New Orleans mayor 'shocked' by pre-Katrina Bush video

Ray Nagin

NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said yesterday he was shocked by video showing US President George W. Bush being told the day before Hurricane Katrina hit that the city's protective levees could fail.

The tape contradicts the president's statement four days after the hurricane struck: "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."

"It surprises me that if there was that kind of awareness, why was the response so slow?" said Nagin, whose city was devastated when the storm struck on August 29 and causing massive flooding.

"I have kind of a sinking feeling right now in my gut. I mean, I was listening to what people were saying and I was believing them that they didn't know. So therefore it was an issue of a learning curve.

"From this tape it looks like everybody was fully aware."

Nagin listened with headphones and watched an excerpt from the video for the first time as reporters stood around him.

The tape shows Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff being told on August 28 that the hurricane could trigger breaches of the levees that protect the city and threaten the Superdome, which became a chaotic shelter for storm victims.

The tapes were obtained by the Associated Press, which played Nagin the excerpt.

"I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal after the storm to help you deal with the loss of property," Bush says in the video. "We pray there's no loss of life, of course."

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said "the president was fully engaged and involved in meetings on the response."

He was active in making disaster declarations, pushing for evacuations and urging state officials to get people to move to safer ground, Duffy added.

The Department of Homeland Security released a transcript of an August 29 videoconference in which then FEMA Director Michael Brown tells officials he had spoken twice, with the vacationing president, once while Bush was at his Crawford, Texas ranch and later on Air Force One.

According to the transcript, Brown said Bush was "very, very interested" in the hurricane developments. "He's obviously watching the television a lot and he had some questions about the Dome. He's asking questions about reports of breaches. He's asking about hospitals. He's very engaged."

The Bush administration has been heavily criticized for its sluggish response to Katrina, which killed about 1,300 people along the Gulf Coast and plunged New Orleans into anarchy.

The storm surge caused massive flooding that submerged entire neighborhoods, some of which are still in ruins.

After watching the tape, Nagin said it looked as though top officials, including Brown, knew the storm could be devastating, that the Superdome roof was "a question mark" and the military would likely have to be brought in to help.

"I'm just shocked," he said.

Russ Knocke, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the video shows discussions that have been in documents previously made public. "I'm not sure what is shocking about this video. There's really nothing new or insightful from it," he said.

Last month, a congressional report written by Republicans said federal agencies were unprepared for the catastrophe and quicker involvement by Bush might have improved the response.

At the time, Chertoff acknowledged his department was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the storm but said it was wrong to suggest he and Bush were unresponsive.

- REUTERS