Katrina Coverage

From this:
When the 17th Street Canal levee crumbled, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard couldn't go to the Home Depot to buy materials to staunch the flood encroaching from New Orleans. What he could do, under the sweeping emergency authority provided by state law, was raid the Lafarge Construction Materials plant at 3320 Airline Drive for sand, concrete blocks and heavy equipment to build a dam at Airline and Severn Avenue.
In the frenzied days after Hurricane Katrina struck Aug. 29, Broussard several times invoked his authority to seize private property when government resources alone could not handle the crisis or provide for the evacuees, relief workers and National Guardsmen swarming into town. He brought two public and two private hospitals under his control, conscripted vacant land from a private owner and gave law enforcement carte blanche to snatch food, vehicles and other supplies...
...Ron Maestri, chief operating officer of the New Orleans Zephyrs, had evacuated to Houston and saw on television that search-and-rescue workers were using the Zephyr Field parking lot in Metairie as a staging area.
Maestri said the franchise was not troubled by the presence of National Guardsmen and relief workers in the chaotic weeks after the storm. But now that they are gone, the team is seeking compensation for missing tools, tractors and other equipment and for the trees that were cut down to improve visibility for helicopter pilots...
More land and property grabs follow.