Katrina's Wake Up Call

Saturday, February 11, 2006





Katrina's Wake Up Call




I've been reading over the last few days articles in the NY Times about Michael Brown's comments about the failure of the President and other organizations within the gov't to react sooner after being told the night before the storm hit that the levee had broken and NO was at serious risk of flooding.



He resigned early on in the days following the tragedy due to pressure and now says he was a "scapegoat" for all that went wrong during that crucial time during those hours just before and after the storm hit. Is he angry? Is this why he's pointing the finger now at the President and others to take up the responsibilities they did not when this occured. The fact that he can't remember the details of who he talked to make one a bit unsure of his motives. However, he's admited his mistakes publicly in the ordeal so perhaps he just wants it known that all that went wrong wasn't his doing and wants acknowledgement of this fact to be made by the parties in question.


It is interesting also how those who most vigorously attacked him back in September (Democrats) are now saying he was used as a "scapegoat" and are sympathetic to his situation. But then politics is a strange business so while it's possible they realized they judged him to harshly they may also have an ax to grind about the failure of those higher up to accept accountability.




Whatever the reasons there is and has been little doubt in many people's minds that much could've been done sooner to exacerbate the extent of if nothing else the number of lives lost. Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans admitted that he had a mandatory evacuation planned to start getting people out on Saturday - two days before the hurricane hit - but it wasn't put into motion until Sunday. The President was at his ranch,the Vice President was fly-fishing in Wyoming and the chief of staff was in Maine even though they knew what a threat the storm was to the people in NO. And the people that were able to get to relative safety before the storm hit at the Convention Center had inadequate food and water,"FEMA had planned to have 360,000 ready-to-eat meals delivered to the city and 15 trucks of water in advance of the storm. But only 40,000 meals and five trucks of water had arrived."



As was reported in one of the articles I read "It has been known since the earliest days of the storm that all levels of government — from the White House to the Department of Homeland Security to the Louisiana Capitol to New Orleans City Hall — were unprepared, uncommunicative and phlegmatic in protecting Gulf Coast residents from the floodwaters and their aftermath."




Hopefully, if nothing else a lesson will be learned by all involved so that the next time they will react sooner, and pull together to avoid extra unneccessary suffering and loss by the victims.




Quotes are from the following article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/politics/10katrina.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th