Aug 31 2005
Presidential priorities
President Bush, left, plays a guitar presented to him by Country singer Mark Wills, backstage following his visit to Naval Base Coronado, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Bush visited the base to deliver remarks on V-J Commemoration Day. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais):
Nice guitar… presidential seal and everything.
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Monday, Aug. 29, 2005.
Today, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, the AP reports:
The president decided he should be in the nation’s capital given the magnitude of destruction and death caused by Katrina, one of the most severe storms to ever hit the United States.
Mighty nice of him to reach this decision more than two days after the fact!
Meanwhile…
Mayor: Katrina May Have Killed Thousands NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The mayor said Wednesday that Katrina probably killed thousands of people in New Orleans - an estimate that, if accurate, would make the storm by far the nation’s deadliest hurricane in more than a century.
“We know there is a significant number of dead bodies in the water,” and other people dead in attics, Mayor Ray Nagin said. Asked how many, he said: “Minimum, hundreds. Most likely, thousands.”
The frightening estimate came as Army engineers struggled to plug New Orleans’ breached levees with giant sandbags and concrete barriers, while authorities drew up plans to clear out the tens of thousands of people left in the Big Easy and all but abandon the flooded-out city.
There will be a “total evacuation of the city. We have to. The city will not be functional for two or three months,” Nagin said.
But George got his guitar… that’s the important thing.
