As supplies of oxygen began to run out and the situation inside the Superdome deteriorated one day before Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the lone Federal Emergency Management Agency official on site made a desperate plea for help.

It was a call that fell on deaf ears, said Marty J. Bahamonde, according to transcripts of his testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is investigating the government's response to the disaster (see "Federal Agency Delayed Katrina Response, According To Internal Memo").

During testimony on Thursday, Bahamonde said he wrote in an e-mail message, "Issues developing at the Superdome," according to a report by The New York Times. "The medical staff at the dome says they will run out of oxygen in about two hours." As the hours and days passed, Bahamonde said he sent a series of increasingly desperate messages to his superiors in Washington, who did not seem to grasp the seriousness of the issue. In fact, as the city began to flood and the problems at the Superdome increased, Bahamonde was told that FEMA's director needed more time to eat dinner at a restaurant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, before he sat down for a television interview.

"It was sad, it was inhumane, it was heartbreaking, and it was so wrong," Bahamonde said of the response. "There was a systematic failure at all levels of government to understand the magnitude of the situation."

It was only by chance that Bahamonde was even in New Orleans during the disaster. He drove to the city on August 27, two days before the storm hit, to introduce himself to City Hall officials. He was told by his bosses in Washington to leave, but stayed because of traffic leaving the city. Housed near the Superdome, Bahamonde said he was told that a FEMA medical team, 360,000 ready-to-eat meals and 15 water trucks were being sent in advance of the storm, but none of those items arrived as promised. Instead, five water trucks and 40,000 meals were in place, and the medical team didn't arrive until the day after the hurricane hit.

After the 17th Street Canal levee failed and the city began flooding late on the morning of the 29th (see "Katrina Devastates New Orleans; Mississippi Death Toll Rises To Over 110"), Bahamonde sent an e-mail to FEMA headquarters at around 1:30 p.m. about the breach and the overcrowded conditions at the Superdome.

"North side of city under est. 11' water in heavy residential area," read a message attributed to Bahamonde. Director of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has said that he didn't know about the levee breach and flooding until August 30, which is why he flew to Atlanta that day for a meeting on avian flu.

"That is incredible," Senator Carl Levin, (D-Michigan), said of the delay in communications. Levin also asked Bahamonde about testimony last month by former FEMA director Michael D. Brown that a dozen agency employees, including an emergency response team, were in New Orleans before the storm (see "Embattled FEMA Boss Michael Brown Resigns").

"How many FEMA people were pre-positioned at the Superdome or in New Orleans?" Levin asked, according to the Times report.

"One," Bahamonde said. "... me."

In an August 29 phone call to Brown informing him that the levee had failed, Bahamonde said he asked for guidance but did not get a response, according to The Associated Press.

"He just said, 'Thank you,' and that he was going to call the White House," Bahamonde said.

Two days after the hurricane struck, a desperate Bahamonde sent an e-mail directly to Brown pleading for help. "I know you know, the situation is past critical," Bahamonde wrote on August 31. "Hotels are kicking people out, thousands gathering in the streets with no food or water. ... Estimates are that many will die within hours." Brown's press secretary responded hours later that, "It is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner [in Baton Rouge]. ... Restaurants are getting busy. We now have traffic to encounter to go to and from a location of his choise (sic), followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc. Thank you."

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson praised Bahamonde's record and did not dispute his testimony, while Chertoff — who ordered Brown back to Washington in the wake of FEMA's disastrous response to Katrina — said he was frustrated at the response Bahamonde reported.