Friday, September 02, 2005


 

"We didn't anticipate the levee breaches."

I don't understand how the President can say that given the media were reporting on this on Sunday night. There have been models that this would happen if a cat 4 or 5 hit.

5 days later and still no aid -no water, no food. GET THOSE PEOPLE OUT.


Comments:
Well I agree Rob - about getting the people out.

I have some employees in the area and some of the things you might not hear reported that they have relayed to me:

On Tuesday morning just as the storm was through the Mayor and Governor went on the radio and pretty much stood down much of the emergency assistance because it looked like the city had escaped without much damage. Three hours later the levees broke and then they ordered a mandatory evacuation.

On Sunday his definition of mandatory was not that you had to leave but he said "If you call for help, if you call 911, we will not be able to respond for several days and you are on your own" that was his definition of "Mandatory" on Sunday before the storm. On Tuesday he ordered a "Mandatory" evacuation but this time it was really mandatory.

You won't hear this on most of the mainstream media - only that Bush screwed up.

There are some message boards now saying that Bush had the levees blown. Yes, you read that right - there are message boards saying something that ridiculous. And there are people posting that are eating it up as truth.

I think they are all doing the best they can, but clearly people were in way over their head on this thing at the beginning. I can't blame anyone for being in over their head. I'm just glad it looks like they are finally getting everyone out.

I am sure there will be a 9/11 commission type thing to look into this and construct time lines of what happened when. But I'm with you - get them out first - we can all learn from this later.
 
I also agree that the first priority is getting people help. I do have to say, though, that I get tired of hearing the media, and those who blindly follow what they hear in the media, trash the response to this tragedy.

People need to realize that as horrific as this disaster is, there are other critical things going on in our country and the world that President Bush and other officials must keep on top of. Their plates are full all the time. This doesn't mean that they shouldn't respond quickly to such an event, only that it isn't as easy as it looks.

I also don't think that most people take into account how difficult it is to coordinate such a response. It has been a long time since a hurricane of this magnitude has hit the US. It could have hit anywhere on the US coast.

Although I'm sure that a lot of people just could not get out before Katrina hit, is is also true that a lot of the people who remained chose not to heed the warnings. What ever happened to personal responsibility?

More and more coastal development is occurring, and we all know the risk that is involved. The city of New Orleans has been there for a long time. It doesn't seem like the city or anyone else has put much of a contingency plan in place for the inevitable hit by a major hurricane. Let's just blame Bush! Hello?

It is easy for people who don't know "the whole story" to Monday morning quarterback. I'm sure that some things could have been done better, but lets be a bit more balanced.

I'm sure others will trash my comments. I only hope that my comments will be considered first.

Bob A.
upstate, NY
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Powered by Blogger