FEMA Acknowledges Blunders During Katrina

1-31-2006 • Associated Press

A ranking Louisiana health official turned down federal offers to help move or evacuate patients as Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans, a newly released document shows.

Offers to Help Katrina Victims Went Unused by Government

1-30-2006 • Associated Press

Hundreds of available trucks, boats, planes and federal officers went unused in search and rescue efforts immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit because FEMA failed to give them missions. FEMA called off search and rescue 3 days after the storm beca

Brownie says he didn't do a heck of a job

1-19-2006 • Associated Press

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown said that he deserved much of the blame for the government's failures after Hurricane Katrina, saying he fell short in conveying the magnitude of the disaster and calling for help.

New Orleans Mayor Says God Mad at U.S.

1-17-2006 • Associated Press

Mayor Ray Nagin suggested that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that "God is mad at America" and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting.

Government responsible for levee failures, knew design flaws

1-1-2006 • Times-Picayune

The engineering mistakes that led to the canal levee failures that flooded most of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina were found and then dismissed in the Army Corps of Engineers' design review process in 1990, an investigative team reviewing t

Government failed in Katrina as private sector responded

12-23-2005 • USA Today

Peterson and his wife couldn't afford to pay a contractor several thousand dollars to gut the one-story house, which sat in water for weeks after Hurricane Katrina inundated them. Then the Mennonites came by and offered a hand. "I can't

Even Senators have insurance problems from Katrina

12-17-2005 • Associated Press

U.S. Sen. Trent Lott is suing his insurance company over his beachfront Pascagoula home, which was leveled by Hurricane Katrina. The issue is whether a wind-driven storm surge is the same as flooding.

Katrina relief bill approved

012-17-2005 • Reuters

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives approved a revised $8 billion tax incentive package to help rebuild the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast after resolving differences over tax breaks for casinos and affordable housing.

US to spend $3 bln on defective government constructed New Orleans levees

12-16-2005 • Reuters

"The levee system will be better and stronger than it ever has been in the history of New Orleans," [which isn't saying much] said Donald Powell, the Bush administration's reconstruction of the area hit hard by Katrina.

Congress: $17 billion for Louisiana. How much did we pay the French?

12-16-2005 • Reuters

Under the bill from Louisiana Republican Rep. Richard Baker, the "Louisiana Recovery Corp." would take over destroyed properties at the request of owners and pay off lenders. The corporation would relieve hurricane victims of their mortgage

Hurricane Katrina: Pot calling the kettle black

12-15-2005 • Reuters

In testimony before a U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating government response to the devastating storm, Blanco said "We did the best we could with the assets we had,"

Engineers Confirm Levee Shortcomings

12-1-2005 • Associated Press

Government engineers performing sonar tests at the site of a major levee failure confirmed that steel reinforcements barely went more than half as deep as they were supposed to, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers official said.

Costliest Part of Gulf Rebuilding Yet to Come

11-21-2005 • Washington Post

The federal government has spent more than $18 billion in Hurricane Katrina relief, in just 2 months, storm recovery costs have already drawn even with spending package that the US has been funding Iraq reconstruction for the past 2 years.

FEMA's insurance policies promote repeated Katrina-style disasters

11-21-2005 • Los Angeles Times

By cavalierly shoveling taxpayer money into insurance for development in high-risk coastal areas — areas the private insurance industry has long since abandoned — the agency is assuring that future hurricanes again do the sort of damage Katrina infli

New Orleans Is Sinking

11-21-2005 • 60 Minutes (CBS)

For 300 years, the sea has been closing in on New Orleans. As the coastal erosion continues, it is estimated the city will be off shore in 90 years. Even in good weather, New Orleans is sinking. Can we or should we put New Orleans back together again

Satellite gap may jeopardize US weather predicting

11-17-2005 • Reuters

A looming gap in U.S. polar satellite coverage may halve the ability to predict some hurricanes and eat into U.S. war fighting capabilities early in the next decade, Bush administration officials acknowledged to Congress on Wednesday.

Businesses More Prepared Than Government

11-16-2005 • Associated Press

Preparing for Hurricane Katrina, Wal-Mart stocked its shelves with food and water for Gulf Coast customers. Southern Company workers were readied to restore lost electricity. The New Orleans Sheraton moved guests to safe areas in the hotel, fixing th

Rep. Davis threatens to subpoena Whitehouse

11-11-2005 • Hill News

House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-Va.) yesterday threatened to subpoena three members of the Bush Cabinet and White House counsel Harriet Miers if they do not comply with document requests issued by his select committee on Hurri

Tornado Hits Midwest, 22 killed

11-7-2005 • Associated Press

Rescuers scaled heaps of rubble to listen for survivors trapped in debris left by a tornado that ripped through communities in Indiana and Kentucky, killing 22 people.

Katrina victims wait and wait for insurance checks

11-3-2005 • Associated Press

Once a proud businessman, William Dwyer sits in a parking lot these days begging his insurer for money. The 57-year-old retiree said he was quick to file claims after Hurricane Katrina severely damaged his home in suburban Slidell. An adjuster inspec

New Orleans Two Months Later

10-30-2005 • Agence France Presse

New Orleans police spokesman, Captain Marlon Defillo, said security in the city has been reinforced with the help of 2,000 National Guard troops and several hundred state police troopers.

Tropical Storm Beta gathering force off Nicaragua

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Beta was the 23rd named tropical cyclone of the unrelenting and record-breaking Atlantic-Caribbean hurricane season. No. 22, named Alpha, broke the record for the number of storms set in 1933 and made 2005 the most active hurricane season since recor

Throngs wait for aid after Wilma knocks out power in Florida

10-26-2005 • Agence France Presse

Frustrated throngs waited in huge lines for ice and water in Florida after Hurricane Wilma crushed the southern US state, knocking out power to six million people and killing at least four.

Gov. Bush Takes Blame for Slow Wilma Aid

10-26-2005 • Associated Press

Gov. Jeb Bush took the blame Wednesday for frustrating delays at centers distributing supplies to victims of Hurricane Wilma, saying criticism of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was misdirected. "Don't blame FEMA. This is our respon

Wilma hammers Florida mainland

10-24-2005 • Reuters

Hurricane Wilma crashed ashore in southwest Florida and roared across the peninsula, pounding Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach with top sustained winds of 125 mph.

Wilma At Record-Breaking Intensity

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(CBS/AP) Gathering strength at a fierce pace, Hurricane Wilma grew into a Category 5 monster storm early Wednesday with 175 mph winds. Forecasters warned the storm was "extremely dangerous" and said a key reading of its pressure was the low

Wilma Now Most Intense Atlantic Storm Ever

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Gathering strength at a fierce pace, Hurricane Wilma swirled into the most intense Atlantic storm ever recorded Wednesday, a Category 5 monster packing 175 mph wind that forecasters warned was "extremely dangerous."

Wilma ties Atlantic hurricane season record

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MIAMI, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season tied a 72-year-old record for busiest ever with the formation of Tropical Storm Wilma on Monday.