72. Interview with Sally Forman, January 30, 2006.
73. Ibid.
74. Interview with Clarkson.
75. Interview with Sally Forman.
76. Interview with Garland Robinette, March 2, 2006.
77. “FEMA Chief: Victims Bear Some Responsibility,” CNN.com, September 1, 2005.
78. Ibid.
79. “White House Press Briefing on Disaster Efforts; FEMA Halts Rescue Efforts in New Orleans as Gunfire Endangers Workers,” CNN, September 1, 2005, transcript.
80. Coates and Eggen, “A City of Despair and Lawlessness.”
81. Al Kamen, “A Worthy Move from FEMA,” Washington Post, November 14, 2005.
82. Interview with Michael Brown, February 4, 2006.
83. Interview with Jimmy Pitre, March 2, 2006.
84. Ibid.
85. Ibid.
86. Memorandum from Michael D. Brown to Michael Chertoff, subject: Component Head Meeting, March 2005.
87. Michael Chertoff, interview with Robert Seigel, All Things Considered, National Public Radio, September 1, 2005.
88. Allen G. Breed, “National Guardsmen Arrive in New Orleans,” Associated Press, September 2, 2005.
89. Lieutenant General Russel Honore, “A John Wayne Dude,” CNN, September 3, 2005, transcript.
Chapter 14: THE FRIDAY SHUFFLE AND SATURDAY RELIEF
1. Jennifer Loven, “Bush Says Relief Efforts Not Acceptable” Associated Press, September 2, 2005.
2. Dan Froomkin, “Dealing with Political Disaster,” Washington Post, September 6, 2005.
3. Scott McClellan, “Press Gaggle with Scott McClellan: Aboard Air Force One en Route to Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana,” September 2, 2005.
4. Evan Thomas et al., “Deadly Mistakes,” Newsweek, September 19, 2005.
5. NBC Nightly News, December 12, 2005, transcript.
6. Interview with William Jefferson, February 24, 2006.
7. Ibid.
8. Jeb Schrenk, “Storm Smacks Alabama Cost,” Mobile Register, August 30, 2005.
9. Interview with Jeff Collier, February 17, 2006.
10. Stephen Barr, “Coast Guard Response Is Katrina Silver Lining in the Storm,” Washington Post, September 10, 2005.
11. Interview with Walter Dickerson, January 18, 2006.
12. Mark Leibovich, “Buddy Story,” Washington Post, October 10, 2005.
13. Joe Scarborough, “Mississippi Rising,” MSNBC.com blog, November 29, 2005.
14. “President Arrives in Alabama, Briefed on Hurricane Katrina,” Office of the Press Secretary, White House, September 3, 2005.
15. Judy Keen and Richard Benedetto, “A Compassionate Bush Was Absent Right After Katrina,” USA Today, September 9, 2005.
16. “Relief Convoy Finally Rolls In,” Milwaukee Journal, September 3, 2005.
17. Rachel Donadio, “The Gladwell Effect,” New York Times, February 5, 2006.
18. Interview with Michael Brown, February 2, 2006.
19. Daren Fonda and Rita Healy, “How Reliable Is Brown’s Réumé,” Time, September 8, 2005.
20. “New Orleans Mayor Lashes Out at Feds,” CNN, September 2, 2006.
21. Loven, “Bush Says Relief Efforts Not Acceptable.”
22. Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNN, September 2, 2005, transcript.
23. Mike Williams and Ken Herman, “Help at Last: Federal Response Takes Flak as Bush Tours Region,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 3, 2005.
24. Dahleen Glanton, “‘You Can Smell the Death,’” Chicago Tribune, September 2, 2005.
25. Joshua Cogswell, “Little Aid, Lots of Misery,” Jackson Clarion-Ledger, September 5, 2005.
26. Interview with Morris Dees, February 28, 2006.
27. Joe Atkins, “Barbour Praised Bush Too Quickly,” Jackson Clarion-Ledger, November 6, 2005.
28. Geoff Fender, “More Action, Less Talk Required for Recovery,” Biloxi Sun-Herald, September 5, 2005.
29. Mark Leibovich, “Buddy Story.”
30. Jill Lawrence, “Governors Handle Crisis in Own Ways,” USA Today, September 12, 2005.
31. Cogswell, “Little Aid, Lots of Misery.”
32. Sally Jenkins, “By Hook or Crook, Surviving Storm,” Washington Post, September 19, 2005.
33. Keith Naughton and Mark Hosenball, “Cash and Cat’ 5 Chaos,” Newsweek, September 26, 2005.
34. Stephen J. Hedges, “Crew of Navy Ship Ready to Play Larger Role in Relief Effort,” Chicago Tribune, September 3, 2005.
35. Michael Newsom, “Keesler Medical Staff Making Do in Tent,” Biloxi Sun-Herald, September 18, 2005.
36. “Name This Operation Contest,” Katrina Daily News, Keesler Air Force Base, September 1, 2005.
37. Photo caption, Katrina Daily News, Keesler Air Force Base, September 15, 2005.
38. Interview with Fredro Knight, February 28, 2006.
39. Ibid.
40. Sheila Kast, “Mississippi Agricultural Operations Reel from Storm,” Weekend Edition, National Public Radio.
41. Suzette Parmley, “Mississippi’s Gaming Industry Devastated,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 31, 2005.
42. Barry Schlacter, “Timber, Poultry Hurt Worst by Katrina,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 15, 2005.
43. Barnaby J. Feder, “The Power Grid; Utility Workers Come from Afar to Help Their Brethren Start Restoring Service,” New York Times, September 1, 2005.
44. Press release, “Mississippi Power Restoration Update,” Mississippi Power, September 15, 2005.
45. Dennis Cauchon, “Some Areas Inch Toward Normality,” USA Today, September 9, 2005.
46. Press release, “President Tours Biloxi, Mississippi Hurricane Damaged Neighborhoods,” September 2, 2005, www.whitehouse.gov.
47. Cauchon, “Some Areas Inch Toward Normality.”
48. “Frustration Boils Mayor Nagin, Blanco Irate About Delays,” Baton Rouge Advocate, September 1, 2005.
49. Interview with Brian G. Lukas, February 18, 2006.
50. Press release, “Katrina/Rita Missing Persons Hotline,” National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, February 6, 2006.
51. Interview with Brian G. Lukas, February 18, 2006.
52. Brian G. Lukas, “Covering Hurricane Katrina,” personal journal, September 2, 2005, supplied by Lukas.
53. Ibid.
54. Ibid.
55. Interview with C. Ray Nagin, March 15, 2006.
56. Interview with Ron Forman, January 10, 2006.
57. Ibid.
58. Thomas et al., “Deadly Mistakes.”
59. Karen Tumulty, “The Governor,” Time, September 19, 2005.
60. Robert Travis Scott, “Politics Delayed Troops Dispatch to N.O.,” Times-Picayune, December 11, 2005.
61. Thomas et al., “Deadly Mistakes.”
62. C. Ray Nagin, interview with Soledad O’Brien, American Morning, CNN, September 5, 2005.
63. Robert Travis Scott, “Politics Delayed Troops Dispatch to N.O.,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, December 11, 2005.
64. Bernard H. McLaughlin, diary, September 2, 2005, supplied by McLaughlin.
65. Interview with Bernard McLaughlin, February 10, 2006.
66. Ibid.
67. Michael Eric Dyson, Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster, (New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2006), pp. 100–107.
68. Nicholas Lemann, “The Talk of the Town; Insurrection,” The New Yorker, September 26, 2005.
69. Interview with Kathleen Blanco, December 19, 2005.
70. Scott Pelley (correspondent), “Katrina Response Sparks Outrage,” 60 Minutes, CBS, September 5, 2005.
71. Ibid. Also CNN transcript; and Dyson, Come Hell or High Water, p. 102.
72. Interview with Blanco.
73. Interview with Eddie Compass, February 25, 2006.
74. Ibid.
75. Today, NBC, September 5, 2005, transcript.
76. Bruce Baughman, director, Alabama State Emergency Management Agency, testimony, House Governm
ent Reform Committee, November 9, 2005.
77. “Reported Katrina Deaths, State by State,” Associated Press, September 17, 2005.
78. Maurice Possley and John McCormick, “Officials Struggle with Katrina-Related Deaths,” Chicago Tribune, November 1, 2005.
79. “January 30, 2006: Updated Number of Deceased Victims Recovered Following Hurricane Katrina,” Bureau of Media and Communications, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, January 30, 2006.
80. Possley and McCormick, “Officials Struggle with Katrina-Related Deaths.”
81. Interview with Blanco.
82. Oprah, September 9, 2005, transcript.
83. Interview with Compass.
84. Interview with Jimmy Duckworth, March 3, 2006.
85. “Hurricane Katrina; The U.S. Coast Guard at Its Best,” dedication, published by Faircourt, Tampa, Florida.
86. Interview with Duckworth.
87. Ibid.
88. Ibid.
89. Jimmy Duckworth, U.S. Coast Guard journal, August 29 to October 1, 2005 (private papers of Duckworth).
90. Interview with Eddie Favre, November 5, 2005.
91. David Rouse, “Small Signs of Normality,” Associated Press, September 9, 2005.
92. Interview with Jimmy Buffett, February 15, 2006.
93. Ibid.
94. Mike Monson, “Katrina Evacuees Calling C-U Home,” News-Gazette (Illinois), September 8, 2005.
95. Dawn Bryant, “Hurricane Show Returns to Margaritaville,” (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) Sun News, November 20, 2005.
96. http://margaritaville.com.
97. “Open Letter to the President,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, September 4, 2005.
98. Jimmy Buffett, “Off to See the Lizard,” song.
99. Interview with Buffett.
100. Ibid.
101. Interview with Marlin Torguson, October 26, 2005.
102. Ibid.
103. Brenda Norrell, “A Pointe-au-Chien Family Describes Survival After Katrina,” Indian Country Today, September 28, 2005.
104. David Giffels, “Resettling in Area Is Tough Sell,” Akron Beacon Journal, September 25, 2005.
105. Brennen Jensen and Nicole Lewis, “Hurricane Donations: How Much Has Been Raised and How It Will Be Spent,” Chronicle of Philanthropy, November 10, 2005.
106. G. Robert Hillman, “Bush Seeks Counsel of Two Ex-Presidents,” Dallas Morning News, September 1, 2005.
107. Elizabeth Williamson, “Contributions Near $100 Million,” Washington Post, September 2, 2005.
108. “A Message from Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and William J. Clinton,” letter of December 7, 2005, posted on Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund Web site, bush clintonkatrinafund.org.
109. Interview with Michael Prevost, December 28, 2005.
110. Sanjay Gupta, American Morning, CNN, September 2, 2005.
111. “A Failure of Initiative: Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina,” U.S. House of Representatives, February 2006, p. 343.
112. Haley Barbour, testimony, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, February 2, 2005.
113. Megan Tench, “Filene’s Basement Spree Is Evacuee’s ‘Dream Come True,’” Boston Globe, September 24, 2005.
114. Interview with Prevost.
115. Ibid.
116. Sanjay Gupta, “City of New Orleans Falling Deeper into Chaos,” American Morning, CNN, September 2, 2005.
117. Interview with Richard Griffiths, February 28, 2006.
118. Interview with Ruth Berggren, January 29, 2006.
119. Ruth Berggren, “Unexpected Necessities—Inside Charity Hospital,” New England Journal of Medicine 353 (October 13, 2005): 1550–53.
120. Interview with Berggren.
121. Interview with Libby Goff, February 21, 2006.
122. Interview with Berggren.
123. Ibid.
124. Libby Goff, diary, August 29–September 3, supplied by Goff.
125. Interview with Berggren.
Chapter 15: GETAWAY (OR X MARKS THE SPOT)
1. Interview with Diane Johnson, December 3, 2006.
2. Ibid.
3. Interview with Ivory Clark, February 6, 2006.
4. Interview with Bernard McLaughlin, March 7, 2006.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Interview with McLaughlin.
10. Interview with Lance Hill, March 8, 2006.
11. Ibid.
12. David Spielman, diary, September 3, 2005.
13. Michael Perlstein, “For Tales of Life and Death, the Writing’s on the Walls,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, September 17, 2005.
14. Interview with Josh Holm, November 18, 2005.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Interview with Tony Zumbado, November 14, 2005.
18. Interview with Holm.
19. Interview with Zumbado, November 14, 2005.
20. Interview with Tony Zumbado, March 8, 2006.
21. Ibid.
22. Interview with Zumbado, November 14, 2005.
23. Renae Merle and Griff Witte, “Lack of Contracts Hampered FEMA,” Washington Post, October 10, 2005.
24. Ibid.
25. Kim Severson, “Austin Leslie, Dies, 71; Famed for Fried Chicken,” New York Times, September 30, 2005.
26. Shaila Dewan, “With the Jazz Funeral’s Return, the Spirit of New Orleans Rises,” New York Times, October 10, 2005.
27. Bernard H. McLaughlin, diary, September 3, 2005, supplied by McLaughlin.
28. Interview with Clark.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. André Buisson, diary, September 4, 2005.
34. William Caldwell IV, interview with Jed Babbin, Radioblogger.com, September 9, 2005.
35. Jay Price, “Katrina Notebook,” Raleigh News & Observer, September 5, 2005.
36. David Wood, “The General in Charge Is a Man in a Hurry,” Newhouse News Service, September 5, 2005.
37. Gerry J. Gilmore, “82nd Airborne Division Becomes ‘Waterborne’ in New Orleans,” American Forces Press Service, September 21, 2005.
38. Ibid.
39. Dan Baum, “Deluged,” The New Yorker, January 9, 2006.
40. Interview with Terry Ebbert, March 8, 2006.
41. John Schwartz, “Pumping: Behind the First Roar of Machinery to Drain the City,” New York Times, September 8, 2005.
42. Deborah Acomb, “Hurricane Katrina,” National Journal, September 10, 2005.
43. Matt Sedensky, “Final Chapter in Storm Exodus Is Epic Bus Journey,” Associated Press, September 3, 2005.
44. Tom Walker, “Hidden Hands Behind Katrina,” New Statesman, October 3, 2005.
45. Brett Martel, “Angry God Sent Storms, Mayor of New Orleans Says,” Associated Press, January 17, 2006.
46. Noah’s Ark Church sign, personal papers of Reverend Willie Walker, Kenner, Louisiana.
47. Interview with Willie Walker, March 5, 2006.
48. Interview with Gus Davies, March 7, 2006.
49. Interview with Walker.
50. Interview with Laura Young, March 7, 2006.
Acknowledgments
When Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David McCullough wrote The Johnstown Flood, his first book, he included an appendix honoring the 2,209 killed in the notorious Pennsylvania dam break of May 31, 1889. It was a roll call of remembrance. Long ago, I learned you never go wrong following David’s elegant lead. He is the master of graciousness and the thank-you note. I wanted to emulate him in this regard, but unlike the Johnstown flood, it is not yet possible to include an accurate list of victims of Katrina. Just this morning I opened up my local newspaper, the Times-Picayune, to read a B-4 obituary-page story about two Hurricane Katrina victims whose corpses were just pulled out of the Lower Ninth Ward rubble yesterday.
Today is March 17, 2006. Over six months have passed since Katrina roared ashore. On August 30, 2005, the morning after Katrina made landfall, the Homeland Security Operations Center sent out an urgent 6:00 A.M. bulletin claiming that “it could take months to dewater” New Orleans. They were right. What Homeland Security didn’t anticipate, however, is that decomposed bodies would still be collected from the 5400 block of Prieur Street (among wooden debris) or the 2900 block of Higgins Boulevard (in a kitchen) six months after that flood bulletin was released. “I thought I’d read it all,” Reverend Billy Graham said, as he toured the Lower Ninth in March 2006, “but it doesn’t compare to what you see in just a few minutes’ tour of this area.”
At this writing, the Louisiana State Health Department—such as it is—tallied 1,080 Katrina dead; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers claimed that in Orleans Parish alone there were approximately 400 people missing and presumed dead. While these statistics are amorphous, the demographic who suffered the most in the Great Deluge were not. They were the poor, ill or critically ill elderly. Not “African Americans” or “the unemployed” or “women of color.” “Old folks” or “senior citizens” suffered the most. Women like Diane Johnson—who died of post-Katrina stress but is not included in the official death toll—are our country’s true invisible people. As the old bluegrass song goes, Johnson was just “Old and in the Way.” Even National Guardsmen during the Great Deluge seemed uninformed that the elderly dehydrate faster and are unable to be ripped off of their medication regiments in a willy-nilly fashion. “Katrina shows how hard it is for younger people in charge of the story, the social response or the rescue effort to put themselves in the shoes of the vulnerable elderly,” Margarette M. Gullette perceptively wrote in the Louisiana Weekly, a New Orleans–based African-American newspaper in operation since 1925. “That is part of ageism: not hatred but ignorance, indifference, and the failure to imagine oneself as older and in need of care.”
For those first post-Katrina weeks I lived with my family (plus a dog and two cats) out of the Omni Hotel in Houston. The hotel lobby had the whacked-out, mad feeling of a train station at wartime. Desperate evacuees, lucky to have rooms in Houston, were urgently working their cell phones, crowded around the lobby’s large-screen TV, watching with bated breath the minute-by-minute news of the deluge, trying to stay grounded. We were like cossacks coming to despoil the czar’s palace, stripping the Omni of its bathrobes and short-circuiting the business center’s Xerox machines. So a salute is in order to the Omni employees who treated all the frantic Katrina drifters with great patience, kindness, and understanding. They were the epitome of professionalism.
The Great Deluge Page 83