As Hurricane Gustav threatens the Gulf Coast, US President George W. Bush is out to show the nation that his government has learned the haunting lessons of Katrina and is ready to act. That includes a rapid response by Bush himself, who will be planted near the danger zone even before the storm hits home.
Bush was due to leave yesterday morning for Texas, a staging ground for emergency response efforts and a shelter state for Gulf Coast evacuees. The president was expected to visit Austin and San Antonio on the same day that Gustav, already a deadly force, was likely to make landfall in the US.
Hurricane conditions were predicted anywhere from the coast of Texas to the Alabama-Florida line, including New Orleans in between.
PHOTO: AP
This was supposed to be the day that Bush stepped into the presidential race in his most prominent way to date. But he scuttled his prominent speech at the Republican National Convention, which was to tout Senator John McCain, in favor of his own presidential duty.
Ahead of his trip, Bush got a briefing on Sunday at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the operation of so much scorn under Bush’s leadership during Katrina.
He promised to get state and local officials what they need. He implored residents to evacuate as ordered. He warned that serious flooding could return.
“The message to the people of the Gulf Coast is, this storm is dangerous,” Bush said.
His underlying message was that the government will do better this time. More preparation. Faster response. Better coordination.
The enduring memory of Katrina is the bungled reaction that led to preventable deaths and chaos.
Disaster response has undoubtedly improved since then but Katrina deeply eroded credibility in Bush’s administration.
Scott McClellan, the president’s press secretary at the time, wrote this year that the White House was in a “state of denial” for the whole first week of Katrina. The White House has taken issue with McClellan’s book, which described the Katrina response as “one of the biggest disasters in Bush’s presidency.”
By flying to Texas, Bush clearly wanted to show the nation, and particularly people of the Gulf Coast, that he is committed to answering their needs. He said he hopes to get to Louisiana, too, but will choose a time that does not interfere with emergency response efforts.
Thousands fled New Orleans under a mandatory evacuation orders as New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Bush called Nagin on Sunday and told the mayor he was “ready to go through this again with him,” according to White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.
As the storm grew near, the streets of New Orleans were empty — save for National Guardsmen and just about every officer on the city’s police force standing watch for looters.
In all, nearly 2 million people left south Louisiana, as did tens of thousands from coastal Mississippi, Alabama and southeastern Texas.
“It’s amazing. It makes me feel really good that so many people are saying, ‘We as Americans, we as the world, have to get this right this time,”’ Nagin said. “We cannot afford to screw up again.”
“I feel a little nervous about the storm and exactly where it’s going to end up, but I also feel real good about the resources,” Nagin said. “Man, if we have resources, we can move mountains.”
New Orleans appeared likely to be on the “dirty” side of the storm: where rainfall is heaviest and tornadoes are possible, but the storm surge is lower.
Fears of another Katrina led Nagin and Governor Bobby Jindal to order a massive evacuation that succeeded in removing 90 percent of the population, or roughly 1.9 million people, from southern Louisiana. It continued late into the evening hours on Sunday, with Jindal issuing a final plea to the estimated 100,000 people who decided to stay and ride out the storm.
“If you’ve not evacuated, please do so,” Jindal said. “There are still a few hours left.”
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