I will never forget Shepard Smith and Geraldo reporting from New Orleans. There was just no denying the fuck up of the federal government’s response. As much as Sean Hannity probably would have liked to, it just wasn’t possible.

This great graphic is from Louisiana blogger Suspect Device. (Thanks to Blue Gal for the tip.)

The Washington Post has an interactive multimedia section that shows past and current photos of the areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. They also report:
Read more »

by Jennifer Loven
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS - President Bush said Tuesday he wanted to celebrate the spirit of New Orleans. He chose to do so with Leah Chase, considered this proud, still’struggling city’s Queen of Creole, known as much for her famous cooking as her warm personality.

The president and his wife, Laura, dined with about two dozen others at her restaurant, Dooky Chase, a landmark eatery that was once a gathering place for civil rights leaders and has become famous for traditional Creole cooking. Around the large square table with Bush, federal, state and local officials mixed with athletes, artists, developers and others.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was at the table, as was musician Irvin Mayfield, for a long list of dishes such as crab soup, grilled redfish, shrimp Clemenceau, chicken with oyster dressing and jambalaya.

Bush called them all “quiet heroes who have helped bring optimism and hope to New Orleans” after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina two years ago Wednesday. He saluted Chase and her husband, Dooky Chase II, who have renovated the restaurant with its elegant dining rooms, impressive art collection and brilliantly colored walls and plan to finally reopen from the storm’s damage in a couple of weeks.

“I know you would want me to say that the food here is about as good as anyplace here in New Orleans,” Bush said. “I will say it.”

The president and his wife are to spend Wednesday’s anniversary at a New Orleans charter school and a community center down the Gulf Coast in Bay St. Louis, Miss. It is Bush’s 15th visit to the region since the storm but only his second since last year’s anniversary, as the issue has moved further off the president’s radar.

read more HERE

By BECKY BOHRER
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS - Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were a roughly $100 billion blow to Louisiana buildings and infrastructure, and federal rebuilding aid and insurance payments fall about $34 billion short of making up for the losses, a state agency says.

The $100 billion estimate, in a Louisiana Recovery Authority report set to be released Friday, includes levees, public buildings and infrastructure, businesses, houses and personal property lost or damaged in the 2005 hurricanes. Of that, insurance has covered $40 billion and federal aid $26 billion, the report says.

The damage estimate was compiled using property loss estimates from various sectors, LRA spokeswoman Melissa Landry said.

Andy Kopplin, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, said he isn’t suggesting that the federal government or insurers write a $34 billion check. But he said people shouldn’t be surprised if Louisiana continues to ask Congress for help rebuilding, something he expects to happen over the next decade.

A recent report from the Government Accountability Office noted the difficulty in assessing damages from the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, saying the exact costs may never be known but that overall they would likely “far surpass” those of the three other costliest disasters in recent memory - the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks; Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and California’s Northridge earthquake in 1994.

read more HERE

Geezzzz…it never ends.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - With large swaths of the Gulf Coast still in ruins from Hurricane Katrina, rich federal tax breaks designed to spur rebuilding are flowing hundreds of miles inland to investors who are buying up luxury condos near the University of Alabama’s football stadium.

About 10 condominium projects are going up in and around Tuscaloosa, and builders are asking up to $1 million for units with granite countertops, king’size bathtubs and ‘Bama decor, including crimson couches and Bear Bryant wall art.

While many of the buyers are Crimson Tide alumni or ardent football fans not entitled to any special Katrina-related tax breaks, many others are real estate investors who are purchasing the condos with plans to rent them out.

And they intend to take full advantage of the generous tax benefits available to investors under the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, or GO Zone, according to Associated Press interviews with buyers and real estate officials.

The GO Zone contains a variety of tax breaks designed to stimulate construction in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama. It offers tax-free bonds to developers to finance big commercial projects like shopping centers or hotels. It also allows real estate investors who buy condos or other properties in the GO Zone to take accelerated depreciation on their purchases when they file their taxes.

The GO Zone was drawn to include the Tuscaloosa area even though it is about 200 miles from the coast and got only heavy rain and scattered wind damage from Katrina.

More at the Sun Sentinel

From the Washington Post:

Washington, DC - Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released the most comprehensive matrix available to date detailing all offers of assistance from around the world in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

CREW’s matrix is based on 25,000 Department of State (DOS) documents it received as a result of a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act in December 2005 for records relating to the federal government’s handling and acceptance of international offers of aid after Hurricane Katrina.

The matrix includes all international offers, whether they were rejected or accepted and the reasons why, if available. The documents reveal a number of disturbing responses to offers from 145 countries and 12 international organizations from around the world.

For example, an email from Jeffrey Goldstein, a U.S. Embassy official in Estonia, to several DOS officials, states:

It is getting downright embarrassing here not to have a response to the Estonians on flood relief. And now I see from the staff meeting notes that the task force may disband soon. We know that what the Estonians can offer is small potatoes and everyone at FEMA is swamped, but at this point even “thanks but no thanks” is better than deafening silence.

Another email responding to an offer from Argentina to DOS officials reads “All, The (sic) word here is that doctors of any kind are in the ‘forget about it’ category. Human assistance of any kind is not on our priorities list….It’s all about goods, not people, at this point.”

Another email describes how the transport of Israeli relief supplies loaded on a C-130 aircraft was delayed for over 48 hours on the tarmac while Israeli officials waited for clearance from the U.S. government. The unidentified author states: “I-ve been on the phone with the [Israeli] attache every couple of hours since noon . . . they-re patient, but not amused by our delay, obviously.” The documents do not reveal if or how the issue was resolved.

Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director said today, “A review of the State Department documents reveals distressing ineptitude. Countries were trying to donate desperately needed goods and services, but as a result of bureaucratic bungling and indifference, those most in need of these generous offers of aid never received it.”

To check out the matrix and read more go to the CREW website.

This totally disgusts me. How Bush and members of congress can party on the White House lawn, Big Easy style, when our Gulf Coast still sits in shambles is reprehensible. These people have no shame.

CBS/AP) President Bush and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were arm in arm, posing for the cameras. Chief White House political adviser Karl Rove worked the crowd. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow played the flute, and strains of a New Orleans jazz band filled the air, as Mr. Bush hosted the annual Congressional picnic - on the White House lawn.

“You all enjoy yourself,” said President Bush, who ambled out on the lawn with first lady Laura Bush to greet his guests, including many of his longtime political adversaries.

“Make sure you pick up all the trash after it’s over,” he joked just before Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers struck up a rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching in.”

Further evoking New Orleans, Mardi Gras beads were on hand and drivers in top hats ferried some of the estimated 1,500 guests around the White House driveway in horse-drawn carriages.

The food was also Big Easy style.

“I want to thank our chef, Paul Prudhomme - one of the great chefs in America. Thanks for coming, Paul,” said President Bush, praising one of New Orleans’ best known kitchen maestros.

The lawn was dotted with picnic tables topped in yellow and white checked tablecloths.

The picnic at the GOP-controlled White House comes at a time that Democrats control Congress. Republicans were still in charge at the time of last year’s picnic.

Mr. Bush thanked leaders of both chambers for attending, and pointed out that Pelosi was in the crowd. “It means a lot that you’ve come,” said the president, greeting the California Democrat who has been a powerful critic of his administration.

More at CBSNews

Who doesn’t remember this……..

From CNN:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RwnTmVEIlU

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former New Orleans police officer charged in the videotaped beating of a man after Hurricane Katrina apparently shot himself to death about a month before his trial, authorities said Monday.

The body of Lance Schilling, 30, was found Sunday in a suburban Metairie home. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the roof of the mouth, Jefferson Parish coroner’s office said.

Schilling and another former officer were accused of beating Robert Davis, 64, a retired school teacher who had returned to New Orleans to check on his property several weeks after the storm.

An Associated Press Television News team recorded Davis being kneed and struck at least four times on the head by two police officers the night of October 8, 2005.

Davis was booked on municipal charges of public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. All charges were later dropped.

Schilling’s attorney, Franz Zibilich, said he was saddened by his client’s death. He believed the suspected suicide had no connection to the pending trial, which had been set for June 29. The former officer faced five years behind bars if convicted of second-degree battery charge.

“The truth be known, he was looking forward to having this matter tried and heard,” Zibilich said.

New Orleans police spokesman Marlon Defillo said Schilling had not been with the department since December 2005.

I don’t understand why the Democratic led congress hasn’t done something about the Gulf Coast. Why has it been forgotten???????? 2 years…..and it’s still a mess.

NEW ORLEANS — More than 20 months after Hurricane Katrina, many communities in Mississippi and Louisiana are still haggling with the Federal Emergency Management Agency over how much money the government will reimburse them for debris removal and infrastructure repairs.

FEMA says it audits all Katrina projects to root out waste and fraud. Local officials, however, say the agency has needlessly dragged out the process and has not clearly defined what prices it considers reasonable.

Millions of dollars are at stake for cash’strapped communities still struggling to rebuild. Some communities say that if FEMA does not reimburse their expenses, they may have to borrow money or raises taxes to cover debris-removal contracts.

In Mississippi, two dozen counties and cities could lose a combined $18.4 million because FEMA questions whether they paid too much for the work, said Mike Womack, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Read more at the Washington Post

The fact that we STILL have a Gulf Coast torn to shreds from Hurricane Katrina almost two years later, is one of the things that angers me the most about this administration and congress. While we send billions and billions to Iraq, we can’t even rebuild our own Gulf Coast. And the country has all but forgotten it. Hundreds marched in the Lower 9th Ward today. I wish I could have marched with them.

As the winds and water of Hurricane Katrina were receding, presidential confidante Karen Hughes sent a cable from her State Department office to U.S. ambassadors worldwide.

Titled “Echo-Chamber Message” — a public relations term for talking points designed to be repeated again and again — the Sept. 7, 2005, directive was unmistakable: Assure the scores of countries that had pledged or donated aid at the height of the disaster that their largesse had provided Americans “practical help and moral support” and “highlight the concrete benefits hurricane victims are receiving.”

Many of the U.S. diplomats who received the message, however, were beginning to witness a more embarrassing reality. They knew the U.S. government was turning down many allies’ offers of manpower, supplies and expertise worth untold millions of dollars. Eventually the United States also would fail to collect most of the unprecedented outpouring of international cash assistance for Katrina’s victims.

Allies offered $854 million in cash and in oil that was to be sold for cash. But only $40 million has been used so far for disaster victims or reconstruction, according to U.S. officials and contractors. Most of the aid went uncollected, including $400 million worth of oil. Some offers were withdrawn or redirected to private groups such as the Red Cross. The rest has been delayed by red tape and bureaucratic limits on how it can be spent.

In addition, valuable supplies and services — such as cellphone systems, medicine and cruise ships — were delayed or declined because the government could not handle them. In some cases, supplies were wasted.

More at the Washington Post

Bush: To the extent we can, we’ll help
Ahhhhhh you’re the friggin President stupid. You promised these people you’d rebuild the Gulf Coast. You send billions of dollars overseas to the black hole known as Iraq….. and spend billions of dollars on your covert mission to make Iran look like the boogie man……but 18 months later and New Orleans still looks like a war zone. Yah…. you really friggin care. You understand there are frustrations, and you want to KNOW of the frustrations……but ya don’t want to understand the frustration yourself or do anything about it. God this man makes me toilet bowl huggin sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - President George W. Bush faced new pressure to jump’start the recovery from Hurricane Katrina on Thursday as he toured the Gulf Coast region hit by the worst U.S. natural disaster.

Eighteen months after the 2005 hurricane, analysts say tens of thousands of people remain displaced and more than half of the schools in the New Orleans area are still closed, a grim reminder of the toll on the region.

“I certainly understand that there are frustrations and I want to know the frustrations. To the extent we can, we’ll help,” Bush said as he sat down to lunch with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and other elected officials at a Creole restaurant near the French Quarter.

Wayne Baquet, owner of the Lil Dizzy’s Cafe, said it was important for Bush to sound the message that government red tape must be overcome. “Very important that he makes noise about it because it’s taking too long to get to the people,” he said.

Bush was on his first trip to the area in six months and 14th overall to check up on the recovery from a storm that caught his administration off guard from the very start.

A report by the Institute of Southern Studies said the Gulf Coast is still in crisis, with more than half the schools in New Orleans still closed, and that the region’s recovery has been stalled due to a lack of housing, jobs and other basic needs.

Read more at Reuters

Bout time…..

State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. agreed Tuesday to settle hundreds of lawsuits by policyholders and reopen thousands of other disputed claims, a deal potentially worth hundreds of millions of homeowners devastated by Hurricane Katrina, a company spokesman said.

State Farm spokesman Phil Supple said the company will reopen and review claims for policyholders on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast whose claims were denied but haven-t sued the company.

That part of the settlement could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars for roughly 35,000 policyholders, a person with direct knowledge of the settlement said.

“The agreement greatly reduces the time, the risk and the expense of defending multiple claims in individual litigation,” Supple said.

State Farm’s agreement with Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and lawyers for more than 600 policyholders resolves a civil lawsuit that Hood filed against the company for refusing to cover damage from Katrina’s storm surge nearly 17 months ago.

The accord also resolves Hood’s criminal probe of allegations that the Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer fraudulently denied claims after the August 2005 storm.

“I hope that this settlement with State Farm will encourage other insurers to join the settlement, so that we can get a quick flow of capital into our coastal counties at this critical time,” Hood said in a statement.

Read more at MSNBC

This guy is irreplaceable. As someone who has lived through several horrendous hurricane seasons, Max Mayfield was the man you listened to. I really hate to see him go. I was hoping Ed Rappaport, the Deputy Director of the National Hurricane Center would step in, but he refused the job. Hurricane Katrina, and the refusal of politicians (all the way up to the top) to heed warnings, was the icing on the cake for these guys. Not only did they not listen, they lied and said they weren’t warned of the potential damage Katrina could cause for the Gulf Coast when they were.

MIAMI — Frustrated with people and politicians who refuse to listen or learn, National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield ends his 34-year government career today in search of a new platform for getting out his unwelcome message: Hurricane Katrina was nothing compared with the big one yet to come.

Mayfield, 58, leaves his high-profile job with the National Weather Service more convinced than ever that U.S. residents of the Southeast are risking unprecedented tragedy by continuing to build vulnerable homes in the tropical storm zone and failing to plan escape routes.

He pointed to southern Florida’s 7 million coastal residents.

“We’re eventually going to get a strong enough storm in a densely populated area to have a major disaster,” he said. “I know people don’t want to hear this, and I’m generally a very positive person, but we’re setting ourselves up for this major disaster.”

Read more at the Sun Sentinel

The Democrats’ return to power is increasing pressure on House Republican leaders to accept a limited expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling.
Supporters of such exploration say the next Congress, with Democrats in control come January, probably will not tamper with the long’standing drilling bans that have protected most coastal waters for a quarter-century.
A stubborn standoff has festered for months between the House and Senate over developing more of the oil and gas resources in the Outer Continental Shelf. The dispute is expected to be an issue in the final days of the Republican-run Congress this week when lawmakers meet in a lame-duck session.
The proposal is of great importance to Louisiana and three other Gulf Coast states. They stand to reap hundreds of millions of dollars under changes to the way the government shares royalties from oil and gas taken from the Gulf of Mexico…

…Louisiana expects eventually to get an annual flow of more than $650 million a year, compared with about $32 million now from production in state-controlled waters, according to the state’s congressional delegation.
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., says the additional money is needed to restore the Gulf Coast. Its barrier islands, wetlands and levees were ravaged by storms, including Hurricane Katrina.
“This is to provide a reliable stream of revenue so that the Gulf Coast states can secure an independent source of revenue to build these levees and restore this coastline,” she said in an interview.

full article

Ruin the coast to have money to save the coast?
I have a problem with this from Landrieu.
Oh! You too?