The True Failures of the Federal Response to Katrina -- 5 Reforms to Prevent a Repeat of It All

Human Events Online ^ | September 12, 2005 | Mac Johnson

[hinterlander]

Having watched the news for the past week, I now believe that Hurricane Katrina represents a colossal failure of the Federal Government. At first, I thought that maybe local government, through the police and fire departments (a.k.a. “first responders”), had the immediate role in saving people, but I was wrong. The way the mainstream media has hammered away on me with constant wailing repetition has really been persuasive. If having small children has taught me anything, it’s that authoritative speech is marked by great volume and numbing reiteration. So yes, Mama Media, it’s all about a Federal failure.

But what, exactly, was that failure?

Mama Media has taught me the correct answer to that: the response was too slow -- inexcusably slow, criminally slow. But the response to Katrina was perhaps the fastest ever to a major hurricane; and the size of the response was the largest ever mounted to any hurricane. So if the largest, fastest response ever is too little, too late, perhaps we need to look deeper to find the real Federal failure -- because we all know that it was a huge Federal failure.

After having considered the issue at depth, I believe I have identified several areas of true Federal failure. Always being one who would rather light a candle than curse the darkness, I present here a list of proposed changes in Federal response that would have, in hindsight, prevented the Katrina debacle.

Reform 1: Assume any municipal government involved is blatantly and irretrievably incompetent.

[Patti_ORiley]

Good one!

[untenured]

Government is bound to disappoint us, simply because it's government.

What Didn't Happen After Katrina.

[hiredhand]

Everybody turns into a disaster recovery expert all of the sudden. I wonder what Mac Johnson's qualifications are in disaster recovery?

[ArrogantBustard]

Brilliant! I like the ICRT ...

[Miss Marple]

LOL! Excellent article...thanks!

[green iguana]

It's satire. I especially like this:

"There is simply no excuse for the Federal Government allowing a Hurricane to interrupt a major American City’s supply of crack, pot, heroine, hashish and oxycontin. If we can transport morphine to our troops in the furthest corner of Iraq, then surely we can get a hit of methadone to our own civilians scratching at invisible spiders in a flooded flophouse in New Orleans. We need a Crack Response Action Center Headquarters (CRAC-Head) set up immediately..."

[hinterlander]

Everybody turns into a disaster recovery expert all of the sudden. I wonder what Mac Johnson's qualifications are in disaster recovery?

There's a lot of sarcasm in this piece. Read read it and you might "get it."

[martin_fierro]

#6: Don't rebuild a city, in a bowl, down by the ocean.

[hiredhand]

Ah....satire...that's why. I'm usually the last person to realize it.

[Tolik]

Nailed It! Absolutely Hilarious!

See Mac Johnson's previous expose: New Orleans Didn’t Just Go Nuts -- It’s Been Nuts

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[metesky]

Thanks.
:O)

[rob777]

Thanks for the link, an excellent read!

[yldstrk]

OMG!

[Fruit of the Spirit]

"Having watched the news for the past week, I now believe that Hurricane Katrina represents a colossal failure of the Federal Government."

That's BS! Bush declared a state of emergency BEFORE the hurricane hit and it was up to the governor to use the resources. As one person put it, "You can't expect the National Guard to show up with 20 mins. notice." Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin are the culprits that deserve blame!

[Cat loving Texan]

IT'S SARCASM! Read piece before comment.

[rockabyebaby]

True failure of Katrina is the FACT that the mayor and governor are incompetent and secondly very few in NOLA understood what the word EVACUATE meant. As a result of this failure, MA has taken in 209 REFUGEES, 7 are sex offenders, thank you NOLA and one rapist now in jail, thank you indeed NOLA. MA is a haven for sex offenders we certainly don't need more AND these 7 offenders are in with the single men population on Otis NG Base, free to come and go as they please and the safety officials here do not want to single them out because, heaven forbid, we stigmatize them, heaven forbid people, certainly don't wan't to offend the offenders, perhaps one of these officials should have one of their children molested, how quickly the offenders will be taken care of then.

[TheClintons-STILLAnti-American]

Why not just make it simple with one rule:

NO DEMOCRAT SHALL BE ALLOWED TO HOLD A PUBLIC OFFICE WITH ANY RESPONISIBILTY FOR HUMAN LIFE.

[Fruit of the Spirit]

Fine! But I'm not seeing the humor in this debacle.

This note is from a girl who  named Robin.  She's in Louisiana and amid all the turmoil there.  When I read her story I got the chills, this is horrible.  I'm sending this to all of you to spread the word, PRAY.  THIS IS A TRUE STORY . . . .

Here's her note:

** We have had a battery operated TV so we've been getting local channels focusing on the situation there and here. I'm just getting the "national perspective" and its *(&*&(*ing me off!
First, this is not a racial thing. I'm sorry if all the reporters are seeing are black faces but if they would
take their cameras to places like Slidell, Mandeville, Metairie and CHALMETTE! they would see a several thousand white faces being affected by this. Most of the tip of the boot that is Louisiana south and east of Baton Rouge is under water. Those people are stuck too waiting for help, dying, but all the news people can focus on is the Superdome.
Another misconception. The violence going on there is not the reaction of desperate people. Its typical New Orleans on any given Tuesday!!! Its a dangerous, dirty, drug infested place where the city police and city government is corrupt and useless. Volunteers are getting shot at and their cars vandalized. Helicopters are being shot at. Just another day in the city.
Another misconception. These poor people couldn't get out because they don't have cars. If the cameras show the city once the waters recede, you'll notice all the flooded out cars littering the streets. They couldn't all have been broken down before the storm hit . Yes, there are always people who do not have transportation. Part of making the call for a MANDATORY evacuation is that the city has to provide for transportation and/or shelter in the city. People stayed for the same reasons they always stay. They think the storm will turn and go in another direction. They think they can "ride it out." Or, they're just too lazy to pack up and leave.
Another misconception. The federal government was slow to respond. The president issued a state of emergency BEFORE the storm ever hit, unprecedented. This means that the full access of the federal government, be it military or civil, were at our governors' disposal. The levee broke early Monday afternoon. She did not call evacuation until Tuesday morning. You cannot call up National Guard units in 20 minutes. It takes time.  The governor and mayor are in high CYA mode at the moment.
The situation is bad here. Crime is becoming a problem in Gonzales and Baton Rouge where the evacuees are being housed. We live between the two cities and there is pistol on my desk shelf as I type (yes, I know how to use it).  Helicopters flying overhead all day, gas is running out, stores shelves becoming empty.  Its like a war zone.  Our kids are both here and are staying here until the crime situation gets in control and I fear it will get worse before it gets better. Pray for us. **

[Fritzy]

Excellent post..thank you...

After over a week of watching and listening to the media's coverage.. spending hours each evening on the phone asking for donations for our American's in need.. I have had a few second thoughts..I have recently seen pictures of New Orleans.. it appears that:

The entire city is not destroyed.. only a portion that was built on low ground, with less than adequate building codes and not maintained adequately.. mostly inhabited by low-income people.. while the rest of the city is damaged (no doubt about it) it is repairable.. just like other hurricane destructions in South Florida a few years back.. this is devastating, but not terminal as suggested..

The number of dead in NO has been truly over counted.. the Mayor and many other leaders have talked about the deceased being higher that the 9-11 event.. no not really.. the media played it up, sounding like there were bodies floating all over the place and bodies on every street corner.. just not accurate.. but truly plays well on the screen... and for milking donation..

The question for me, just how many people actually passed on because of the hurricane/flood .. how many were killed.. how many died due to old age... etc.. I anxiously wait a breakdown... if we ever see one..

What is wrong with the financial picture.. why is this costing so much.. someone said more than 9.11? Why.. why do we have to raise so much money to address this.. what happened to the neighbors in NO.. people who were not devastated.. and there are plenty... look at the smaller towns in Mississippi.. truthfully leveled.. they are coming together to work on recovery.. the residents themselves cleaning up the neighborhoods and looking for ways to address their situation.. Now I appreciate that NO has a huge number of very poor people..but in my experience, they are people who love their families, respect self-determination, want to improve their neighborhoods and are more than willing to work together... so what happened? NO ONE can convince me that all poor people are thieves, lowlifes and unable to help themselves.. so not true..

Now for Mississippi.. why is the spot light not on Mississippi... talk about devastation! It is almost a side bar on the news..

Please do not hear a message condemning NO.. to the contrary, I love NO.. the jazz, the museums, the Garden District.. and of course.. the terrific food.. we all agree that the nation is richer because we have NO.. but I just can't understand why a Governor, Mayor and the Media are all so near sighted as to not see the big picture.. and communicate the value and worth of their citizens rather than paint such a bleak picture of humanity living in NO...

Just my two cents.. late on Monday afternoon.. in Florida..