Katrina Rant #3

[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

[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.

[New001]

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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.

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Past failures, no matter how great they were, don't absolve the agency from current failures.

I agree with most of the rest of your post though.

It just makes me wonder about the adequacy of federal response to future disasters, whether they be natural or otherwise.

[slamdunkpro]

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I'm just curious if you really fully believe what you are stating.

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Yes

Everyone is responsible for their choices. (despite what the liberals say)

If I choose to live in Alaska, or California I have to expect the greater than normal possibility of an earthquake. If I choose to live in twister alley I have to live with tornados. The coast – hurricanes, the mountains – wildfires and/or volcanoes.

Everyone has to assess life’s risks. Living near the coast near a cliff = risk assessment. Building my house 100 feet from a collapsing eroding cliff where a major storm will send my house into the sea=foolish.

Just because I live near a highway doesn’t mean that I’m going to try to build a house in the middle of it

[slamdunkpro]

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It just makes me wonder about the adequacy of federal response to future disasters, whether they be natural or otherwise.

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I think every time you have a disaster on a heretofore-unprecedented scale (Katrina) the human response will always look (and be) inadequate. One of the issues with institutional thinking is that you plan for the next disaster/war/crisis based on the last one. In almost every case circumstances are different and the plan need to be improvised (not institutional thinking’s strong point)

[tylerdurden]

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New Orleans was build below sea level over 200 years ago

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New Orleans was not built below sea level. They didn't build a levee around a piece of lake and then pump all the water out. The levees were built (by the french, originally) to route the river around an area that regularly flooded. This prevented the river from depositing fresh sediment in the area, which is the only thing that kept it above sea level in the first place - the sinking is a natural process.

If government had not built the levees in the first place, and such river control had been left to the free market, would New Orleans even exist as we know it today? I doubt a free market would build a single monolithic levee system (a system in which any single failure dooms the entire area) around such a huge area.

Did government set all these people up?

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I'm just curious if you really fully believe what you are stating.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes

Everyone is responsible for their choices. (despite what the liberals say)

If I choose to live in Alaska, or California I have to expect the greater than normal possibility of an earthquake. If I choose to live in twister alley I have to live with tornados. The coast – hurricanes, the mountains – wildfires and/or volcanoes.

Everyone has to assess life’s risks. Living near the coast near a cliff = risk assessment. Building my house 100 feet from a collapsing eroding cliff where a major storm will send my house into the sea=foolish.

Just because I live near a highway doesn’t mean that I’m going to try to build a house in the middle of it

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Sorry, this is not an accurate view of the real world. If you read some of the other threads, you will see why. Maybe it makes sense in the idyllic world of a college campus, but real life is not idyllic.

[OtisTheMarsupial]

Slam Dunk,
Where do you live?

[slamdunkpro]

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Sorry, this is not an accurate view of the real world. If you read some of the other threads, you will see why. Maybe it makes sense in the idyllic world of a college campus, but real life is not idyllic.

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???

First, I'm looong out of college (20+ years)

Second, it's a very real world view - personal choice = personal responsibility. You make a choice you deal with the results.

Third, It’s a much more realistic attitude than “I’ll do what I please, if I screw up the government will save/protect/support me"

[slamdunkpro]

I live near Washington DC.

And you?