Popular Mechanics(!) Debunks Katrina Myths
In a must-save-to-the-hard-drive piece, Popular Mechanics has done an incredible job of investigating and documenting the truth about the handling of Hurrican Katrina.
It starts thusly:
Now What? The Lessons of Katrina
GOVERNMENT RESPONDED RAPIDLY
MYTH: “The aftermath of Katrina will go down as one of the worst abandonments of Americans on American soil ever in U.S. history.”–Aaron Broussard, president, Jefferson Parish, La., Meet the Press, NBC, Sept. 4, 2005REALITY: Bumbling by top disaster-management officials fueled a perception of general inaction, one that was compounded by impassioned news anchors. In fact, the response to Hurricane Katrina was by far the largest–and fastest-rescue effort in U.S. history, with nearly 100,000 emergency personnel arriving on the scene within three days of the storm’s landfall.
It gets better from there. Read the whole thing.
