The performance by the two agencies calls into question claims by President Bush and others in his administration that Katrina was a catastrophe that no one envisioned...
The National Weather Service office in Slidell, La., which covers the New Orleans area, put out its own warnings that day, saying, "MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS ... PERHAPS LONGER" and predicting "HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS."
And, from the side of leaders actually taking action: New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (who has not gotten enough Giuliani-like credit during this whole ordeal even though he's done a great job and one wonders daily why he hasn't, hmmm....) has said he ordered an evacuation because Mayfield's call "scared the hell" out of him. "I just wanted to be able to go to sleep that night knowing I had done everything I could," Mayfield said.