The Hurricane tragedy is revealing some unfortunate realities about America, its priorities, and the social end economic fabric of society. I sincerely hope a continuing dialogue will result in some positive changes.
Here are some issues I noticed:
1.99% of all people being stuck, abandoned, and in dire need are Black and poor. While New Orleans is a southern city reflecting the demographics of the area it is pretty clear that Blacks weren’t able to leave, no transportation. While an evacuation order was issued people that couldn’t leave were forgotten by the system. Whites are gone.
2. While congress can meet on a Sunday night to pass a law to save Terry Shaivo, Congress hasn’t managed to get together on day 4 to pass emergency relief funds.
3. On day 4 people still don’t have access to food and water, even in areas with acccess to Helipads ie the Dome.
4. Funding to protect the levies and infrastructure was cut to continue a war the majority of the US population does not support (among other cuts).
This is one tough crisis and I’m not trying to minimize the logistical nightmare that government officals are facing, but this tragedy has highlighted the racial, social, and economic divisions in a society that, I think, needs to look in the mirror and reassess its priorities.
If you are in an US area of crisis ie major earthquake in San Francisco would you want the US Federal government to take over 4 days before dropping off supplies?
Final question: How long would it have taken for the US military to show up in New Orleans if Al Quaida had detonated a dirty nuclear weapon?
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This is a national disgrace,” said Terry Ebbert, head of New Orleans’ emergency operations. “FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control,” Ebbert said. “We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims but we can’t bail out the city of New Orleans."
"We have got a mayor who has been pushing and asking but we’re not getting supplies,” he said. He said the evacuation was almost entirely a Louisiana operation. “This is not a FEMA operation. I haven’t seen a single FEMA guy.”
Mayor Ray Nagin, in issuing his dire plea in a statement to CNN, said: “Right now we are out of resources at the convention center and don’t anticipate enough buses. Currently the convention center is unsanitary and unsafe and we are running out of supplies for 15,000 to 25,000 people.”
Having been on a Disaster Preparedness Neighborhood team, we were told not to expect help for at least 72 hours from the LOCAL authorities, so my answer is, “I might want it sooner, but I don’t expect it.”
Second question: with most of 'em deployed in Iraq, and probably with some shortage of radiation suits, I think that would take days, too.
I don’t mean to be confrontational, but please try and balance this with some real-time, real-life perspective.
The realization of what would happen in that region in the event of a major hurricane has been known for a long long time. They could have been gearing up in advance as the hurricane was bearing down on NO. Even in the mainstream media they’re questioning and criticizing the Bush Administration about the failings in their response so far. Right now they’re discussing on CNN the fact that the victims waiting to be rescued are of a class that is typically neglected, and the Bush Administration isn’t rising to the occasion to give them their fair share of support and assistance.
I can’t imagine how difficult it is to organize a relief effort across three (?) states, especially when the infrastructure has been completely destroyed.
Even mustering all the Guardsmen is hard enough, it isn’t just a matter of “Meet up in New Orleans and we’ll figure it out there”.
The logistics of figuring out who needs what when and, most importantly, how, are mind boggeling.
As for the point about the poor black, it looks like something that the media is starting to pick up on and, as time goes by, it will probably become more and more of an issue. Imagine what will happen when these poor black people who have had everything destroyed need to resettle. Think they all have flood insurance?
Not every person stranded in New Orleans was poor and didn’t leave because they couldn’t. I read an interview with a teacher who said she didn’t leave because school was starting and she had too much work. Another individual (white) interviewed on CNN earlier was stranded in a hotel because when the storm came in the airport shut down and they couldn’t get a flight. I believe that many, if not most, of the people there now couldn’t leave, but please don’t paint them all with the same brush. There are some who didn’t leave because they had other things to do or didn’t act fast enough. Period.
As far as the helipads at the Superdome: As reported on CNN, they’re currently under water and useless.
I’m listening to a live press conference with the head of FEMA and others. If I understood him correctly, the people at the Superdome had food last night and had food this morning. There are many, many troops, FEMA, and rescuers at work in the 90,000 sq. miles of disaster area, but I believe that in this instance the news media is covering what they see as the most dramatic stories, not what is necessarily reality. Food is being delivered, sick people are being airlifted out, action is being taken. I don’t know when I’ve seen more blatant leading questions than some of the reporters on CNN are asking people in order to make it appear that there is no presence of help on the ground.
Was it too slow in coming? It certainly seems that way, but I’m not in charge of the logistics of this nightmare and neither is anyone else on this board.
Guys, while I’m as critical of the administration as anybody out there, I think it’s in bad taste to make comments on the handling of the New Orleans disaster while it is still underway.
There are many people hurting, and many loved ones not accounted for.
For the sake of their families, right now do something positive to help make the situation better.
After it’s over, after the dead are buried and the bereaved weep, then criticise on a public board all you want to.
Right now you have no idea who’s reading your posts or how they will react to it. Enough people are on edge…you don’t want to be the one who pushes someone over the edge. That’s not something you want to live with.
No. It means don’t make statements like “everybody left in New Orleans is poor and black and all the whites are gone” and “there’s no help at the Superdome even though there are helipads sitting unused” and “people don’t have access to food and water.” Those statements are inaccurate.
I think susnfx is right to some degree, I’m sure the media desperately wants to keep their viewers thinking that the whole situation is spiralling out of control, but unfortunately this is all we really have to go by at the moment.
why don’t they help these people?
On Wednesday reporters listening to horrific stories of death and survival at the Biloxi Junior High School shelter looked north across Irish Hill Road and saw Air Force personnel playing basketball and performing calisthenics.
Playing basketball and performing calisthenics!
When asked why these young men were not being used to help in the recovery effort, our reporters were told that it would be pointless to send military personnel down to the beach to pick up debris.
no help at the Superdome even though there are helipads sitting unused
You are technically correct the official helipads are underwater, but the area surrounding is accissible by helicopter, I should have phrased that better. They are now obviously making progress
“everybody left in New Orleans is poor and black and all the whites are gone”
i stand by my statement, the people on bridges superdome, etc are vastly black and poor, very very few whites around.
“people don’t have access to food and water”
are you watching the news?
“We are out here like pure animals. We don’t have help,” the Rev. Issac Clark, 68, said outside the New Orleans Convention Center, where corpses lay in the open and the and other evacuees complained that they were dropped off and given nothing - no food, no water, no medicine.
Gilder, I am not arguing your first point (because I think its a valid question), but answering Black’s questions sincerely. That said, the familiar class warfare thing is perhaps grasped too soon…I am sure I will hear about it on KPFA this afternoon even so.
Not according to what I’m seeing on TV right now, I think these are valid questions and answers need to come post haste. The answers to these questions could spur a more appropriate response – even though it’s already too late for far too many.