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To those who are now complaining about the local, state, or federal government's response to the disaster of hurricane Katrina, I offer this rebuttal:

No one could have prevented this natural disaster or lessened its severity by any amount. The wind damage, flooding, and subsequent mass homelessness of hundreds of thousands of people, and the shortages of drinking water, food, electricity, fuel, sanitation and medicine, along with the presence of vermin, disease and lawlessness was inevitable with any large hurricane to hit New Orleans. The nature of the city's isolated environment and the way development expanded human habitation in a vast region near the ocean, nearly all of it below sea level was literally a disaster waiting to happen.

The fact that it has been known for years that the city was vulnerable to this exact tragedy does nothing to allow for a government solution where no solution is or was possible.

When there are so many people living in such a prosperous and comfortable and secure country as we do, then it's also inevitable that people come to expect that this standard of living is an entitlement, somehow guaranteed by the government, and that just by being a citizen of The United States of America we are somehow above the ravages of nature that periodically afflict "lesser countries". How many times in the last few days have you heard something like "You expect this sort of thing to happen in some third world country, but not here in America"? Such arrogance reminds me of the commercial for a flu medication in which the afflicted person says "I'm too busy to suffer from this cold." As if a virus cares that somebody has an active American lifestyle and that cold symptoms might be inconvenient.

Those Americans who think this way should collectively learn a valuable lesson from this: life involves many risks as well as opportunities, and many undesirable consequences of our choices, such as failing to heed the warnings to evacuate in the face of an approaching hurricane, or even the choice to live in a place prone to natural disasters in the first place, cannot be mitigated by what too many believe is an all powerful, nurturing and protecting government.

Of course you can't prevent the natural disaster but you can certainly minimize the human impact.

I lived in South Florida for 20 years and in South Carolina during the Hurricane Hugo era and my family has lived in South Florida for 45 years.

I know something about hurricanes.

I know that a strong building can cope with high winds just fine but that nothing that man can build can fully protect you from the brunt of a storm surge. A moving wall of water is one of the most destructive forces in Nature.

I know that where you live in Hurricane Ally determines if you can safely stay or if you must evacuate.

If you live in an area subject to storm surge, you need to get the hell out.

That is just Hurricane Basics 101.

My aunt lives in Key Biscayne. My brother has a condo in Key Largo. Other relatives live further inland in Miami.

If my brother hunkers down for a Category 4 Hurricane in Key Largo, he is guaranteed certain death. My aunt on Key Biscayne would not fare too well either. The folks further inland in Miami in sturdy cinder-block contruction houses do just fine.

Therefore, whenever a major hurricane barrels down on South Florida ALL of Key Largo is evacuated and my aunt leaves Key Biscayne to stay with family further inland in Miami.

You want to see what a major hurricane does to an unevacutated coastal area subject to storm surge?

Here it is. Florida Keys. 1935. :

Labor Day Hurricane of 1935...........In total, at least 423 people (164 residents and 259 veterans employed on the road project)(1) were killed by the hurricane. Bodies were recovered as far away as Flamingo and Cape Sable on the southwest tip of the Florida mainland.

Bottom Line:

You DO NOT stay in a storm surge area during a major hurricane.

New Orleans is below sea level in a storm surge area protected by levies designed for a Category 3 storm.

Katrina was predicted as a Category 5 and hit as a Category 4.