thedrifter
09-06-05, 07:47 AM
The Harsh Lessons of Hurricane Katrina
By Joe Mariani
September 6, 2005
What happened in New Orleans? How did things go so terribly wrong, and how can such a total breakdown of civil order be prevented in the future? It's easy to point the finger of blame, but that won't do anything to help the next city that falls victim to disaster -- natural or man-made. We need to look at what went wrong, so similar mistakes can be avoided.
On 27 August 2005, two days before Hurricane Katrina hit near New Orleans, (web site) President Bush declared the state of Louisiana a major disaster area. (web site) This allowed FEMA, which coordinates state and local disaster relief efforts, to make funds and supplies available to Louisiana Governor Kathy Blanco. Medical supplies, food and water and National Guard units were deployed within a short distance of New Orleans -- short under normal conditions. The Red Cross set up headquarters in Baton Rouge, perhaps 80 miles away.
It's impossible to know precisely where a hurricane will strike land, or where the devastation will fall. If you put your emergency supplies and people too close to the hardest-hit area, then they, too, might be damaged or killed. If you place them too far away, they'll be unable to reach the affected area in time, if at all. Placement of resources does not appear to have been the problem... use of them, however, was a different story.
The residents of New Orleans were informed as much as anyone can be of the dangers posed by Hurricane Katrina. The NOAA issued a bulletin for New Orleans (web site) on 28 August 2005, the day before Katrina hit. The bulletin warned that Katrina's strength would rival that of Hurricane Camille. "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks... maybe longer," it went on to say. "Power outages will last for weeks... as most power poles will be down and transformers destroyed. Water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards." Although the NOAA attributed the anticipated problems to the hurricane itself, the warning was certainly vivid enough.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of emergency, (web site) and ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city. Some of those who remained behind were too poor to escape via normal public or private transportation. The poorest residents had no way out of town. Photos have shown fleets of school buses still parked in their flooded lots. (web site) Why those buses were not pressed into service, no one knows. The City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (web site) clearly states, "The City of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas," and "Transportation will be provided to those persons requiring public transportation from the area." Part II, Section B, paragraph 5 of the Louisiana Emergency Operations Plan (supplement 1A) (web site) states, "School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating." Public buses only took people to the Superdome, which was clearly not outside the threatened area. The school buses were never used at all. Emergency plans are created for a reason, and need to be followed in order to ensure the safety of the citizens.
After the hurricane had passed, everything seemed normal in New Orleans, though power and communications had been largely cut off. In hindsight, and under similar circumstances in the future, that would be the time to move the National Guard into the area, to gather information if nothing else. With no communications, no one could know the city's situation for sure. The Guard would be the governor's eyes and ears on the ground. But they were not told to move into the city. Then the levee gave way, and moving into New Orleans en masse became nearly impossible.
The levees that protected the city from the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain were partially redesigned and rebuilt to withstand a Force 3 hurricane. The ten-year project to build them up to that level was launched in 1965, but is still incomplete after 40 years. The portion of the levee that collapsed, however, was one that had been completed. The city and state governments took a continuing gamble since the 1960's that no stronger storm would happen to strike New Orleans. Eventually, they were bound to lose... it was only a matter of time. Some critics would like to blame the disaster on the recent reduction of federal funds to the Army Corps of Engineers, but funds have been declining for nearly a decade. According to the Chicago Tribune, (web site) "Congress in 1999 authorized the corps to conduct a $12 million study to determine how much it would cost to protect New Orleans from a Category 5 hurricane, but the study isn't scheduled to get under way until 2006."
Lawlessness and looting followed the inrush of water almost immediately, as people began taking what they could get their hands on before the water could claim it all. The city police force and fire department had no way of coping with the hurricane damage, the loss of power and communications, impassable roads and the looters thronging the streets, while simultaneously trying to rescue people from the rising flood without getting trapped themselves. Still, the governor declined to order the Louisiana National Guard into the city to maintain order and help rescue survivors, though the Coast Guard quickly began rescue operations. No call was made to mobilise the National Guard units from other states -- it's as though the existence of the Guard was completely forgotten.
The Red Cross and other relief agencies could not get supplies into New Orleans until the roads were cleared. Desperation worsened looting, and the crowds packed into the Superdome and the Convention Center descended into chaos, as the food and water began to run low and the facilities became unusable. Other people have been sitting on the roads and parking lots around those areas for days, waiting for the authorities to tell them where to go and what to do. The result is one of the worst humanitarian disasters in American history, a black eye for the entire country, and a lesson plan for our terrorist enemies, who would love nothing better than to cause such chaos and destruction themselves.
continued....
By Joe Mariani
September 6, 2005
What happened in New Orleans? How did things go so terribly wrong, and how can such a total breakdown of civil order be prevented in the future? It's easy to point the finger of blame, but that won't do anything to help the next city that falls victim to disaster -- natural or man-made. We need to look at what went wrong, so similar mistakes can be avoided.
On 27 August 2005, two days before Hurricane Katrina hit near New Orleans, (web site) President Bush declared the state of Louisiana a major disaster area. (web site) This allowed FEMA, which coordinates state and local disaster relief efforts, to make funds and supplies available to Louisiana Governor Kathy Blanco. Medical supplies, food and water and National Guard units were deployed within a short distance of New Orleans -- short under normal conditions. The Red Cross set up headquarters in Baton Rouge, perhaps 80 miles away.
It's impossible to know precisely where a hurricane will strike land, or where the devastation will fall. If you put your emergency supplies and people too close to the hardest-hit area, then they, too, might be damaged or killed. If you place them too far away, they'll be unable to reach the affected area in time, if at all. Placement of resources does not appear to have been the problem... use of them, however, was a different story.
The residents of New Orleans were informed as much as anyone can be of the dangers posed by Hurricane Katrina. The NOAA issued a bulletin for New Orleans (web site) on 28 August 2005, the day before Katrina hit. The bulletin warned that Katrina's strength would rival that of Hurricane Camille. "Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks... maybe longer," it went on to say. "Power outages will last for weeks... as most power poles will be down and transformers destroyed. Water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards." Although the NOAA attributed the anticipated problems to the hurricane itself, the warning was certainly vivid enough.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of emergency, (web site) and ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city. Some of those who remained behind were too poor to escape via normal public or private transportation. The poorest residents had no way out of town. Photos have shown fleets of school buses still parked in their flooded lots. (web site) Why those buses were not pressed into service, no one knows. The City of New Orleans Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (web site) clearly states, "The City of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas," and "Transportation will be provided to those persons requiring public transportation from the area." Part II, Section B, paragraph 5 of the Louisiana Emergency Operations Plan (supplement 1A) (web site) states, "School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating." Public buses only took people to the Superdome, which was clearly not outside the threatened area. The school buses were never used at all. Emergency plans are created for a reason, and need to be followed in order to ensure the safety of the citizens.
After the hurricane had passed, everything seemed normal in New Orleans, though power and communications had been largely cut off. In hindsight, and under similar circumstances in the future, that would be the time to move the National Guard into the area, to gather information if nothing else. With no communications, no one could know the city's situation for sure. The Guard would be the governor's eyes and ears on the ground. But they were not told to move into the city. Then the levee gave way, and moving into New Orleans en masse became nearly impossible.
The levees that protected the city from the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain were partially redesigned and rebuilt to withstand a Force 3 hurricane. The ten-year project to build them up to that level was launched in 1965, but is still incomplete after 40 years. The portion of the levee that collapsed, however, was one that had been completed. The city and state governments took a continuing gamble since the 1960's that no stronger storm would happen to strike New Orleans. Eventually, they were bound to lose... it was only a matter of time. Some critics would like to blame the disaster on the recent reduction of federal funds to the Army Corps of Engineers, but funds have been declining for nearly a decade. According to the Chicago Tribune, (web site) "Congress in 1999 authorized the corps to conduct a $12 million study to determine how much it would cost to protect New Orleans from a Category 5 hurricane, but the study isn't scheduled to get under way until 2006."
Lawlessness and looting followed the inrush of water almost immediately, as people began taking what they could get their hands on before the water could claim it all. The city police force and fire department had no way of coping with the hurricane damage, the loss of power and communications, impassable roads and the looters thronging the streets, while simultaneously trying to rescue people from the rising flood without getting trapped themselves. Still, the governor declined to order the Louisiana National Guard into the city to maintain order and help rescue survivors, though the Coast Guard quickly began rescue operations. No call was made to mobilise the National Guard units from other states -- it's as though the existence of the Guard was completely forgotten.
The Red Cross and other relief agencies could not get supplies into New Orleans until the roads were cleared. Desperation worsened looting, and the crowds packed into the Superdome and the Convention Center descended into chaos, as the food and water began to run low and the facilities became unusable. Other people have been sitting on the roads and parking lots around those areas for days, waiting for the authorities to tell them where to go and what to do. The result is one of the worst humanitarian disasters in American history, a black eye for the entire country, and a lesson plan for our terrorist enemies, who would love nothing better than to cause such chaos and destruction themselves.
continued....