Katrina Rant #3

[slamdunkpro]

Short and sweet;

New Orleans was build below sea level over 200 years ago

For the last 100+ years (ever since Galveston was crushed in 1900) everyone has said that if a major storm hits New Orleans they are screwed

N.O., the State and the Feds have been building levees and looking at this problem since the 30’s. They still said if a major storm hits New Orleans they are screwed.

N.O has dodged major hurricanes for 100+ years - if a major storm hits New Orleans they are screwed.

People have moved into the area, lived, grown up there knowing if a major storm hits New Orleans they are screwed.

Katrina was a major storm – It hit (really just glanced off) New Orleans

New Orleans is screwed

This isn’t’ Bush’s fault, Congress’s fault, The Governor’s Fault, The Mayor’s fault or the government’s fault. This is the fault of the idiots who chose to live in a big bowl between the Mississippi River, A huge lake, and the Gulf of Mexico relying on water-soluble dikes that depended on electric pumps, then didn’t want to leave. One of the problems with living in a free society is that sometimes people make stupid choices.

Everyone who lived there knew this could happen. The infrastructure (Fed, State, and local government) did everything it could over the last 100 years in preventative solutions. Man placed a bet, Nature called, Man lost.

Should we help them – YES Should we review the plans for a major disaster since one of this scale has never hit the US? YES Should we be running around point our fingers saying”it’s the Republicans fault, It’s the Democrats fault”? NO

The model for response should be the Great Alaska earthquake of 1960. No whining, no bitching, no celebrities, no finger pointing, everyone just pitched in and helped.

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The infrastructure (Fed, State, and local government) did everything it could over the last 100 years in preventative solutions.

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Um...no. Nice post otherwise, though.

[slamdunkpro]

OK

The infrastructure (Fed, State, and local government) did everything it could that was technologically feasible at the time and that people were willing to pay for and live with over the last 100 years in preventative solutions.


Better?

[New001]

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OK

The infrastructure (Fed, State, and local government) did everything it could that was technologically feasible at the time and that people were willing to pay for and live with over the last 100 years in preventative solutions.


Better?

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Still not quite. As I understand it, a lot of money that was requested for the city's protection was diverted to other places, but I don't think it can be proved how much of a help it would be against this particular storm.

[MtSmalls]

Umm... No, still not right. The people of Amsterdam and most of Holland live and have lived under sea level far longer than New Orleans has been in place. They have levees and dikes that include pneumatic walls that can rise up for additional protection. These have been in place for more than three decades.

[New001]

It's clear that New Orleans was in bad shape from the beginning, but my problem is just that the federal government has seemed to be so inept in the handling of the rescue/aftermath of it. It's not a partisan thing for me, it's just looking at who is responsible for the poor response. If it were a Democrat in power, or at least responsible for the relief effort, I'd feel the same way.

Obviously, some people are just going to use it to bash Bush, just like some people are going to copy/paste the same dumb picture of school busses 300 times. You just have to ignore those people.

[Stu Pidasso]

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but my problem is just that the federal government has seemed to be so inept in the handling of the rescue/aftermath of it. It's not a partisan thing for me, it's just looking at who is responsible for the poor response. If it were a Democrat in power, or at least responsible for the relief effort, I'd feel the same way.


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IIRC after the 1994 Northridge earthquake we did not see the federals until a several days after the event. People expect the federal government to move like lightening and I hate to break it to you folks, it just doesn't happen.

Stu

[tolbiny]

"IIRC after the 1994 Northridge earthquake we did not see the federals until a several days after the event. People expect the federal government to move like lightening and I hate to break it to you folks, it just doesn't happen."


The diference between an earthquake and a hurricane is the warning prior. With Katrina it became apparent on saturday that it was growing in strength and could be a problem, and on Sunday it became apparent that it was going to be a BIG problem. This is when planning ect for relief efforts should have begun.

[New001]

I have family in Northridge, and I visited them not too long after the earthquake happened.

That being said, the difference between a hurricane and an earthquake are immense. There is no warning for an earthquake, whereas the people in New Orleans and the federal responders all had warning days prior to the event that something major was occuring. On top of that, Northridge never flooded. Correct me if I'm wrong, but with the earthquake, people could still get at least some food and water. I could find a few more important differences for you, but I'm sure you can find them yourself if you really care enough to.

Comparisons with the past are important, but it's equally important to take into account the difference of circumstances.

[slamdunkpro]

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but my problem is just that the federal government has seemed to be so inept in the handling of the rescue/aftermath of it. It's not a partisan thing for me, it's just looking at who is responsible for the poor response.

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Anytime you deal with a large agency there are going to be problems. I have always hated the idea of the “Department of Homeland Security” since A) we already had a “Department of Homeland Security” (it was called the Defense Department) and B)All they did was take a bunch of semi redundant smaller agencies and add another layer of management fat. Speaking as a Republican – making the government bigger was not a good idea. The president blew that one.

But FEMA has always been a cross between the Marx Brothers and the Keystone Cops. It took FEMA 3 weeks to show up after Hurricane Andrew with their charts and forms and presentations and press conferences. This time they were there (for better or for worse) quicker.

7500 National Guard troops were on the ground in NO within 24 hours of the storm.

In some small defense of the response I have to say that no one has had any experience with a disaster of this magnitude in an area with this many pre existing problems. Everyone is learning as they go

Another factor (which gee – the media isn’t talking about) since the media pool has gotten larger and more competitive, the media tends to err on the side of sensationalism. I can’t count the number of time that the media machine has called for a “major snow storm” in the DC area, run the standard “winter storm survival, oh this will be soooo bad” splash stories over and over only to realize just a few flakes. If you sound the alarm too shrill too often, people are not going to believe you.

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…the same dumb picture of school busses 300 times

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This was inexcusable. Whoever didn’t deploy those busses should be chained to a post and left for the gators