Good Op Ed piece from the Rapid City Journal:
What happened in New Orleans
By Warren "Bones" Bonesteel, from Rapid City.
Katrina: Imagine, if you will ...
Imagine 9-11 times 1,000 in your hometown. (What would it be like in the middle of winter?) The bridges are down, public transportation has stopped. Water has stopped. The lights are out. Railways have been destroyed. Half of the city has been destroyed, the rest is inaccessible.
The ports to and near your city and state are blocked. Half or more of the interstates, highways, streets and roads into the city are blocked or completely destroyed. Airport runways are destroyed, damaged or blocked.
The devastation stretches for more than a hundred miles. There are no outside communications except for the occasional satellite phone. Police and emergency services are almost completely at a standstill. They are victims, too. Many of them will be among the dead and dying. They can only work 36 to 48 hours straight before they collapse in any case.
Can you hold on for three days? Four? Maybe five? The reality of logistics gives you three days minimum before any amount of federal resources reach the city. You may not see those resources personally for another three or four days ... or more. If you live in the suburbs or outside of the city, it will be probably longer.
Is your state legislature ready? Is your state capital ready? Are your local civic leaders prepared? If not, why not?
And even if you aren't at the "epicenter," your city, town or village receives a flood of refugees ... all who need food, clothing, medical care, housing, transportation, schools and jobs ... and their criminal elements and gangs are coming with them, which many among you experience even now.
This is what happened in New Orleans. The politicians and other civic leaders weren't ready. It'll never happen, they said. It won't be that bad when it does, they said. It's business as usual. Let's get ready for Mardi Gras!
What really happened in New Orleans: Katrina.
So lemme get this straight ...
Such a storm as is unprecedented in recorded history hits an American city, one that lies below sea level. A storm with 40-foot storm surges at that.
1) The mayor of New Orleans (it was his "watch" after all) and the government of Louisiana were totally unprepared for any type of disaster. Even though the levees were almost swamped by a much lesser storm only a few short years ago ... and again 10 years ago ... and again about 20-odd years ago ... and yet again more than 30 years ago.
2) Apparently there were no plans in place at the local level (i.e., the mayor, parishes and other local elected councils), let alone implementation of any plans.
3) The United States military has been cut by at least a third over the last decade (the only national resource able to quickly respond to such a large disaster in anything resembling a coordinated manner).
4.) The mayor left the poor and the disabled and the hospitalized to fend for themselves and then turned violent prisoners and inmates loose on the population in a city that's well-known for its violence and gangs. And after the storm and flooding, the remaining citizens of New Orleans preyed upon one another instead of pulling together and helping each other.
5) The mayor locked the elderly, mothers, babies and children, the poor, the helpless and the disabled, in a sports stadium together with several hundred, if not several thousand, violent criminals and with no food, water, medicine, sanitation, clothing or security. You treat your dogs better than that. Even had the Constitution not been violated due to decades of liberal politics, many of them could not have afforded personal weapons for self-protection. Many would not have been strong enough to wield them in any case.
6) Because of the storm, access to the city was impeded in several ways, including by air, by land and by sea. Runways, roads and ports needed to be cleared first. Doing such work takes time. Most roads and railways into the region are impassable and will remain that way for some time to come. All communications networks at the local level were almost completely destroyed. An immediate large-scale response was almost impossible regardless of learning where to deploy (and then implementing plans about where to deploy) needed resources. All of this was very obvious from news reports.
7) Several decades of liberal and partisan politics and laws also impeded an immediate response by federal authorities and caused an immediate rise in oil, natural gas and fuel prices (price gouging not included).
8) The mayor screams and cusses at everyone but takes no blame for his own actions, or lack thereof. (He showed great composure, personal accountability, honesty, honor, integrity and solid leadership. Just the kinda guy I want in charge when things go to hell in a handbasket.)
(The list is actually longer and involves political and social ills caused by both sides of the metaphorical "aisle.")
And many pundits blame it all on one man - some guy named Bush - and everyone asks why hasn't the government done more and more quickly?
Including the prevention of a Category 5 hurricane?
Have people gone insane?
Whatever you want to say about ol' G.W. Bush, Skull and Bones, The New world Order, global warming, HAARP and ELF, the Jesuits, the Masons, the Christian right, or the left-wing extremists - the mayor of New Orleans dropped the ball.
He was smart, though. He didn't waste any time in pointing the finger at someone else. Personally, I think that he put on a helluva show. He's sure to be re-elected.