To play the Hurricane Blame Game well, one must have the facts.

• FEMA responded to hurricane-hit areas in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida. As of 1 p.m. on the 6^th:
  • Lives Saved (rescues performed) – 32,000
  • Shelters – 559
  • People housed in shelters – 182,000
  • FEMA responders – 7,000
  • U.S. Coast Guard personnel – 4,000
  • National Guard personnel – 43,000
  • Active Duty Military – 15,000
  • MREs provided (meals) – 11.3 million
  • Water provided (liters) – 18 million
• Right Wing Nut House has a comprehensive timeline of events [HT to the Anchoress] that is so good that a huge number of blogs has linked to it and overburdened his servers. It is worth the wait if you can’t get through immediately.
• One Hand Clapping walks the dog by exploring these two questions:
  1. What was the earliest time that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin might reasonably have called for evacuation?
  2. Would that time have been early enough to reduce signficantly the human suffering from the level that did occur?
• Mark in Mexico was the first (that I’ve found) to post the City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.
• Captain’s Quarters posts about it two days later with Katrina: Why Didn’t Nagin Follow His Own Plan?, an excellent post.

• Rush Limbaugh talked about the unexecuted plan today:
  

  Paragraph Roman numeral II is Concept of Operations, and it is quite detailed in what it says. Here’s a paragraph I highlighted: “The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas. Those evacuated will be directed to temporary sheltering and feeding facilities as needed. When specific routes of progress are required, evacuees will be directed to those routes. Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific life-saving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed.” None of this was done.

• The Political Teen has a video explaining the events leading up to the call for “mandatory” evacuations.
• Ben Stein at his reasonable best.

• Dr. Sanity warns of upcoming pseudo-action.
• Say Uncle talked to a “terrorism and disaster recovery expert” over the weekend.
• Wizbang investigates and says that when it all comes out in the end, “Gov Blanco will be near criminally liable.” No doubt.