Official mismanagement exacerbates Katrina's fury

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2005

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina was the product not just of Nature's fury, but the result of a long catalogue of mismanagement, neglect and ineptitude -- much of it foreseeable and preventable, critics said.

From the failure of officials in New Orleans to devise a comprehensive evacuation plan, to the federal government's preoccupation with terrorism over natural disasters, negligence by authorities has made the impact of Katrina far worse than it had to be, critics said.

"I fear that a storm which could have cost tens of billions of dollars may cost more than 100 billion to repair. A storm that could have cost us hundreds of lives will probably cost us thousands of lives," said Democrat Tom Carper on the Senate floor Wednesday....