White House Got Early Warning on Katrina

[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Joby Warrick]
In the 48 hours before Hurricane Katrina hit, the White House received detailed warnings about the storm's likely impact, including eerily prescient predictions of breached levees, massive flooding, and major losses of life and property, documents show. The Department of Homeland Security's National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC) warned that the initial response and rescue operations would be hampered by disruption of telecommunications networks and the loss of power to fire, police and emergency workers. The documents shed new light on the extent on the administration's foreknowledge about Katrina's potential for unleashing epic destruction on New Orleans and other Gulf Coast cities and towns. President Bush, in a televised interview three days after Katrina hit, suggested that the scale of the flooding in New Orleans was unexpected. "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious storm," Bush said in a Sept. 1 interview.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/23/AR2006012301711.html
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* White House Was Told Hurricane Posed Danger
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/national/nationalspecial/24katrina.html?_r=1

* Emergency Communications Breakdowns Left Rescue Teams with Little to do but Watch, Wait
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20060124/d_cover24_communication.art.htm