Katrina's Blame Game By Brynn Bacardi

Source: http://www.useless-knowledge.com/1234/sept/article074.html

Sept. 6, 2005

Since 1988, the US has experienced 53 disasters with total costs of nearly $260 billion. Just in the past 10 years, hurricanes Ivan hit Alabama (category 3 - $12 billion in damage), Frances hit Florida (category 2 - $14 billion), George hit Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida (category 2 - $6.5 billion), Opal hit Florida and Alabama (category 3 - $3.6 billion), and tropical storm Allison hit Texas and Louisiana ( $5 billion – flooding). This is no surprise to anyone. The water, winds, and terrain make this a great place for catastrophic weather to occur. So, why weren’t the states and cities more prepared?

President Bush requested 10.5 billion dollars for hurricane Katrina’s relief effort and signed the bill as soon as it passed through the House and Senate yesterday evening. In fact, he actually declared Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida a disaster area on Monday, August 29th before all of the problems started. He DID act fast – and did all that he could within his powers. The rest lay with the state and city officials. Everyone seems to be pointing the finger at President Bush and FEMA – but the fingers need to be pointed at several key figures.

It is widely evident at this point that the governors of Alabama and Mississippi, and Mayor of New Orleans had no evacuation plan at all. They got on television and said, “evacuate”. And then went on their merry way. Why weren’t city transit buses and school buses mobilized to pick up those without transportation? Not only would they have save hundreds of people, they would have also saved the vehicles from destruction. Why didn’t they AT LEAST evacuate the hospitals and have alternative trauma centers set up in nearby cities? Did they have a plan? Did they even consider what could happen? Obviously not. It is not an impossible feat – look at the effort put forth by the city of Houston – they have mobilized and organized faster than anyone else to accommodate some 50,000 people. They had a plan. Why didn’t New Orleans? Major Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans on Sunday night, but what did he do to make it happen? Absolutely nothing! And now he is on the radio swearing and embarrassing himself and his city by whining about there being no help. What did he do to help? Does he even have a clue?

The administration at Tulane University evacuated the university and got their students and faculty out of the area. They did not give anyone a choice. And they provided transportation for all affected. They were not only responsible to their students but well prepared to implement their plan. Why didn’t the New Orleans officials do the same?

And despite new reports to the contrary, government agencies did and are still aiding people. The US Coast guard went in and rescued 1200 people on Monday in the New Orleans area. Over 1000 people were evacuated from Tulane University Hospital with the help of US military. The National Guard troops in the area moved in Tuesday to assist with the looting and crime (that’s a whole other story and I’m not even going to go there now – apparently Mayor Nagin didn’t have a plan to deal with that EITHER).

Look, it is not as if this was an unforeseen event. New Orleans lies up to 12 feet below sea level; sits on a swamp and lies between a river and lake. Think about it – when water comes in, either by rain or storm, it can’t get out! And, if the banks of the river and lake overflow, the only place it will flow is to a lower elevation – New Orleans. Any kid who’s played at the beach can understand the scenario. But still, no effective, responsible, plan was designed or implemented, unless you call sending people to what became a concrete island in the middle of town a plan.

It is not FEMA’s ultimate responsibility to have a plan for every possible emergency scenario in every city of every state. It’s impossible. And even if they could do it, they would need the cooperation of the respective cities. FEMA is there for response and recovery. And since September 11th, they have been focused on dealing with the potential results of a terrorist assault using weapons of mass destruction (such as biological and chemical warfare). Granted, their efforts have been somewhat lax – but would no doubt have been more than sufficient had the appropriate measures been taken before hand by the state and local governments. And let’s not forget – when the planes hit the towers on September 11th, it was not FEMA that ran up the stairs – it was the men and women of the NY City police and fire department. Sure FEMA came in later, but the immediate response was up to the affected city.

Right now, the supplies are there – but no one knows where to bring them – are there specific places set up in the affected areas for relief station and medical help? Did anyone in the state or city government take a look at a map over that past 30 years and find key locations to set up aid stations if another major hurricane hit? Evidently not. Relief stations are moving from day to day and people don’t know where to go for help. Where they given specific instruction for areas to go to in the event there was a major catastrophe? No! The state and city officials all just sat around sipping their mint juleps assuming that the federal government would save the day – it’s so much easier to place blame than to take responsibility, isn’t it?

Remember, we live in a DEMOCRACY – we supposedly do not want any government intervention – well, unless it is WHEN, WHERE, and HOW we want it. We scream for our privacy and civil rights – we don’t want "big brother" in our lives. But as soon as we need help and it doesn’t go EXACTLY the way we think it should, we turn around and scream INJUSTICE! RACISM! INCOMPETENCE! It just doesn’t work that way.

Put the blame where blame is due. Take a look at the LOCAL officials who lived and worked right there where the hurricane hit. No one knows the needs and requirements of their cities better than they do - or do they?

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Email Brynn Bacardi: bacgwy@yahoo.com