Inside Hurricane Katrina Page #9

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It looks like the water came up

probably another foot

into the house,

but it looks like

she made it out.

Narrator:
Not everyone did.

Man:
My kids are dead.

I wasn't there.

I come home, you know.

I went out to get

my money, you know.

I come back.

Everything's under water.

My, my wife's gone.

I don't want

to talk about it, man.

Narrator:
Bureaucracy slows down

the relief effort.

This group drove 22 hours

from Florida.

When they arrive, officials

ask them to show credentials

and sign paperwork.

The process takes two days.

Narrator:
And still

the relief efforts are stalled.

Thousands of people

remain stranded

at the convention center

in horrendous conditions,

with no food or water.

Garbage overflows

onto the sidewalks and streets.

The sick, like this man,

are carried on gurneys

over strewn debris.

Narrator:
Thursday evening.

In a radio interview,

Mayor Ray Nagin takes a shot

at both state

and national officials.

Narrator:
11:30 P.M.

eastern time.

FEMA director Michael Brown

appears on abc news nightline.

Ted koppel asks him

about reports

that FEMA did not know

about the people

stranded in

the convention center

until today.

Don't you guys watch television?

Don't you guys

listen to the radio?

Our reporters have been

reporting about it

for more than just today.

We learned about it

factually today

that that's what existed.

We've been so focused on doing

rescue and lifesaving missions

and evacuating people

from the Superdome

that when we first

learned about it, of course,

my first gut instinction,

instinct was,

get somebody in there...

Narrator:
Koppel also asks brown.

Why FEMA did not respond faster

to Katrina.

Brown:
When the levees

did break,

we were already moving in

and then had to move back out.

Then I think the other thing

that really caught me

by surprise

was the fact that

there were so many people,

and I'm not laying blame,

that either chose not to

evacuate or could not evacuate.

Narrator:
The explanations

might be logical.

But in the hurricane zone,

the problems

are vast and urgent.

People are growing furious

at the slow pace

of the relief efforts.

It's still a slow,

slow, slow process,

'cause you got

a whole city here,

you know what I'm saying?

We don't have nothing

to go home to, nothing.

Narrator:
Mobile, Alabama.

Friday, September 2, 2005.

10:
35 A.M.

President Bush gets

his first ground-level look

at the devastation

of Hurricane Katrina.

With FEMA director Mike brown

at his side,

he responds

to the growing criticism

of federal relief efforts.

President Bush:
If it's not

going exactly right,

we're gonna make it

go exactly right.

If there's problems, we're gonna

address the problems.

And that's what I've come down

to assure people.

And, brownie, you're doing

a heck of a job.

The FEMA director

is working 24...

Narrator:
New Orleans.

12:
00 P.M.

Louisiana national guard troops

march into

the convention center.

Within 30 minutes

they restore order

and begin to distribute

food and water.

Within 36 hours, they evacuate

25,000 people from the building.

They're bused and flown

to shelters around the country.

5:
00 P.M.

Air force one touches down

at the Louis Armstrong airport

in New Orleans.

In his office on the plane,

the president meets

with both Governor

Kathleen Blanco

and Mayor Ray Nagin.

The Mayor later

describes the meeting.

We're in air force one,

i said, "Mr. president,

madame Governor",

you two have to get in sync.

"If you don't get in sync,

more people are gonna die."

Narrator:
But the president and

the Governor do not get in sync.

Blanco will reject

bush's proposal

for a federal takeover

of the relief effort.

When the president returns

to Washington,

he signs the first

of many aid packages

for hurricane victims.

Monday, September 5th.

Tensions are also building

between Governor Blanco

and Mayor Nagin.

In one interview,

the Mayor compares the relief

efforts of general Honore

to those of

the state government.

Narrator:
Tuesday,

September 6th.

The army corps of engineers

begins pumping water

out of New Orleans

and back into lake pontchartrain

and the Mississippi River.

We established

a separate task force,

task force unwatering,

so that they could focus totally

on just pumping out water

and getting the pump stations

operational.

Narrator:
Friday, September 9th.

11 days after Katrina struck,

more than half of New Orleans

is still under water.

Roughly one million people

have evacuated

from the hurricane zone.

Government agencies

and volunteer groups

are providing shelter to more

than a quarter of a million.

Others are living with friends

or relatives around the country.

In the flooded streets

of New Orleans'

arabi neighborhood,

filthy water laps

at second-story windows.

Man:
You're gonna die man,

I'm telling you.

You're gonna die.

I don't want you to die, man.

Narrator:
National guard

and FEMA crews search.

From house to house,

trying to clear out

the bitter-enders

who refuse to evacuate.

Mayor Nagin has called

for everyone to leave the city.

He has clashed

with Governor Blanco,

who insisted the Mayor

had no authority

to enforce

such a total evacuation.

By now, local, state

and federal forces,

as well as volunteers, have

performed almost 50,000 rescues.

FEMA has delivered

18 million packaged meals

and 10 million gallons

of drinking water

to flood victims.

Here you go, guys.

Hooray! You're not leaving!

No, we're not leaving.

Narrator:
And people all across

America have chipped in to help.

Y'all have met us

in every need, in every way.

And we couldn't ask for no more.

Narrator:
Donations to groups

providing Katrina relief.

Top $1 billion.

It's the biggest outpouring

since 9/11.

Baton Rouge.

Land-line telephone connections

are coming back up.

For the first time

since Katrina hit,

Louisiana emergency officials

are able to convene

a conference call.

No FEMA liaison is on the line

as local officials unload their

frustrations with the agency.

Narrator:
One of the big gripes.

Has to do

with temporary housing.

It's FEMA's job to provide it

across the hurricane zone.

Narrator:
State emergency

official Jeff Smith says.

He's taken the problem

to a higher level.

Narrator:
The emergency director

from Jefferson Parish,

Walter maestri, is angry

that FEMA has not fulfilled

promises made

before the hurricane struck.

Narrator:

Gen paks are generators.

Without them,

maestri cannot operate

his Parish's sewage system.

Narrator:
This same afternoon,

homeland security chief

Michael Chertoff

holds a press conference

in Baton Rouge to defend FEMA.

Mike brown has done everything

he possibly could.

Narrator:
Nevertheless, chertoff

is sending Mike brown back to D.C.

He appoints

vice admiral thad Allen,

a 34-year coast guard veteran,

to oversee

the FEMA relief effort.

Three days later,

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