Citation

Charatan F. Br. Med. J. BMJ 2005; 331(7516): 531.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/bmj.331.7516.531

PMID

16150747

PMCID

PMC1200577

Abstract

After Hurricane Katrina hit east of New Orleans on Monday 29 August, the federal government declared a public health emergency for the US Gulf coast. But, as the city was eventually emptied a week later in the wake of the disaster, there was a second storm brewing -- one of criticism of the Bush administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for their slow response to Katrina's aftermath. Former US president Bill Clinton and Dr Bill Frist, Republican senator for Tennessee and a heart surgeon, called for an inquiry into what went wrong. Mr Clinton wanted a bipartisan commission to investigate "the government failing the people" with its slow response to the disaster. Wide breaches in the levees surrounding New Orleans, which the government said it had not anticipated, resulted in 80% of the city being sub-merged.