Four years ago, “Katrina” had never been used as a hurricane name. Hard to believe, aint it?
I was watching a Weather Channel story on Katrina last night, where they had NBC’s Brian Williams talking about his experiences covering it and showing footage taken at the time.
Before I go any further, I want to say that those were truly some horrific situations many, particularly in New Orleans but not exclusive to that area, found themselves in. As my wife said when we were watching the show, there is truly no way you can see those images, even now, and not be moved by them.
But I found something particularly disturbing about the footage that was shown, something I didn’t pick up on at the time as we were first seeing all these images come out.
Remember all those people waiting at the SuperDome and other locations throughout NOLA and surrounding areas? They were waiting for someone else – the government in particular – to come save them.
These people were either so delusional or so beaten down by their own government that they thought it was the government’s job to save them! Rather than taking action on their own to get themselves OUT of the situation they found themselves in, they sat there and waited to be “rescued” by the government!
What is interesting is the distinction between that show about a hurricane and its aftermath and the one right after it, also about a hurricane and its aftermath. In the second show, the story chronicled was that of a hurricane that hit Hawaii in 1992 – the day before filming of Jurassic Park was set to end.
This film crew – including everyone from Steven Spielberg and the stars to the newest assistant cook- worked together to get themselves out of the situation and its aftermath on their own. As the storm was raging, the stunt men had to send one of their own outside into the hurricane so that his storm radio could pick up the latest weather reports. They tied him into the same harnesses they used for their stunts and had several men holding the ropes, but the guy was able to get outside, get the report, and get back in safely – even though the wind had blown him horizontal and the only thing keeping him from flying away was the very harness he was strapped into. Speilberg himself coordinated everything and comforted people as best he could, including telling ghost stories to the various kids in the crew (including the young actors) that were apparently scarier than the hurricane! Once the storm was over, the set/grounds crew was able to use the equipment that only the day before was being used to build the massive Jurrasic Park sets to clear the debris from the roadway and allow both the crew and the local citizens a way to get to the airport.
Several other things happened, but none of these people waited on the government to rescue them – they rescued themselves.
In most situations today – Cash for Clunkers, the various “stimulus” and bailout programs, Obamacare, and yes, Medicare and Social Security – we see a LOT more “victims” and a lot less people willing to do the hard work to help themselves. Until THAT changes, we will see no real change – no matter what any politician tells you.
What then can government do about this?
Reign itself back to its Constitutional limitations and restore Freedom – and with it, Responsibility – to the People.
The hardest thing for any non-sociopathic person to do is to let a person fall flat on their face and hit rock bottom. THAT is the basic underlying reason for each of the programs I mentioned a moment ago and many other programs currently run by government.
The unfortunate reality is that letting that person hit rock bottom is sometimes the single most caring and loving thing anyone can possibly do for them. By restoring the Freedom and Responsibility of the People, government shows just how compassionate it truly is.
I’m seeing the picture.
In it, you can clearly see the Superdome. If you follow the elevated highway southeast, you can see the Convention Center (large rectangular building hard against the river). You can see why people were moving to that place, as it is high and dry.
One more thing to notice about the Convention Center’s locale. That’s right. Had anyone thought to bring a boat up the Mississippi, there is a terminal RIGHT THERE to take on evacuees or offload water, food and medical supplies.
As for the “walking out of New Orleans” theory, look again at the Superdome. Now follow the elevated expressway northwest (the way out of town). Notice that right before it hits the Parish line, it submerges into an inland lake at the interchange. It is close to a half mile from where the highway goes under to where it comes up again.
I’m sorry your opinion of survivors is based on the behaviors of one individual. Having lived here for nearly three years, and having assisted evacuees during Gustav, I can tell you that individual is an exception rather than the rule.
re:
With what power, Internet, computers, and televisions were these people supposed to look at a weather map to plot a course out?
Presuming they could even afford those things when they weren’t in the middle of a Category 3 hurricane which many couldn’t.
Saying “this isn’t a delusional fantasy, I really have a point” over and over again doesn’t make it so.
“But again, I’m a guy that makes things more difficult for myself from time to time just to prove that I can handle the more strenuous situation. In other words, I would’ve fought to get out just to prove that I could.”
Just so you know that is perhaps the stupidest thing to do in a survival situation. All I’m saying is that that kind of questions your view of what is the appropriate thing to do in an extreme situation.
“The problem is that I saw much of the same attitudes she displayed in many of the survivor interviews demanding to know when the government would get to them.”
Yes, probably because it is a LEGITIMATE FUNCTION OF THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE DON’T DIE IN LARGE NUMBERS DURING AN EMERGENCY! There is a reason we (and every other government that can) provide aid in emergency scenarios. I truly can not believe an adult has to be told that.
Just asking here but… not sure if you watch “Deadliest Catch” or not but the Coast Guard regularly has to go rescue boats and crews in distress. Do you think they shouldn’t wait for the government to come rescue them? Because it sure wouldn’t be easy but they could try to get back to harbor. They could eventually try swimming somewhere etc etc etc. Would you in that instance say, leave the life raft (survival suit completely optional here) just to prove you could survive?
I say all that to say this…I’ve found in life that if everyone (or say a huge majority as is the case here) is opposed to what you’re saying, there is a pretty good reason for it.
Regarding “arranging transportation”. The company I worked for sent me to MS and LA to recover flood totaled cars for insurance companies. My company and our main competitor hauled over 25,000 cars out of NOLA, most from driveways and city streets in the affected areas. The city ran their transit system for two days before Katrina made landfall offereing rides to the DOme and Convention Center.
The fact is that people stayed because a) they thought they could ride it out (happens in EVERY hurricane in the southeast US) or b) the government would take care of them.
Regarding the speed of response. FEMA said then, and still does today, that you are on your own for the first few days, at least. State and local orgs are supposed to handle things until FEMA can get there. The US Navy was on site with a hospital ship and rescue helicopters within about 30 hours. I wonder how different things would have been if the state and local governments had ordered an evacuation and activated the Guard, as they were urged to by the Bush administration. Louisiana had over 14,000 Guard troops available.
That said, comparing Katrina and Iniki is ludicrous. My wife was in Iniki and narrowly escaped Katrina.
Bottom line – if you are an able bodied person who spent time on your rooftop in NOLA, you are a fool.
Because the levees routinely fail and drown the city?
Thanks for helping get rid of the cars. They were a problem. I wonder how many were found in elevated driveways and on neutral grounds. When I got down here in October 2005, that’s where I saw the majority of them. Folks that put them there expected maybe 1 – 2 feet of street flooding from the heavy rains, not 6 – 10 feet of water from a levee break.
The mayor did not call a mandatory evacuation until too late. He was too afraid of disrupting business.
The hospital ship was on its way to New Orleans and was rerouted to the Mississippi coast.
The Guard was activated, as well as the Coast Guard and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries crews. Unfortunately, a great deal of Guard equipment ended up flooded at the Jackson Barracks because the levee failure was not anticipated. The Coast Guard, heroes one and all, had rescue flights in the air as soon as wind conditions allowed.
Those heroes threw out their rulebooks to keep their rescue operations working.
The Convention Center was not a shelter until after the storm had passed and the flooding had begun. The Dome filled up in a few hours, not over two days.
It is a fantastic idea to prepare for disaster as if no help will ever be coming. I learned that growing up on St. Simons. At some point, however, our disaster response infrastructure must be called upon to respond far faster than they did in this instance.
You don’t let babies and old folks die of dehydration because someone else screwed up. This is America, we have the means to rescue people and we do it. We do not say “they should have known better, we’re going to take our sweet time.”
Elevated driveways and Nuetral ground? There is no such thing in a city that exists below sea level. What difference does it make where they were found when they were not used to flee a clear and present danger.
Governor Blanco admitted, on video, that she activated the Guard too late. The LA Guard was activated after the storm.
Huge amounts of Federal assistance were on site within 72 hours. To this day, after billions of dollars spent, there are still people in FEMA trailers.
City below sea level? Untrue. 52% of New Orleans is above sea level, and the city does not border the sea. Levees failed due to faulty construction. If they had held (as they did during Gustav) there would not have been such a disaster.
Activating the Guard too late? Absolutely. Activating the Guard after the storm? Not so much.
Federal assistance was on site, but it was at the WRONG site. Brown and Chertoff had no idea people had congregated at the Convention Center 72 hours after the storm.
All of this is a matter of public record. One of the most infuriating things about the situation is that too many people believe falsehoods they heard in the media.
I will accept your statement that 52% of NOLA is above sea level, but I am not aware of any part of NOLA that is high enough to stay above a hurricane storm surge or the flooding from a broken levee. I think that is proven by the flooding and the cars we hauled out. Regardless of where they were parked, there was plenty of transportation available for people to leave. The vast majority of them chose not to leave. Chose.
It doesn’t border the sea in the sense that it is not on the beach. It borders one of the largest lakes and the largest rivers in the hemisphere. To ignore that it has a huge flood risk is to be ignorant of every storm assessment ever made for the city. Levees break – even Memphis Minnie knew that in the 20′s.
Normal Guard active duty levels were barely increased. Blanco had 14,000 troops available and only about 5,500 were deployed. She did not request Federal troops until after the flooding.
Her state government actually prevented the Red Cross from entering New Orleans.
I agree about the falsehoods, especially about the Dome and Convention Center violence. Technically the Guard was active, but practically they were not. Even Blanco admitted she blew it.
I left out that the huge lake and gigantic river are directly connected to the Gulf. Kind of like the executioners hand is not connected to the bullet that penetrates the skull.
“Because the levees routinely fail and drown the city?”
No, because huge hurricanes routinely kill people.
Jeff says “And you’re saying the government that can’t close off the southern border of the US to illegals is the same one that did this?”
No, the local police departments did it, although the only one I heard of was Gretna.
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