We are all asking the same questions in response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: "How could this happen in the U.S.? Why isn't the government doing more? Why hasn't the problem been fixed yet?"
I do not have an actual answer to these questions. It is a catastrophe beyond any we have faced within the U.S.A. for a hundred years. We live in a modern nation-state, we have technology, we have science. Why can't we just wave our modern wand and fix this?
Again, I have no answer. But I did find a terribly interesting article that puts this tragedy into perspective. I will leave you to consider its words.
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3 comments:
I'm glad to see an article that states what many seem to have forgotten. It's got to be almost impossible to get anyone into that city right now. There seems to be no plans or authorities, which is a definite problem, but after the fact, how can anyone even tell what roads are passable? it won't do anyone any good to get the rescue teams stuck. While this damage is worse thatn Florida has seen, the difference seems to be that Fl is prepared for it. There is less chaos, and less complaining, and none of this racial "issues" (despite the fact that a majority of Miami is not white, but hispanic and Cuban) I want to know why Louisiana had no plans, no guidance, no precautions. It was far more vulnerable than any city in Fl.
I agree with Amber. It is ridiculous how no one seemed to be prepared. And what is up with letting gangs take over and not let rescue choppers land. Those guys are putting innocent people's lives in jeopardy. Forget their rights, they gave them up. Take those punks out and save the people stranded in hospitals and stuff. Also, I think it is ridiculous that it took the governor about 4 days to figure out to do anything. Although, I don't think the finger can be pointed at one specific person or another. This is a failing on many, many people's parts including those who decided not to get out when warned.
I agree with a lot of what you are both saying. This whole mess is a terrible mess. I'll answer a couple questions now.
First, New Orleans has had a crime problem for a long time. That's why the armed gangs are causing havoc. According to this one article I read, looters are a problem every time a hurricane gets too close to New Orleans. Yeah.
Second, no one can was prepared for this kind of a disaster. Who was to know the levees would break? The point of the article I posted was to show that with no infrastructure, getting people in to help is very difficult. It doesn't let anyone off the hook, it adds some realism to the whole thing. What roads are passable? There are people all over the city on rooftops and in hotels, what about them? These questions are important. It's no easy task to fix this. It takes time to mobilize an army, time to figure out where to go to get into a destroyed city and time to get 50,000+ people out of there. But no one seems to be taking a lead in this case either. And in a city like that, they should have had some sort of plan in case the levee were to break.
As for those who are still there, they were mostly people who had not the means to escape the city, from what I have read. Or they were looters.
Anyway, it's sad. It's a really big disaster. I do not think anyone was prepared for a disaster of this magnitude. One has to wonder, what would we do if a dirty bomb was detonated in one of our major cities?
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