The damage and suffering caused by Hurricane Katrina has been terrible, even more so as it seems that the city of New Orleans will be lost or completely evacuated for at least 2 months in order for authorities to clear it up and drain waters away.
The suffering of the people who were still in the city when Katrina struck has been prolonged and increased by slow, uncoordinated and insufficient relief efforts.
With all the coverage of the hurricane's aftermath by American media, one of the worst things has been the villification of people trapped in the city as criminals and gangsters as coverage has fixated at times on reports of snipers, rapes, gangs, etc.
This Zmag article talks about the unfair coverage by US media on Katrina and about some of the factors that has led to the weak relief efforts.
One damning factor is the occupation in Iraq because not only were budgets for emergency services weakened/ reduced to allow for funding for the Iraq war/occupation, but also manpower in the form of the state's (Louisiana) National Guardsmen were reduced because many of these Guardsman are fighting in Iraq where they were sent by their President.