Obama declares state of emergency

The lesson of the disaster caused by Hurricane "Katrina" in 2005 serves today as Tropical Storm "Isaac", whose passage is inevitable, let the least damage possible, are forecasts at least taking the White House."Isaac," which began as a tropical wave on Tuesday 21 in the Atlantic waters, in the area of ​​the West Indies, has left flooding in Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba and this time brings heavy rains to the United States.

In order not to repeat the tragedy of seven years ago that caused criticism of George W. Bush, President Barack Obama yesterday declared a state of emergency in Louisiana before the arrival of the storm became a Category 1 hurricane that threatens the State in the South of the country, beaten in 2005 by fellow Hurricane "Katrina", which flooded New Orleans with official toll of 833 thousand dead. Neighboring states like Alabama and Mississippi are at war with the amount of rain expected.

In fact, the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi invited tens of thousands of people to evacuate areas that are outside the protection of the levee system, before the arrival of the meteor. The people and protect wood windows of their houses and fences make sacks. Disaster protection agencies are also preparing to attack the emergency.

"Isaac" and got into national politics. Forced the postponement of the Republican National Convention, which will nominate Mitt Romney as a candidate for the U.S. presidency tThe Nov. 2 elections. Yesterday took its opening brief, and on Tuesday, when was supposed to end, just be booted ... If the visitor decides otherwise.

The passage of "Katrina" in 2005 meant not only the disaster spot in life and property, but paying the bill later policy by Republican candidates in the 2009 elections. The 80% of the vote in New Orleans, with a majority of black, African American leaned Obama.

Tomorrow will mark seven years of the hurricane "Katrina", category 3, arrived in New Orleans with winds of 200 kilometers per hour. The levees of Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi Delta waters collapsed and flooded the city several months.

The popular outrage against President George W. Bush was because he did not interrupt his vacation and just two days after the disaster returned to Washington DC to coordinate emergency. Following the disaster said: "Nobody could have predicted the disaster" statement drew criticism that endure until the day today and of which Obama, during the campaign, has noted.

Later it became known that Bush was warned in advance that the levees in New Orleans could be overwhelmed by the force of "Katrina".

Another point against Bush and the Republicans that year was that the high costs of the Iraq war, combined with tax cuts to the richest sector of the population and the cost of "homeland security" against terrorism, resulted in a reduced amount of funding to prevent first and then deal with the consequences of the disaster.

The risks of reduced funds for projects affecting flood control in New Orleans, were detected by journalists of the city's leading newspaper, The Times-Picayune, for a series of reports issued in 2004 and 2005.

With "Isaac" knocking on the door of Louisiana, sizes and backgrounds, Obama did not hesitate to call the governors of the Southern United States, as well as the mayor of New Orleans, and promised that "will have all the resources necessary to make deal with the arrival of the storm. "Obama studied the lesson and today, seven years later, has the opportunity to show what he learned.

While "Isaac" is off the coast of the United States, Haiti still suffer the affects of the storm, which passes through the America's poorest country left 19 dead and destruction caused by the floods. In the Dominican Republic the official toll is five fatalities.

The Government reported yesterday that of the 19 victims, three are minor and they had six missing reports.The director of Haiti's Civil Protection, Alta Jean Baptiste, said 14. Mil 375 people were evacuated in six departments, of which 13. 561 thousand are in shelters.

At Dominican, five people died after the Storm "Isaac", which forced about 30,000 people to flee their homes and seek refuge from heavy rains since last Friday, officials said.
"Isaac" maintained maximum sustained winds of 110 km / h when it was 470 km south-southeast of Mobile (Alabama) and about 370 km southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The South Florida yesterday felt the brunt of the storm on their way to the Gulf caused power cuts and other minor damage, while high winds and rains persist. Federal agencies deployed emergency staff and supplies and canned and powdered milk for assisting states where impact is expected tropical storm.