“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that!” John replied.
“I’ll need to pack a few things, but I’ll be ready by the time the Vice President is, sir,” answered Brown.
“We’ll figure it out, Mike. Carl, I need to pack a few things, too,” added John.
I sent the others on their way, and jotted a few notes down for the speech. Matt and Marc came in a few minutes later. As we were going through the speech, I had to take a call from Jeb Bush, the Governor of Florida. We added the panhandle of Florida to the disaster area.
The biggest problem we had on the first go was that in most emergencies, assistance is requested at the local level, and then works its way up. A storm wipes out a town, and the mayor requests help from the state, and if enough of that happens, they request it from the Feds. This time I was ramming it down their throats, and not everybody appreciated it.
Will jumped through hoops and got me on the air that evening at 7:00. By then John and Mike were already on their way to Shreveport. I had spoken to John privately before they left. “Keep an eye on Mike. He tends to think like a politician, so make sure he stays focused. Otherwise, you can speak with my voice. If you need something done, I will back you fully, and take the heat.” We shook hands, and he left, to head with Brown over to Andrews.
At 7:00 PM I spoke from the Oval Office, looking as somber and serious as I could.
“My fellow Americans, thank you for giving me this chance to speak to you about a matter of national importance. By now, all of you must be aware that Hurricane Katrina is in the Gulf of Mexico and will be hitting our shores in the next few days. The potential danger that this storm imposes is so great that it will be necessary to take extraordinary measures to deal with it. Earlier today, I spoke with the Governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, the Mayors of New Orleans and Mobile, and the Director of the National Hurricane Center, and many others. As a result of those discussions, it is necessary to take some extraordinary measures.
As of this afternoon, I have ordered a state of emergency declared in the southern halves of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, as well as in the western panhandle region of Florida. In the counties and cities in those areas, a mandatory evacuation order has been issued for all residents. This is not voluntary. If you do not leave on your own, you will be removed to safer areas. As we speak, National Guardsmen and Army soldiers are being rushed to the area to assist in maintaining order and helping in the evacuation.
This is a major storm. I know that many of you in the area the storm will impact have been through other hurricanes before, and believe this will be no different and that you will be able to simply ride it out. This storm is far larger than anything you have ever experienced in the past! It will affect an area from the Florida Panhandle to Texas. Even if you survive the storm, roadways and bridges may well be washed out for days and weeks to come. You need to evacuate, and do it now! By the time the storm hits, it will be too late. I urge everyone in the designated storm emergency areas to immediately prepare an emergency kit and leave the area.”
I also gave them some emergency advice from the National Weather Service and FEMA, and then repeated the need to leave. I also told people without transportation to get to a refugee center immediately, as trucks and buses would begin ferrying them to safety. Then I spoke to that part of the nation which was outside the storm zone.
“Many of you now watching this, perhaps most of you, are asking yourselves why I am disturbing your dinner or your regular television schedule for something that doesn’t concern you. Americans in Maine or Minnesota or California are wondering why I am making this a national broadcast. It doesn’t affect them. The truth is that it does affect you, each and every one of you. This is not a Gulf Coast problem, this is an American problem.
The people in this coastal region are American citizens, as are all of us. We pull together in times of trouble, and now is no different. When a tornado hits the Midwest, a blizzard buries the Rockies, or an earthquake happens in California, we as a people draw together to assist, to help people that we have never met before and might never meet again. This is part of what makes America the great nation that it is. Now that time is coming again. We must all draw together to assist those impacted by this event, and I know, deep in my heart, that we Americans will do so.
So I will let you go now, as our nation’s emergency preparedness teams prepare to assist the Gulf Coast. I wish them the best, and my prayers are with them and with the people in the way of this storm. I know yours are as well. Thank you and God bless you.”
I sat there facing the camera until the technical people began fiddling with the lights and moving around the room. Marc Thiessen gave me a nod and a thumbs-up, and Matt Scully said, “Good job, Mister President.”
“Thank you. I just hope we have enough time to get people out of there. This is going to be bad enough without the networks broadcasting bodies in the streets and people screaming at refugee centers,” I told him.
“You really think it will be that bad?”
I nodded. “We’ll know for sure tomorrow. By then the storm will have figured out where it is going to make landfall and what area gets destroyed. The problem isn’t really the winds, it’s the water. New Orleans is mostly under sea level, like Holland. If the levees go, the city washes out to sea.”
“Shit!” he muttered.
“Exactly!”
“If that happens, they are going to be picking people up off the roofs of whatever is left standing with helicopters.”
I nodded. “Probably every single one in the inventory, and it still won’t be enough.”
Marc looked thoughtful and commented, “You know, not every helicopter is owned by the government.” I shrugged and looked at him curiously. Where was he going with this? “It’s just… one time I was at a cocktail party, and this friend of a friend said that one of the biggest air forces in the world was actually all the helicopters owned by the oil companies to service the oil and gas platforms out in the Gulf. Now, I am sure that right now they are hauling guys off those platforms, but what about after the storm? Maybe they could help in the rescue?”
I looked over at Matt, and he looked back, equally confused and curious. “Really?” he asked.
“It might be worth checking on.”
“Okay,” I said. “Marc, you call who’s ever in charge over at FEMA now that Mike Brown is heading down to Louisiana. Maybe they’ve already thought of this, but let’s find out. The oil companies might not want to do it, but maybe they’ll want to bank some good will for when they have an oil spill or something.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed, standing.
I sent the pair of them out, with orders to keep an eye on the weather in the Gulf, and plan on a few more speeches as needed. If it became as bad as I knew it would, I was going to have to make a ‘fact finding’ trip down there after the storm. I fully expected to find the fact that New Orleans had been well and truly trashed, along with everything else in the area. Afterwards I went upstairs and simply sat with Marilyn for the evening.
Saturday the 27th, I had a conference call with John McCain, Mike Brown, and Max Mayfield from the Hurricane Center. It wasn’t a good prognosis. The storm had already been upgraded from Category One last night, and was now at Category Three, which is a whole lot more storm. It was a big storm, and was guaranteed to hit a stretch of coastline from the Florida Panhandle all the way west to Houston. It was still aimed dead center at New Orleans. John and Mike filled us in on the latest, and Mike told me he had heard from his people in D.C. about the helicopter idea.