Re: Katrina and the gubmint

On 2 Sep 2005 10:18:48 -0700, "Pauli G" <rioroad@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
>Tony Rice wrote:
>> "Edward M. Kennedy" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in news:df9t7h$23f$1
>> @gargoyle.oit.duke.edu:
>>
>> > I want to know why every available military and civilian
>> > helicopter (within reason) under federal control wasn't
>> > dispatched to the area once this disaster became obvious --
>> > and that moment was a little before Katrina made landfall.
>>
>> Where do you put them? Airports are only now being opened and only to
>> transports.
>>
>> What do they do when they get there? Ferry supplies that aren't there yet?
>
>The Director of Homeland Security said in an interview yesterday that
>an unprecedented amount of supplies had been assembled in the region in
>anticipation of problems caused by Katrina. THOSE SUPPLIES Tony.

Were the supplies palletized?

How long does it take to load a HEMMTT with palletized loads?

How long does it take to load 500 HEMMTTs with palletized loads?

How long does it take to ASSEMBLE 500 HEMMTTs?

How long does it take to recall all the troops at Fort Hood?

How long does it take to organize the forward air command to
coordinate all those helicopters, so they don't go crashing into each
other all day long?

This was and is a BIG BIG BIG operation. Getting the logistical
backbone set up so something like this *can* be done in something
other than drips and drabs takes and took a shitload of work.

Prediction (originally made before the convoys went in this morning):
the vast majority of refugees will be evacuated within the next 48-72
hours, with those left behind in much better conditions than they're
in now.

Real World, and small scale example: About once a month, I get in a
full 53' trailer load from this one supplier.

Scenario 1: To prepare for that particular supplier, I spend a good
2-3 days getting things in my warehouse organized and set up. The day
that truck shows up, it's a 30 minute evolution to get that entire
truck offloaded.

Scenario 2: I've had times when I haven't been informed that supplier
is on their way. When they show up at my warehouse unprepared, all
the work I typically do over 2-3 days needs to be done THEN before I
can touch a single pallet off that truck. It's a nightmare, and a
bitch and a half.

Scenario 3: Once, I figured I'd just take everything off the truck and
then sort it all out once I got it all off. THAT made the previous
scenario's "nightmare" look like a day at the beach.

Unfortunately with natural disasters, you can't really perform the
equivalent of Scenario 1. You don't *know* where or when the storm
will hit, or even if it will hit. If billions were spent on
preparation every time a storm threatened to hit New Orleans, there
wouldn't be money for taking care of New Orleans now that a storm
actually has hit.

What *has* happened is basically Scenario 2. The truck's shown up,
and we're scrambling to do what's normally "prep" work because nobody
had reliable in an actionable amount of time to actually let you do
the tough part of the preparation.

What the bitchers and complainers are asking for is Scenario 3: just
throw everything into a truck and get it down there. I've tried that
on the small scale. I shudder to think what it would be like on the
large scale, especially with looters and armed gangs on the loose.
We'd have the American equivalent of Mogadishu "technicals" running
around, taking all the food and holding all of New Orleans hostage to
their will.
--
Samuel Fang
sfang001HELLOWISCONSIN@xxxxxxxxxxx
Proud defender of average schedules for 30 years
.

Relevant Pages

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