Hurricane Katrina

===Criticism of government response===
{{Main|Criticism of the government response to Hurricane Katrina}}
[[File:USNS Comfort.jpg|thumb|upright|[[USNS Comfort|USNS ''Comfort'']] takes on supplies at [[Mayport, Florida]], en route to the Gulf Coast.]]
The criticisms of the government's response to Hurricane Katrina primarily consisted of criticism of [[Administrative incompetence|mismanagement]] and lack of [[leadership]] in the relief efforts in response to the storm and its aftermath. More specifically, the criticism focused on the delayed response to the flooding of New Orleans, and the subsequent state of chaos in the city.<ref name="thevenot" /> The [[neologism]] ''Katrina[[-gate|gate]]'' was coined to refer to this controversy, and was a runner-up for "2005 word of the year".<ref>Clark, Heather. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060325135124/http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1480616 "Linguists Vote 'Truthiness' Word of 2005"]. ''ABC News''. January 6, 2006. Retrieved on April 14, 2010.</ref>

Within days of Katrina's August 29 landfall, public debate arose about the local, state and federal governments' role in the [[Preparations for Hurricane Katrina|preparations]] for and response to the hurricane. Criticism was initially prompted by televised images of visibly shaken and frustrated political leaders, and of residents who remained stranded by floodwaters without [[drinking water|water]], [[food]], or shelter. Deaths from [[thirst]], [[Fatigue (medical)|exhaustion]] and [[violence]] days after the storm had passed fueled the criticism, as did the dilemma of the evacuees at facilities such as the Louisiana Superdome and the New Orleans Civic Center. Some alleged that [[Race (classification of human beings)|race]], [[social class|class]], and other factors could have contributed to delays in government response. For example, during ''[[A Concert for Hurricane Relief]]'', a benefit concert for victims of the hurricane, rapper [[Kanye West]] veered off script and harshly criticized the government's response to the crisis, stating that "George Bush doesn't care about [[African Americans|black people]]."<ref>{{cite news|last=de Moraes|first=Lisa|title=Kanye West's Torrent of Criticism, Live on NBC|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090300165.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=September 3, 2005|access-date=September 1, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080806153052/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090300165.html|archive-date=August 6, 2008|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{citeweb|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kanye-west-said-george-bush-doesnt-care-about-black-people-on-this-day-in-2005-130006321.html|title=Kanye West said, 'George Bush doesn't care about Black people' on this day in 2005|work=Yahoo Entretaiment|accessdate=2024-03-05}}</ref>

In accordance with federal law, President George W. Bush directed the [[Secretary of Homeland Security|Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security]], Michael Chertoff, to coordinate the Federal response. Chertoff designated [[Michael D. Brown]], head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as the Principal Federal Official to lead the deployment and coordination of all federal response resources and forces in the Gulf Coast region. However, the President and Secretary Chertoff initially came under harsh criticism for what some perceived as a lack of planning and coordination. Brown claimed that Governor Blanco resisted their efforts and was unhelpful. Governor Blanco and her staff disputed this.<ref>{{cite news |first1=David |last1=Kirkpatrick |first2=Scott |last2=Shane |title=Ex-FEMA Chief Tells of Frustration and Chaos |date=September 15, 2005 |access-date=May 13, 2010 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/15/national/nationalspecial/15brown.html?pagewanted=all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015052650/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/15/national/nationalspecial/15brown.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=October 15, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Eight days later, Brown was recalled to Washington and Coast Guard Vice Admiral [[Thad W. Allen]] replaced him as chief of hurricane relief operations.<ref>Meserve, Jeanne; Barrett, Ted. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/09/katrina.washington/index.html "Admiral takes over Katrina relief"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222162611/http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/09/katrina.washington/index.html |date=December 22, 2006}} ''CNN''. September 9, 2005. Retrieved on June 5, 2006.</ref> Three days after the recall, Michael D. Brown resigned as director of FEMA in spite of having received recent praise from President Bush.<ref>{{cite web | author = Office of the Press Secretary | title = President Arrives in Alabama, Briefed on Hurricane Katrina | date = September 2, 2005 | access-date = July 19, 2006 | publisher = The White House | url = https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050902-2.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110521182702/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050902-2.html | archive-date = May 21, 2011 | url-status = live}}</ref>

Politicians, activists, pundits, and journalists also directed criticism at the local and state governments headed by Mayor Nagin of New Orleans and Louisiana Governor Blanco. Nagin and Blanco were criticized for failing to implement New Orleans's evacuation plan and for ordering residents to a shelter of last resort without any provisions for food, water, security, or sanitary conditions. Perhaps the most important criticism of Nagin was that he delayed his emergency evacuation order until 19 hours before landfall, which led to hundreds of deaths of people who could not find any way out of the city.<ref name="CongressInvestigation"/>

The destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina raised other, more general public policy issues about [[emergency management]], [[environmental policy]], [[poverty]], and [[unemployment]]. The discussion of both the immediate response and of the broader public policy issues may have affected [[elections]] and [[legislation]] enacted at various [[Executive (government)|levels of government]]. The storm's devastation also prompted a Congressional investigation, which found that FEMA and the Red Cross "did not have a logistics capacity sophisticated enough to fully support the massive number of Gulf coast victims". Additionally, it placed responsibility for the disaster on all three levels of government.<ref name="CongressInvestigation"/> An ABC News [[Opinion poll|poll]] conducted on September 2, 2005, showed more blame was being directed at state and local governments (75%) than at the Federal government (67%), with 44% blaming Bush's leadership directly.<ref name="abcnewspoll">Langer, Gary. [https://abcnews.go.com/US/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1094262&page=1 "Poll: Bush Not Taking Brunt of Katrina Criticism"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061104094924/http://abcnews.go.com/US/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1094262&page=1 |date=November 4, 2006}} ''ABC News''. September 12, 2005. Retrieved on July 15, 2006.</ref> A later [[CNN]]/[[USAToday]]/[[Gallup poll]] showed that respondents disagreed widely on who was to blame for the problems in the city following the hurricane—13% said Bush, 18% said federal agencies, 25% blamed state or local officials and 38% said no one was to blame.<ref name="cnnpoll">Staff Writer. [http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/09/07/katrina.poll/ "Poll: Most Americans believe New Orleans will never recover"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908050709/http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/09/07/katrina.poll/ |date=September 8, 2013}} ''CNN''. September 8, 2005. Retrieved on July 15, 2006.</ref>