Katrina Timeline Update from Think Progress

Katrina Timeline Update
We’ve updated our Katrina Timeline to reflect some key facts that have come to light in recent days.

Some highlights:
Sunday, August 28 LOUISIANA NATIONAL GUARD REQUESTS 700 BUSES FROM FEMA FOR EVACUATIONS: FEMA sends only 100 buses. [Boston Globe]

Monday, August 29 8PM CDT – GOV. BLANCO AGAIN REQUESTS ASSISTANCE FROM BUSH: “Mr. President, we need your help. We need everything you’ve got.” [Newsweek]

LATE PM – BUSH GOES TO BED WITHOUT ACTING ON BLANCO’S REQUESTS [Newsweek]

Wednesday, August 31 CHERTOFF “EXTREMELY PLEASED WITH THE RESPONSE” OF THE GOVERNMENT: “We are extremely pleased with the response that every element of the federal government, all of our federal partners, have made to this terrible tragedy.” [Department of Homeland Security]

EARLY AM – BLANCO AGAIN TRIES TO REQUEST HELP FROM BUSH: “She was transferred around the White House for a while until she ended up on the phone with Fran Townsend, the president’s Homeland Security adviser, who tried to reassure her but did not have many specifics. Hours later, Blanco called back and insisted on speaking to the president. When he came on the line, the governor recalled, “I just asked him for help, ‘whatever you have’.” She asked for 40,000 troops.” [Newsweek]

Friday, September 2 EARLY AM — BUSH WATCHES DVD OF THE WEEK’S NEWSCASTS CREATED BY STAFF WHO THOUGHT BUSH “NEEDED TO SEE THE HORRIFIC REPORTS”: “The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One.” [Newsweek]

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Also, from Americablog:

Bush Ignored Blanco, Reached Out To Barbour

USA Today does a rundown of the two governors most affected by Katrina. Blanco was front and center in calling for more aid and expressing displeasure. Barbour seemed in remarkable denial as he insisted on TV that Bush was doing great -- even while reporters were saying Gulfport and Biloxi Mississippi (just to name two) were in desperate need and FEMA was in short supply or not in sight at all. Buried in the article is this telling contrast:

[Blanco] says that two days after Katrina, desperate for help, she couldn't get through to Bush and didn't get a callback; hours later, she tried again, and they talked....

Barbour hasn't had to wait hours to talk to Bush. In fact, Barbour said in an interview with USA TODAY, the president called him three to four times in the wake of Katrina. "I never called him. He always called me," he said.

Mr. President, is it true in the first five days of this disaster that you reached out to the Republican governor of Mississippi and called him three times? Is it true you NEVER called the Democratic governor of Louisiana during the first five days of this national tragedy that had hit her state harder than any other?

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There is certainly a lot for bush to "take responsibility" for!