Hurricane Katrina Major Points Timeline

Tropical Depression near the Bahamas

August 25th, winds reached hurricane intensity, and struck southern tip of Florida.

On September 1, Michael Brown, director of FEMA revealed to a television reporter that he was unaware that thousands were stranded at the New Orleans Convention Center.

His comment, along with one made by President Bush praising Brown's work during the disaster, helped direct media attention to an examination of the effectiveness of the government relief effort. Brown later resigned amid controversey

The Storm grew stronger in the Gulf of Mexico, on August 29th, it struck the Gulf Coast. Lousiana Governor and President Bush disagreed over who would control the National Guard troops sent into New Orleans.

Hopefully in the future the criticism may be more on the overdone planning and preparedness and not the lack thereof.

President George W. Bush signed two bills contributing more than $60 Billion to disaster relief.

We have hopefully learned a valuable lesson. While hindsight is 20/20, there are definately areas for improvement. People criticized the government for what they saw as a failure to heed warnings of what a hurricane could do to New Orleans, and for failing to take steps to repair an aging levee system.

Wind gusts of more than 125 miles per hour, coupled with storm surges devasted several coastal communities in Mississippi and Alabama. Wind and increasing water levels, and levee breaching caused the low-lying neighborhoods of New Orleans to be submerged.

.Government officials and private citizens responded to the storm's aftermath in many ways. Many communities opened shelters. Individuals and private groups from around the world donated billions of dollars to charities assisting in the recovery.

Rescue Teams worked day and night throughout the city but lacked resources to deal with the large number of people in need of help. In the days after the storm, newspaper, television, and internet reports showed images of many New Orleans residents stranded on rooftops amid the flooded streets. Thousands took shelter in the Convention center admist deteriorating conditions. Many waited for several days for bus transport to neighboring city shelters.

In September 2005, the US House of Representatives set up a panel to investigate the government's Hurricane Katrina response. The report found fault at all levels of government for failing to prepare for such a hurricane.

The report while praising evacuation efforts, also criticized the Governor and the Mayor of New Orleans for waiting too long before ordering a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.

Hospital and nursing homes were left without water, electric power and ventilation, and many died.

The report placed much of the blame on a lack of leadership by federal officials, including Michael Chertoff, the head of the US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA.

The report said that a lack of communication and cooperation among federal agencies, the White House, the military and other rescue personnel, and state and local authorities led to significant delays in identifying major problems and providing relief to those in need.