I'm glad I was able to visit New Orleans before Katrina. I was able to manage two trips (the first in 1992 and the second in 1993) and they were incredible. Having only a notion of what it might be like from watching movies, I just had to go. It's true what people say who have been there, you have to experience it for yourself. There is no describing "N'awlins".
My first trip into New Orleans in March 1992 was an exciting adventure. I spent the night at a truck stop about 25 miles out, the closest one I could get parking for a 65 foot rig. I quickly learned that things that would have bothered me back home were treated with a blase' style in "Loosiana". After speeding through the grungy shower, I settled down in the dining area for a southern specialty; blackened catfish. While eating, I noticed I wasn't alone. Right up by the phone mounted on the wall next to the table, sat a small brown cockroach. I swear, it was eyeballin' my plate in wait for a chance that I would leave something behind. I swatted at it only for it to run behind the phone and come back out again. I noticed that it wasn't the only one awaiting the chance for a free meal. The waitress came by and informed me that my table visitor was quicker than I. I spent the night in the sleeper wondering if my dinner companion might follow me into the cab. The thought left me as I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I was able to make my delivery and secure a motel room that offered truck parking. I called a taxi and shortly after getting my things put away in my room, it arrived. The cab pulled out, whisking me off to my new adventure. The taxi motored into what I learned was "the Bowl", the driver explaining how it came to be that New Orleans had sunk while the levees rose above it. The driver pointed out various places of interest while accelerating much beyond the speed limit. When I asked about his lack of concern regarding the speed limit, he just smiled and said, "This is N'awlins ma'am. We don't sweat the small stuff here".
I'll never forget the first time I stepped out of the taxi and onto the cobbled streets of the French Quarter. The Quarter and Bourbon Street were as much a fantasy as a mystery who opened it's antiqued doors for me to wander about. I couldn't stay long but the time I did get to spend there was a wonderful experience.
There is a house down in New Orleans
They call the Risin' Sun
And it's been the ruin, of many a poor girl
And me, oh god, I'm a one
Bob Dylan ~ The House of the Risin' Sun
I was completely captivated by the architecture of the "Quarter". The antiquity of the buildings and wrought iron appealed to me and my love for anything not resembling "modern". The freindliness exhibited on the streets was a welcome respite from the harshness of the truck stop culture I was familiar with.
The food was simply amazing! I could smell it everywhere I walked. I finally stopped in at Michaul's, a yellow building with a wrought iron balcony overlooking St. Charles Avenue. (The restaurant must have been affected by the damage since it won't be open until January.) Stepping out onto the balcony the host warned that it leans a bit towards the street but not to worry, its survived hundreds of years and always passes inspection. The balcony was very small, having only room enough for two tables, one on each side of the doorway. It did indeed lean towards the street and I was a bit nervous having a fear of heights. The fear quickly dissipated as I became interested in the movement of life on the Avenue. Even post-Mardi Gras, a few street musicians walked the streets, their soulful blues permeating the banter.
Skipping the traditional "beignets",(benyays) my meal of Jambalaya arrived, the smell distracting me from the music down on the Ave. I appreciated the presentation only momentarily. My first bite was met with the taste of seafood and sausage, well complimented by just the right amount of spiced rice. What a nice change from greasy truck stop food! I had to have what was left boxed up, there was no way I was going to leave such an excellent meal behind.
Stepping back out onto the Avenue, the stroll was fascinating. Numerous merchants line the streets selling everything one could imagine related to Mardi Gras and the hedonism that represents the Quarter. The drinking and eating establishments were plentiful, including a few strip clubs, an orgy bar and gay clubs. What caught my fascination most of all were the blues and jazz clubs. I was able to stop into a few albeit briefly, my time running short. I made a note that if I was to visit again, these clubs were where I would spend more time.
February 1993 ~ I became very excited when I left San Diego and heading for Miami as I knew there was one stop I just had to make along the way...the Big Easy during Mardi Gras! My stops were brief as I wanted to spend as much time there as I could muster up. The travel on the way was easy as the winter weather stayed to the north of I10. It couldn't have been a better journey as I outran the rain that had plagued my trip through Texas.
Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me? I'm your native son
I'm the train they call, "The City of New Orleans"
I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done
Originally written by Steve Goodman, first performed by Arlo Guthrie
As before, I couldn't get a room anywhere that allowed truck parking, especially since it was Mardi Gras. I again parked at the small roach infested truck stop as before but rather than eating or resting, I immediately called a cab and headed for "the Bowl". The traffic reminded me of Los Angeles rush hour, taking almost two hours to travel 25 miles. Letting me out somewhere near St. Charles Avenue, I headed straight for Michaul's. I didn't want to lose time looking for food when I wanted to spend more time in the blues and jazz clubs like I had promised myself before.
After another excellent meal of Jambalaya on the balcony, I stepped out onto the crowded street. If you are not accustomed to being squished against strangers, you might want to avoid Mardi Gras. The only street space available occurs when one is "showing for beads", a Mardi Gras tradition. Simply put, you show the requested body part or parts, sans clothing and an appreciative onlooker throws you a string of colorful plastic beads. I can happily say that men enjoy "showing" too. Luckily I got by in catching the beads missed by others and tossed them to men giving me a show. I didn't want to scare onlookers with my big melons.
Another fun tradition is the floats rolling down the streets. The floats are so large they nearly cover the entire street from side to side. It's almost a contact sport dodging in between them. Riding the floats are people dressed in Mardi Gras finery and tossing many a gift to the crowd, including the aforementioned beads (which you don't have to show anything for if they come from the floats). I got smacked upside the head with a small frisbee when I wasn't paying attention.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend as much time in the clubs as I would have liked. There were so many people! They were packed tighter in the clubs than out of them. I stood outside a couple of clubs, listening to them Ole Delta Blues wafting out onto the sidewalk. After a few hours of competing for sidewalk space, I walked towards the intersection where I would meet the cab. I passed by the orgy club, the jazz clubs, the strip clubs, the tarot readers and the retail shops. I was accosted by christians that had a coffin on the cobblestone street. They proclaimed that I would burn in hell for my hedonistic ways. I found the cab and he took me away from the Crescent City and off into the night.
Having visited New Orleans before the hurricanes, I felt sad and humbled by the pictures of the devastation there after them. Many a familiar street I had travelled upon was covered in black floodwater. Though the French Quarter was spared from the rising waters, many of it's historic buildings were damaged by wind and rain. What roofs were damaged by Katrina, Rita tore gaping holes in them. Debris and refrigerators with food rotting inside lined the sidewalks I had once lazily strolled upon, representatives of the length of time until power to the area was restored. Some were marked with political statements, the feelings of their former owners as street billboards and explaining the foul odors wafting from them..."Bush inside", "Nagin Inside" as well as others.
The party town is gone, replaced by a construction zone that all but shuts down shortly after dark. The daylight is a facade of what used to be the nocturnal habits of the night. Though the day shows a town abustle, government and construction workers have replaced the tourists and most of the residents. Most of the habitable motels have been taken up by contractors and utility workers. For some long time residents, the Quarter had been over run by tourists. Although they understood the need for rebuilding, they were enjoying the break from them.
04 December 2005
The Hurricane Blues ~ Part 2
Now that I've rehashed the timeline, let us move on to what is happening now. The sadness that I feel is immeasurable. The enormity of it is unthinkable. The human tragedy should have been for the most part, preventable. The one thing that affected me most, was when someone closest to me who had been working for the relief efforts told me, "Mothers are giving up their babies because they can't take care of them anymore. They are just handing them to strangers begging them to give them a better life."
I want to point out that even though it is my opinion that everyone living in and around New Orleans, (including those who didn't live there but were aware of the potential for disaster) is responsible for the tragedy that followed, recovery is America's responsibility. We will all end up paying for it.
Just before a time of thanksgiving, when most of us were preparing to be with family and friends and discussing what we felt blessed about, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin opened up most of the rest of the city to returning evacuees. But to whom did he open the city to and to what? Of the estimated 300,000 New Orleans residents that fled, it is estimated that just about 60,000 residents are actually living there now, having returned or stayed there during the storm. Although the drinks are being poured and the strip clubs are open, most returning residents have nothing to return to. Most all of whatever they had was contaminated in the standing black floodwaters; no longer salvagable.
Adding insult to injury, only two of eight hospitals have re-opened, most of Orleans parish is still without power, three-quarters of the city's tax base has gone, the city loses an estimated $1.5 million dollars a day in tourism, only a quarter of over 3000 restaurants are open, the city's credit rating has been lowered from investment grade to junk and worst of all; the nation's flood insurance program ran out of money for the first time since it was created in 1968 and some insurers have stopped issuing checks. While a gay couple cannot legally marry, FEMA considers them a couple and will only allow them to turn in one application for aid. If they turn in two, FEMA rejects them as fraudulent. And they are still finding bodies.
For the many that have paid for years for flood insurance, rather than spending time recovering from the disaster, they are now fighting with insurance companies over outdated mathematical formulas. It's a battle over Hurricane Katrina (a natural disaster) and poor levee design (a man-made disaster) that will ultimately show the value of their policies and whether they rebuild or move on. Independant science and engineer groups have stepped forward and stated that it was poor levee design and not Katrina, that caused the catastrophic damage. The final decision will make the difference as to how financially involved the federal government will be. FEMA is being raked over the coals as having too much money that hasn't been spent. All this while sandbagged levees still leak into the city, a testement of budget over lives.
The speed by which the rebuilding efforts take place is not only being affected by the cost, but to how much money is spent and more importantly where it will be spent. Many people, from government agencies, politicians to hundreds of residents met in November with the governor appointed "Louisiana Recovery Authority" to discuss the cleanup and rebuilding process. This "vision" of what New Orleans will be when recovered is a part of the plans. Mayor Nagin created the "Bring Back New Orleans Commision". The arguments over money continue. The state has asked for $250 billion dollars in recovery money, an amount met with virtual contempt and aligned with robbery. Editorial writers nicknamed it the "Louisiana Looter's Bill". FEMA cut off hotel payments on December 1st to encourage evacuees into using the deposit monies given them to move into permanent housing.
I can't see how this will all be paid for unless Congress raises our taxes or cuts spending on needed services. Forbid that pork barrel and gratuitous spending be eliminated. We are already burdened by the cost of war.
When Mayor Nagin appeared before Congress in an attempt to gain more support, the response to him was a cool one. A Republican aide's response has become the norm, "We want to see them helping themselves before they ask us for help."
I wonder how it is that Congress will "see" how the evacuees and residents of damaged areas are helping themselves. Many have been doing just that, from cleaning up their neighborhoods to helping others because they themselves have nothing left to clean.
Harry Anderson of "Night Court" fame has been holding meetings in his French Quarter nightclub for local residents. Up to one hundred people at a time have shown up for their Quarter's "town hall" type meetings and even local and FEMA representatives have braved the crowd. The group has made progress; in one instance getting the city to ease the curfew so that bars could remain open later to rebuild business. He and his wife had opened their side-by-side businesses two months before Katrina. At one meeting the conversation was about Mayor Nagin recently holding a town hall in Baton Rouge, garnering comments that there were more New Orleans residents living there than in New Orleans itself.
The health of the New Orleans healthcare system is by far it's largest problem to face yet. Medical records are missing or have been destroyed by floodwaters, the main treatment center moved onto a Naval ship (it was anchored near New Orleans as Katrina neared the city) after Katrina, then was moved to tents in the city is now housed in the New Orleans Convention Center, there is a substantial shortage of nursing, only 15% of the doctors have returned and the main trauma center for those badly injured is located in a neighboring parish. A victim can get into surgery in about an hour if they come in during "bankers hours".
Of the many problems to be addressed, the initial one most residents there now and the ones considering a return is the same, they want the levees rebuilt to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. The Army Corps of Engineers stated that the levees will be repaired before the next hurricane season. They also promised Mayor Nagin that they will be rebuilt to withstand a Category 3 storm "plus some", leading most to believe that they will just repair and improve some on what went wrong during Katrina. Improved levees are to be 17 feet high rather than the 12-13 feet high before Katrina. The reality of this is that most likely, the levees will never be rebuilt to withstand the force of a Category 5 storm. The cost will be exhorbitant and the many who might otherwise be financially involved will squawk because they won't get a decent return on their investment.
I find it interesting that it was initially predicted that even with a Category 3 storm, the storm surge would still come over the levees by 8-10 feet. Instead, Katrina was a Category 4 with up to a 30 foot storm surge, topping the levees by upwards of 10-12 feet of water. A Category 5 storm, even if the levees are raised to 17 feet, would still top them by almost 10 feet of storm surge.
Interesting that they are deepening the "bowl" that many did not or could not escape from. From my viewpoint, it is reasonable to believe that the cost of human life is not enough to re-engineer the levees, lands and the waterways surrounding them. Deepening the bowl is simply putting a bandage over an openly gangrenous wound that until properly cleaned and restored, will never heal.
I hope those who now hold the rebuilding of New Orleans in their hands, hear and remember the cries of the mothers that weep for the children they gave up to strangers as well as the cries of the people who lost those that they loved. Though all are equally responsible, it is the surviving children who are paying the ultimate price.
Continued.....
I want to point out that even though it is my opinion that everyone living in and around New Orleans, (including those who didn't live there but were aware of the potential for disaster) is responsible for the tragedy that followed, recovery is America's responsibility. We will all end up paying for it.
Just before a time of thanksgiving, when most of us were preparing to be with family and friends and discussing what we felt blessed about, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin opened up most of the rest of the city to returning evacuees. But to whom did he open the city to and to what? Of the estimated 300,000 New Orleans residents that fled, it is estimated that just about 60,000 residents are actually living there now, having returned or stayed there during the storm. Although the drinks are being poured and the strip clubs are open, most returning residents have nothing to return to. Most all of whatever they had was contaminated in the standing black floodwaters; no longer salvagable.
Adding insult to injury, only two of eight hospitals have re-opened, most of Orleans parish is still without power, three-quarters of the city's tax base has gone, the city loses an estimated $1.5 million dollars a day in tourism, only a quarter of over 3000 restaurants are open, the city's credit rating has been lowered from investment grade to junk and worst of all; the nation's flood insurance program ran out of money for the first time since it was created in 1968 and some insurers have stopped issuing checks. While a gay couple cannot legally marry, FEMA considers them a couple and will only allow them to turn in one application for aid. If they turn in two, FEMA rejects them as fraudulent. And they are still finding bodies.
For the many that have paid for years for flood insurance, rather than spending time recovering from the disaster, they are now fighting with insurance companies over outdated mathematical formulas. It's a battle over Hurricane Katrina (a natural disaster) and poor levee design (a man-made disaster) that will ultimately show the value of their policies and whether they rebuild or move on. Independant science and engineer groups have stepped forward and stated that it was poor levee design and not Katrina, that caused the catastrophic damage. The final decision will make the difference as to how financially involved the federal government will be. FEMA is being raked over the coals as having too much money that hasn't been spent. All this while sandbagged levees still leak into the city, a testement of budget over lives.
The speed by which the rebuilding efforts take place is not only being affected by the cost, but to how much money is spent and more importantly where it will be spent. Many people, from government agencies, politicians to hundreds of residents met in November with the governor appointed "Louisiana Recovery Authority" to discuss the cleanup and rebuilding process. This "vision" of what New Orleans will be when recovered is a part of the plans. Mayor Nagin created the "Bring Back New Orleans Commision". The arguments over money continue. The state has asked for $250 billion dollars in recovery money, an amount met with virtual contempt and aligned with robbery. Editorial writers nicknamed it the "Louisiana Looter's Bill". FEMA cut off hotel payments on December 1st to encourage evacuees into using the deposit monies given them to move into permanent housing.
I can't see how this will all be paid for unless Congress raises our taxes or cuts spending on needed services. Forbid that pork barrel and gratuitous spending be eliminated. We are already burdened by the cost of war.
When Mayor Nagin appeared before Congress in an attempt to gain more support, the response to him was a cool one. A Republican aide's response has become the norm, "We want to see them helping themselves before they ask us for help."
I wonder how it is that Congress will "see" how the evacuees and residents of damaged areas are helping themselves. Many have been doing just that, from cleaning up their neighborhoods to helping others because they themselves have nothing left to clean.
Harry Anderson of "Night Court" fame has been holding meetings in his French Quarter nightclub for local residents. Up to one hundred people at a time have shown up for their Quarter's "town hall" type meetings and even local and FEMA representatives have braved the crowd. The group has made progress; in one instance getting the city to ease the curfew so that bars could remain open later to rebuild business. He and his wife had opened their side-by-side businesses two months before Katrina. At one meeting the conversation was about Mayor Nagin recently holding a town hall in Baton Rouge, garnering comments that there were more New Orleans residents living there than in New Orleans itself.
The health of the New Orleans healthcare system is by far it's largest problem to face yet. Medical records are missing or have been destroyed by floodwaters, the main treatment center moved onto a Naval ship (it was anchored near New Orleans as Katrina neared the city) after Katrina, then was moved to tents in the city is now housed in the New Orleans Convention Center, there is a substantial shortage of nursing, only 15% of the doctors have returned and the main trauma center for those badly injured is located in a neighboring parish. A victim can get into surgery in about an hour if they come in during "bankers hours".
Of the many problems to be addressed, the initial one most residents there now and the ones considering a return is the same, they want the levees rebuilt to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. The Army Corps of Engineers stated that the levees will be repaired before the next hurricane season. They also promised Mayor Nagin that they will be rebuilt to withstand a Category 3 storm "plus some", leading most to believe that they will just repair and improve some on what went wrong during Katrina. Improved levees are to be 17 feet high rather than the 12-13 feet high before Katrina. The reality of this is that most likely, the levees will never be rebuilt to withstand the force of a Category 5 storm. The cost will be exhorbitant and the many who might otherwise be financially involved will squawk because they won't get a decent return on their investment.
I find it interesting that it was initially predicted that even with a Category 3 storm, the storm surge would still come over the levees by 8-10 feet. Instead, Katrina was a Category 4 with up to a 30 foot storm surge, topping the levees by upwards of 10-12 feet of water. A Category 5 storm, even if the levees are raised to 17 feet, would still top them by almost 10 feet of storm surge.
Interesting that they are deepening the "bowl" that many did not or could not escape from. From my viewpoint, it is reasonable to believe that the cost of human life is not enough to re-engineer the levees, lands and the waterways surrounding them. Deepening the bowl is simply putting a bandage over an openly gangrenous wound that until properly cleaned and restored, will never heal.
I hope those who now hold the rebuilding of New Orleans in their hands, hear and remember the cries of the mothers that weep for the children they gave up to strangers as well as the cries of the people who lost those that they loved. Though all are equally responsible, it is the surviving children who are paying the ultimate price.
Continued.....
The Hurricane Blues Still Play In New Orleans Part 1
I can't imagine how New Orleans will recover but recover she will, bringing back Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras and (hopefully NOT) but likely, the corruption that it's famous for. Still, the magnitude of the devastation, including the human devestation, is enormous.
Three months have now past since the landfall of Hurricane Katrina. This season has brought not only a record number of hurricanes, but devastation and meaningless death. They are still finding bodies in New Orleans and all I can ask is, "Why?"
The total estimated cost of damages has exceeded $100 billion dollars, double that of the previous record after Hurricane Andrew. The number of displaced is estimated at over 1 million people, a human tragedy not seen since the Great Depression. America is already feeling the pain paying for a misplaced war and now must contend with paying for the human condition brought to full attention by this years hurricane season.
The timeline of events prior to the landfall (and some afterward) of Hurricane Katrina near New Orleans is what I find most interesting regarding the failure of the local and state government and of the people to evacuate New Orleans and the subsequent death toll afterward. I've "compressed" it here so you don't have to look it all up and my acerbic commentary is hilighted. It's not like the citizens of the Big Easy (and elsewhere) had no warning.
August 25, 2005 - Hurricane Katrina makes it's first landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Hallandale Beach, Florida along the Dade-Broward County line. Despite the change in direction, (the storm tracked south at first, instead of directly west as had been forecast) forecasters warned of the impending track across the Gulf of Mexico and a turn in direction to hit the coastal beaches of the South. (Okay, so here we have the first warning of impending doom to the South four days before Katrina hit near New Orleans. Although at this point it's a guess as to where it will exactly make landfall, it is known it will hit the coastal beaches of the South.)
August 26, 2005 - Hurricane Katrina drops in strength to a tropical storm and then picks back up becoming a hurricane again as it travels into the Gulf of Mexico. During the day, the governor declares a state of emergency for Louisiana and federal troops are deployed to co-ordinate a plan of operations with FEMA. By 11pm EDT, it is predicted that Hurricane Katrina will make landfall near Buras, Louisiana, east of New Orleans. (So let me get this straight, three days before landfall and now it's known where Katrina is going to hit as well as it being known it will gain strength, a state of emergency is called, troops asked to make a plan of operations with FEMA...anyone else confused by what happened to that?)
August 27, 2005 - Katrina reaches Category 3 strength. Five parishes call for it's citizens to at least voluntarily evacuate in some capacity. Some do not call for mandatory evacuation because they will not be setting up shelters. By evening, most have called for mandatory evacuation. It is important to note that at this time, during a press conference also attended by the Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin calls for the immediate evacuation of the low lying areas first, and for later evacuation of New Orleans proper, thus giving time for the low lying residents to leave and lessen the arterial congestion on the escape routes of the city. He also states he will be sticking to the city's evacuation plan. (Uh, what evacuation plan? The one discussed hundreds of years ago? Additionally, what wasn't understood about his next two comments? It seems to me they were easily understandable.)
"We want you to take this a little more seriously and start moving - right now as a matter of fact."
Later that evening, the mayor calls for voluntary evacuation of the city. Another note; he first brings up evacuation to the Superdome as a last resort for evacuees with special needs.
"No weapons, no large items, and bring small quantities of food for three or fours days, to be safe."
The potential for looting is commented on by Police Chief Eddie Compass and he states that he and Mayor Nagin will call a curfew at some point. He also states that officers will be posted at shopping centers to prevent looting. (Really? I imagine that there will be some kind of change in expected duties during disasters now. I don't fault officers for wanting to save their families. However, you would think that law enforcement personnel knowing the potential of this storm, would have planned ahead to ensure their families were evacuated earlier in order for them to concentrate on their duties, which is what they were hired to do and CHOSE to do by becoming a police officer.)
Governor Blanco also forwards a letter to President Bush in Crawford, TX requesting the immediate declaration of emergency for the state of Loisiana. The president declares the state of emergency.
Forcasters notify emergency officials in Louisiana that the storm is expected to intensify to Category 4 and possibly to Category 5. Scientists at Louisiana State University Hurricane Center state that even with only 114 mile an hour winds, the levees surrounding New Orleans will be overtopped by a 10-12 foot storm surge. (Okay, here we have the first notification that this is going to be an enormous storm. We also know that the levees were designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane. I'm certain even at this point, that I am not the only one thinking of Led Zepplin's "When The Levee Breaks".)
"This is really scary, this is not a test as your governor said. This is the real thing." National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield
"The bottom line is this is a worst-case scenario and everybody needs to recognize it. You can always rebuild your house, but you can never regain a life. And there's no point in risking your life and the lives of your children." Ivor Van Heerden, Scientist at the LSU Hurricane Center (I can't think of anything more important than ensuring the safety of children, housebound people and the infirm. There was still at least 30 hours before the storm and yet, how many people that were unable to move by their own means died? I don't care who said or did what! It was at this point that mandatory evacuations should have been ordered and buses at the ready!. Sure, you can't find and make everyone move out, but there would have been much less death had they truly had an evacuation plan at the ready. Everyone living in these areas knew that power would be lost, they knew that there would be flooding and theres no excuse for it, they knew the levees could fail! There is not one single person on this planet that can be blamed for this disaster. It was a collective failure of millions of people going back many decades who is to blame.)
August 28, 2005 - At 12:40am EDT, Hurricane Katrina reaches Category 4 and then just over 9 hours later, Category 5 strength. President Bush calls Governor Blanco stating he is very concerned and urges her (and Mayor Nagin) to call a mandatory evacuation. (Note: most all mandatory evacuations are called 30 hours before landfall. At the time of this telephone call, it was only 21 hours before estimated landfall This could not be a more blunt failure on the part of the governor and the mayor. Even a guy that many people think is an idiot could figure it out, or at least someone told him he should be concerned.).
At 10:00am EDT, the National Weather Service issues a bulletin predicting "devastating damage" and immediatley afterward, Mayor Nagin issues a mandatory evacuation for New Orleans. It comes only 18 hours before estimated landfall. Two hours later, the Superdome is opened as a "refuge of last resort".
President Bush declares states of emergency for Alabama and Mississippi, and major disaster in Florida.
Governor Blanco makes arrangements with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for National Guard reinforcements, however, the federal authorities do not push through the required authorization until September 1st. (WTF?)
August 29, 2005 - At 7:10am EDT, Katrina makes landfall near Buras, Louisiana with 145 mph winds. By 9:00am EDT, the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans most impoverished and lowest area is flooded with 6-8 feet of storm surge waters. By 10:00am EDT, Katrina makes it's third landfall near Pearlington, MS.
At 10:00am MST (12:00pm EDT) President Bush makes a statement from the Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort and Country Club in El Mirage, Arizona where he is making an appearance at a Medicare event,
"I want to thank the governors of the affected regions for mobilizing assets prior to the arrival of the storm to help citizens avoid this devastating storm."
He also briefly mentions a conversation with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, during his talk about illegal immigrants:
"I spoke to Michael Chertoff today, he's the head of the Department of Homeland Security. I knew people would want me to discuss this issue, so we got us an airplane on - a telephone on Air Force One, so I called him. I said, are you working with the governor? He said, you bet we are. That's the most effective way to do things, is to work with the state and local authorities. There are more rescources that will be available, we'll have more folks on the border, there will be more detention space to make sure that those who are stopped trying to illegally enter our country are able to be detained." (Okay, so what happened to the prior mobilization? What happened to that concern? And what a way to switch topics! ADDers like me don't even have it down that stellar! Again, WTF?)
At 3:00pm EDT, New Orleans officials confirm the first breach at the 17th Street Canal. At 4:00pm EDT, at statement by New Orleans Homeland Security Director Terry Ebbertt;
"Everybody who had a way or wanted to get out of the way from this storm was able to." (Indeed! By whose standards, yours? Do you have nightmares of dead people in wheelchairs and hospital beds? Do the dead children talk in your sleep?)
Governor Blanco orders 68 school buses from surrounding, unflooded parishes to evacuate those left in the city. (Rather late considering that there were plenty of buses in the city that could have been used days before they were flooded and unusable. How many new school buses will America have to buy governor? And will that teenager that "stole" a school bus and drove, uh actually saved people's lives and got them to Houston, is it still being considered that he be charged? You know, since he was capable of doing everyone elses job, which they get paid for and he doesn't!)
From the AP wire;
"FEMA director Brown also urged local fire and rescue departments outside Louisiana, Alabama and Mississpi to to not send trucks or emergency workers into disaster areas without an explicit request for help from state or local governments." Brown sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff five hours after landfall to activate 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region. Brown acknowledges that this process will take two days. Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic event" but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our repsonsibilities." (I can't even begin to comment on this without the possibility of defamation charges. He did the right thing in stepping down. I hope Bush realizes now that doing favors for your buddies is a costly move, but I doubt it seeing as he didn't learn anything from the Reagan years.)
At 5:40pm EDT, President Bush talks about Medicare at a visit in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. (Nothing like a national disaster to keep things on track! YES! I do mean "national" because we are all going to end up paying for this debacle!)
August 30, 2005 - President Bush visits a Naval Medical Center in San Diego and also makes a speech elsewhere on base commemorating the September 2 Japanese surrender during World War II. (Yep, I find it almost completely disgusting in the sickest sort of way, how the President can still be focused on Medicare and the end of WWII while thousands of people are dying right near his own backyard.)
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff becomes aware that the three breeches in the levees around New Orleans cannot be plugged. (And hundreds of years of history, and prior requests for additional monies to repair and shore up the levees told him this when?)
Senator David Vitter (R-LA) briefs the press;
" I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening." (Mind you, he later took exception to Senator Barbara Boxer "scaring" his constituents with her comments during hearings on repairing New Orleans. She had accurately described the flood waters in the Big Easy as a "toxic soup" with a "layer of sludge" that had caused illness and death. Way to go Vitter! Nothing like a positive attitude to snake-charm money and aid out of your freinds while many of the people who may have voted you into office [and who you represent regardless of how they voted] don't even live in the state anymore!)
80 percent of New Orleans is under water. Many instances of looting, including by police officers, was being reported in New Orleans. FEMA refuses to allow volunteer firefighters into New Orleans. (Yeah! Nevermind that there were firefighters trapped in New Orleans while attending a convention and couldn't get out ahead of Katrina. They approached law enforcement and military to volunteer, only to have weapons brandished at them and told to leave, had to resort to stealing food to survive and ended up on the same buses as the refugees. Go figure! While all this is going on, a number of police officers deserted their posts and were involved in the looting. A super power country at it's finest hour!)
August 31, 2005 - Governor Blanco orders all of New Orleans, including the Superdome evacuated because of continuing federal delays in authorizing the arrival of National Guard troops from other states and flooding reaching the Superdome. Using her Executive Powers, she commandeers buses numbering in the hundreds to eventually evacuate more than 15,000 people. (What happened to the federal troops who were supposed to work with FEMA prior to the storm? And this comes two days after Katrina?)
President Bush flys over the devastation on his way back to Washington after vacationing in Crawford, TX. (Nothing like some R&R to work out the kinks of stumping for Medicare. Of course, he had to stop in and assess what would be needed at the ranch to take care of the refugees he put up. Nothing like a caring president. What's that you say Kanye?)
The first supplies arrive at the Superdome. In an interview with ABC, President Bush states,
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breech of the levees. They did appreciate a serious storm...."
(There has been much speculation regarding the breeching of the levees after Katrina. Although officials did cite the seriousness of storm surge coming over the levees, not much was mentioned regarding the potential for them to be breeched even right before landfall. I'm not defending Bush, I'm simply stating fact. In other words, through hundreds of years of history and speculation, right before the most devastating hurricane in America's history [which was Category 4 on second landfall and remember, prior to landfall and while still gaining strength over the Gulf of Mexico it was stated that it could reach Category 5 and did], everyone forgot that the levees that were designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, could fail. Oops.)
September 1, 2005 - The Houston Astrodome is full to capacity and could no longer accept refugees.
I want to end this timeline on a very disturbing point. Although I am grateful to these people, I want to point out the complete failure on the part of the U.S. to address the seriousness of the pre-planning needed for relief efforts prior to this storm;
According to Louisiana State Senator Walter Boasso, a Canadian Search and Rescue Team from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (that's on the west coast just north of Washington State) arrived 5 days before the U.S. Army to help with the relief efforts.
Let me state this again, the Canadians, who are approximately 2,200 miles away from New Orleans, can't land in New Orleans because the airports are closed and still arrived five days before the U.S. Army did. These people were attached to the Louisiana State Patrol and the National Guard, and went to and worked in St. Bernard's Parish, one of the the most devastated areas in the entire disaster zone because they took a direct hit.
A comment from their website, Vancouver Search and Rescue from Team Leader Tim Armstrong:
"People have expressed how they can't believe that a Canadian team is here to rally to their needs."
Thank you Canada!
I want readers here to understand something. I'm not bashing in any way, the valiant and honorable efforts by those Americans who worked endless days and nights in the relief efforts. All of these people deserve the highest regard and honor for working in incredible heat and humidity with little food or water, little to no sanitation and healthcare, let alone mental health and did so without regard to their own health and safety.
NO
What I'm completely aghast about is the blame game that occured after the tragedy began to unfold before us and how easy it was to forget how fragile New Orleans and the surrounding areas were. Again, this tragedy was hundreds of years in the making and these people, from the federal administration on down to those who lived there knew this could happen and did virtually little to nothing to prepare.
Continued.....
Three months have now past since the landfall of Hurricane Katrina. This season has brought not only a record number of hurricanes, but devastation and meaningless death. They are still finding bodies in New Orleans and all I can ask is, "Why?"
The total estimated cost of damages has exceeded $100 billion dollars, double that of the previous record after Hurricane Andrew. The number of displaced is estimated at over 1 million people, a human tragedy not seen since the Great Depression. America is already feeling the pain paying for a misplaced war and now must contend with paying for the human condition brought to full attention by this years hurricane season.
The timeline of events prior to the landfall (and some afterward) of Hurricane Katrina near New Orleans is what I find most interesting regarding the failure of the local and state government and of the people to evacuate New Orleans and the subsequent death toll afterward. I've "compressed" it here so you don't have to look it all up and my acerbic commentary is hilighted. It's not like the citizens of the Big Easy (and elsewhere) had no warning.
August 25, 2005 - Hurricane Katrina makes it's first landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Hallandale Beach, Florida along the Dade-Broward County line. Despite the change in direction, (the storm tracked south at first, instead of directly west as had been forecast) forecasters warned of the impending track across the Gulf of Mexico and a turn in direction to hit the coastal beaches of the South. (Okay, so here we have the first warning of impending doom to the South four days before Katrina hit near New Orleans. Although at this point it's a guess as to where it will exactly make landfall, it is known it will hit the coastal beaches of the South.)
August 26, 2005 - Hurricane Katrina drops in strength to a tropical storm and then picks back up becoming a hurricane again as it travels into the Gulf of Mexico. During the day, the governor declares a state of emergency for Louisiana and federal troops are deployed to co-ordinate a plan of operations with FEMA. By 11pm EDT, it is predicted that Hurricane Katrina will make landfall near Buras, Louisiana, east of New Orleans. (So let me get this straight, three days before landfall and now it's known where Katrina is going to hit as well as it being known it will gain strength, a state of emergency is called, troops asked to make a plan of operations with FEMA...anyone else confused by what happened to that?)
August 27, 2005 - Katrina reaches Category 3 strength. Five parishes call for it's citizens to at least voluntarily evacuate in some capacity. Some do not call for mandatory evacuation because they will not be setting up shelters. By evening, most have called for mandatory evacuation. It is important to note that at this time, during a press conference also attended by the Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin calls for the immediate evacuation of the low lying areas first, and for later evacuation of New Orleans proper, thus giving time for the low lying residents to leave and lessen the arterial congestion on the escape routes of the city. He also states he will be sticking to the city's evacuation plan. (Uh, what evacuation plan? The one discussed hundreds of years ago? Additionally, what wasn't understood about his next two comments? It seems to me they were easily understandable.)
"We want you to take this a little more seriously and start moving - right now as a matter of fact."
Later that evening, the mayor calls for voluntary evacuation of the city. Another note; he first brings up evacuation to the Superdome as a last resort for evacuees with special needs.
"No weapons, no large items, and bring small quantities of food for three or fours days, to be safe."
The potential for looting is commented on by Police Chief Eddie Compass and he states that he and Mayor Nagin will call a curfew at some point. He also states that officers will be posted at shopping centers to prevent looting. (Really? I imagine that there will be some kind of change in expected duties during disasters now. I don't fault officers for wanting to save their families. However, you would think that law enforcement personnel knowing the potential of this storm, would have planned ahead to ensure their families were evacuated earlier in order for them to concentrate on their duties, which is what they were hired to do and CHOSE to do by becoming a police officer.)
Governor Blanco also forwards a letter to President Bush in Crawford, TX requesting the immediate declaration of emergency for the state of Loisiana. The president declares the state of emergency.
Forcasters notify emergency officials in Louisiana that the storm is expected to intensify to Category 4 and possibly to Category 5. Scientists at Louisiana State University Hurricane Center state that even with only 114 mile an hour winds, the levees surrounding New Orleans will be overtopped by a 10-12 foot storm surge. (Okay, here we have the first notification that this is going to be an enormous storm. We also know that the levees were designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane. I'm certain even at this point, that I am not the only one thinking of Led Zepplin's "When The Levee Breaks".)
"This is really scary, this is not a test as your governor said. This is the real thing." National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield
"The bottom line is this is a worst-case scenario and everybody needs to recognize it. You can always rebuild your house, but you can never regain a life. And there's no point in risking your life and the lives of your children." Ivor Van Heerden, Scientist at the LSU Hurricane Center (I can't think of anything more important than ensuring the safety of children, housebound people and the infirm. There was still at least 30 hours before the storm and yet, how many people that were unable to move by their own means died? I don't care who said or did what! It was at this point that mandatory evacuations should have been ordered and buses at the ready!. Sure, you can't find and make everyone move out, but there would have been much less death had they truly had an evacuation plan at the ready. Everyone living in these areas knew that power would be lost, they knew that there would be flooding and theres no excuse for it, they knew the levees could fail! There is not one single person on this planet that can be blamed for this disaster. It was a collective failure of millions of people going back many decades who is to blame.)
August 28, 2005 - At 12:40am EDT, Hurricane Katrina reaches Category 4 and then just over 9 hours later, Category 5 strength. President Bush calls Governor Blanco stating he is very concerned and urges her (and Mayor Nagin) to call a mandatory evacuation. (Note: most all mandatory evacuations are called 30 hours before landfall. At the time of this telephone call, it was only 21 hours before estimated landfall This could not be a more blunt failure on the part of the governor and the mayor. Even a guy that many people think is an idiot could figure it out, or at least someone told him he should be concerned.).
At 10:00am EDT, the National Weather Service issues a bulletin predicting "devastating damage" and immediatley afterward, Mayor Nagin issues a mandatory evacuation for New Orleans. It comes only 18 hours before estimated landfall. Two hours later, the Superdome is opened as a "refuge of last resort".
President Bush declares states of emergency for Alabama and Mississippi, and major disaster in Florida.
Governor Blanco makes arrangements with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for National Guard reinforcements, however, the federal authorities do not push through the required authorization until September 1st. (WTF?)
August 29, 2005 - At 7:10am EDT, Katrina makes landfall near Buras, Louisiana with 145 mph winds. By 9:00am EDT, the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans most impoverished and lowest area is flooded with 6-8 feet of storm surge waters. By 10:00am EDT, Katrina makes it's third landfall near Pearlington, MS.
At 10:00am MST (12:00pm EDT) President Bush makes a statement from the Pueblo El Mirage RV Resort and Country Club in El Mirage, Arizona where he is making an appearance at a Medicare event,
"I want to thank the governors of the affected regions for mobilizing assets prior to the arrival of the storm to help citizens avoid this devastating storm."
He also briefly mentions a conversation with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, during his talk about illegal immigrants:
"I spoke to Michael Chertoff today, he's the head of the Department of Homeland Security. I knew people would want me to discuss this issue, so we got us an airplane on - a telephone on Air Force One, so I called him. I said, are you working with the governor? He said, you bet we are. That's the most effective way to do things, is to work with the state and local authorities. There are more rescources that will be available, we'll have more folks on the border, there will be more detention space to make sure that those who are stopped trying to illegally enter our country are able to be detained." (Okay, so what happened to the prior mobilization? What happened to that concern? And what a way to switch topics! ADDers like me don't even have it down that stellar! Again, WTF?)
At 3:00pm EDT, New Orleans officials confirm the first breach at the 17th Street Canal. At 4:00pm EDT, at statement by New Orleans Homeland Security Director Terry Ebbertt;
"Everybody who had a way or wanted to get out of the way from this storm was able to." (Indeed! By whose standards, yours? Do you have nightmares of dead people in wheelchairs and hospital beds? Do the dead children talk in your sleep?)
Governor Blanco orders 68 school buses from surrounding, unflooded parishes to evacuate those left in the city. (Rather late considering that there were plenty of buses in the city that could have been used days before they were flooded and unusable. How many new school buses will America have to buy governor? And will that teenager that "stole" a school bus and drove, uh actually saved people's lives and got them to Houston, is it still being considered that he be charged? You know, since he was capable of doing everyone elses job, which they get paid for and he doesn't!)
From the AP wire;
"FEMA director Brown also urged local fire and rescue departments outside Louisiana, Alabama and Mississpi to to not send trucks or emergency workers into disaster areas without an explicit request for help from state or local governments." Brown sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff five hours after landfall to activate 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region. Brown acknowledges that this process will take two days. Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic event" but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our repsonsibilities." (I can't even begin to comment on this without the possibility of defamation charges. He did the right thing in stepping down. I hope Bush realizes now that doing favors for your buddies is a costly move, but I doubt it seeing as he didn't learn anything from the Reagan years.)
At 5:40pm EDT, President Bush talks about Medicare at a visit in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. (Nothing like a national disaster to keep things on track! YES! I do mean "national" because we are all going to end up paying for this debacle!)
August 30, 2005 - President Bush visits a Naval Medical Center in San Diego and also makes a speech elsewhere on base commemorating the September 2 Japanese surrender during World War II. (Yep, I find it almost completely disgusting in the sickest sort of way, how the President can still be focused on Medicare and the end of WWII while thousands of people are dying right near his own backyard.)
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff becomes aware that the three breeches in the levees around New Orleans cannot be plugged. (And hundreds of years of history, and prior requests for additional monies to repair and shore up the levees told him this when?)
Senator David Vitter (R-LA) briefs the press;
" I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening." (Mind you, he later took exception to Senator Barbara Boxer "scaring" his constituents with her comments during hearings on repairing New Orleans. She had accurately described the flood waters in the Big Easy as a "toxic soup" with a "layer of sludge" that had caused illness and death. Way to go Vitter! Nothing like a positive attitude to snake-charm money and aid out of your freinds while many of the people who may have voted you into office [and who you represent regardless of how they voted] don't even live in the state anymore!)
80 percent of New Orleans is under water. Many instances of looting, including by police officers, was being reported in New Orleans. FEMA refuses to allow volunteer firefighters into New Orleans. (Yeah! Nevermind that there were firefighters trapped in New Orleans while attending a convention and couldn't get out ahead of Katrina. They approached law enforcement and military to volunteer, only to have weapons brandished at them and told to leave, had to resort to stealing food to survive and ended up on the same buses as the refugees. Go figure! While all this is going on, a number of police officers deserted their posts and were involved in the looting. A super power country at it's finest hour!)
August 31, 2005 - Governor Blanco orders all of New Orleans, including the Superdome evacuated because of continuing federal delays in authorizing the arrival of National Guard troops from other states and flooding reaching the Superdome. Using her Executive Powers, she commandeers buses numbering in the hundreds to eventually evacuate more than 15,000 people. (What happened to the federal troops who were supposed to work with FEMA prior to the storm? And this comes two days after Katrina?)
President Bush flys over the devastation on his way back to Washington after vacationing in Crawford, TX. (Nothing like some R&R to work out the kinks of stumping for Medicare. Of course, he had to stop in and assess what would be needed at the ranch to take care of the refugees he put up. Nothing like a caring president. What's that you say Kanye?)
The first supplies arrive at the Superdome. In an interview with ABC, President Bush states,
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breech of the levees. They did appreciate a serious storm...."
(There has been much speculation regarding the breeching of the levees after Katrina. Although officials did cite the seriousness of storm surge coming over the levees, not much was mentioned regarding the potential for them to be breeched even right before landfall. I'm not defending Bush, I'm simply stating fact. In other words, through hundreds of years of history and speculation, right before the most devastating hurricane in America's history [which was Category 4 on second landfall and remember, prior to landfall and while still gaining strength over the Gulf of Mexico it was stated that it could reach Category 5 and did], everyone forgot that the levees that were designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, could fail. Oops.)
September 1, 2005 - The Houston Astrodome is full to capacity and could no longer accept refugees.
I want to end this timeline on a very disturbing point. Although I am grateful to these people, I want to point out the complete failure on the part of the U.S. to address the seriousness of the pre-planning needed for relief efforts prior to this storm;
According to Louisiana State Senator Walter Boasso, a Canadian Search and Rescue Team from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (that's on the west coast just north of Washington State) arrived 5 days before the U.S. Army to help with the relief efforts.
Let me state this again, the Canadians, who are approximately 2,200 miles away from New Orleans, can't land in New Orleans because the airports are closed and still arrived five days before the U.S. Army did. These people were attached to the Louisiana State Patrol and the National Guard, and went to and worked in St. Bernard's Parish, one of the the most devastated areas in the entire disaster zone because they took a direct hit.
A comment from their website, Vancouver Search and Rescue from Team Leader Tim Armstrong:
"People have expressed how they can't believe that a Canadian team is here to rally to their needs."
Thank you Canada!
I want readers here to understand something. I'm not bashing in any way, the valiant and honorable efforts by those Americans who worked endless days and nights in the relief efforts. All of these people deserve the highest regard and honor for working in incredible heat and humidity with little food or water, little to no sanitation and healthcare, let alone mental health and did so without regard to their own health and safety.
NO
What I'm completely aghast about is the blame game that occured after the tragedy began to unfold before us and how easy it was to forget how fragile New Orleans and the surrounding areas were. Again, this tragedy was hundreds of years in the making and these people, from the federal administration on down to those who lived there knew this could happen and did virtually little to nothing to prepare.
Continued.....
17 September 2005
Roots of Disaster - The Arrogance Begins
The Founding "Fathers" of the South could have imagined this scenario.
However, it wasnt as important as the money that could be made and the ease in which those wanting to become rich from it ignored the evidence.
Many allegations have been flying from many directions as to whose responsibility it was to safeguard the people of the South who ultimately became the victims and survivors of Hurricane Katrina. While it's easy to point fingers at certain individuals or entities, the bigger picture is hardly being brought up. The fact is that this catastrophe has been hundreds of years in the making and America will be vilified for it, both nationally and internationally for years to come.
It's very upsetting to watch the news and realize that many smaller towns and cities have been wiped off the face of the planet, but New Orleans, which fared slightly "better", has the immediate gluttony of the media. To understand why, I had to understand why and how New Orleans was built where it was to begin with.
The Creation of La Nouvelle-Orleans
In a nutshell; in 1718 when the French founded what became New Orleans they had in mind the same ideals that any other likeminded business person had which was commerce and wealth. It didnt take long to figure out that with the enormous size of the Mississipi River, there would be a vast amount of goods that could be shipped downriver for trade. A port needed to be built that could handle such a large amount of trade. It was believed that anyone building such a port would become very wealthy and that the commerce that sprung up around it would create additional wealth.
The problem in building New Orleans was that anyone building there had some mighty big competition, namely nature and weather. The Mississippi Delta was a constantly changing land/water mass assisted in no small part by the flucuations of the weather and although this new port was almost 100 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, it too would would be affected by the constantly shifting geography.
Herein lies the amazing ingenuity that ultimately became the trap that is New Orleans. Engineers figured out how to drain the swampland and divert the bodies of water around the fledgling port.
Since the mid-19th century, hundreds of miles of canals and levees have been built (aided by pumps beginning in the 1910's), to drain and hold back the waters of the mighty Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain. Each time the levees have been added to or "reworked" they have become higher and eventually taller than the city itself. Thus creating the "bowl" in which the city of New Orleans has trapped itself.
Knowing this, it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out that the potential for disaster was created long before the current federal, state and local officials were in place.
Nothing in the world is as soft and yeilding as water,
Yet nothing can better overcome the hard and strong,
For they can neither control nor do away with it.
The soft overcomes the hard,
The yielding overcomes the strong,
Every person knows this,
Yet no one can practice it.
Who attends to the people would control the land and grain,
Who attends to the state would control the whole world,
Truth is easily hidden by rhetoric.
Tao Te Ching (passage #78) by Lao Tzu who wrote it over 2500 years ago.
However, it wasnt as important as the money that could be made and the ease in which those wanting to become rich from it ignored the evidence.
Many allegations have been flying from many directions as to whose responsibility it was to safeguard the people of the South who ultimately became the victims and survivors of Hurricane Katrina. While it's easy to point fingers at certain individuals or entities, the bigger picture is hardly being brought up. The fact is that this catastrophe has been hundreds of years in the making and America will be vilified for it, both nationally and internationally for years to come.
It's very upsetting to watch the news and realize that many smaller towns and cities have been wiped off the face of the planet, but New Orleans, which fared slightly "better", has the immediate gluttony of the media. To understand why, I had to understand why and how New Orleans was built where it was to begin with.
The Creation of La Nouvelle-Orleans
In a nutshell; in 1718 when the French founded what became New Orleans they had in mind the same ideals that any other likeminded business person had which was commerce and wealth. It didnt take long to figure out that with the enormous size of the Mississipi River, there would be a vast amount of goods that could be shipped downriver for trade. A port needed to be built that could handle such a large amount of trade. It was believed that anyone building such a port would become very wealthy and that the commerce that sprung up around it would create additional wealth.
The problem in building New Orleans was that anyone building there had some mighty big competition, namely nature and weather. The Mississippi Delta was a constantly changing land/water mass assisted in no small part by the flucuations of the weather and although this new port was almost 100 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, it too would would be affected by the constantly shifting geography.
Herein lies the amazing ingenuity that ultimately became the trap that is New Orleans. Engineers figured out how to drain the swampland and divert the bodies of water around the fledgling port.
Since the mid-19th century, hundreds of miles of canals and levees have been built (aided by pumps beginning in the 1910's), to drain and hold back the waters of the mighty Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain. Each time the levees have been added to or "reworked" they have become higher and eventually taller than the city itself. Thus creating the "bowl" in which the city of New Orleans has trapped itself.
Knowing this, it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out that the potential for disaster was created long before the current federal, state and local officials were in place.
Nothing in the world is as soft and yeilding as water,
Yet nothing can better overcome the hard and strong,
For they can neither control nor do away with it.
The soft overcomes the hard,
The yielding overcomes the strong,
Every person knows this,
Yet no one can practice it.
Who attends to the people would control the land and grain,
Who attends to the state would control the whole world,
Truth is easily hidden by rhetoric.
Tao Te Ching (passage #78) by Lao Tzu who wrote it over 2500 years ago.
Hurricane Katrina - America's Failure
Watching the tragedy unfold in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has been a lesson in humility. I already had my doubts as to the claims of America being the "superpower" and now to see the proof unfolding before my eyes, I don't want to believe it.
This isn't a meer failing to heed warnings of impending destruction. This is the blatant ignorance of a Nation that believes itself to be unconquerable only to allow it's own people to die because of this belief.
I can't hold back my feelings about this ignorance, this arrogance any longer.
This wasn't a failure of just any individual or group, not even close. It was the failure of an entire nation of people. Nature has proven what no scientist, no professor, no terrorist could ever prove before; that for hundreds of years America has thrown money and excuses at weaknesses it didnt want to acknowledge existed. The problem is that America can reverse this cycle of self-destruction if it wants to. Through a tragic series of events even the world sees what many Americans refuse to acknowledge.
America must acknowledge that it can easily become the Rome of the modern age.
This isn't a meer failing to heed warnings of impending destruction. This is the blatant ignorance of a Nation that believes itself to be unconquerable only to allow it's own people to die because of this belief.
I can't hold back my feelings about this ignorance, this arrogance any longer.
This wasn't a failure of just any individual or group, not even close. It was the failure of an entire nation of people. Nature has proven what no scientist, no professor, no terrorist could ever prove before; that for hundreds of years America has thrown money and excuses at weaknesses it didnt want to acknowledge existed. The problem is that America can reverse this cycle of self-destruction if it wants to. Through a tragic series of events even the world sees what many Americans refuse to acknowledge.
America must acknowledge that it can easily become the Rome of the modern age.
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