Teaching The Levees » Timeline (old)

Timeline (old)

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This section is made up of multiple versions of the timeline of events immediately preceding, during and following Hurricane Katrina. This is done to assure that users have access to the most complete record of events and so that they can compare and contrast how different providers select and present events.

The basic timeline was compiled by this project, using a variety of sources. It is intended to be as complete and as objective as possible, but users are encouraged to verify both claims by looking at other versions. The Brookings Institution has supported an ongoing research project studying the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. Their timeline is developed in the context of that very extensive study. Think Progress includes entries that are missing from either of the other two timelines, for example a documentation of when the administration was first notified of hurricane developments, reference to an internal White House memo, and the timing of events unrelated to the hurricane, like celebration of Senator John McCain’s birthday. Users are encouraged to look for other discrepancies.

The “Show timeline events relevant to:” tool enables users to view the activities of nine specific individuals or organizations as they appear in the basic timeline.’;}
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Additional Timelines: The Brookings Institution | Think Progress

Show timeline events relevant to:

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2005

Hurricane Katrina forming

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Storm begins forming in the central Bahamas.
Wal-Mart Corporation in Arkansas begins readying supplies in anticipation of the storm.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Storm becomes a Category 1 hurricane named Katrina.
Katrina hits Florida, kills 18 people, and causes 600 million dollars in property damage.
Hurricane loses strength passing over land, but begins re-energizing when it passes over warm Gulf of Mexico waters.

Friday, August 26, 2005

Katrina becomes Category 2 hurricane
Scientific community does not know where hurricane will strike until about 5:00 PM, when they estimate that Mississippi or Louisiana will likely be hit. Local, state, and federal governments are notified. Storm is expected to hit in three days.
Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana and Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi declare civil emergencies.
Red Cross and Salvation Army begin relief efforts.
At 11:00 PM National Hurricane Center predicts hurricane will hit Buras, Louisiana.

People lining up to enter the Superdome

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Katrina becomes a Category 3.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contacts Governor Blanco to begin coordinating relief efforts, because FEMA does not possess certain equipment such as vehicles and helicopters, and so relies upon the cooperation of state and local authorities.
Jefferson and other parishes south of New Orleans advise their populations to evacuate.
Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans asks people to evacuate the city and designates the Superdome as a shelter of last resort. About 100,000 people do not evacuate.
Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana gives President Bush permission to call a federal state of emergency. The President complies.
Scientists expect Katrina will go to Category 4 or 5 by the time it hits land.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Katrina goes to Category 4 early in the morning and by the evening, the storm is category 5. It is now certain that Katrina will hit Louisiana and Mississippi.
Mayor Nagin announces a mandatory evacuation and imposes a curfew in accordance with President Bush’s advice. In American history, no mandatory evacuation had been imposed since the Civil War.
Max Mayfield, Director of the National Hurricane Center, warns President Bush, Michael Brown (administrator of FEMA), and Michael Chertoff (director of the Department of Homeland Security) that the levees may be breached by Katrina.

Moving into the Superdome

People are warned of imminent danger, but many do not heed the advice to leave.
FEMA and the National Guard bring in supplies to Superdome, including 2.5 million liters of water and 1.3 million MREs (Meals Ready to Eat).
New Orleans’ government does not accept Amtrak’s offer to put hundreds on their last departing train.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Around 4:30 AM minor breaches of levees sends water into Orleans East and Orleans Metro bowls. Flooding goes on for thirteen hours.
Breach of the levees in St. Bernard Parish sends water flooding into that area, which continued for days.
6:10 AM, Katrina makes landfall in New Orleans, causing rapid loss of electricity. Storm surge overtops the levees on the east bank of Mississippi River. Levees are then als overtopped on the west bank. Flooding begins in Plaquemines Parish.
By 6:30 AM, the levees in the Funnel area are topped, adding to flooding.
By 6:50 AM, the levees on both sides of the Industrial Canal are overtopped.
Over next two hours further levee breaches contribute to catastrophic flooding of New Orleans.
8:30 AM: FEMA’s regional office is informed that a “twenty-foot tidal surge. . . came up and breached the levee system in the canal.”

Flooded homes

Even though Mayor Nagin recognized that levees have been topped at early as 8:00 AM, official reports of levee breaks lag behind and begin pouring in at 9:00 AM and continue until the 17th Street Canal levee is reported to be topped at 10:30 PM
9:08 AM: A brief from the Transportation Security Administration notes that the Industrial Canal levee has been breached. “There is heavy street flooding throughout Orleans, St. Bernard, and Jefferson parishes,” the brief notes. A senior watch officer at the Homeland Security Operations Center receives the brief at 11:41 AM
9:14 AM: A flash flood warning from the National Weather service notes: “A levee breach occurred along the Industrial Canal… 3-8 feet of water is expected.”
9:36 AM: FEMA coordinator Matthew Green e-mails FEMA’s Michael Lowder, deputy director of response, says that the Industrial Canal Levee has failed.
10 AM: Department of Homeland Security adviser Louis Dabdoub sends an e-mail to officials at Homeland Security and its main operation center. It reads: “It is getting bad. Major flooding in some parts of the city. People are calling in for rescue… The bad part has not hit here yet.”
10:12 AM: Michael Heath, special assistant to then-FEMA chief Michael Brown, sends an e-mail to FEMA’s chief of staff and acting director that reports: “Severe flooding in the St. Bernard/Orleans parish line… People are trapped in attics.”
11 AM: FEMA staff member in New Orleans informs an assistant of Michael Brown, FEMA Director, of the flooding of New Orleans.

Wading through flooded streets

11:51 AM: Heath sends an e-mail to Michael Lowder, FEMA’s deputy directory of response, informing him that the 17th Street Canal has been breached, as reported by Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA official on the ground in New Orleans. Brown responds: “I’m being told here water over not a breach.”
12 p.m – 5 PM: Levee breaches are reported by, among others, the Louisiana State Police, the National Weather Service, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security.
6 PM: A report from the Homeland Security Operation Center says: “Preliminary reports indicate the levees in New Orleans have not been breached.”
6:08 PM The American Red Cross e-mails officials at the White House and Department of Homeland Security about reports of levee breaches and “extensive flooding” in the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish.
9 PM: Appearing on CNN, then-FEMA Chief Michael Brown says: “We have some, I’m not going to call them breaches, but we have some areas where the lake and the rivers are continuing to spill over.”
9:29 PM: John Wood, chief of staff for Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, is sent an e-mail that reads in part: “the first (unconfirmed) reports they are getting from aerial surveys in New Orleans are far more serious than media reports are currently reflecting.”
10:30 PM: A Homeland Security situation report reads: “There is a quarter-mile [breach] in the levee near the 17th Street Canal… an estimated 2/3 to 75% of the city is under water… a few bodies were seen floating in the water.” This report reaches the White House around midnight, according to congressional investigators.

Levees breached

11:05 PM: Michael Jackson, deputy secretary of Homeland Security, is sent an e-mail summarizing reports of the extensive flooding that followed the collapse of the 17th Street Canal levee. The reports had been submitted by Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA official on the scene, beginning at 10:12 AM that day.
Roads and communications devices damaged or destroyed by Katrina, making it difficult for information and supplies to travel. Faulty intelligence hurts government response. News’ reports indicate erroneously that New Orleans “dodged a bullet” and are unaware that the levees broke.
Most first responders immobilized by Katrina.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

6 AM: A Homeland Security situation report states that the Industrial Canal and 17th Street Canal levees have been breached. It says: “Much of downtown and east New Orleans is underwater, depth unknown at this time… Widespread and significant flooding has occurred throughout the city.”
Eighty percent of New Orleans is under water; 200,000 homes destroyed; and about 15 percent of New Orleans’ police abandon the post.
US Coast Guard, FEMA, and National Guard lead rescue efforts.
The Superdome is surrounded by water, making it impossible to re-supply.
Army Corps of Engineers starts trying to fix levees to prevent further flooding, but their efforts are largely unsuccessful.

President Bush meets with Mayor Nagin

September 2005

September 1
- Bush claims, “I don’t believe anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.”
- Evacuation from New Orleans now mandatory
- City denies volunteers entry because saying they can’t protect them
- FEMA Head, Michael Brown, confirms that the Convention Center has become a make-shift shelter
September 2
- President Bush sends 10.5 billion request for emergency relief aid to Congress
- Military convoy arrives in New Orleans
- President Bush makes speech at Louis Armstrong International Airport – meets with Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin on Air Force One
- Blanco decides not to allow president to federalize relief efforts
September 3 – 7,000 Active duty troops sent to New Orleans; 10,000 National Guard to follow
September 4 – Helicopters drop off survivors at New Orleans International Airport
September 5
- Nagin criticizes Blanco’s decision not to allow federalized relief effort
- Focus on recovering dead and sending them to a morgue outside Baton Rouge
- One week after storm, victims still being rescued from rooftops
September 6 – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begins pumping out city
September 7
- 10,000 people resisting orders for complete evacuation. Questionable enforcement methods lead Governor Blanco to criticize Mayor Nagin.
- House and Senate announce plans for a joint investigation into federal response

FEMA rescue boats

September 8
- Half of New Orleans still flooded
- Bush asks Congress for an additional 52 billion
September 9 – Katrina estimated to be the nation’s most expensive disaster
September 10 – Bush waives requirement that federal contracts go to companies paying prevailing wage
September 13
- Bush takes responsibility for federal failures
- FEMA Head, Michael Brown, resigns
- Katrina recovery costing government $1 billion/day
September 14 – Owners of nursing home that was not evacuated indicted
September 15
- Businesses are being allowed to reopen
- City leaders discuss ambitious redevelopment plan that includes demolishing Ninth Ward
- President Bush gives speech in Jackson Square where power is temporarily restored
September 16 – Cost of rebuilding Gulf Coast my top $200 billion. President Bush says money will come from spending cuts
September 24 – Hurricane Rita floods parts of New Orleans again

Flooded highways

September 26 – Laws changed to permit no-bid contracting which is in wide use in New Orleans
September 28 – New Orleans Police Chief, Edwin Compass, resigns
September 30 – New Orleans permits some residents to return, and creates an advisory panel on rebuilding.

October 2005

3rd. More than 40,000 people still living in shelters awaiting temporary housing
5th. All residents allowed to return except those in the Ninth Ward
7th. Corps has pumped most water out of city and finished temporary repairs to the levees
8th. Senate approves $1 billion loan
12th. Gun purchases by police and civilians and law enforcement swell
16th. 95% of evacuees have now been moved from shelters to other housing
21st. Geologists warn that if wetlands not rebuilt, New Orleans will flood again
24th. Hurricane Wilma hits Florida, category 3
25th. Class action lawsuits for failure of levees filed
27th. Exxon Mobil reports 3rd quarter profits of $10 billion, due to Katrina-related supply disruptions that raised the price of oil

Coast Guard flyover New Orleans to search for survivors

November 2005

4th. Donald Powell, Texas bank executive, appointed by Bush to coordinate federal support for rebuilding
13th. Some public schools reopen
28th. FEMA extends housing payments for evacuees to Jan. 7, 2006

December 2005

2nd. Residents of Lower Ninth Ward allowed to return
3rd. Governor Blanco postpones elections for New Orleans Mayor and City Council
5th. Tens of thousands of homeowners begin defaulting on their mortgage payments
27th. Louisiana establishes online exit exam for high school seniors to receive a “distance diploma”

2006

January 2006

6th. Lower Ninth Ward residents win restraining order to prevent razing of homes
11th. Commission now proposes rebuilding home in all areas of the city.
13th. Tulane re-opens
18th. New plan for schools released: universal pre-K; school choice; local control
24th. Newly released documents reveal White House did receive more dire warnings than acknowledged

Flooded house

February 2006

14th. Governor Blanco threatens to block offshore oil leases unless Louisiana gets bigger share of taxes
14th. House Republicans release harsh report on failure of response at all levels of government
23rd. White House releases review that is less harsh
23rd. Cost of rebuilding to withstand a category 5 storm estimated at $32 billion
23rd. Private charities running out of money for to help victims
27th. Senate release investigation of Red Cross mismanagement

March 2006

10th. Government panel releases report that exonerates Army Corps of Engineers
24th. Independent panel blames engineers who designed the levees

April 2006

1st. Thousands march to request elections be further postponed
18th. Election planned with thousands still unable to return to vote

May 2006

2nd. Nagin lays out new evacuation plan with focus on those with no transportation
9th. Some parts of Lower Ninth Ward declared safe
21st. Nagin wins run-off election for mayor

June 2006

1st. Satellite imagery shows parts of New Orleans sinking faster than previously thought
2nd. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers accepts responsibility for the condition of the levees. Say city remains at risk.
5th. First criminal trials since Katrina
14th. Congressional investigation finds evidence of massive fraud in relief work – up to $1.4 billion

Man surveys damaged home

15th. Bush signs for additional spending of $19.4 billion for Katrina. Louisiana gets less than Mississippi
18th. HUD decides to demolish 4 of 10 public housing units
29th. Convention Center opened for business

July 2006

11th. HUD approves $4.2 billion for LA rebuilding. Road Home Program gives residents up to $150,000 to rebuild
17th. Construction workers file suit for being exploited in months after Katrina
19th. Doctor and two nurses indicted for giving lethal injections to patients
26th. Nagin outlines 100 day plan for rebuilding
28th. UN criticizes U.S. for failing to protect the rights of the poor

August 2006

2nd. Louisiana sues to prevent Interior Department from auctioning off oil production leases. State wants cut of income.
3rd. Grand jury investigation of NOLA Police Department launched
16th. Federal judge sides with insurance industry in test case exempting insurance company of responsibility because damage judged to be flood, not wind

September 2006

11th. St. Bernard’s Parish will demolish 4,000 homes that were never reclaimed
21st. Owners of nursing home in St. Bernard Parish indicted on 35 counts of negligent homicide

FEMA trailers

26th. Football returns to Superdome. Saints win over Atlanta Falcons 23-3
27th. New Orleans energy builds now up by 33% and rising

October 2006

3rd. NOLA has become national laboratory for charter school experiments as to fill void left by destruction of school system
9th. Hundreds of Gulf Coast residents suing insurance companies over claim denials
25th. Refineries benefiting from fast track to permits

November 2006

5th. Nagin’s 100-day plan showing little action
6th. Army Corps proposes wetlands protection be reduced
23rd. FEMA trailer population has tripled since a year ago
28th. NOLA Police Superintendent requests National Guard stay on to keep order
30th. Federal judge orders FEMA restore housing assistance and pay back rent

December 2006

5th. Corps has still not completed floodgates. Work on highest level of flood protection will leave city vulnerable until 2010.
8th. Less than half of the city has returned at the end of Nagin’s “100 days”
11th. Representative William J. Jefferson re-elected despite ongoing FBI investigation
16th. Army Corps of Engineers urges closing “Mr.Go” shipping channel, long perceived as risk to New Orleans
28th. Former Senator John Edwards will announce presidential bid from the Ninth Ward
29th. Seven NOLA Police Officers are indicted on charges of first-degree murder in connection with deaths of two men on a bridge 6 days after hurricane

Bush delivers State of the Union Address

2007

January 2007

6th. Hot 8 Brass Band drummer Dinerral Shavers shot while driving with his wife and child
9th. State Farm in final stages of settling claims in Mississippi. Will not apply to Louisiana
21st. NOLA census at half pre-Katrina level of 444,000. Demographers believe future gains will be small
23rd. George Bush gives State of the Union Address and makes no mention of New Orleans
30th. Senators criticize slow pace of NOLA recovery at a hearing in French Quarter

February 2007

2nd. Army Corps of Engineers say more than 120 levees around the country could fail
22nd. First new houses built in Lower Ninth Ward.

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Kathleen Blanco