does anyone else find it sad?

Question

that when the tsunami hit Asia, we where there as soon as humanly possible. Yet when Hurricane Katrina and even Rita hit the took SO LONG to get there. What does that say about our country? I don;t really blame George bush, he even offered to bring people over BEFORE it hit, but the corrupted (a whole nother issue) government of Louisiana refused (news report). Though I do think that he (George Bush) should have been more prepared when it did hit!what do you think, what are YOUR veiws. Facts only please, and I would love links that let me know your not making things up

when I say he offered to bring people over, I mean he wanted to send troops in to help out after it hit. I do blame him a little, but it is not JUST his fauult

Actually there WAS mandatory evacuation. and many people had no means to get out, or if they did, they had no where to go. Many New Orleans citizens are poor. Also, the roads where VERY clogged, so even if you DID have a car or means to get out, you where stuck in traffic

On the other hand, there WHERE people who Could have gotten out but didn't choose to. They where either a)so used to it (evacuation is called at least 1 every year)that they thought "just another false alarm b)to expensive for them c)had to take care of family members or d)wanted to watch there stuff (high crime rate) e)had no provinces or a combo

ALso, what about groups like FEMA (which fair enough are not first response) or Red cross (which ARE first response. I mean, HULLO thats their JOB

ok, after all my ranting. Here is another question. What can we do to prevent this in the future?

love your response Turboweeg (sp?) but the problem is, Louisiana government is very corrupt (lived there)

how is a foureign country more of the U.S governments responsibility than our own State?

Answer 1

everyone knew how big that hurricane was, and no one did any preventitive measures....Period.....the joe blow who was in charge of FEMA was an idiot....when hurricane Andrew was to hit S.Florida, they were manditory evacuations. Some say the people in Louisianna, some had no means to get out....then their state govt. officials should have found a way to get those people to adequate and supplied shelters.....they all knew how big that storm was....Heck, I did here where I live, it was on the news constantly!

Answer 2

The Navy and Coast Guard and other agencies were in there as soon as the storm had passed, helping people.

But, because of the "posse comitatus" law prohibiting federal troops being used for domestic actions without receiving state permission, there was not much more Bush could do until Governor Blank-O gave permission.

If you noticed, Mississippi, which was just as hard hit as Louisiana, did not have the same issues, because it had a competent governor who knew what to do, and who was quick to allow federal troops in.

But also know that it has been traditionally the state's responsibility to handle things for the first 3-5 days because that's how long it takes to mobilize and prepare the federal response. That's how long it took FEMA when the hurricanes hit Florida - even with the President's brother as governor. So why the unrealistic expectations for New Orleans, except as just another (false) reason to hate President Bush?

Answer 3

It is all about appearances. . . Want to look good to the rest of the world by helping out those in need in the rest of the world before your own people.

I think that EVERYONE involved - from the Lousiana government to the President himself - dropped that ball. Any good manager would have (gasp!) PLANNED AHEAD. If people were refusing to leave, then that is their issue, but don't ***** when you are stranded and such for an amount of time. But there should have been something set up for those that wanted to evacuate but could not afford to (transportation, housing, etc) instead of them taking up shelter in a sports stadium! And there should also have been supplies and troops stationed and ready in surrounding states and in the upper part of the state, and materials that would be needed for immediate aid to those that needed it.

There was so much that wasn't done, and I think that everyone in charge shares the blame. As for those that refused to evacuate, well, then they sign off to accept their fate. I am sorry, and I think that if someone tells you to leave your home to get away from a storm, they may mean business, and you should listen. If not, then deal.

Answer 4

The state and local government only have New Orleans and Louisiana to worry about respectively however George Bush has the whole United states to worry about. The blame (if you are one of the people whom needs to assign blame to an act of God) rests squarely with the state and local authorities for their complete lack of preparedness and ignorance of the impending danger. The help we sent to the victims in Asia after the tsunami probably took just as long to reach the affected people there but was not pointed out by the media during their (Bush) hatred fueled coverage of the Katrina event. The world was watching and we as a country wide community were portrayed as an undisciplined and uncaring bunch by partisan politicians race baiters and the media. It is was and in retrospect will be remembered as a failure and I for one do not choose to see it that way

Answer 5

Though I do think that the National Guard should have gotten there sooner, I do disagree with other statements.. Katrina was expected to hit New Orleans dead on.. there was a mandatory evacuation and they did have time to evacuate... they did not have to leave the state just get out of the low lying areas... people did NOT want to evacuate - now the problem came after Katrina hit.. it did not hit New Orleans.. it hit Mississippi and Alabama areas... FEMA went to those areas.. they got devastated, people were lost, families couldn't find their family members, it was a devastating problem in those areas...FEMA does not have five billion people working for them they have 6,000 people working for them... they did respond to the areas that got hit by the hurricane.. it was after the hurricane hit that the levies broke and caused the flooding to the lowest lying area of New Orleans... It's literally impossible for someone to get from one place to another instantly... let alone did they know that it happened right away... it's sad what happened no doubt about it.. but people should have gone somewhere else when they were told it was going to hit... I disagree with someone saying they did not have means to evacuate... if a hurricane was expected to hit my area dead on, I would go somewhere safe.. there are lots of free places to go and free shelters to go when a hurricane is going to hit.. it's not all the Governments fault there is personal responsibility in it.. yes the National Guard should have been sent out there sooner.. but FEMA is running on very little employees.. I don't see anyone running to apply to work for them.. the fewer employees they have the longer it does take them to effectively work in times of emergency - it's easy to say that they should be there to help, but no one wants to run out and work for them - people want help more than they want to be the helpers

Answer 6

I remember how painfully long we sat and waited for fresh water to drink... My mom had some stocked up, but we didn't know that we would each be drinking about four a day with eight people there. I can't show you proof, as I was there, but the supplies arrived about two days after the storm hit. We were all eating canned vegetables and fruits. I think that Michael Brown could have done a lot better.

Oh yes, and many cheers for Gene Taylor. He lives in Bay St. Louis and gave Michael Brown an earful about the ice situation:

Most of this is paraphrased, but the last statement was so strong that I had to leave it alone. GT is Gene Taylor and MB is Michael Brown.

MB: Ice was one of those commodities intended originally to be only a life-saving commodity for baby formula and medications for hospitals. Demand for it has just grown and grown and grown.

GT: I think this is really interesting, Mr. Brown. Have you ever been through a hurricane?

MB: No, but I’ve been through disasters where I didn’t have power for a long time. I know that the refrigerators go on the blink and food spoils but I don’t think that’s a federal government responsibility to provide ice to keep my hamburger meat in my freezer or refrigerator fresh.

GT: Well, if it goes bad, and as you said, people should be prepared to feed themselves for two or three days. So now you’re saying they’re trying to feed themselves for two or three days. We have a low cost alternative to feed them, which is to give them a couple of bags of ice to keep that stuff from going rotten, now you’re saying they shouldn’t do that. But let me follow up: what else did they do with the ice, Mr. Brown?

MB: I-I…

GT: I think I’m really beginning to realize why you were removed from this job.

MB: Ice should be used for life-saving uses. That’s what FEMA…

GT: How about keeping the dead corpse from rotting in the…

MB: You can’t use it to keep hamburger meat fresh; you can’t cook the hamburger meat. We say have provisions of non-perishable items. It is wrong for the federal government to be providing ice to keep beer and a Diet Coke cool.

GT: How about keeping bodies from rotting in the sun? Had you visited Hancock County, which you didn’t, you would have met a gentleman named Edmund [name?]. He was given the grizzly task of trying to preserve the bodies. There were stacked up in his local mortuary. He had no power and he literally came to me with tears in his eyes and said you have got to find me a freezer truck. The bodies are rotting in my [driveway?].

Answer 7

You're right,it is mostly local and state governments.The lesson is don't count on politicians to take care of you in a crisis.Do what you can yourself and let them point fingers after.

Answer 8

I agree - everyone was late in responding to Katrina. Just my opinion.

I hope we're all better prepared now.

Finger pointing is useless, unless it shows us how to do better next time.

Answer 9

Blame the people with the big yellow school busses for not evactuating those that couldn'f afford it.

Answer 10

Yes, it sure does, it really makes you wonder. Great question.