Re: Politics, society, & New Orleans

After reading and digesting all that is going on and being said. I think
that many don't fully understand the scope of the problem and also that
there is plenty of blame to be tossed around on all sides of the politcal
fences. First of all the size of the area destroyed is immense.
93,000SqMiles. This is a huge swath of land. Bigger than New York, bigger
than Oklahoma, bigger than Washington, and bigger than all but 11 of the
states in this country. The amount of infrastructure destroyed was immense.
Roads and bridges demolished along major routes. All communications gone.
Each and every leader of the major relief agencies both federal and non
profits have all been astounded by the amount of damage and each has said
this is the worst they have ever witnessed. This was an amazing storm that
thankfully weakened somewhat before landfall, and that it wasn't a direct
hit on NO, otherwise who's to say that the Superdome wouldn't have been
completely demolished and that would be anyone left to rescue.

That being said there is a lot of blame that can be attributed to many for
the calamity in NO that has followed the hurricane. IMO they fall in this
order.

1. The Mayor and city gov't of New Orleans. People have been talking about
the potential for this storm for years. Why wasn't there a better evacuation
plan in place. If you order a mandatory evacuation you have to make sure
that people have the means to get out. Utilize the city's buses to evacuate
the poor and elderly. If you tell people who can't get out that there are 10
places to go to be safe, provide food and water at those places.

2. The state government for not adequately assisting in the evacuation of a
half million people. Why weren't the National Guard called in to assist
before the storm. It was declared a State of Emergency 2 days before it hit.

3. FEMA director Mike Brown. Everytime this man was interviewed on TV he
just seemed lost. He didn't know about what was going on. He kept saying the
aid would get there, and typically from what I've seen in response to
worldwide disasters it takes 4-5days for the bulk of help to arrive, but
this is our country and it should have happened sooner.

4. The nasty people of New Orleans, not to be confused with the rest of NO,
the people who felt it necessary to steal TVs, DVD players, Stereos, where
ya gonna plug it in? Dumbass. The people who were firing upon rescuers. This
bad element although thankfully small did hamper operations.

5. The Media. How the media could drive by these people filming them in such
despair and not help is beyond me. They obviously had access in/out of New
Orleans. They didn't look like they were in distress yet day after day go in
and offer no support to their fellow man.

There are also many other factors that are indirectly related to how much
destruction there was. Ranging from budget cuts to the Army Corps of
Engineers going back over the last 40yrs, to the destruction of wetlands
along the coast, to the arrogance of the Army Corps of Engineers thinking it
can control Mother nature in the first place.

This devastation is going to take years, if ever, to recover. I was down in
FL on the panhandle from the time it formed until it was a Cat 4. The
devastation that the panhandle experience after their last pales in
comparison and they were no where near being close to rebuilding. And
Florida has tourism to help pay for and is an incentive to rebuild. The MS
coast though beautiful doesn't have that. Steve


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: Eerie Predictions Of A Katrina-Type Hurricane
    ... The levee system around NO was designed to handle a Cat 3 storm. ... Once a hurricane becomes a viable threat to the NO area the state issues a recommended evacuation of these areas then steps it up to a mandatory evacuation. ... There are thousands of people that basically just exist in New Orleans. ... I think the image of Hyatt is clouding the fact that yes it was better then the super dome but it was also the command center from which the city officials could work, communicate and see the surrounding areas. ...
    (rec.autos.makers.ford.mustang)
  • New Orleans evacuates as storm nears
    ... The mayor has ordered an immediate evacuation for all of New Orleans, ... with wind up to nearly 282kph and threats of a massive storm surge. ... Orleans has never seen a hurricane of this magnitude hit it directly." ...
    (uk.religion.islam)
  • Re: high tec in chine......NOT.........
    ... New Orleans is still in ruins. ... productive capacity, can come to admit that neither the state or the federal ... potential death traps in the face of amajor storm. ... In real terms, as in New Orleans, only evacuation can ...
    (sci.military.naval)
  • Re: [OT] My Hurricane Katrina Predictions
    ... >evacuation, I am prepared to make some predictions ... ... >1) The number who will die to this storm will easily surpass the ... but New Orleans is built as many as ten feet ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Poor NunYa Bidness, hysterical, crying, namecalling and soiling itself
    ... Mandatory evacuation orders came on SUNDAY MORNING baby. ... state and local officials who had ... The official autopsies of the flawed response to the catastrophic storm have ... FEMA appears to have underestimated the storm, ...
    (alt.politics)