The plight of New Orleans- Katrina's Aftermath
How is it that such a large nation, one that sends aid all over the place can allow hapless citizens to go thru this hell? What happened?
How do you adequately cover this agony? I look at the sights on TV and I'm aghast at this- never again can America blame the rest of the world for inadequate disaster management- New Orleans' agony is proof that it doesnt work wherever there are more poor than rich.
All those people left behind, devastated, dying in wheelchairs, crying out in desperation - these are the sights one sees in American Media of Sudan, Rwanda, Bosnia, Asia....for it to happen in its own backyard is puzzling and very odd, not to mention sad.
Wither thou George Bush?
It's a federal disaster of major proportions say people here in Denver. Yet, life goes on.
The great thing about this country is the way citizens open their hearts and wallets during national calamities- usually it's matched more or less in equal measure by the government. This time, there are only the humane citizens of America- Governmental aid is rather spotty. Bus and Train services were shut down-3 days before Katrina struck. How do you expect the poor or infirm to move out and evacuate?
They'll rebuild- America does that well. The world tho' has seen that the land of milk, honey, technology and a hitherto formidable reputation in Crisis Management has dropped the ball on this one. You can never be a hundred percent prepared for a Hurricane like this- levees and dams notwithstanding. It's not the administrative and architectural preparedness- it's the preemptive actions that are absent in this case.
Hurricane fatigue might have befallen citizens...this time around, it seems to have hit the Government as well.
To see CNN reporters cry at the news of a newborn boy who was lost and now found, to see Brian Williams stand dumbstruck at the sight of a body on a freeway, a governor fighting tears, Google Earth showing tracts of devastated land, flooded neighborhoods and diabetics going into shock right in front of the camera leaves you shaken. Usually America is hermetically sealed from scenes of such widespread devastation....natural disasters come and go but never does one get the sense of control having gotten away, of preparedness giving way to chaos. Those sights are associated with third world nations or those that are looked upon as banana republics and the like.
It hits harder here because the US has turned Crisis Management into an art form. Looting and anarchy never quite really happen here as they do in scenes we see of Iraq or elsewhere. The closest one has come to this is during the LA riots in '92 but that too was clamped down on swiftly. I know because I visited LA on May 7 '92, barely a week later.
Biloxi looks like Bandar Aceh- totally wiped out and leveled. New Orleans looks like a child's rendering of floods- complete with scenes of complete surrealism. Unfortunately this is all too real as are those poor souls stranded on freeways, flooded roads, women lashing out in frustration and children looking wan and emaciated due to lack of fluids.
If we didnt know this was the US, we would think we were seeing a disaster zone in Africa.
So what happened? And why is it still going on? Judging by norm, 4 days after such a hurricane, the process of rebuilding would already have started...here one sees National Guardsmen, cops, firefighters and EMS personnel absolutely overwhelmed and underhelmed.
Doomsday prophets have been crying hoarse of a cataclysm like Katrina destroying New Orleans since long. The Gulf Coast gives with one hand and takes away with the other. Sunny skies, balmy weather and turquoise blue seas on one hand and a tendency for hurricanes on the other- Nature is all about balance.
The hazards of a turbulent climate could never outweigh the sheer assets that the Southern part of America affords. New Orleans knew this- it was always a city with one eye on the water and one on commerce and the joy of life. Would anyone have relocated to a safer place? I think not- our species has been able to carve out good lifestyles in every sort of hostile terrain. For every person who is now pointing fingers at others, let me say that there are those who live in the shadows of death and destruction knowingly- not because of thrill issues or desperation or whatever....we do it because we can. Vesuvius today, Pinatubo, Montserrat, Tornado Alley, HurricaneAlley- we find our kind everywhere- there will always be settlements regardless.
In the meanwhile, the 21st Century has proven that all of us who live on this planet go thru the same travails and triumphs regardless of money, power or technology.
Nature indeed has proven to be the great leveler- when it all boils down to the 3 things we all need, who cares which land is governed by whom in which religious garb? Food, shelter and clothing- nothing matters beyond these 3. We live for them, we die trying to save them for ourselves.
A mother's wail, a husband's cry, a child's tears, and the agony of acid churning in a hungry stomach....none of us is exempt, none of us is above it....
The media cameras churn on....from time to time they try to wrench themselves away from the horror...it's so close to home, they are unable to.
This story won't end- you have to see New Orleans under water to know that this will continue awhile. Hopefully the tribulations of the people will stop sooner .
The great thing about this country is the way citizens open their hearts and wallets during national calamities- usually it's matched more or less in equal measure by the government. This time, there are only the humane citizens of America- Governmental aid is rather spotty. Bus and Train services were shut down-3 days before Katrina struck. How do you expect the poor or infirm to move out and evacuate?
They'll rebuild- America does that well. The world tho' has seen that the land of milk, honey, technology and a hitherto formidable reputation in Crisis Management has dropped the ball on this one. You can never be a hundred percent prepared for a Hurricane like this- levees and dams notwithstanding. It's not the administrative and architectural preparedness- it's the preemptive actions that are absent in this case.
Hurricane fatigue might have befallen citizens...this time around, it seems to have hit the Government as well.
To see CNN reporters cry at the news of a newborn boy who was lost and now found, to see Brian Williams stand dumbstruck at the sight of a body on a freeway, a governor fighting tears, Google Earth showing tracts of devastated land, flooded neighborhoods and diabetics going into shock right in front of the camera leaves you shaken. Usually America is hermetically sealed from scenes of such widespread devastation....natural disasters come and go but never does one get the sense of control having gotten away, of preparedness giving way to chaos. Those sights are associated with third world nations or those that are looked upon as banana republics and the like.
It hits harder here because the US has turned Crisis Management into an art form. Looting and anarchy never quite really happen here as they do in scenes we see of Iraq or elsewhere. The closest one has come to this is during the LA riots in '92 but that too was clamped down on swiftly. I know because I visited LA on May 7 '92, barely a week later.
Biloxi looks like Bandar Aceh- totally wiped out and leveled. New Orleans looks like a child's rendering of floods- complete with scenes of complete surrealism. Unfortunately this is all too real as are those poor souls stranded on freeways, flooded roads, women lashing out in frustration and children looking wan and emaciated due to lack of fluids.
If we didnt know this was the US, we would think we were seeing a disaster zone in Africa.
So what happened? And why is it still going on? Judging by norm, 4 days after such a hurricane, the process of rebuilding would already have started...here one sees National Guardsmen, cops, firefighters and EMS personnel absolutely overwhelmed and underhelmed.
Doomsday prophets have been crying hoarse of a cataclysm like Katrina destroying New Orleans since long. The Gulf Coast gives with one hand and takes away with the other. Sunny skies, balmy weather and turquoise blue seas on one hand and a tendency for hurricanes on the other- Nature is all about balance.
The hazards of a turbulent climate could never outweigh the sheer assets that the Southern part of America affords. New Orleans knew this- it was always a city with one eye on the water and one on commerce and the joy of life. Would anyone have relocated to a safer place? I think not- our species has been able to carve out good lifestyles in every sort of hostile terrain. For every person who is now pointing fingers at others, let me say that there are those who live in the shadows of death and destruction knowingly- not because of thrill issues or desperation or whatever....we do it because we can. Vesuvius today, Pinatubo, Montserrat, Tornado Alley, HurricaneAlley- we find our kind everywhere- there will always be settlements regardless.
In the meanwhile, the 21st Century has proven that all of us who live on this planet go thru the same travails and triumphs regardless of money, power or technology.
Nature indeed has proven to be the great leveler- when it all boils down to the 3 things we all need, who cares which land is governed by whom in which religious garb? Food, shelter and clothing- nothing matters beyond these 3. We live for them, we die trying to save them for ourselves.
A mother's wail, a husband's cry, a child's tears, and the agony of acid churning in a hungry stomach....none of us is exempt, none of us is above it....
The media cameras churn on....from time to time they try to wrench themselves away from the horror...it's so close to home, they are unable to.
This story won't end- you have to see New Orleans under water to know that this will continue awhile. Hopefully the tribulations of the people will stop sooner .
posted by Fragmented Minds @ 5:39 PM
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