How well did the federal gov't handle New Orleans and the Katrina disaster?

Question

Could they have done more for our citizens? What went wrong? And this isn't a question about Nagin, so try and answer it without using his name. If you can't, there are about 10 more questions open where you can bash him...

Sway, you didn't answer the question. Walter, it is approaching the one year anniversary, that's why people are talking about it. And don't EVER call me sweetheart.

yes, sway, I'm happy you think that poor people are retarded and deserve to be left to die. Thanks

Answer 1

lets just say that iraq will be rebuilt faster then new orleans

Answer 2

I think people want to blame the Federal Government for the lack of response to Katrina but in all honesty it wasn't the Federal Governments place . We were all watching the news on this.. The leaders of the State of Louisiana and the political leaders in New Orleans were and always have been responsible for an eviction plan. These are a states right and duty. Its real easy to blame the government but put blame where it belongs, the state of Louisiana's leaders. I live in a place where devastating hurricanes have destroyed and killed hundreds of people.Two years ago when Ivan struck the geography of our state was forever changed. The maps will never be the same , but neither will the lives of we citizens who lived through it. At NO time did a governor or mayor from these areas leave the evacuation or clean up process to the Federal Government and nor did it offer. And guess what everything was handled... So No ,by comparing the politicians in New Orleans and the State of Louisiana to other states which has had devastation as bad or even worse then Katrina, It is not the Federal Governments job, But as for the leaders of the State of Louisiana and New Orleans - They FAILED..

Answer 3

I believe the federal Government did a great job. The local and state were lacking in their preparation and response. The federal government and Fema is their to support the state. Thank God the president pulled the reins away from the inept leaders and began the rescue mission in earnest. I think they went above and beyond the call for the locals. Of course, since I am from Florida I am aware of whose responsible and who isn't. Also who is prepared and who isn't. New Orleans doesn't get too much sympathy from us Floridians. New Orleans has milked this story dry, they need to move on, just like any other part of the country that has been affected by a natural disaster.

Answer 4

You can't deal with the Katrina response without bringing Nagin's name into it. Or do you have an axe to grind against the feds (meaning Bush)?

The feds fouled up the response, there's no doubt about that. I'm a republican who voted for Bush and I was both dissapointed and embarrassed by his response. Why? Because it was as sloppy, as incompetent, as sorry *ssed as Nagin's and our governer's, ol' Blundering Blanco.

However, as the local powers that be, the lion's share of the blame falls to Nagin and Blanco. You have just to contrast their handling of the emergency with how the local powers responded in Mississippi, which was hit just as hard if not more so.

Answer 5

I think Brownie did a heck of a job - No, what I mean was he did a hell of a job - A hell of a bad job. That's what happens when these positions are filled by cronies.

Examine the evidence.
Bush's first FEMA director, Joe Albaugh is making a fortune now in Iraq and he picked his buddy as his successor.
In "My Life" Bill Clinton wrote, "Traditionally, the job of FEMA director was given to a political supporter of the President who wanted some plum position but who had had no expericence with emergencies. I made a mental note to avoid that mistake if I won. Voters don't choose a President based on how he'll handle disasters, but if they're faced with one, it quickly becomes the most important issue in their lives". (pg 428)

Bush made that mistake. He ignored Clinton's advice. The current administration has no interest in the welfare of its people, only what can they get out of it.

Doesn't Jesi look like a republican groupie? She's probably an intern for Bush.

Answer 6

The federal government does not have an agency set up to evacuate cities on a moment's notice. There is a deliberate seperation of powers and the government cannot act locally with out the governor of that state declaring a state disaster area and then petition the President to declare a national disaster. This seperation of powers allows local government to act without undue influence of federal politicians.

In the two days after Katrina the mayor of NO and the Governor of Lousianna claimed they didn't need federal assistance; that they had weathered the storm (no pun intended).

I am on a rescue squad in NJ, the local and county OEMs have had meetings saying that should a disaster strike our small city we should expect a window of 48 to 72 hours where we will be alone without federal assistance. Of course if the disaster is limited to our city there are various county and state assets to assist. But if it is widespread we need to be able to sustain ourselves and continue providing services for at least 3 days. We were told this prior to last September. If my dinky little berg knew it I'm sure officials of all major cities and states knew this.

I feel the government handled the disaster poorly. Until they took an insurance broker (FEMAs primary role was disaster recovery and filing flood claims, not rescue) out of command in placed a millitary officer from a branch that prepares and trains for disaster rescue and survival in place.

The poor response lies at the hands of a federal government not ready to step in and handle basic services to a city and state who's government is corrupt and inept. However, every death that occurred after Katrina passed can only be assigned to those local and state officials who failed to discharge the basic duties entrusted to them by voters.

Answer 7

On a scale of 1 - 10 they come in around a 7.

The mayor and the governor come in at about 3 and 2, respectively.

What's with the endless morbid fascination with Hurricane Katrina, anyway? I mean, other that to once again use a cudgel on my boy George?

Answer 8

Everybody blames the federal government for everything. In fact, typically most people vote in federal elections with a low turn out for local election voting. The truth is that people should be more involved in their local government. Quit blaming Bush for everything and look to the people elected in New Orleans. That is where the blame should lay.

Answer 9

I think that the people of New orleans should have taken more presonal responsibilty instead of waiting to be rescued, they should have evacuated before the storm hit.

what went wrong is NO was full of lazy azz people who never had to make any decisions for themselves and were just living off the government to begin with. Happy now?

Answer 10

Our Federal Government was as much a disaster as Katrina itself. Open letter to Bush:

Dear Mr. Bush:


Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?

Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you do! n't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds! as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

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Answer 11

That would be nice if they had done something like review the claims people filed with there insurance companies reveiw them and isue a standard that must be adheard to and pay the people so rebuilding can begin .