Sunday, September 04, 2005
The fall of New Orleans
This is the most tragic event that has ever occured in the United States, perhaps the world. It is the collusion of the perfect storm (Katrina) and the perfect idiot (George Bush).
The United states management of this crisis was so inept that it is just sad. Pathetic, really. Consider the following:
1) Wal-mart was able to move Thirteen trucks of food and supplies to the stricken area by Thursday. They do not have the world's best equipped or largest military. They are not trained in emergency management. They do not have and are forbidden by law to posess specialized equipment. Despite all this, they managed to beat FEMA to the affected site, despite the fact that FEMA had people and supplies near New Orleans ready to go.
2) Canada is the closest and best equipped nation to the United States. They had piles of medical supplies on military frigates and could have been in the affected area within a few days. They did not because the United States government never gave them permission to send their military vessels to the affected area. The non-military airline Air Canada sent a plane down to pick up survivors (Once the airport was usable).
3) FEMA had at least two days warning that the hurricane was going to strike. Since they knew that the superdome was a designated refuge, they should have put people, supplies and soldiers there. There was no excuse of any kind for George Bush to be on Vacation when the hurricane struck. He is the president and is the person who is ultimately responsible for everything. He had absolute knowledge that the hurricane was going to strike and that it would be bad. To come back two days after the strike is beyond the pale.
4) There should have been a FEMA helicopter heading into the city after the strike to assess the damage and contact the survivors. If CNN can do it then so can the government. At the very least, FEMA should have known that there were people at the conference center, instead of finding out about it on Thursday.
So who are the heroes and villans of this? There are too many heroes to count. The man who set up a paramedic station; The single nurse at the Superdome; The police and firemen who worked through absolutely incredible circumstances to save as many lives as possible; The people in the domes who held out and helped each other.
The people in the domes should all get a medal for what they went through. The conditions there were hellish, worse than any horror film could imagine. Putrifying corpses were stacked in several places in and around the dome. A handicapped woman died in a bathroom stall and was left there, amid the overflowing toilets and filth. Dead bodies floated around in what was essentially a giant sewer outside.
Mayor Nagin was phenomenal. He was very poised and did an excellent job in excruciatingly difficult conditions.
The president's performance was abysmal. There are no other words to describe it. He should face criminal charges. The idea of him being on Vacation while the hurricane struck is obscene.
The United states management of this crisis was so inept that it is just sad. Pathetic, really. Consider the following:
1) Wal-mart was able to move Thirteen trucks of food and supplies to the stricken area by Thursday. They do not have the world's best equipped or largest military. They are not trained in emergency management. They do not have and are forbidden by law to posess specialized equipment. Despite all this, they managed to beat FEMA to the affected site, despite the fact that FEMA had people and supplies near New Orleans ready to go.
2) Canada is the closest and best equipped nation to the United States. They had piles of medical supplies on military frigates and could have been in the affected area within a few days. They did not because the United States government never gave them permission to send their military vessels to the affected area. The non-military airline Air Canada sent a plane down to pick up survivors (Once the airport was usable).
3) FEMA had at least two days warning that the hurricane was going to strike. Since they knew that the superdome was a designated refuge, they should have put people, supplies and soldiers there. There was no excuse of any kind for George Bush to be on Vacation when the hurricane struck. He is the president and is the person who is ultimately responsible for everything. He had absolute knowledge that the hurricane was going to strike and that it would be bad. To come back two days after the strike is beyond the pale.
4) There should have been a FEMA helicopter heading into the city after the strike to assess the damage and contact the survivors. If CNN can do it then so can the government. At the very least, FEMA should have known that there were people at the conference center, instead of finding out about it on Thursday.
So who are the heroes and villans of this? There are too many heroes to count. The man who set up a paramedic station; The single nurse at the Superdome; The police and firemen who worked through absolutely incredible circumstances to save as many lives as possible; The people in the domes who held out and helped each other.
The people in the domes should all get a medal for what they went through. The conditions there were hellish, worse than any horror film could imagine. Putrifying corpses were stacked in several places in and around the dome. A handicapped woman died in a bathroom stall and was left there, amid the overflowing toilets and filth. Dead bodies floated around in what was essentially a giant sewer outside.
Mayor Nagin was phenomenal. He was very poised and did an excellent job in excruciatingly difficult conditions.
The president's performance was abysmal. There are no other words to describe it. He should face criminal charges. The idea of him being on Vacation while the hurricane struck is obscene.
