Hurricane Katrina: a Nation Still Unprepared
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109th Congress SPECIAL REPORT S. Rept. 109-322 2nd Session HURRICANE KATRINA: A NATION STILL UNPREPARED SPECIAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE TOGETHER WITH ADDITIONAL VIEWS Printed for the Use of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Aff airs http://hsgac.senate.gov/ ORDERED TO BE PRINTED U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 2006 FOR SALE BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS Cover Photo: Helicopter Rescue, New Orleans (Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard) For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2250 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001 ISBN 0-16-076749-0 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Aff airs SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine, Chairman TED STEVENS, Alaska JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio CARL LEVIN, Michigan NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TOM COBURN, M.D., Oklahoma THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island MARK DAYTON, Minnesota ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah FRANK LAUTENBERG, New Jersey PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico MARK PRYOR, Arkansas JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia Michael D. Bopp, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel David T. Flanagan, Majority General Counsel, Katrina Investigation Joyce A. Rechtschaff en, Minority Staff Director and Counsel Laurie R. Rubenstein, Minority Chief Counsel Robert F. Muse, Minority General Counsel, Katrina Investigation Trina Driessnack Tyrer, Chief Clerk Majority Staff Minority Staff Arthur W Adelberg, Senior Counsel Michael L. Alexander, Professional Staff Member* Melvin D. Albritton, Counsel Alistair F. Anagnostou, Staff Assistant Kate C. Alford, Research Assistant Eric P. Andersen, Professional Staff Member Jennifer C. Boone, FBI Detailee David M. Berick, Professional Staff Member Erin M. Bouchard, Intern Dan M. Berkovitz, Counsel, PSI Allison J. Boyd, Counsel Stacey M. Bosshardt, Counsel Codias M. Brown, Legislative Correspondent Janet L. Burrell, Offi ce Manager/Executive Assistant Donald L. Bumgardner, GAO Detailee Scott G. Campbell, Communications Advisor Jennifer S. Burita, Communications Director William E. Corboy, Professional Staff Member Cyrus E. Cheslak, Intern Troy H. Cribb, Counsel John H. Cobb, Senior Counsel Heather R. Fine, Counsel Th omas R. Eldridge, Senior Counsel Boris Y. Fishman, Editor Ann C. Fisher, Deputy Staff Director Susan A. Fleming, GAO Detailee Keith A. Fleming, CBP Detailee Jeff rey E. Greene, Counsel Jennifer E. Gagnon, Executive Assistant Elyse F. Greenwald, Staff Assistant Amy L. Hall, Professional Staff Member Beth M. Grossman, Counsel Catherine A. Harrington, Intern R. Denton Herring, GAO Detailee Jennifer A. Hemingway, Professional Staff Member Holly A. Idelson, Counsel David E. Hunter, Staff Scientist Kristine V. Lam, Staff Assistant Clark T. Irwin, Editor/Professional Staff Member Kevin J. Landy, Senior Counsel Keith B. Janssen, USCG Detailee Joshua A. Levy, Counsel Kathleen L. Kraninger, Professional Staff Member Alysha S. Liljeqvist, Staff Assistant Gordon N. Lederman, Special Counsel F. James McGee, Professional Staff Member Brian J. Lepore, GAO Detailee Lawrence B. Novey, Senior Counsel Mira L. Lezell, Intern Siobhan C. Oat-Judge, Deputy Press Secretary Jay W. Maroney, Counsel Leslie J. Phillips, Communications Director Asha A. Mathew, Counsel A. Patricia Rojas, Professional Staff Member James R. McKay, Counsel Mary Beth Schultz, Counsel Jonathan T. Nass, Counsel Adam R. Sedgewick, Professional Staff Member David K. Porter, Counsel Todd M. Stein, Counsel, Offi ce of Senator Lieberman Chad T. Sarchio, DOJ Detailee Traci L. Taylor, DOI Detailee Debra J. Schlagenhauf, Assistant Clerk Donny Ray Williams, Jr., Professional Staff Member Kurt A. Schmautz, Counsel Jason M. Yanussi, Professional Staff Member Robert L. Strayer, Counsel Jennifer L. Tarr, Research Assistant Sarah V. Taylor, Research Assistant Debra M. Th omas, Executive Assistant Larry F. Vigil, Professional Staff Member Monica A. Wickey, Legislative Correspondent Elisabeth F. Butler, Archivist John S. Gleason, Financial Clerk Megan T. Gorski, Documents Manager Patricia R. Hogan, Publications Clerk/GPO Detailee Daniel M. Muchow, Systems Administrator * Succeeded Ms. Rechtshaff en as Minority Staff Director on May 1, 2006. Note to Readers Fellow Citizens: In the late summer of 2005, millions of us watched the satellite images of Hurricane Katrina as it moved through the Gulf of Mexico and drove menacing swells of water toward the American coastline. We watched in sympathy as hundreds of thousands of lives were upended when the hurricane struck the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. We watched in hor- ror as hundreds died in collapsed or fl ooded houses and nursing homes. We were heartened by acts of initiative, perseverance, and heroism by local responders and the U.S. Coast Guard but, to add bewilderment and outrage to our sense of tragedy, we were horrifi ed when the response to the Katrina catastrophe revealed – all too oft en, and for far too long – confusion, delay, misdirection, inactivity, poor coordination, and lack of leadership at all levels of government. Meanwhile, thousands languished in heat and squalor on islands of concrete highway, in darkened stadiums, in nursing homes, or on rooft ops, waiting for rescue, sometimes dying before help arrived. All of this unfolded nearly four years aft er the terror attacks of September 11, 2001; aft er a massive reorganization of federal plans and organizations for disaster response and billions of dollars of expenditures; and aft er a closely observed hurricane struck when and where forecasters said it would. We knew Katrina was coming. How much worse would the nightmare have been if the disaster had been unannounced – an earthquake in San Francisco, a burst levee near St. Louis or Sacramento, a biological weapon smuggled into Boston Harbor, or a chemical- weapon terror attack in Chicago? Hurricane Katrina found us – still – a nation unprepared for catastrophe. Th e United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Aff airs has prepared this bipartisan report to acknowledge what was done well, to identify what was done poorly or not at all, and to recommend changes in our national system for emergency response that will put local, state, federal, and private responders in a better position to provide prompt and eff ective relief when disaster strikes again. Th e Com- mittee conducted a long and thorough investigation of these issues, and is grateful for the work of its staff of investigators, writers, researchers, and other professionals that made this report possible. We hope you fi nd it informative and, above all, useful. Senator Susan M. Collins Senator Joseph I. Lieberman Maine, Chairman Connecticut, Ranking Member iii Table of Contents Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared Contents Page Preliminaries Committee Members and Staff List . ii Note to Readers . iii Executive Summary . 1 Narrative Chapter 1 Introduction . 21 Chapter 2 Hurricane Katrina: Indicators of Impact . 37 Chapter 3 Hurricanes and the Gulf Coast . 41 Chapter 4 Katrina Strikes . 51 Chapter 5 Hurricane Katrina: Timeline of Key Events . 67 Analysis Chapter 6 Emergency Management: Louisiana . 77 Chapter 7 Emergency Management: Mississippi . 99 Chapter 8 “Hurricane Pam”: Warning Flag for Katrina . 109 Chapter 9 Eff ects of Environmental and Engineering Changes . 121 Chapter 10 Levees: Who’s in Charge? . 129 Chapter 11 “Th e New Orleans Scenario”: State and Local Preparations . 149 Chapter 12 Federal Preparations . 163 Chapter 13 Department of Homeland Security. 203 Chapter 14 Th e Federal Emergency Management Agency . 211 Chapter 15 Government Response: Th e Role of the White House . 233 Chapter 16 Pre-Storm Evacuations . 243 Chapter 17 Why the New Orleans Levees Failed . 275 Chapter 18 Communication Voids . 287 Chapter 19 Lack of Situational Awareness . 303 Chapter 20 Protecting Infrastructure; Public Communication; Role of the Media. 321 Chapter 21 Search and Rescue . 331 Chapter 22 Post-Landfall Evacuation . 359 iv Table of Contents Chapter 23 Logistics . 375 Chapter 24 Medical Assistance . 399 Chapter 25 Public Safety and Security . 439 Chapter 26 Military Operations . 467 Chapter 27 Failures in National Response Plan: Unifi ed Command. 551 Chapter 28 FEMA Waste and Fraud. 577 Results Overview: Conclusions and Findings . 585 Findings. 589 Recommendations . 607 Appendices Appendix 1 Common Acronyms . 631 Appendix 2 Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) . 635 Appendix 3 Committee Hearings on Hurricane Katrina. 637 Appendix 4 HSGAC Interviews. 643 Appendix 5 Members’ Additional Views Senators Collins, Stevens, Coleman, Coburn, Bennett, and Domenici . 665 Senators Lieberman, Levin, Akaka, Carper, Lautenberg, and Pryor . 667 Senator Voinovich . 701 Senator Coburn. 705 Senator Domenici . 709 Senator Warner. 713 Senator Levin . 717 Senators Akaka, Lautenberg, and Pryor . 721 Senator Dayton . 725 Senator Lautenberg . 729 v Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared Executive Summary 1 Executive Summary Executive Summary urricane Katrina was an extraordinary act of nature that spawned a human trag- edy. It was the most destructive natural disaster in American history, laying waste H to 90,000 square miles of land, an area the size of the United Kingdom. In Mis- sissippi, the storm surge obliterated coastal communities and left thousands destitute. New Orleans was overwhelmed