I've seen innumerable news reports, from those spoken by mere newsmodels to the words of the moribund Gray Lady herself, declaring that the floodwall and levee breaches that flooded New Orleans occurred on Tuesday. I've seen a lot of folks here on dKos who believe that, too.
Well, they didn't. The breaches happened Monday. Which means the authorities had even more time to mount their non-response than you think.
I don't really know how to "prove" this other than to present an assemblage of quotes from early news reports that demonstrate it. So, below the fold, I do.
Washington Post: "After Hurricane Katrina passed Monday, many residents had been relieved to find their neighborhoods at least partially above water. But by late Monday, long after the rains had subsided, residents realized the floodwaters were still rising.
An emergency management flight Monday afternoon had discovered a break in one of the levees that protect this city from flooding, but its significance was not immediately known."
Marco Island Sun-Times: "Her brother-in-law, who is with the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans reported that he drove the Corps of Engineers Colonel to the breached area on Monday."
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Corps engineers said that the 17th Street Canal levee was breached Monday night. They believe water gushed over the concrete wall and scoured the earth behind it, causing a two-block-long portion to collapse. A second breach occurred on the Industrial Canal levee during the storm."
Architectural Record: "Corps personnel from New Orleans, Memphis and St. Louis convened Aug. 30 with hydraulics engineers at Vicksburg District headquarters to confer with state and local officials and contractors on the ground in New Orleans to try to stem the inflow and close a 200-ft-long breach along the 17th St. Canal. "Water was pouring in from broken levees," says Adam Wine, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman, who flew over the city in a helicopter Monday. "There are some areas where the water was 25-ft deep."
"We think the water overtopped the floodwall last night and scoured out the foundation, leading to a structural failure," says Al Naomi, senior manager and head of the Lake Ponchartrain and hurricane protection plan."
Ironton Tribune: "Authorities said there was also a levee breach in the western part of the city. Jason Binet, of the Army Corps of Engineers, said that breach began Monday afternoon and may have grown overnight."
Newsday: "New Orleans' situation grew more dire late Monday when a new breach opened in the 17th Street Canal on the western edge of Orleans Parish. Its massive pumps empty water from the below-sea-level city and suburban Jefferson Parish into Lake Pontchartrain to the north.
The breach rapidly grew to about 300 feet, the length of a football field, and the massive, brackish lake began flooding neighborhoods and surprising residents who thought they had survived the worst.
An earlier breach Monday in the Industrial Canal on the east side of New Orleans had caused massive flooding in the low-income Ninth Ward and swamped St. Bernard Parish. It flooded western New Orleans and Jefferson Parish and raised water levels inch by inch throughout the day in downtown areas miles away. Two hospitals began evacuating when emergency generators failed, the Times-Picayune fled its building, and rising water added to deteriorating conditions in the fetid Superdome."
Reuters, 6:36 p.m. BST Monday: "The bowl-shaped city's levee system appeared to be holding off the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain on its edges. Officials said a breach occurred in nearby St. Bernard Parish, where Katrina's eye passed and extensive damage was expected."
Sign On San Diego, 3:39 p.m. Monday: In nearby coastal St. Bernard Parish, storm surge flooding swamped an estimated 40,000 homes. In a particularly low-lying neighborhood on the south shore of Lake Ponchartain, a levee on a canal gave way and forced dozens of residents to flee or scramble to the roofs when water rose to their gutters.
'I've never encountered anything like it in my life. It just kept rising and rising and rising,' said Bryan Vernon, who spent three hours on his roof, screaming over howling winds for someone to save him and his fiancee."
Guardian Unlimited, 7:46 p.m. Monday: "The National Weather Service reported that a levee broke on the Industrial Canal near the St. Bernard-Orleans parish line, and 3 to 8 feet of flooding was possible. The Industrial Canal is a 5.5-mile waterway that connects the Mississippi River to the Intracoastal Waterway."
BBC News, 22:46 GMT Monday: "Mayor Ray Nagin said he had received reports that some water had breached the defences. 'This city is under siege,' he said."
Washington Post, Tuesday, 1:57 a.m.: "In nearby coastal St. Bernard Parish, Katrina's storm surge swamped an estimated 40,000 homes. In a particularly low-lying neighborhood on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain, a levee along a canal gave way and forced dozens of residents to flee or scramble to the roofs when water rose to their gutters."
I just wanted folks to know that the "breaches occurred Tuesday" stuff is a RWCM lie to help insulate incompetent officials from further blame. Have a nice day.
Monday, Aug 30, 2021 · 3:37:52 AM +00:00
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Irfo
The last time around, the storm hit Monday morning, and the evening news said New Orleans had dodged a bullet. Then they tried to cover up their fuck up by saying everything breached 24 hours later, which of course is stupid. Just a little reminder for this time around…