September 08, 2005

Hurricane Katrina

I was on the field when I heard about the hurricane. Luckily I was in Lodja by then and we watched at bit of news powered by high-priced gasoline.

From the little I understand, there were a set of circumstances that went wrong: terrible weather, logistical difficulties, poor planning, lack of leadership and just general poor luck. Did I get the gist of it?

It saddens me that the United States, a country with some of the best infrastructures and emergency equipment in the world, couldn't get a handle on the situation, despite knowing AHEAD of time that this disaster would happen.

Perhaps the government should hire Emergency Coordinators from International NGOs in such situations?

I'm confused.

4 comments:

Carl said...

The circumstances that combined have been in the making for decades. N.O. has been a corrupt violent place with a lousy police force for a long time. The hurricane came, as everyone knew it would, and left the underclass and its' concomitant gang bangers and killers in isolation for a week.

There wasn't any bad luck anywhere, just a lot of feckless immature leadership starting decades ago and not ending until Katrina created Hobbes' jungle.

BRE said...

Sorry that I missed your last posts on the road trip, have to check back tomorrow.

Re: Hurricane Katrina, check the Net and the Blogosphere. This storm was The Big One that the experts correctly predicted but nobody was ready, least of all the local, state, and federal government.

Hurricane Katrina is long over, but the aftermath is still blowing at Category 5 strength and gaining steam, especially in Washington D.C. Don't miss reports on General (John Wayne) Honore, he's a pisser, and the only one that seems to know what he's doing.

Ciao.

BRE said...

Hobbe's Jungle? Do you mean the quotation from Thomas Hobbe's Leviathan about life being brutal and harsh and short?

Hobbes's Leviathan. It is in Part. I Of Man, Ch. 13 Of the Natural Condition of Mankind. Paragraph 9.

What the !@%$# does that have to do with flood victims in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast, Carl? Please enlighten us.

Carl said...

OK I will.

Sorry about the mixed up reference. Autodidact you know.

When all the cops leave and the gang bangers and thugs pack up, roam about, rob, rape, pillage and kill; it seems to me that life just got brutal harsh and short for a lot of innocent people.

I hoped that helped.