Washington – Government at all levels took only an indifferent stance toward disaster preparations after the 2001 terrorist attacks, leaving the Gulf Coast unnecessarily vulnerable to Hurricane Katrina, a House inquiry concludes.
Finding fault with the White House down to local officials, the House investigation determined that authorities failed to move quickly to protect people – even when faced with warnings days ahead of the Aug. 29 storm.
The final report, written by a Republican-dominated special House committee, is to be released today. Parts of the report were released Sunday.
“Passivity did the most damage,” concluded the 520-page report by the committee, chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., charged with investigating the sluggish response to Katrina. “The failure of initiative cost lives, prolonged suffering, and left all Americans justifiably concerned our government is no better prepared to protect its people than it was before 9/11, even if we are.”
“The preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina should disturb all Americans,” the report said.
The House report is the first to be completed in a series of inquiries by Congress and the Bush administration about the massive failures exposed by Katrina, which left more than 1,300 people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama dead.
In Senate testimony last week, former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown singled out the Department of Homeland Security as a muddled bureaucracy that slowed relief. The White House and Homeland Security have hit back, describing Brown as a renegade who failed to follow a chain of command.
