Sunday, May 8, 2011

October 4, 2005

The official death toll was upgraded to 1,836 with more than 2,500 still missing. State-by-State death tolls: Louisiana 1,577, Mississippi 238, Florida 14, Alabama 2, Georgia 2, Tennessee 1, Kentucky 1.

October 4, 2005

To date, approximately 1.5 million people were evacuated from the damaged areas in Louisiana, roughly 1 million have applied for hurricane-related federal aid, 30,000 are in out-of-state shelters, 46,400 are in state shelters and 972 people have perished in the storm.

September 21, 2005

The official death toll was tallied at 1,036. This marked the first time since 1928 that a natural disaster in the U.S. had been officially acknowledged to have killed at least 1,000 people. State-by-state death tolls: Louisiana 799, Mississippi 218, Florida 14, Alabama 2, Georgia 2, Tennessee 1.

September 12, 2005

Michael D. Brown resigned as Director of FEMA for, "the best interest of the agency and the best interest of the president."

September 9, 2005

Michael Brown was removed from directing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in New Orleans by Michael Chertoff. He has been replaced by Vice Admiral Thad W. Allen, Chief of Staff of the United States Coast Guard.

September 7, 2005

Senator Barbara Mikulski called for Michael Brown's resignation. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid voiced criticism of the disaster's handling, and of the Bush administration's management, delegation of control, leadership, and human consideration

September 7, 2005

President Bush and Governor Blanco met to discuss what to do next. After Bush laid out the options to Blanco she told him she needed 24 hours to review and decide

September 6, 2005

Rescue workers said that there were still many who were not heeding the mandatory evacuation order first issued by Mayor Nagin on August 28. They were concerned about their property being looted, unaware of the full extent of the disaster, worried about their pets, or concerned that conditions would be worse in the shelters. Due to unsanitary conditions in the city, as well as contamination of E. coli bacteria in the standing water in the city, Nagin ordered the forced evacuation of everyone that was not involved in cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina

September 4, 2005

The evacuation of the Superdome was completed

September 3, 2005

For the first time, President Bush himself ordered rescue teams to go to New Orleans

September 2, 2005

First rescue teams sent by FEMA arrived in New Orleans

September 1, 2005

Rapper Kanye West brought to light concerns about racism, as he goes off-script on NBC's, "Concert for Hurricane Relief" and says, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

September 1, 2005

The New Orleans suburb of Gretna seals the Crescent City Connection bridge across the Mississippi River, turning back fleeing flood victims at gunpoint. Evacuees blamed the incident on racism, but the chief of police stated that the city was in lockdown and was not equipped to handle evacuees from New Orleans

September 1, 2005

California swift water rescue crew units deployed to the effected areas rescued hundreds in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. However, FEMA later halted the swift water rescue crews from conducting further rescues, citing safety concerns

August 31, 2005

10:00am - Mayor Ray Nagin announced that the planned sandbagging of the 17th Street Canal levee breach had failed. At the time, 85% of the city was underwater.

August 30, 2005

Michael Chertoff waits 36 hours to declare a matter of "national significance" and until he did that no federal resources could have been sent to New Orleans

August 30, 2005

At 12:00pm, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff became aware that the New Orleans levee breaches could not be plugged. Governor Kathleen Blanco ordered that all of New Orleans, including the Superdome, be evacuated due to the flooding of the city

August 29, 2005

At approximately 4:00pm FEMA Director Michael Brown also urged local fire and rescue departments outside Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi not to send trucks or emergency workers into disaster areas without proper authorization. Brown sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff five hours after landfall to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region. Brown acknowledged that this process would take two days

August 29, 2005

At about 11:00am, just 5 hours after Katrina's initial landfall, the 17th Street Canal levee completely gave out. This was the most vital of all levees protecting the city, and it caused major flooding from surrounding lakes throughout the city's streets. Initial reports stated that homes were completely submerged up to their roofs

August 29, 2005

At about 6:00am Hurricane Katrina makes it's initial landfall on New Orleans

August 28, 2005

At about 12:00pm the New Orleans Superdome was opened up as a "refuge of last resort" for those people who couldn't evacuate. 20,000 people take shelter there

August 28, 2005

New Orleans Mayor, Ralph Nagin, issued a mandatory evacuation for the entire city. Not only was this New Orleans' first ever mandatory evacuation, but the citizens were only given the warning with half of the time experts said it would take to clear out the city.

August 27, 2005

2 days before Hurricane Katrina is expected to make landfall President George W. Bush declares a state of emergency for the city of New Orleans, LA