(A bit of disclosure - my dad worked for the NWS for quite awhile, so I've got a little bias)
This has been blogged in a bunch of places, but I've just got to get it off my chest.
With so many Federal agencies being rightly pilloried for the response to the disaster in New Orleans and the Gulf region, we ought to take a second to recognize the work of one agency that did predict the disaster and likely helped to lessen the damage in terms of human lives.
On Sunday night, I read the Urgent Weather Statement issued by the NWS in advance of Hurricane Katrina. I was literally in shock. I thought it was apocalyptic. Nope - it ws accurate. You have to read it, if you haven't already.
I'm so pissed to hear officials say "We didn't anticipate, we didn't know how destructive this would be." Well, you didn't read the fucking memo from your own in-house weather service.
Anyone who says that ought to have this message stapled to their forehead.
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
413 PM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005
...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA...
...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...
MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.
THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.
HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.
AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.
POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.
We ought to send this NWS message to every member of Congress and everyone in the media. It's ridiculous that the people in power weren't ready for the destruction.
This is worse than the intelligence failure in Iraq, this is worse than ignoring the "Bin Laden Determined to Attack U.S."
This message from the NWS is literally the equivalent of a memo before 9/11 headlined, "Bin Laden to Attack World Trade Center and Pentagon Tomorrow."
It's simply unforgiveable.