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October 2005                                                                                Volume 9 - Number 1

    

 

Timelines for Hurricane Katrina...

     

 


Hurricane Katrina:  Timeline of Events, August 28, 2005
Kristin Edwards
All times in Eastern Daily Time

12:00 am:  The National Weather Service National Hurricane Center (NHC) declares Hurricane Katrina as a Category Four storm located 311 miles south-east of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

7:00 am:  DHS Secretary Chertoff and FEMA Director Brown are given electronic briefings by NHC.

Early Morning: FEMA has deployed USAR teams from Tennessee, Missouri and Texas to stage in Shreveport, LA. USAR teams from Indiana and Ohio are staged in Meridian, MS. Three further teams are on alert at their home stations.  A total of 18 DMATs have also been deployed to staging areas in Houston, Anniston and Memphis. Supplies are staged for delivery by FEMA.

8:00 am:  The NHC revises the intensity of the storm to a Category Five storm with 160 mph winds.

8:00 am:  The Superdome opens.

Approx 9:00 am: President Bush signs a declaration of emergency in the state of Mississippi, which orders Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the counties located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 27, 2005, and continuing. Brown names William L. Carwille, III of FEMA to coordinate the federal relief effort.

9:30 am:  New Orleans Mayor Nagin announces that Regional Transit Authority buses will transport people to places of refuge within the city.

Approx 11:00 am:  Nagin declares a state of emergency and orders a mandatory evacuation of the city.  Other mandatory evacuations are ordered in affected areas of Louisiana and Mississippi. National Guard troops have been deployed to assist law enforcement in evacuations.

Approx 12:00 pm:  Louisiana Governor Blanco issues a letter requesting Federal assistance and asking for the declaration of an expected major disaster.

Approx 12:00 pm:  NHC Director Max Mayfield personally briefs President Bush by videoconference.

Afternoon:  President Bush signs a declaration of disaster in Florida, which orders Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by Katrina beginning on August 24, 2005, and continuing.  Brown names Justin DeMello as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

Afternoon:  President Bush signs a declaration of emergency in Alabama, which orders Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts in the counties located in the direct path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on August 28, 2005, and continuing.  Brown names Ron Sherman as the Federal Coordinating Officer.

3:00 pm: The Superdome has 10,000 people inside.  150 National Guardsmen are stationed, approximately 2/3 of them unarmed.

6:00 pm:  Nagin orders a curfew of 6 pm.

Evening:  Nagin estimates that nearly 1 million people have fled the city and its surrounding parishes. Between 20,000 and 25,000 line up to take shelter in the Louisiana Superdome.

10:00 pm:  The National Weather Service NHC predicts the levees may be overtopped due to storm surges.


For Further Information, see the following links, listed in chronological order:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/pub/al122005.public.020.shtml
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:F_y2v-cOrNgJ:www.brookings.edu/fp/projects/homeland/katrinatimeline.pdf+Katrina+Timeline&hl=en
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18461
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al122005.discus.022.shtml
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828-1.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828.html
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18460
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/28/tropical.weather/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/28/hurricane.katrina/
http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/2005_HURRICANEKATRINA_GRAPHIC/index_02.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828-2.html
http://www.fema.gov/news/eventcounties.fema?id=4805
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050828-3.html
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18462
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/28/hurricane.katrina/
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/pub/al122005.public.025.shtml