SLIDELL, La. (ABP) — Frustrated local officials in the New Orleans area came out swinging Sept. 1 against their federal counterparts, calling the response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in that city immorally slow and uncoordinated.
With communications in the affected region still dicey at best, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin lashed out in a conversation with local radio personality Garland Robinette on a WWL-AM broadcast Sept. 1.
Nagin railed against the federal government and wondered aloud why federal officials had not been better prepared to get food and water to the survivors stranded in New Orleans — as well as extra law-enforcement help.
“People are dying; they don't have homes; they don't have jobs,” he said, adding — before breaking down in tears — “The city of New Orleans will never be the same.”
Nagin's comments came amid increasing reports of lawlessness in the flooded, darkened city, as well as reports that refugees were dying of dehydration and medical conditions exacerbated by hunger and lack of medication.
In an interview on the same radio station, another local official was equally blunt. Aaron Broussard, president of neighboring Jefferson Parish, said his suburban jurisdiction was descending into chaos because of the spill-over effect from its neighbor to the east.
“We live in America — where is our president?” he asked. “Do you know what it's like to be a top government official and have people putting their hands on your [car] windows and begging for food? This is not a Third World country. This is America.
“Mother Nature has come and gone — now human nature is here. And human nature is causing more problems.”
President Bush cut short his Texas vacation and flew back to Washington Aug. 31 to respond to the crisis. Amid rising criticism of the federal government's inability to establish order in New Orleans, Bush scurried to make an official visit to Louisiana, as well as Katrina-affected parts of Mississippi and Alabama Sept. 2.
Shortly before departing Washington, Bush called the federal response to the crisis “not acceptable,” in an admission of inadequacy rare for the White House.
“[W]e need to get troops — we had 1,200 troops arrive yesterday, I'm told,” Bush told reporters after a noontime walking tour of devastated sites in Biloxi, Miss. “These are troops especially trained for military police work. They need to get in there. They need to stabilize that situation. They need to make sure that the food and medicine that is in place is given to the people that need the food and medicine.”
Nonetheless, Bush said that, overall, he was pleased with the relief efforts.
“The levees broke on Tuesday in New Orleans…. And Thursday we started evacuating people,” Bush said. “I am satisfied with the response. I'm not satisfied with all the results.”
But one of Bush's political allies, Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R), told the Washington Post he thought the situation was an “operational failure,” and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had been “completely dysfunctional and completely overwhelmed” by the disaster.