Katrina

I have been waiting to comment on the disaster that has struck the Gulf Coast, and in particular, New Orleans. There is a lot to be said, and it seems that everyone has an opinion. It seems to me, though, that there are two separate disasters that can be looked at.
The first is the damage that occurred from Katrina itself. If you look at the areas that were hit by the storm, while it is devestating and tragic, the reaction has been pretty much the same as the rest of the hurricanes that have struck in recent history: The storm goes away, and the people come back and rebuild. Yes, it is going to take quite awhile to rebuild, and in fact some areas are still rebuilding from last year.
The second is occurring only in New Orleans. The storm went away, and everyone was thanking their lucky stars that "we dodged the bullet." The news reporters that day were standing in the streets talking about how dry it was. That was Monday night. By Tuesday morning, however, it was clear that there was a problem: The levy broke, and most of the city flooded.
Now, my heart goes out to the people in New Orleans who are now in a situation of not even having a city to rebuild their home in. These people are stuck in a place that is goverened by people who, in my opinion, are inept. I have heard both the Police Chief and the Mayor of the City of New Orleans on the T.V. Folks, I am a cop. I don't like to bad mouth other cops when I am not fully informed. I know that in almost all situations, we don't know the full picture and the full story. But what I do know about is leadership. And I have yet to see any coming from the City of New Orleans. All that I have seen are the so called "leaders" on the T.V. complaining that the help is not coming fast enough. I have also heard some on the left say that FEMA didn't react fast enough. And why? Because the people in New Orleans are Black, they say.
Let me just say this. President Bush declared the area a disaster area before the storm even hit, starting the ball rolling for FEMA and the federal money while those inNew Orleans were still hoping for the storm to maybe turn. It seems to me that the Mayor and the Governor down there were the ones without a plan.
Think about it. The city is built below sea level. Are you telling me that their evacuation plan in case of immenent flooding was to fill the Superdome? Meanwhile, all of the city buses are now useless, sitting in a parking lot surrounded by water. Are you telling me that the state has no stockpile of food and water in case of a disaster? Four years after 9/11?
Now, maybe FEMA should have realized quicker that there was a distinct lack of leadership in that city sooner. But those rescue helicopters on day one, the ones that were being shot at, were owned by the federal government, not the state of Louisiana. In my opinion, if blame is going to be tossed around, it ought to land squarly on the shoulders of the state and local leadership, not FEMA.

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