Posted on 09/21/2005 4:58:56 AM PDT by Chairman_December_19th_Society
We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail!
Good morning!!
Do not let the victims of the attacks on New York and Washington, nor the brave members of our Nation's military who have given their lives to protect our freedom, die in vain!!
NEXT SERVICES 250 MILES
The sign above is actually located on the Dalton Highway (AK Route 11), just north of Coldfoot, AK. From that point northward, there's nothing in the way of creature comforts until you reach Prudhoe Bay--no rest rooms, no water, no restaurants, no fuel, no nothing.
It might as well have been posted along the Gulf coast after August 28, 2005. From Baton Rouge to east of Mobile, roughly 250 miles, and from New Orleans to Jackson, MS, roughly 200 miles, nothing much was available.
Indeed, the destruction wrought by KATRINA has already (!) become the most expensive natural disaster in American history--and the counting has not really started. Already the Congress has appropriated almost $70 billion in relief, and insurance companies estimate payouts in similar ranges. This does not account for infrastructure repairs, such as highways, railroads, electric and phone lines, and so on. So, excluding the infrastructure, we already have a bill of $150 billion. The totality of hurricane ANDREW, the previous benchmark for natural disasters in this country, was just shy of $100 billion. When the counting is done, KATRINA will likely top the quarter-trillion dollar figure.
The mind reels. Two hundred and fifty thousand million dollars. To put it in some kind of perspective, 100 dollar bills is roughly one inch high. Two hundred and fifty billion dollar bills would form a stack 39,457 miles high. In other words, the quantity of dollar bills to fix KATRINA's wrath would stretch about one-sixth of the way from Earth to the Moon.
As mentioned earlier, the triangle of destruction left by KATRINA also boggles the mind. Areas in the tens of thousands of square miles were worked over, and in many instances either obliterated beyond recognition, or flooded in ways that prevented easy access.
Yet, the view among many is that, somehow, the Federal Government is immune to the fundamental acts of nature; the central Government can, somehow, instantly appear on the scene and provide the relief and comfort to those that have been left wanting because of the storm. For a moment, let's set aside the fact that Government assistance in this way is a rather liberal notion, that was discussed in the last installment of this series, which may be found on thread number 1703. The question worth pondering is how fast is it reasonable to expect aid to reach the region?
In the first installment of this series, the legislative constraints working upon the Federal Government were explored, and the Stafford Act limitations of aid were discussed. The second installment looked at the differences in responses when you contrast the Republican and Democrat governors. This installment, the final in the series, will explore the damage to the infrastructure of the region and how aid could not have arrived any faster than it did.
Note earlier where it was mentioned that damage occurred in a region over tens of thousands of square miles. In fact, an area roughly the size of England was laid waste by KATRINA's winds and floods. People who live along the Gulf coast are routinely advised to prepare for hurricane season by laying in non-perishable stocks that would last them five days. The theory here is that by the end of that time, you would either have services restored or, at least, be able to travel to places that have had service restored and get essentials to restock.
It's been three weeks, and, guess what, you STILL in many instances cannot even drive to places where you can get food, get gasoline, or other essentials.
Well, that sort of blows the theory of personal disaster planning, as recommended to the local inhabitants of the South, to smithereens.
So, what to do? Clearly, this is an area where even the most die-hard conservative would agree there is a role for the central Government to get things going again, to begin the process of rebuilding and moving in basic supplies.
These basic supplies didn't just have to be rolled in to a few major cities--ANDREW, for example, required supplies in Miami and the Florida Keys, that's it. No, KATRINA required even fundamental items such as water to be moved into remote homes in wooded areas (remember, no electricty, no pumps for the wells). Supplies were pre-positioned outside of the areas likely to be hit by the storm and could be moved to these places. But, first, you had to get to these places.
National Guard units, the people providing the relief, literally found themselves cutting their way to the coast. Interstate highways, particularly in southern Mississippi, are not somehow immune to this--trees were down over Highway 59. Then there was the flooding and coastal damage. United States route 90 is literrally running along the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in a number of places; the "Twin Span" that was Highway 10 was similarly dropped ungraciously into the waters of Lake Pontchatrain.
Progress of major relief was, therefore, agonizingly slow. Sure, you could fly planes into Moisant Field (the Louis Armstrong International Airport) in New Orleans, but where could you go from there? The Interstate was flooded once you reached Metarie. This meant, for the Crescent City, material had to be trucked down from Baton Rouge--which, if you cannot use Highway 10, takes about four hours in a passenger car. Military conveys are much slower.
But they don't just bring supplies for the affected people, in this instance supplies had to be brought for the troops themselves. Remember, no services for 250 miles. They had to bring their own fuel, their own porta potties, and their own food, let alone the rations for the general population.
But aren't there plans for these sorts of things? Well, sorta, kinda. Sure, there were the Hurricane Pam exercises that worked the issue of a major hurricane inundating New Orleans--not altogether unlike KATRINA--but that was a plan that had never had to meet the harsh aspects of reality. KATRINA, as pointed out earlier, is the biggest natural disaster to hit the United States since, well, ever. So much of what has been going on has been improvised, devised at the moment because there is no historical model upon which to draw.
Yet, in spite of this lack of historical input to the equation, relief supplies were, although slow, beginning to trickle into affected areas. Materiel was starting to arrive along the coast of Mississippi within two days following the storm, and, despite the hand-wringing going on in Baton Rouge, within three in New Orleans. Subtract from that the time it took to EVEN REACH those areas--a day's drive in Louisiana (the supplies were coming from Shreveport, in the northwest part of the state), and probably a day and a half in Mississippi (something not talked about much in the media), and "stuff" was starting to get to those who needed it rather quickly.
Now to quickly touch on the obvious question--couldn't supplies have been pre-positioned closer? Sure. Then they would have been destroyed by KATRINA and replacement items would have to be trucked in from much further away. As it is, the scale of the relief effort is resulting in that long-distance trucking, but at least it was AFTER regional pre-positioned materiel had been dispersed.
So between the requirement to engineer novel solutions for a disaster at a magnitude never faced in American history, and the need to literally cut or float your way to the devastated coastline, the response was actually pretty darn quick.
Was it good? No, and pretty much everyone admits that. It is important to strive to make improvements in these sorts of things, and the President has committed to such. But is it the right question to ask whether it was "good" or whether, considering the circumstances, was it "the best it could be". Well, there's enough evidence now to show the Federal response probably wasn't the "best," but there's also an overwhelming amount that shows it was "pretty darn good."
So it's time to stop bellyachinig about the paucity of the Federal response and time to set about fixing the Gulf Coast.
For AMERICA - The Right Way, I remain yours in the Cause, the Chairman.
Actually I've know several obnoxious sopranos, also.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DARLING.
That's the clue....
It's NOT apparent. You need a microscope.
But then I'm easily confused.
YOU GOTS AT LEAST FIVE MONTHS UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY!!! ;-))
I wanted to be sure and not miss it. Sugar pie.
(You are supposed to say, 'Yeah, Mark, your personality definitely conforms to the arrogant, wannabe personality that is attracted to brass instruments, the kind that could not make sense of multiple voices or multiple keys in the keyboardist sense...';-))
(But then, I have a Birthday EVERY DAY, DON'T I????)
Yeah, Mark, your personality definitely conforms to the arrogant, wannabe personality that is attracted to brass instruments, the kind that could not make sense of multiple voices or multiple keys in the keyboardist sense...';-))
You seem a little sensitive on this matter. Try to take it in stride. Everybody grows older.
Or not.
I'm going to turn in. I'll check back in tomorrow morning before I head out.
(PS. - I saw Mozart's 'real' church in Prague....Neener Neener Neener!!!! ;-))
Or not.
;^)
I like to keep you guessing.:)
Okay Toots. Sleep well. Try not to worry. And don't smoke!!!;^)
This is me, turning green with envy.:(
(BUT...I thought of YOU when I saw it!!! It was amazing....I was in Prague, and Achen, and Eisenach...and the whole Luther tour....and all I could think of was...pipe organs and ministers of music...and it's all YOUR fault....;-))
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