And I think it was today the idiotic Governor said the drinking water was clean. Janet from another Planet.
Listening to the Mayor and Governor on various news programs, it is clear they have not talked to each other.
They each said things that contradicted each other; for instance:
1) The Super Dome would have to be evacuated soon;
2) The people in the SD would have to stay a week;
3) The people in the SD would have to stay for several weeks;
4) That the Army Corp of Engineers didn't show up in time and so the levee couldn't be repaired;
5) That the Army Corp of Engineers did show up in time but repairing the levee didn't work.
There's more, but you get the idea. The lack of leadership is astonishing. And these people have been on television and radio all night and the people who need them cannot hear them.
They need to stay off the airwaves, meet at a command center with FEMA and the Red Cross and get their act together. People are stuck in attics and dying as I type this.
"The lack of leadership is astonishing."
Yes, it really is. Both Nagin & Blanco can plan on not being re-elected. It's a complete disgrace. The looting, etc. there is no excuse for that at all. The "failure to execute" the fix to the levee, what the heck is that all about?
I think Rudi Giuliani better get down there stat and take over. There seems to be no plan, no chain of command, no nothing. The idea that cops were looting is a sin, just a sin.
Agreed. If plugging the levee failed the first time, there should have been Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, Plan E, etc, in the works.
There should be folks burning the midnight oil thinking, planning, and acting to plug the levee break, bring more rescue equipment in, etc. The logistics is tough, but that is why someone needs to be planning, directing, and acting.
You've nailed it...so often when the eye of the world is on their realm our politicians become camera whores and forget their true responsibility to the citizens.
They need to stay off the airwaves, meet at a command center with FEMA and the Red Cross and get their act together. People are stuck in attics and dying as I type this.
Amen...champion the issue and send the press secretary to the media...
The story now is, what is to be done.
Every hour that people are not being removed from the cesspool that is the former New Orleans is an hour closer to epidemic disease and mass casualty.
The city that was New Orleans no longer exists. Too much time is being wasted on the past, and not enough is being spent on the present and the immediate future.
Just one example, from my field of expertise:
Vectorborne disease, including malaria and yellow fever, has the potential to become a huge, short-term problem. There is a Federal ban on the production and use of DDT.
What is being done to suspend the ban, produce large quantities of DDT, and obtain or produce sufficient equipment for widespread aerial spraying of SE Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast?
If there is any excuse at all for FEMA, it is for large-scale evac and rescue operations.
Where is the temporary housing for 500 000 people going to be located and when will it be ready?
If FEMA does not have a contingency plan for this, then FEMA should be dissolved.
What would happen if a nuke went off in San Diego? Where would the survivors go?
A FEMA contingency plan had better extend beyond the plan for the press conference praising state and local partners.
Ah yes, but in spite of all of the mess with state and local government, President Bush is being blamed.