In 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
ranked a major hurricane strike on New Orleans as
"among the three likeliest, most catastrophic
disasters facing this country," directly behind a
terrorist strike on New York City. Yesterday, disaster
struck. One of the strongest storms in recorded
history rocked the Gulf Coast, bringing 145 mph winds
and floods of up to 20 feet. One million residents
were evacuated; at least 65 are confirmed dead. Tens
of thousands of homes were completely submerged.
Mississippi's governor reported "catastrophic damage
on all levels." Downtown New Orleans buildings were
"imploding," a fire chief said. Oil surged past $70 a
barrel. New Orleanians were grimly asking each
other, "So, where did you used to live?" (To donate to
Red Cross disaster relief, click here or call
1-800-HELP-NOW). While it happened, President Bush
decided to ... continue his vacation, stopping by the
Pueblo El Mirage RV and Golf Resort in El Mirage,
California, to hawk his Medicare drug benefit plan. On
Sunday, President Bush said, "I want to thank all the
folks at the federal level and the state level and the
local level who have taken this storm seriously.” He’s
not one of them. Below, the Progress Report presents
"How Not to Prepare for a Massive Hurricane," by
President Bush, congressional conservatives, and their
corporate special interest allies.

SLASH SPENDING ON HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS IN NEW
ORLEANS: Two months ago, President Bush took an ax to
budget funds that would have helped New Orleans
prepare for such a disaster. The New Orleans branch of
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suffered a "record
$71.2 million" reduction in federal funding, a 44.2
percent reduction from its 2001 levels. Reports at the
time said that thanks to the cuts, "major hurricane
and flood protection projects will not be awarded to
local engineering firms. ... Also, a study to
determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5
hurricane has been shelved for now." (Too bad
Louisiana isn't a swing state. In the aftermath of
Hurricane Frances -- and the run-up to the 2004
election -- the Bush administration awarded $31
million in disaster relief to Florida residents who
didn't even experience hurricane damage.)

DESTROY NATURAL HURRICANE PROTECTIONS: The Gulf Coast
wetlands form a "natural buffer that helps protect New
Orleans from storms," slowing hurricanes down as they
approach from sea. When he came into office, President
Bush pledged to uphold the "no net loss" wetland
policy his father initiated. He didn't keep his word.
Bush rolled back tough wetland policies set by the
Clinton administration, ordering federal agencies "to
stop protecting as many as 20 million acres of
wetlands and an untold number of waterways
nationwide." Last year, four environmental groups
issued a joint report showing that administration
policies had allowed "developers to drain thousands of
acres of wetlands." The result? New Orleans may be in
even greater danger: "Studies show that if the
wetlands keep vanishing over the next few decades,
then you won't need a giant storm to devastate New
Orleans -- a much weaker, more common kind of
hurricane could destroy the city too."

GUT THE AGENCY TASKED WITH DEVELOPING HURRICANE
RESPONSES: Forward-thinking federal plans with titles
like "Issues and Options in Flood Hazards Management,"
"Floods: A National Policy Concern," and "A Framework
for Flood Hazards Management" would be particularly
valuable in a time of increasingly intense hurricanes.
Unfortunately, the agency that used to produce them --
the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) -- was
gutted by Gingrich conservatives several years ago. As
Chris Mooney (who presciently warned of the need to
bulk up hurricane defenses in New Orleans last May)
noted yesterday, "If we ever return to science-based
policymaking based on professionalism and expertise,
rather than ideology, an office like OTA would be very
useful in studying how best to save a city like New
Orleans -- and how Congress might consider
appropriating money to achieve this end."

SEND OUR FIRST RESPONDERS TO FIGHT A WAR OF CHOICE:
National Guard and Reserve soldiers are typically on
the front lines responding to disasters like Katrina
-- that is, if they're not fighting in Iraq. Roughly
35 percent of Louisiana's National Guard is currently
deployed in Iraq, where guardsmen and women make up
about four of every 10 soldiers. Additionally, "Dozens
of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and
generators" used by the Louisiana Guard are also tied
up abroad. "The National Guard needs that equipment
back home to support the homeland security
mission," Louisiana National Guard Lt. Colonel Pete
Schneider told reporters earlier this
month. "Recruitment is down dramatically, mostly
because prospective recruits are worried about
deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan or another country,"
the AP reported recently. "I used to be able to get
about eight people a month," said National Guard 1st
Sgt. Derick Young, a New Orleans recruiter. "Now, I'm
lucky if I can get one."

HELP FUEL GLOBAL WARMING: Severe weather occurrences
like hurricanes and heat waves already take hundreds
of lives and cause millions in damages each year. As
the Progress Report has noted, data increasingly
suggest that human-induced global warming is making
these phenomena more dangerous and extreme than ever.
"The hurricane that struck Louisiana yesterday was
nicknamed Katrina by the National Weather Service,"
science author Ross Gelbspan writes. "Its real name is
global warming." AP reported recently on a
Massachusetts Institute of Technology analysis that
shows that "major storms spinning in both the Atlantic
and the Pacific ... have increased in duration and
intensity by about 50 percent" since the 1970s, trends
that are "closely linked to increases in the average
temperatures of the ocean surface and also correspond
to increases in global average atmospheric
temperatures during the same period." Yet just last
week, as Katrina was gathering steam and looming over
the Gulf, the Bush administration released new CAFE
standards that actually encourage automakers to
produce bigger, less fuel efficient vehicles, while
preventing states from taking strong, progressive
action to reverse global warming.