Most Hurricane Katrina coverage in the media focused on government response rather than people' and communities' degrees of preparedness or accountability. As a result, many publications focused on response and recovery rather than mitigation and planning. Journalists often ignored evidence that would have informed readers about the nature of the storm and its potential impact. For example, journalists failed to note that rainfall amounts over 8 inches near New Orleans could cause widespread flooding or miss important details about the hurricane's path. After the hurricane passed, journalists tended to focus on individual stories rather than on the broader context of Louisiana's poor infrastructure. For example, reporters described how individuals had been rescued from rooftops or from houses flooded by rising water levels. They rarely mentioned the need for greater flood protection in vulnerable areas like New Orleans or Lake Pontchartrain. In general, media coverage of Hurricane Katrina was very superficial. Journalists provided only the most essential information needed by their audiences. They did not investigate what many residents had done to protect themselves against the hurricane, such as building codes that lacked mandatory elevators or windproofing that left many homes easily damaged by high winds. Nor did they ask officials about failures before the hurricane hit, such as the lack of evacuation orders for certain neighborhoods with a history of flooding. In short, media coverage offered readers only a one-sided view of this complex event.