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Federal Emergency Management Agency

Looking back: Quotes from Hurricane Katrina

Marc Cugnon, Cara Richardson, Brittany Cheng and Ramon Padilla
USA TODAY

A decade after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, the storm remains etched in the nation's memory. Government officials, private citizens, police and National Guard troops were sent scrambling after the hurricane made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, and especially after levees broke in New Orleans, flooding the city. No shortage of words issued from our leaders' mouths as the nation struggled to come to grips with one of its worst natural disasters. Here's some of what was said:

Hurricane Katrina claimed nearly 2,000 American lives. The disastrous storm spanned nearly 400 miles and brought devastating winds of 100-140 mph. Katrina caused roughly $100 billion in damage. The hurricane affected roughly 90,000 square miles of the country and is remembered as America's most devastating natural disaster since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Just days after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, the Bush administration, FEMA and local officials were under fire. In the aftermath of the event, the president alleged that nobody had anticipated the breach of New Orleans’ levees.

Then-Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco took the fall for a much-criticized emergency response. While a number of actors were blamed for delayed and inefficient relief efforts, Blanco publicly held herself accountable for much of went wrong at the state level. Ultimately, Blanco served the remainder of her term amid continued criticism.

Michael D. Brown, the former FEMA Director, attested that his organization had planned for a Katrina-like hurricane years in advance of it striking American shores. Brown’s leadership of FEMA came under intense scrutiny during the crisis, especially after email records showed him joking around with colleagues during the disaster. “Brownie,” as he was nicknamed by President George W. Bush, resigned about two weeks after Katrina struck and ultimately admitted the government made some serious mistakes throughout the crisis.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff pushed back against accusations of federal failure following the disaster. According to the former secretary, the extent of Katrina’s devastation was beyond anyone’s ability to predict, resulting in the sporadic and sometimes disorganized responses that followed. Chertoff went on to call the hurricane “breathtaking in its surprise.”

In a radio interview with WWL-AM, Ray Nagin, former New Orleans mayor, famously denounced the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Nagin held nothing back in his criticism of the Bush administration, firing out expletives and urging feds to send more help to the city. While Nagin eventually resigned in 2014 amid a corruption scandal, his words in 2005 are among the most memorable of his tenure as mayor.

Eddie Compass, the former superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, resigned from his position in late September 2005. Though he cited no specific reason for his departure, many people believe that backlash, aimed at the NOPD’s inability to curtail the looting and chaos that followed the hurricane, played a part in his decision to step down. When Compass announced his decision to leave office, he requested that individuals and the press “respect [his] privacy and [his] decision.”

New Orleans wasn’t the only place hammered by Katrina. Mississippi Senator Trent Lott called for federal aid to his state and for greater attention throughout the coast. President Bush, who was on a five-week vacation prior to the Katrina’s landing, ultimately cut short his short and stepped into the fray of disaster relief planning and response. Lott was personally affected by the hurricane, as his oceanfront home in Pascagoula was leveled during the storm.

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