Heroic rescues after Katrina

To the editor:A recent Speak Out contributor passed judgment on President Bush by repeating that the Hurricane Katrina rescue had been botched. There are some facts missing in this argument.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin predicted a Hurricane Katrina death toll of 10,000. Twenty-five thousand body bags were stockpiled. The latest computer model predicted 60,000 dead. Yet weeks after the storm, fewer than 1,000 bodies had been found in all of Louisiana.

What went right? The answer: One of the largest rescue operations in history saved more than 50,000 people by boat and helicopter.

Rescuers say that on Monday, when the levees failed and water surged through the city, they saved thousands who were in danger of drowning. One of the biggest problems was that so many helicopters were operating that they risked crashing into one another.

The Washington Post, in a poll of survivors, said 40 percent, roughly 40,000 to 50,000 people, reported they had been rescued by the Coast Guard, Air National Guard units or local police and firemen in boats.

The Coast Guard was far and away the main player. It claimed more than 24,000 rescues and evacuated another 9,000 from hospitals and nursing homes. They got there first with the most. Reports showed that on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the Coast Guard rescued 3,000 to 5,000 people from rooftops. The operation grew to hundreds of boats and 50 helicopters.

That's the true story, and there are tens of thousands of rescued people who will testify to it.

RANDY DUNN, Oak Ridge