Rick Santorum is an idiot

Some GOP Legislators Hit Jarring Notes in Addressing Katrina:

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, Santorum was drawing a second round of fire, this time for saying the National Weather Service's forecasts and warnings about Katrina's path were 'not sufficient.' Democrats e-mailed audio links to a radio interview in which Santorum said that 'we need a robust National Weather Service' that focuses on severe weather predictions. 'Obviously the consequences are incredibly severe, as we've seen here in the last couple of weeks, if we don't get it right and don't properly prepare,' Santorum said.

In fact, many people think the Weather Service got the Katrina prediction exactly right. They include GOP Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.), who chairs the Senate Commerce subcommittee on disaster prediction and prevention. He issued a statement headlined 'DeMint Gives National Weather Service 'A' Grade for Katrina Prediction.'

Santorum, long at odds with the federal agency, is pushing a bill that would require it to surrender some of its duties to private businesses, some of them located in his state. The National Weather Service Employees Organization said in a statement: 'We did our job well and everyone knows it. By falsely claiming that we got it wrong, Rick Santorum is continuing his misguided crusade against the National Weather Service.'

Santorum's office issued a statement yesterday repeating the concern that 'there are serious consequences' when the Weather Service falls short of 'getting it right.'

These creeps will do or say anything to protect Dear Leader from criticism. (Not to mention that Santorum has taken considerable campaign contributions from the very same private concerns, such as weather.com, that would benefit from the proposed legislation).

Here's the NOAA/NWS advisory from 10 am CDT Sunday, Aug 27 (emphasis mine):

ZCZC MIATCDAT2 ALL
TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM
HURRICANE KATRINA DISCUSSION NUMBER 23
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
11 AM EDT SUN AUG 28 2005

THE AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTERS JUST MEASURED A 166 KT FLIGHT LEVEL WIND IN THE NORTHEAST EYEWALL...WHICH REQUIRES AN ADDITIONAL UPWARD ADJUSTMENT OF THE CURRENT INTENSITY TO 150 KT. A DROP IN THE EYE GAVE A CENTRAL PRESSURE OF 907 MB. KATRINA IS COMPARABLE IN INTENSITY TO HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969...ONLY LARGER. GPS DROPSONDE DATA FROM THE NOAA G-IV MISSION EARLIER TODAY SHOWED KATRINA'S INTENSE CYCLONIC CIRCULATION EXTENDING THROUGH THE 200 MB LEVEL...WITH THE FLOW SPIRALING ANTICYLONICALLY OUTWARD IN A WELL-DEVELOPED UPPER-LEVEL OUTFLOW PATTERN BEYOND A COUPLE HUNDRED N MI FROM THE CENTER. FLUCTUATIONS IN STRENGTH...DUE TO INTERNAL
STRUCTURAL CHANGES...ARE LIKELY PRIOR TO LANDFALL. HURRICANES RARELY SUSTAIN SUCH EXTREME WINDS FOR MUCH TIME. HOWEVER WE SEE NO OBVIOUS LARGE-SCALE EFFECTS TO CAUSE A SUBSTANTIAL WEAKENING THE SYSTEM...AND IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE HURRICANE WILL BE OF CATEGORY 4 OR 5 INTENSITY WHEN IT REACHES THE COAST.

[...]

Of course, President Bush, Michael Chertoff and Michael Brown probably had no clue of the significance of that statement. Maybe, instead, the advisory should have read:

KATRINA IS COMPARABLE IN INTENSITY TO HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969...ONLY LARGER. (FOR YOU CLUELESS POLITICAL HACKS AT FEMA AND DHS, AND ESPECIALLY YOU, MR. PRESIDENT...BE VERY AFRAID...THAT'S REALLY FREAKING GINORMOUS!!!!!!!!!!!).

The code-word CAMILLE had the Gulf Coast politicians, and anyone with a clue crapping in their pants and reaching for their nitro-glycerine tablets. The fact that NOAA/NWS qualified that statement with "... ONLY LARGER" should have had every member of the Bush administration preparing for armageddon and rushing back to their command posts. Instead, they all remained on vacation, bicycling, buying Ferragamo shoes, shopping for mansions in Baltimore, fishing in Maine, or getting married in Greece... essentially, without a care in the world. This advisory alone should have given Cheney another coronary.

Then, the NOAA/NWS issued this advisory at 4 pm CDT that same day:

ZCZC MIATCPAT2 ALL
TTAA00 KNHC DDHHMM
BULLETIN
HURRICANE KATRINA ADVISORY NUMBER 24
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
4 PM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

...POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC HURRICANE KATRINA HEADED FOR THE NORTHERN GULF COAST...

A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTH CENTRAL GULF COAST FROM MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA EASTWARD TO THE ALABAMA/FLORIDA BORDER...INCLUDING THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE COMPLETED THIS EVENING.

[...]

KATRINA IS A LARGE HURRICANE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 105 MILES FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 230 MILES. SUSTAINED TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ARE OCCURRING OVER THE SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA COAST. SOUTHWEST PASS...NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER...RECENTLY REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 48 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 53 MPH.

A NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER PLANE REPORTED A MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE OF 902 MB...26.64 INCHES.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 18 TO 22 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...LOCALLY AS HIGH AS 28 FEET...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL. SOME LEVEES IN THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS AREA COULD BE OVERTOPPED. SIGNIFICANT STORM SURGE FLOODING WILL OCCUR ELSEWHERE ALONG THE CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN GULF OF MEXICO COAST.

[...]

So, what they're telling us here is that nearly every building within a swath of land 210 miles across and stretching upwards of 100 miles inland will be turned into so much kindling and that there will be severe damage 460 miles from the center. This wasn't an adequate warning?