Katrina Coverage

Monday 8/29, early morning: hurricane strikes
Monday 8/29, later that morning: Fox might have broadcast news of the break(s)
Monday 8/29, early afternoon: breaches reported to NO authorities [1]
Monday 8/29, 6pm : confirmed in a summary distributed by the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness [1]
Monday 8/29, "later in the day" : Blanco finds out […]

As of November 2, Michael Brown was no longer on FEMA's payroll, the DHS reports. He stepped aside on Sept. 12 but was kept on to help provide input.
But Brown ended his contract early, said [DHS spokesman Russ] Knocke, responding to an inquiry about House Democratic demands to remove Brown from the payroll.

Reps. Charles Melancon and Tom Davis recently released a series of emails from former FEMA head Michael Brown. The headline-oriented bits were already discussed in Brownie, you’re a “fashion god”.
And, they've also complained about the DHS delaying releasing the other requested items: "House Panel complains administration dragging feet on document request".
The two themes are combined […]

New FEMA emails have been released, but I haven't been able to find them. If you do, please leave a link in the comments. From this:
The House panel, which has been shunned by some Democrats and is chaired by Rep. Tom Davis., R-Va., also released 23 pages of internal e-mail offering additional evidence of a […]

As previously discussed, former FEMA head Michael Brown is still on their payroll. Now, DHS head Michael Chertoff says:
"It's important to allow the new people who have the responsibility … to have access to the information we need to do better… We don't want to sacrifice the real ability to get a full picture of […]

From this:
Michael D. Brown was days away from announcing plans to resign as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency when Hurricane Katrina hit Aug. 29, according to e-mails released by separate House and Senate investigations into the government's flawed response to the disaster.
Sen. Susan M. Collins (R-Maine), chairman of the Senate investigation, questioned whether […]

According to Bush Adviser Acknowledges Lack of Preparation for Katrina, on the night of Monday August 29, Marty Bahamonde reported to Michael Brown that "he had observed a massive break on the Lake Pontchartrain levee [the 17th Avenue Canal levee] and flooding over 80 percent of the city". Brown told Bahamonde that he would call […]

Former FEMA head Michael Brown is still on their payroll.
From this:
Brown is still on FEMA's payroll as a consultant, [FEMA spokeswoman Nicol] Andrews confirmed. He works from home, where he is "pulling all the documentation together" for the investigations into Katrina response, she said, and his original 30-day contract was recently extended for another 30 […]

The emails sent by various FEMA officials were made public, and a brief overview and links to the downloads are available here. A few excerpts are here.
The Marty Bahamonde emails are in this PDF file and ones sent to and from Michael Brown are in this PDF file.
I've cached those in case the links stop […]

FEMA Official Says Boss Ignored Warnings
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials did not respond to repeated warnings about deteriorating conditions in New Orleans and the dire need for help as Hurricane Katrina struck, the first FEMA official to arrive in the city conceded Thursday.
Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA regional director, told a Senate panel investigating the government's […]