Katrina as utterly shocking

I had many misconceptions about Katrina and the aftermath. First, up until I began learning more about what happened in New Orleans from the "TIME" book on Katrina, as well as Spike Lee's documentary, I thought all the damage in New Orleans was caused by Katrina herself; high winds, flooding caused by storm surge, heavy rains, etc. The fact that the levees breaking caused all this damage is shocking. There is no other word for it. It's so hard to believe that no body thought to reinforce any of them, even though it seemed to be common knowledge that the levees were not very strong. I also want to comment on the finger pointing. I think most people realize that the blame game caused a great amount of damage and agree that our government leaders should have a higher level of maturity. I would have thought, though, that in light of such a catastrophe our leaders could put blame aside, take responsibility and move into action with whatever resources available. I don't understand why we had so many resources at the ready, and they just couldn't be given a green light. Finally, I want to say to all those who did something good in New Orleans or the surrounding area that I applaud you, and look up to you. In a country in which we are free to do what we wish, to wish to help someone seems to be a very rare occasion in every day life. You guys set examples for the rest of us.