So what should our response be if SF gets hit by the big one? Call them idiots for living there and refuse any federal assistance? There are very few places in this country that are immune from natural disasters. Most of our major citites are built on rivers and oceans. Tornados and earthquakes zones are all over the country.
How many military aircraft would it have taken to airlift 100,000 people? You want this done in less than 24 hours? Heck, probably less than 12 hours since it would have been too dangerous to fly as the hurricane came closer. So, even if the planes had been requested at 0600 Sunday, how many flights do you think could have gotten in and out of NO in 12 hours? (I know, every life saved is valuable but it's still not the answer to the problem)
We could have evacuated the hospitals, old age homes, and children.
Do you think the city of San Francisco and the State of California have a plan ready to execute if there's a massive earthquake? What should FEMA do, pre-position people, equipment, and food in case there's an earthquake tomorrow?
To tell you the truth, the thought of my tax money being used to rebuild NO sickens me. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent to rebuild a city that will still be 5+ feet under sea level. Why should taxpayers pay for that folly?
Now, tell me about my civic duty and how the Federal Government is responsible for making sure everyone gets what they want.
We could have evacuated the hospitals, old age homes, and children.
That should have been done anyway. In your scenario, who would have supplied the manpower to make all this happen in the 12 hour window we talked about in my last post? More military folks? The local LEO's?
Again, it's easy to look back and criticize, Kerry did a lot of that during the election, but it's hard to look at the realities of a situation and act in the best possible manner.
And if you were in the Supply and Logistics business for 8 years, you know how hard it is to get things moving quickly. Unless your unit is a quick reaction force, you aren't going anywhere in 24 hours.