Everything We Think We Know About Katrina May Be Wrong

I follow the news pretty closely, and I've long been disgusted with the utterly unfair rap President Bush took for the impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. Florida gets absolutely slammed year after year, but never has the civil breakdown Louisiana did. And it's NOT because Katrina was such a powerful storm. In fact, when it hit, it was a Category One!

But even though I keep up with things like this, I was utterly unprepared for this post by Paul at Wizbang. I don't know if all of his conclusions are correct, but he has evidence that challenges everything in the conventional wisdom. You need to read this article. Here's just a taste:

What I will say next will probably completely throw you. Katrina saved probably over 50,000 lives.

That levee was doomed. If it had failed without notice, the death toll would have been measured in tens of thousands. There would be no evacuation, no preparation, no Feds at all. (such that they were anyway) no Coast Guard in choppers etc. Tens of thousands of people would have been dead in hours and tens of thousands more would have died on 120 degree rooftops waiting for rescue. It would have been unimaginable. - More unimaginable.

"Luckily" -and I groan when I say that- Katrina allowed the city to be evacuated.
I've said it for months. Katrina didn't flood New Orleans. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He also has links to an actual video of the levee collapsing, which definitely tells a different story than the official version. Again, as strongly as I can I urge you to read his whole post with an open mind. It may change your entire perception of what happened last year.