Wednesday: The Situation Is Dire; Government Seems Not to Get It

By Wednesday, August 31, Day Three of the flood, the situation on the ground had deteriorated. There was still very little government presence. Many people were still stranded without food, water, medicine, or other help. The news media showed scenes of people in desperation: A young man holding a baby: “How’s a three-month-old infant supposed to survive out here with no milk, no water?” A distraught woman: “I don’t want to die like this.”¹²

President Bush had been on vacation in his Crawford, Texas, home when the hurricane hit. He continued his pre-Katrina schedule, including a Monday–Tuesday trip to the West Coast for a fundraiser and to give speeches on Medicare. Wednesday he left Crawford for Washington, but directed Air Force One to fly over New Orleans for him to get a firsthand look. But rather than landing in New Orleans, the plane circled above the city at 5,000 feet. People on the ground, including the news media, could recognize the distinctive profile of the President’s Boeing 747, with United States of America painted on the side. Television cameras focused alternately on people transfixed by the sight, and on the profile of the plane as it slowly looped around th....