LESSONS OF KATRINA #1
More than 40 years ago during the Cuban Missile Crisis when we expected a nuclear attack on the United States, I wrote to the Houston Chronicle and proposed specific civil defense measures which would not depend on government but neighbors helping neighbors. Based on my experience in bombed out cities and war time disasters I admonished everyone that survival is not possible without the help of your neighbors. Many civic and neighborhood groups followed the advice and it boosted moral and self reliance.
Major disasters prove the big lie that government is your first line of defense. Why do you suppose all FEMA and Homeland Security advisories ask you to have food and water for at least three days? It is simply because government cannot act until at least 4 days after the disaster strikes. This has been historically true in all disasters of the past. There cannot be an instant response by government and you must rely on yourself and your neighbors to survive.
Unfortunately this was not possible in New Orleans. This city has been helpless for many decades. It has 10 times the national crime rate and corruption in city and state government are normal, expected and seem to be part of the unique gallant atmosphere. Most of its affluent citizens and businesses have long left and the city became dependent on tourists offering them lures of entertainment and offbeat pleasures.
Gradually a large portion of the population became dependent on the Government for survival even without a disaster. It is the same Government that they so depended on that let them down. A mayor who orders evacuation but fails to send the hundreds of busses at his disposal to move out those who have no means of transportation and who depended on city busses for transportation even before a disaster. By the time it occurred to someone to use the busses, the rising water inundated them in their parking lots and the drivers were evacuated.
No disaster plan anticipates that local law enforcement would stop to function. More than 1,000 police officers quit their job at the onset of the disaster and lawlessness that was barely controlled before the disaster, instantly erupted. Hundreds of people were able to protect their homes and businesses by simply firing shots at roving intruders, but those who were helpless were robbed, raped and terrorized. No disaster relief can be provided unless lawlessness can be stopped and this added to the delay in providing adequate relief. Emergency planners must consider that an Islamic terrorist attack would be accompanied by lawlessness organized by not just criminals but by Islamic terror gangs recruited in the prisons and dormant terrorist cells.
The access by media to the disaster was unprecedented. One would hope that such access would assist the victims and assist the rescue effort and provide help and hope for a stunned, traumatized city and nation. This was not the case. Wild speculation, reckless accusations, dramatizing tragedy and ignoring good news was the order of the day for most broadcasts.
This morning I was watching one network describing in glowing terms how an endless chain of large helicopters was ferrying people to safety. I turned the channel and another network was showing the garbage, the makeshift tents and debris left behind by the evacuees failing to mention that the people were flown out by an unprecedented air lift not seen since the Berlin air lift.
The looters seeking to satisfy their need for drugs can easily be compared to the hyenas of the media and partisan politicians seeking to satisfy their need to attack Bush and blaming him for everything, including causing the hurricane. Considering that more than 2/3 of the population impacted by the hurricane in New Orleans was black, unscrupulous black leaders have engaged in racial agitation claiming prejudice and injustice by whites is the cause for this and Bush does not care to help blacks.
The borderline of the 21st century civilization is very fragile. A natural disaster or terrorist attack can send us back instantly to 18th and 19th century life where our survival depends on your neighbors and law and order on your ability to protect your loved ones. My survival lesson based on many survival chances during the last 70 years: Survival is not of the fittest but those who can adapt to circumstances as water adapts to the vessel it is poured into.
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