Hurricane Katrina

Timeline of a Catastrophe

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Posted by on August 29, 2006 at 05:43 PM

A year ago today, President Bush was attending pricey fundraisers and eating cake while the Gulf Coast was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

President Bush:

  • Bush In Arizona Campaigning Hard To “Pre-Sell” A Political Victory at 12pm ET. Bush talked to an invitation only audience of about 400 people at the Pueblo El Mirage RV and Golf Resort. The Arizona Republic said Bush came to campaign hard for his new Medicare plan. “The main focus of Bush's visit was to elaborate on the new Medicare drug benefit…Having high numbers of enrollees also will be a political victory for the president, since he pushed the Medicare reform measure through Congress in 2003. Members of the Bush administration have been on the road, going across the country to talk up the program…. ‘I think Bush would like it (the Medicare drug benefit) to play a role in the elections next year -- he's been touting it as one of the big accomplishments of his first term,’ David Mark, of Campaigns & Elections Magazine, said Monday.… Bush said Monday that he was in El Mirage ‘pre-selling’ the importance of enrolling for the benefit.” [Arizona Republic, 8/30/05]

  • Bush Stopped To Celebrate McCain’s Birthday At Luke Air Force Base. “Greeting Bush was Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)… The president paused on the tarmac to help celebrate McCain's 69th birthday, but on a blazing Arizona day, the cake melted before he could taste it.” [Washington Post, 8/30/05]

  • “Upbeat” Bush Continues Campaigning, Speaking Straight From White House Talking Points In Rancho Cucamonga, CA at 5:45pm ET. “An upbeat and slightly sunburned President George W. Bush chatted with the nation's Medicare chief and several locals in a casual, town hall-type setting Monday, encouraging seniors to find out more about their new prescription drug benefits. Repeatedly telling an audience of 200 invited guests at the James L. Brulte Senior Center that the new program was "a good deal,' the president also assured seniors that he sympathized with their apprehension.… Bush, who spoke for just under a half-hour, pulled talking points directly from a White House fact sheet that states Medicare has not kept up with advances in medicine…. Bush's appearance was part of a $300 million campaign to promote awareness of the program and boost interest in it.” [Whittier Daily News, 8/30/05]

The Gulf Coast

  • Katrina Moves On Shore As Category 4 Hurricane. At 6am, the National Hurricane Center warned that “extremely dangerous category four hurricane Katrina preparing to move onshore newar southern Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana…Hurricane-force wind gusts occurring over most of southeastern Louisiana…and as far east as the Chandeleur Islands.” [Hurricane Center]

  • At Least 55 Reported Deaths By Hurricane Katrina Throughout Gulf Coast. “Hurricane Katrina barreled into the Gulf Coast on Monday morning, its fierce winds cutting a 125-mile swath of destruction stretching from coastal Alabama across Mississippi to the French Quarter and the Superdome. At least 55 people were killed. The storm's leading edge, wielding winds up to 145 mph across the Gulf of Mexico, made landfall as a fearsome Category 4 hurricane at 7:10 a.m. Eastern time near the Louisiana bayou town of Buras, about 63 miles southeast of New Orleans. Katrina then wheeled into western Mississippi, bringing a 20-foot storm surge along the coast near Biloxi. It headed north later Monday to inundate most of the Mississippi Delta, spun off dozens of tornadoes through the South and promised drenching rains later in the week as far north as the Ohio Valley.” [Washington Post, 8/30/05]

  • The flooding begins - literally. Pictures start to come in from residents and reporters as the Gulf Coast is washed away.

For a full comparison, check out the research document, Timeline of a Catastrophe.

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