WASHINGTON (AP) — In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President George W. Bush and his homeland security chief before hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, risk lives in New Orleans’ Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage of the briefings.
Bush didn’t ask a single question during the final government-wide briefing the day before Katrina struck Aug. 29 but assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: “We are fully prepared.”