news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4765058.stm
Watch the video Video showing President George W Bush being warned on the eve of Hurricane Katrina that the storm could breach New Orleans' flood defences has emerged. The footage, obtained by the Associated Press, also shows Mr Bush being told of the risk to evacuees in the Superdome. It appears to contradict Mr Bush's statement four days after Katrina hit, when he said: "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." Critics say more could have been done sooner to evacuate the city. I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees George W Bush, speaking after the disaster Speaking by video link from a room in his Texan holiday ranch on 28 August last year, Mr Bush is shown telling federal disaster officials: "We are fully prepared." He does not ask any questions as the situation is outlined to him. Along with the video, AP obtained transcripts of seven days of briefings relating to Katrina. Clear warning The footage does the president no favours, the BBC's Justin Webb reports from Washington. Cars stream out of New Orleans on eve of Katrina disaster Citizens were fleeing New Orleans as Mr Bush was being briefed It shows plainly worried officials telling Mr Bush very clearly before the storm hit that it could breach New Orleans' flood barriers. In the past, the president has said nobody anticipated a breach but the video shows Michael Brown, the top emergency response official who has since resigned, saying the storm would be "a bad one, a big one". "We're going to need everything that we can possibly muster, not only in this state and in the region, but the nation, to respond to this event," Mr Brown says. He also gives a strong, clear warning that evacuees in the Superdome in New Orleans could not be given proper assistance. It surprises me that if there was that kind of awareness, why was the response so slow? New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin But he adds that the possibility that anticlockwise winds and storm surges could cause the levees at Lake Pontchartrain to be overrun afterwards is "obviously a very, very grave concern". His concern was borne out by events when levees collapsed, letting in the floodwater disastrously. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, shown the footage for the first time at a press conference, told Reuters he was "shocked" by what it revealed. "It surprises me that if there was that kind of awareness, why was the response so slow?" But Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said most transcripts of discussions had already been made available to congressional investigators examining the response to Katrina. "There's nothing new or insightful on these tapes," he said. Mr Bush has accepted he shared some of the responsibility for the flawed response to Katrina and the White House has talked of the "fog of war" rendering decision-making difficult. Michael Brown told AP this week that he did not "buy the 'fog of war' defence".
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