," according to the transcript.
|
|
|
|
Video briefing is held on hurricane watch issued for New Orleans area. The National Hurricane Center says watch issued because of city's "vulnerability." Maj. Gen. Bennett C. Landreneau says evacuations are under way for people "outside the levee protection district." FEMA Director Michael Brown sounds an ominous warning: "I've got to tell you my gut hurts on this one. It hurts. I've got cramps. So, we need to take this one very, very seriously." From Crawford, Texas, White House adviser Joe Hagin says it appears plans are "in good shape."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Separately, Mayor Ray Nagin warns about a "worst-case scenario" in which "a gigantic storm surge would sweep past levees and flood the city with 18 feet of water. It would take weeks to pump all of the water out," Nagin tells the AP. "This is the storm New Orleans has feared these many years."
|
|
|
|
Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State Hurricane Center runs computer models of the storm that indicate levees will be overrun and New Orleans will be flooded. Indications are that this is absolutely a "worst-case scenario" and waves might "chip away at the levees" or "overtop them," Van Heerden tells the Times-Picayune of New Orleans. Other scientists including van Heerden have warned that the levees could be "easily overtaken" by a massive storm, according to the AP.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco tells CNN that Katrina could cause storm surges of 20 feet and many people in New Orleans "will not survive that if it happens."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 a.m.
National Weather Service issues an advisory that Katrina is a "potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane" and predicts impacted areas would be "uninhabitable for weeks ... perhaps longer," according to the U.S. House report.
|
|
|
|
Mayor Nagin predicts, "The storm surge most likely will topple our levee system," according to the House report. He also tells CNN, "The city of New Orleans is built in a bowl, if you will, where we're below sea level, so as soon as the levee systems are breached, if you will, there will be a tremendous amount of water, anywhere from 15 to 20 feet of water in some parts of New Orleans." He orders mandatory evacuation for city's 485,000 residents and opens the Superdome as refuge of last resort for residents who can't get out.
|
|
|
|
10 a.m.
The Weather Service issues another advisory warning "potentially catastrophic hurricane Katrina ... even stronger."
|
|
|
|
Noon
In a video briefing, Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center says the storm is Category 5. "The big question is going to be: Will that top some of the levees? And the current track and the forecast we have now suggests that there will be minimal flooding in the city of New Orleans itself, but we're, we've always said that storm surge model is only accurate within about 20 percent." Participants include Brown, President Bush, Homeland chief Michael Chertoff and Blanco and state officials.
|
|
|
|
A little later, Mayfield says in the transcript "I don't think any model can tell you with any confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not, but that's obviously a very, very grave concern." President Bush in the transcript says he appreciates "so very much the warnings that Max and his team have given." Mr. Bush asks no questions. Later on in the transcript an unidentified person from operations at headquarters says "we are assessing the potential impact of the storm on critical infrastructure."
|
|
|
|
4 p.m.
The Weather Service issues a warning that "some levees in the greater New Orleans area could be overtopped."
|
|
|
|
Later that night, Gov. Blanco predicts on CNN that the "storm surge could bring 15 to 20 feet of water" into the city, according to the House report.
|
|
|
|
7:30 a.m.
The Louisiana Emergency Operations center receives unconfirmed reports from Jefferson Parish of significant flooding in the east and along the lakefront, according to the House report on Katrina. St. Bernard Parish reports "overtopping" at the Industrial Canal and three feet of water in Arabi. A parish deputy sheriff says his building is surrounded by whitecaps.
|
|
|
|
That morning, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers first hears sporadic reports of levee breaches and overtopping, according to the House report. It says sources of information include local radio stations and an Army Corps employee who reports overtopping of the Industrial Canal. Blanco tells ABC News, "We are concerned that, I guess, the storm surges might bring water over those high levees."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9:12 a.m.
The National Weather Service receives a report of a levee breach and issues a flash-flood warning, according to the White House formal recounting of events.
|
|
|
|
10:50 a.m.
Homeland Security distributes a report that states, "Some levees in the greater New Orleans area could be overtopped," according to the White House report.
|
|
|
|
11:32 a.m.
Maj. Gen. Landreneau reports flooding at Jackson Barracks but can't say whether it is from overtopping or a breach, according to the White House report.
|
|
|
|
Noon
In a video briefing, Mayfield comments in the transcript on the levees: "It looks like the federal levees around the city of New Orleans will not have been (incomprehensible) any breaches." John Schmidt, a hydrologist, says in the transcript that southeastern Louisiana is experiencing "significant flooding occurring right now, beyond storm surge flooding."
|
|
|
|
President Bush does not participate in the video briefing, but Director Brown, at the Baton Rouge Emergency Operations Center, says in the transcript he has spoken twice that morning with Mr. Bush. "He remains very, very interested in the situation," Brown says. "He's obviously watching the television a lot. ... He's asking questions about reports of breaches. He's asking about hospitals. He's very engaged and he's asking a lot of really good questions I would expect him to ask."
|
|
|
|
Brown goes on to say that he gets "frustrated when the media talks about it's gone from a Category 5 to 4 to 3. What they don't realize is there is a lot of rain, a lot of storm surge, a lot of potential victims out there." From Baton Rouge, Bill Lockey reports "eight to ten feet of water in St. Bernard Parish" and says, "In New Orleans Parish, we have got water in the eastern part."
|
|
|
|
White House adviser Hagin asks about the status of the levee system and the roof of the Superdome. Gov. Blanco hesitantly conveys an unconfirmed report of no levee breaches in the transcript: "We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees. We heard a report unconfirmed. I think we have not breached the levee. We have not breached the levee at this point in time. That could change …."
|
|
|
|
3 p.m.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tries to survey the levees, but because of "high winds, debris and flooding" members must return indoors, according to the House report. It was clear "New Orleans had suffered catastrophic flooding and they began to review plans for unwatering New Orleans," the House report says.
|
|
|
|
Evening
Formal reports of levee breaches reach the White House, according to the White House report on Katrina. Later, off-duty police officers call police stations to report floodwaters moving into central New Orleans, according to the House report on Katrina.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the morning, federal, state and local officials confirm levee breaches, according to the White House report.
|
|
|
|
Credits:
CBS/AP
|
|
|
