Are the Saints Coming to California? (VIDEO)

Will federal response to the California wildfires be a repeat of Katrina?

Screenshot from the video Courtesy: music-videos.duncans.tv

(LOS ANGELES) - The video about what didn't happen during the response to Hurricane Katrina offers a vivid perspective of what Southern Californians could face if the federal response and the activities of FEMA mirror the response in New Orleans.

Green Day and U2 teamed together for "The Saints are Coming", a fictitious look at how it might have appeared if the United States federal government had pulled resources out of Iraq for response to the thousands of Americans left homeless by Katrina.

Up to 500,000 Californians or even more could be evacuated before the burning devastation there is over. Experts say it appears to be the worst series of wildfires on record in a state well indoctrinated in the subject.

President Bush has stated that the federal government will respond, and FEMA is moving into the area to assess the damage that has left thousands potentially homeless. Scores of homes have already gone up in flames since the fires began burning in seven California counties.

"The Saints are Coming" is a chilling reminder of how the federal response to Hurricane Katrina could have gone, now the agency will have an opportunity to perform at the proper level or once again demonstrate their lack of preparedness for a national disaster.

The song was the third single by the Scottish punk rock band, The Skids, and was featured on their 1978 debut album, Scared to Dance. The song was re-recorded in 2006 by U2 and Green Day with an emphasis on Hurricane Katrina.

The lyrics were written by Richard Jobson with music by Stuart Adamson, who later went on to form Big Country.

The studio version of the song was released for digital download on October 30, 2006 and released as a CD single on November 6th 2006. The song also appears on U2's hits album, U218 Singles, which was released on November 20th 2006. The song was played for the first time by U2 alone on the Pacific Leg of the Vertigo Tour in Brisbane, Australia, on November 7, 2006.[3]

The music video for "The Saints Are Coming," was directed by Chris Milk, and released on video site YouTube on October 27th 2006.

The music video shows the two bands playing at the Abbey Road Studio and at the Louisiana Superdome (though the footage from the live performance at the Superdome has been overdubbed with the studio version of the song), intermixed with news footage of the displacement of residents after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

The second half of the video shows an alternate history in which George W. Bush redeployed troops and vehicles from Iraq to New Orleans to help victims of the hurricane, with the military personnel fulfilling the titular role of the "saints."

Chris Milk says this was done to "make a commentary on the Katrina disaster ... from the standpoint of how things can and should be done in the future." The video ends with military support vehicles fading out as the camera pans to a sign that reads 'Not as seen on TV', it is a critical response to Katrina that also parodies media deception on rescue coverage.