The difference between Katrina and the fires in So. California?

Question

I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning and a man came on the radio who had a dillema. His child asked him last night while watching the news:

"How come people in Katrina stole from stores and ran crazy while people in SO Cal aren't? What's the difference."

The father responded by saying, "Well, sometimes the government treats certain groups of people more unfairly than others."

If you were this child's father/mother, what would you have answered? Do you think his answer a good one? Please write all your thoughts. I found this extremely interesting.

Please keep in mind that not everybody who lives in Southern California is well off. Yes there are wealthy areas, but there are many poor areas, just like anywhere else.

Answer 1

i believe it depends on how people caught in the situation ask themselves "how can i help others?" rather than "who will help me?"

now please. i know what everyone will assume about San Diego county that it is a bunch of rich white people who held their own, but please don't take this as fact. there is a blend of all culture down here, and they all came together to help themselves out. We all remembered the Cedar and Paradise fires in 2003, and the fires before those when i was 10. We did our part in preparing for it. I grew up watching these fires, and now as a young engineer i am doing my part to help stop more of them in the future.

the thing about Katrina that surprised me was the lack of preparation for something like that. New Orleans and the rest of the state must have known that hurricanes WILL sweep through the area. and if not, then their citizens must keep do something to fight for themselves. remember that it wasn't the govt who told us where to evacuate or what to do. Those who survived it must ask themselves how can we stop something like this from happening again?

if not then they will sit around waiting for government support that may never come. take this into your own hands.

I don't care if i seem uncaring or ignorant of the situation in Katrinas aftermath. if people call me insensitive, then i ask them what are YOU personally going to do to prevent it from happening again?

Answer 2

How is it the government's fault that people were looting?

I think I would have told the child it was because the stuff was probably all burnt up so nobody would have wanted it, to give him an explanation on a child's level and not get into all the politics or should I say "political incorrectness".

Personally, I'm surprised that there hasn't been any looting. If there hasn't, it's more of a function of quick local emergency and law enforcement response to the situation I would think. Maybe it's just that the infrastructure of the whole area was not so completely decimated by this disaster as it was with Katrina, so people could get out and get to safety & shelter etc. & so there are systems in place to keep and restore some sort of order. The magnitude of it is certainly nothing to compare with Katrina.

Let's not try and make this about poverty level or race, because I don't think that has anything to do with it. If anything, it's the difference in local & state response that allowed quick appropriate response from feds.

And let's please not fault them for making improvements to the system. If folks did better with disaster preparedness this time because they learned some hard lessons from Katrina, well, then at least something good came out of it.

Answer 3

I do not think this mans answer was a good one, and in fact, it was not correct. There is looting going on there. And the situation is a different one with the hurricane flooding and the areas in Cal being on fire. People had somewhat more access to property to steal. You can't take what has been burned.
And then too, So Cal is fairly diversified as far as racial lines go. There are lots of different groups of folks in So Cal! I wouldn't emphasize to a child that the government was looking out for certain groups of people more than others even though it may be true. Not in this case anyway. That discussion should be age specific and this doesn't seem to me to be the way to bring it up.
I feel for the kid who asked the question. Depending on the age of the child, they should have been told that the news given to the public is still not complete. The fires are still going on and we need to pray for everyone there. And that it is important to learn lessons from past mistakes. Hopefully, that is what the government is doing now.

Answer 4

The father was way off base.

And there are many reasons for the differences.
Part is the nature of the event and part is the social makeup of the people affected.

For example, when evacuees from New Orleans were relocated to other cities, crime (and especially violent crime) rose in those cities.

Secondly, the New Orleans police pretty much gave up ('copped-out'?) and didn't do a damn thing to stop the crime...in some cases, the cops themselves joined in the looting.

Thirdly, although the New Orleans mayor and other city officials had undergone a disaster drill just weeks before Katrina, they all freaked and acted without a shred of authority.
The San Diego City Council also had plans for a disaster, and they apparently acted responsibly.

I will say this about Katrina victims - it is very sad that the local, state and federal government still haven't done much to help the people...and the only folks getting rich are the re-builders.

Answer 5

Totally different situations. I don't believe that the Government treats certain groups unfairly.Do you really think that the Government would want to put lots of people in a situation that would cost everyone billions of dollars and scar peoples souls for life?? It was a major crisis that no one at the time knew how to handle.So much was happening all at once and so quickly.
It was very hot there ,no electricity ,mostly everything was whipped out.In that situation I think that I would had taken food and water from the stores.What other choice would you have? But I would not material items (That was wrong) The Government,The world and certain people are not out to get certain groups.I believe that it is some peoples perceptions.
(What they want to believe)
You learn from crisis situations how to better handle it the next time.
May be that is why California is some what under control.I don't think his answer was a good one.

Answer 6

I think that there is a BIG difference between the two.
While they are both very traumatic experiences.

I don't live in Louisiana so I don't know if this is so, but in hindsight.......its what I think.

1)Here in San Diego......there were LOTS of options for people. It seems that there is an evacuees center on every other block.......there's not really, but it seems like there are.

2) People came out of the woodwork to help the evacuees.
On the first night.......there were more volunteers at the stadium then there were evacuees.

3) so people were wanting to help out by donating......time, food, blankets, all necessities that the stadium had to thank people and ask them to stop bringing stuff because they just had SO MUCH stuff donated

4) local restaurants were opening food stands in the stadium and giving food. Someone on the news, actually said that it was more like a fair environment there....if you didn't know about the tragedy going on........you would feel like you were at a fair. There was just SO MUCH help.....people to talk to, things to do

Unfortunately, we didnt hear about this type of activity during Katrina.......it seemed more that everyone was out for themselves. Like I said......just what I think and it might not be right.

So......no I would not have answered the way this parent did.
While, unfortunately, it is partially true........I don't think what happened in Louisiana had anything to do with race. So there happens to be a high capita of black folks there......
so what? They made the choice NOT to evacuate when there were told to evacuate. Here in San Diego......people who would not evacuate when told........were the minority NOT THE majority.

I, personally, feel very blessed and proud to be a San Diegan. NO....it didn't go perfect......nothing ever does, but with all the tragedy here in the last few days......we sure did pull together as a people.

Answer 7

I probably would have explained to him the difference in the nature of these two disasters.

One was a cataclysmic event that affected thousands in limited areas, the other was an event of biblialic porportions that literally affected millions.

One happened in a area with a vast amount of resources and space, the other happened in a densely populated area that was literally cut after this event.

If this were an older child (9 or more) I would have definetly explained that in the times of extreme catastrophe, you must prepare to be self-reliant, and evacuate as needed.

Forget race, and wealth for a moment here....and let's take a look at one factor that is always forgotten. Californian's spend their live preparing for inevitable disasters including floods, fires and earthquakes. From childhood and on you are constantly told be prepared. The state gov't in California spends considerable resources to educate the population in disaster preparedness.

Sadly places such as New Orleans don't have either the resources nor infrastructure to educate it's population on emergency preparations, and every bit as much blame falls to the city of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana for not preparing their citizens, nor setting up proper mass evacuation.

It's very hard to explain all of this to a child, but I would have attempted. I want my son to be as objective as possible and not too quick to make conclusions without all the facts.

Answer 8

The government didn't have a thing to do with the stealing that was going on. For all you I will explain the difference. The federal government pre Katrina could NOT go into a city without being ask to by the Governor. (with me so far?) Governor blanko didn't ASK for federal help until 3 DAYS AFTER KATRINA HIT! president bush ask her 24 hours before if she wanted help she turned it down. The government in New Orleans Mayor nagen. didn't do anything to prepare.(Get buses ready, call for a mandatory evacuation) NOTHING! Governor Schwarzenegger ask for help AS SOON AS THE FIRES STARTED! California has had these fires before and were ready to deal with them. The lack of help for New Orleans was the fault of the Louisiana Governor and the Mayor of New Orleans. The fast response was the fault of the government of CALIFORNIA! Funny how bad negan failed his people and got re elected. Guess the People of New Orleans were satisfied with his failures.

Answer 9

There certainly doesn't seem to be much difference in FEMA's response...

From news reports:
http://www.wpbf.com/politics/14432802/detail.html

"Disaster? FEMA Workers Pose As Reporters"
Reporters Given 15 Minutes' Notice Of Conference

POSTED: 3:08 pm EDT October 26, 2007


WASHINGTON -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency knows how to get decent news coverage in Washington: have your own employees pose the questions to you at your news conference.

That's what happened the other day at a news briefing on the agency's role in the Southern California wildfires. Because FEMA gave just 15 minutes notice to reporters about the news conference, it made available an 800 number so reporters could call in and listen to the question-and-answer session.

The Washington Post reported that at the news conference itself, some FEMA employees played the role of reporter, lobbing softball questions at Deputy Administrator Harvey Johnson.

Johnson's reply to one such query: "I'm very happy with FEMA's response."

Answer 10

we are all individuals no matter where we live, how much we have or dont have, our status in society, we are all humans.

our government is what we as FREE AMERICANS have voted to make it. if you dont vote then you dont care what happens in government. soldiers fight to keep our rights and our freedoms. we show our appreciation to them and their sacrafices by turning into criminals and animals during a time we should pull together and help our neighbors. what kind of world do we live in?

people have been stealing since the beginning of time. looting has got to be one of the most disgusting acts a neighbor can commit against neighbor. people are losing their homes and their livelyhoods even their lives and all we can think about is what we can get out of it. what a crying shame. california has its looting experiences. this child should be educated on looting worldwide, and then the child should educate the dad!

who cares what the color of someones skin is, tragedy is tragedy. loss is loss. we all bleed, we are all the same color on the inside and we are all made in the image of God. people are treated unfairly because they look different, smell different, eat different, pray different, dont pray at all, the list is endless. this mess happens all over the world.

it sickens me to think that people have such twisted hate in them to say such horrible things without lifting a finger to make anything better.

God's taking us down as promised and He's taking us down in a hurry. in the end you wont be able to take any of that loot with you!