I remember after the hurricane here the base personnel were engaged in clean up on the base property and the troops were all over, along with all the trucks, heavy equipment. In less than a week it was all removed. Yet in all the surrounding areas the civilian population was struggling. It just seemed a waste to have all those men and equipment not engaged in assisting the people. Some roads remained closed for days because of the trees. While the heavy equipment the military had could have removed them so easily.
It seems a big part of the problem down in the Gulf area is even getting supplies over the blocked roads. Those are the things the military could handle, IMHO. Of course, I know that plenty of the military bases in the area are probably handling their own problems too. But, clearing the civilian roads would save lives, while cleaning up the bases just makes it look nicer.
Also, there are special divisions of the military that are especially trained in cadaver removal. Those personnel could be dispatched specifically to handle the dead. They have all the equipment and special clothing, vehicles,containers, body bags, etc. They should be there taking up this task. It is so terribly tragic to see all the human bodies everywhere when there are special forces trained to handle just that.
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To: jeffers
I wish they would employ the regular army for equipment and manpower to help with the work of removing debris, etc."
In the perfect world, I agree. Let the guys in green in there with top authority right from the start, and the place will be milspec within the week, looters yessir yessir yessiring up a storm.
That can't happen in a vacuum though, and the powers that be decided they want to run things their way.
great insight. People are comparing this to the Thailand Tsunami. It's much worse.
The Tsumani made it's landfall, pushed the water and everything else out of the way and receeded somewhat.
There were no storm clouds, there were no 180+ mph wind gusts, there were no spawned tornadoes 200 miles and further inland.
Trying to get our minds around the enormity of the logistics of this is going to take some time.