Katrina - Was the Govt alert enough?

I got this article as a forward this morning. It was wriiten almost a year back.

http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/

 

It was just too little too late. Nothing can be done now except help those who were affected. No use playing the blame game.

 

Well actually there is use in playing the blame game. We need to find out why this happened and hold people accountable.

It's not likely to happen...it never does. But it's the only way to make sure this doesn't happen again.

I would expect resignations and firings as soon as things are stable.

 

Quoting from NatGeo's OCT 2004 issues.

"The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level—more than eight feet below in places—so the water poured in. A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it.

Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City."

 

That's the key part right there, as soon as things are stable.

I hate how there's a huge witch hunt right now about who's to blame, who's fault is this, why didn't so-and-so do this or that. I mean focus some energy on getting people food, water, and medical attention. After that's done let's find out who's to blame and hold them accountable. Pointing fingers right now is pointless and does more harm thne good.

 

From here:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article310195.ece

 

As Harry Truman use to say "the buck stops here". George Bush can spend billions and billions sending young American to die in Iraq, but when it come to keeping the people at home safe he cuts the hell out of eveything.

Come to think of it I guess his approach is consistent he is sending Americans to their death in both situations. In fact it appears that human life really isn't a concern of his or his administration as long as Haliburton and the other fat cat industrialist are making obscene amounts of money.

 

Right now there is so much conflicting information being thrown out all over the place. It’s going to take a while to know exactly what is the truth and what isn’t. There is finger-pointing going on everywhere. That’s not to say that I don’t think Bush isn’t to blame for a big part of this. I think the list is a lot bigger.

Here are a couple of other questions that I have though:

1) What else has funding been taken from that seriously needs it that will yield it’s ugly head shortly?

2) A lot of news stories have reported that this and terrorists in NY were 2 of the 3 top emergencies that the government were warned about several years ago. What is the other one? Has anyone read that and what kind of precautions have been put in place?

I mean I thought after 9-11 we had some type of emergency agencies and planning in place. It looks like nothing came out of 9-11 as far as administrative/government planning and implementation.

 

That is very scary!

 

Here are a few good articles that have shown up in my mailbox on the disaster:

Gov. Blanco is responsible for Katrina aftermath catastrophe -- unlike what the title suggests -- is actually a comprehensive history of the political events leading up to the current disaster response difficulties.

Another interesting article is Why The Katrina Coverage Made Me Switch To Fox News! from the Post Chronicle.

Nagin's Failure documents the failure of the Mayor of New Orleans to utilize city buses and school buses to evacuate the population.

Ben Franklin Had The Right Idea for New Orleans shows us how uncommon common sense has become in the era of entitlement government.

An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of the Welfare State puts recent events in an economic and historical context.

The State and the Flood documents current events in the context of the welfare state ideology.

 

I can't help it.

This reminded me of a song from Sunday School thirty years ago.

This song is based upon Matthew Chapter 7:

 

The French founded New Orleans almost 300 years ago. It was chosen for its location. It was right on the ocean and the Mississippi River making it a perfect place for trade back when transporting goods was huge expedition. The city just grew from that.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans,_Louisiana

 

I thought after billions of years of floods and hurricanes, people would be smart enough not to build homes in places that constantly experience floods and hurricanes.

Unfortunately, it seems that people are willing to participate in any sort of foolishness when they can do so with the expectation that the allmighty American taxpayer will bail them out.

 

I would bet the third one is a major earth quake in California.

For all you guys who would never have built in New Orleans, would you now like to move all Californians east of the San Andreas Fault?

 

They can move if they want. It's not our responsibility to move them.

This is America. This is how we do things in America.

I dunno how y'all do things in Canada.

 

Let me rephrase the question: For all you guys who would never have built in New Orleans, would you now recommend that all Californians should move east of the San Andreas Fault?

Will,

I read you rant about self sufficiency and private insurance. Funny thing is I didn't see any insurance companies flying helicopers and rescuing people from their roof tops.

I've never read an insurance clause that says in the event of some freak of nature or "act of God" the insurance company will provide you with the necessities of life within 24 to 48 hours and only after we have you safe and sound will we start the insurance claim process.

 

Everyone knew that it was the coast is susceptible to hurricanes like areas in the west are susceptible to earthquakes and the central US is in hurricane alley. Yeah everyone in the last 50 years has known that certain areas are not safe. It’s not real feasible to say, “Well you should abandon this area and go somewhere safer.”

Auckland is right on the water and in a an area that has had volcanic activity in the past I guess it’s time for everyone to move.