Why is our government so lousy in responding to disasters?

Question

We all know the five-day wait period following Katrina, where a million or so people went without food and water, while our governmental agencies sat idle. We also know about Hurricane Rita, where the people of Houston, told to evacuate, ended up stalled on the highway because no gas was provided for the exodus. When the lights went out across the Eastern seaboard and portions of the Midwest, it took three days for them to correct the problem and, as yet, no real repairs or replacements have been made to our Energy grid.

Why is our government, which formerly prided itself on its quick responses, so slow and inept when it comes to recent disasters? Following Katrina, hundreds of volunteers, willing to help, were turned back by FEMA, including a van filled with doctors and medication. If we disallow volunteer help, and our governmental agencies are incapable, why are we paying so dearly for their existence? Is there any excuse for their slow response to national disasters?

Answer 1

Following massive flooding in China two years ago that destroyed thousands of homes, China set a goal of replacing them by February of this year. These were typical brick and mortar homes. China met that goal.

While Katrina was destroying New Orleans, Condi Rice was buying shoes and the rest of the administration sat around with their collective thumbs stuck up, you know where.

I think that is very, very sad.

Why anyone still supports the administration in the aftermath of this huge disaster, and how its been handled since, is criminally insane.

I'm really not kidding.

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Recently China evacuated 1 million people prior to a typhoon hitting. China seems to set goals, makes them happen, then in the aftermath gets things done. Why all the excuses people? What is our government here for? To protect the people. Why is our government failing at that? Perhaps because war is big business and people are not?
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Peace

Jim

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Answer 2

I assume you have never had any pratical disaster training, because if you did you would have some idea about what happens in a disaster. The agencies did not sit idle, they have to take into consideration safety issues, deployment, and making sure the response plan is being followed. The people who waited for aid, should have been evacuated by their city rather than sitting in a location that was not meant for a shelter, and considering the media reports of a sniper in the area only delayed help. It is not a civilian's job to walk into known dangers until it has been deemed safe. Gas is not the city, state or government's problem, that is the responsiblity of the individual. In a disaster, each volunteer, professional, etc. has to have a background check, and be assigned to a job and location, not every Tom, Dick, or Harry will be allowed to provide services, how would you feel if the person allowed into secured areas has a warrant out for them, or they claim to be a doctor but is a poser? Even medications have to be checked to make sure they are safe, this all takes time. I encourage anyone who may wish to assist in time of a disaster, get training, it is available at your local Red Cross, they will also complete a background check so that this will not be wasted time when a disaster happens. Your examples were extreme, and there were things that could have happened faster, but at the same time there are limits to what anyone, including the government can do in the overall scope of things. There are times when an individual has to also take care of themselves.

Answer 3

With respect to Katrina, the response and recovery was so poor for several reasons. A majority of that blame falls on mayor Ray Naggin and Governor Blanco who failed to take proper steps to try and safely evacuate the city as best they could. In all fairness, the city and state were warned in advance that Katrina was going to hit and that it was going to be powerful.

However, the federal government is partially responsible because at the time the head of FEMA was not qualified to run the department. The government was also responsible for cutting funds to repair the levies. However, the levies were built to withstand a category three hurricane; Katrina was a category 5 and became category 4 when it made landfall.

Additionally, the Coast Guard and National Guard began airlifting people within a fairly short amount of time. You also have to remember Katrina hit two states making the recovery efforts and coordinating them that much more difficult.

Answer 4

Basically, procedure, paperwork and red tape.

They have a procedure they "must" follow, and that takes time. Instead of being proactive, our government is reactive, thus taking more time than necessary to do something.

FEMA knew that Katrina was hitting New Orleans, and they should have had pallets of drinking water, clothing, shelters and blankets ready in a "safe zone" in a nearby state. Better yet - they should have dragged individuals kicking and screaming out of there so the area was free of civilian life. Instead they chose the reactive way, and sat on their hands until AFTER it hit.

Any other manager doing that for a company would lose their job. Wonder why we don't have the same standards for our government's elected officials????

Answer 5

The mayor failled the people, the governor failed the people, and Bush and Brownie failed the people. The mayor needed help he couldn't get since federal money doesn't flow back to the state and local governments like it once did. The governor was afraid someone besides her might look like the hero. Brownie had the post of FEMA director as payoff for political favors and knew nothing about handling a disaster. As for Bush, I guess preemptive action against a perceived threat only interests him if the perceived threat happens to reside in the oil rich Middle East.

Answer 6

It depends on what level of government and whether the laws of the land need to be followed. In order for Federal troops and their logistical resources to move into the area where a disaster has happened the local governmental leader must certify in writing to the President that the situation is beyond the ability of state and local government to handle it. That's needed because of the Posse Comitatus law passed in 1878 that prevents the use of Federal troops to supplement local law enforcement, unless it is waived by the President in response to a request by a Governor. Governor Blanco did not submit that certification to President Bush until 5 days after Katrina went through the Gulf States.
Disaster preparedness and response is predicated on the use of local resources first, then with reliance on outside resources, including Federal and other agencies. There were over 400 transit busses in the NORTA system for New Orleans at the time Katrina was approaching the Gulf Coast. Exactly two of those were used for evacuation vehicles and they contained the families of police and local officials.
FEMA moved as quickly as possible to transport mobile homes into the area as temporary housing. Local laws and ordnances prevented their being placed on empty lots in large numbers in many of the affected communities.
I can't speak to the issue of replacing the damaged portions of the electric grid. i suspect part of that may be laid at the feet of well-meaning "environmentalists" who fret that some pigeon might be fried on contact with some transformer lines. Add to that the number of permits needed to satisfy the "paper brigade" in every city hall and state house in the affected areas and you have one big headache on your hands. I know it takes an average of 5-7 years to clear all of the regulatory hurdles to put up a new electric generating station anywhere near places of human habitation.

Answer 7

The US government is not bound by any law to help with natural disasters. Actually, the US constitution provides the people with the protection that the Government will not interfere with our lives. If you have never read this document you need to. It is the State's responsibility to provide the services needed in time of disasters.

So all the naysayers about how President Bush did not react in time or took too long are wrong, the US government has to be invited in the efforts. The Governor and city Mayor are at fault here in Louisiana and Katrina. President Bush does not have the authority to interfere in everyday affairs of the people and that is for a reason.

Answer 8

While I agree with you some what, the pictures of the school buses sitting idly in New Orleans was not the fault of the Feds. I would blame that on the Mayor. On top of that, the people were given ample warning to evacuate. Those that chose not to have only to look in the mirror for blame.

Answer 9

It's called bureaucracy, which is a synonym to another problem: general idiocy. Let the private companies deal with disaster relief -- I can promise you, it'll be a lot faster and more effective.

Answer 10

because the administration's first order of business was to dismantle those "socialist" infrastructure programs.

"Despite experiencing the worst hurricane season in decades, Congress voted in the spring of 2005 for the most massive cuts of flood-control funding in New Orleans history. The Army Corps of Engineers, keepers of the levees, imposed a hiring freeze."