(I posted this on a blog, but you all can feel free to dogpile on and help correct my info)
[eta, I'm going to subtitle it "Don't let facts confuse your emotions in a crisis like this!"]


First, General Honore should probably be promoted for his efforts in the aftermath of the N.O. shitstorm.  

Having said that, if you know a faster way to get 20,000 military troops scattered over several states loaded, packed up, with their supplies, emergency supplies, transported through clogged transportation ways (you do realize that the rest of the area has suffered quite a bit of damage right? Oh and weather was making air travel difficult), and shoved into New Orleans proper, in a quicker time, without shooting people or in an otherwise unsafe manner, please run for office.  Please. Please. Please.  

Apparently some folks think that moving that many folks with supplies could have been accomplished within a 48 hour time span, saving the city of New Orleans from the ensuing chaos and squallor.

Bullshit.  

Last saturday (August somethingth), Bush declared a state of emergency for the Gulf Coast area.  Before the storm hit.  State Governors can use that mandate to call up National Guard troops...and request them from other states, even.  Prior to that, some minor planning had occured, but without knowing that severe problems would occur (and you didn't know they would either, don't kid yourself), major preparations were not made.  Plus until just under one week prior, there was no way to know where Katrina was headed.  Hurricanes are funny like that...they occasionally change direction.  They also change from hurricanes to storms to nothing at times.  But I'm sure your meterology skills are far better than mine and I'm just preaching to the chior here.  

In reality, we had 3 days (Weather service warned Cat. 4 Hurricane inbound to N.O./Gulf Coast area that Friday) of potential emergency preparation to do something.  In that time, 7,000 National Guard troops were called up (in the Gulf Coast area--not just N.O).  The local governments strongly recommended that citizens leave New Orleans.  People went crazy trying to 'prepare' at the last minute.  The Superdome was announced as a potential shelter for anyone who couldn't make it out of New Orleans.  

[side note: I am curious to know what preparations were made at the Superdome for the folks who were going there.  What numbers were they expecting?  For how long?  Not that it really matters, but that was probably an oversight by someone in Washington I'm sure.]

So there were some preparations made based on info available at the time.  Even federally.  

Katrina then came, fucked shit up, and went.  In the aftermath, it was apparent that New Orleans wasn't in good shape. Duh.  How bad of shape wasn't even certain until at least 24 hours later.

At that point, several companies of close National Guard soldiers were already meandering to N.O.  The Superdome was taking on folks who hadn't evacuated and hadn't prepared properly.  

Then some pumping stations failed.  If you haven't heard (I know you have, of course), New Orleans is the city under sea level.  To stay mostly dry, they are forced to pump water that seeps in from the ground, river, lake, and ocean nearby out of the area.  Katrina dumped an metric assload of water into that equation, along with throwing power and other utilities offline, debris to the drains, and crap all over.  So a pump failed and subsequently some flooding started occuring.

Then some levees broke.  In emergency situations, this sort of thing happens.  In airplanes it's called stress fractures or fatigue when parts fail.  Cars occasionaly lose parts or just become old junkers when they aren't kept up.  So levees not holding was now the next big fun thing.  It's not unexpected, the Army Corps of Engineers has known this was a problem in the area for nearly 20 years.  They've been trying to help where they can, but in that time span (not, as you might be incorrectly led to believe, 4 years), they've not gotten the money to fix or replace the existing system.  

So now you've got flooding, no power (always happens in storms, who would have thought), no sanitation/sewage (trouble with underwater cities).  A large number of folks who chose not to evacuate have instead moved to the Superdome, or the N.O. Convention center.  There's no power.  The local area surrounding you is offline for the same reasons--weather's screwed up phones, power, etc.

Now, even as late as Monday night, reports were still changing their stories about what really was going on--flooding in some places, no flooding in areas reported underwater, etc.

It's Tuesday morning, and you are in charge. You've heard that New Orleans is having some problems.  You hear that the local National Guard has responded.  State officials are marshalling their forces as well.  The Army Corps of Engineers is on their way to investigate the levees and try to repair them.  So now what?  

Well, more Soldiers.  Active duty Marines were called for.  National Guard units were called up.  The amount of active duty personnel that can be moved from one location to another is limited--a base of 5,000 can't send all 5,000 by any stretch of the imagination.  1/2 to 2/3 would be more likely of a response.  NG units if you didn't already know get 'activated' in a 24 hour time span.  This is your coworker, neighbor, golf buddy, whatever...not a soldier on base somewhere.  They get called up, they have to give notice to whoever and respond to their local base.  The activated NG troops start arriving Tuesday.  Marines Thursday in places.  More NG units in that time span as well, as they could get from wherever to N.O.

Navy help is even more fun, a vessel takes up to two DAYS (48 hours) to replenish, refuel, prep for voyage, and leave port.  Let's see, there were two ships there Thursday.  That means they would have left...oh! Tuesday or so to have arrived in that time frame--maybe earlier, according to some reports, but due to the Hurricane they probably wouldn't have been in the Gulf before Monday night.  

Maybe some Coast Guard guys would be a good thing.  Of course, they were there....on Tuesday.  More have since arrived, nearly 15,000 Coasties and counting.  

FEMA is already out and about doing their thing, trying to wrangle supplies into place.  But they're hamstrung by lack of passable routes and the rest of the south being in sorry shape.  Plus they have to respond to everyone they can, not just N.O.  They start to arrive Tuesday.

Wednesday rolls around and it's apparent that food, water,  and sanitation are problematic for folks in shelters.  Evacuation is going to be necessary.  Who ya gonna call?  Ghostbusters?  Right.  Maybe folks with means to move people, like bus drivers?  Oh, the local ones are all in no shape to drive. That's right.  Maybe a train?  Hm, no, not looking like it'll make it to N.O. right now.  Airplanes?  Considering that the airport is closed, that's not going to fly.  Boat?  Nope, no way to get transportation for that many considering a fair chunk of the city wasn't flooded.  And they'd probably refused to have walked down to the docks through the flooded areas anyways (wisely).

Thursday, more help is starting to arrive.  Friday, folks are being evacuated en masse.  And today the Superdome is emptied of evacuees, with convention center nearing the same.

Thursday, Jesse Jackson weighed in.  Al Sharpton.  The Mayor of N.O.  Michael Moron today.  Along with a number of (democratic, so far) Congressfolks asking "why it took so long".  We should just call them The Usual Suspects.

I'm sure their efforts would have resulted in an orderly evacuation of New Orleans well ahead of Katrina, of course.  Actually in their minds this wouldn't have been a problem--the levess would have been upgraded 3.5 years ago, the pumping stations rebuilt about then, emergency supplies in pre-designated areas.  

It is of course, worth noting that the federal government has been asking you, dear citizen, to have a 72-hour emergency kit on hand for...hm...Four years, almost to the nose.  I trust you have yours?  

It is terrifically easy to criticize.  It seems to be an expected response that is being nurtured and furthered by the usual whiners and their mindless underlings.  Instead of focusing on how to improve the next time or even help this time, they focus on irrelevant shit that would have made minimal difference in the events that have unfolded over the last week.  Now, as we are ALL aware, that when a President vacations, he cuts himself off from events worldwide and closes a blind eye to the goings on outside of his locale.  And if you do believe that, I have some seaside property to sell you in Idaho.  

It is shortsighted to lay blame in the wake of a natural disaster, but some asshats in the media and social wannabes are doing their best to try.  Their efforts would be better spent shoveling shit.  With a shovel, though, instead of their mouths.

thank you

Kick ASS!

Great read!

ive said it before, and ill say it again

A-MEN

Well put!

That about sums it up.  There was a female DJ on a local radio station here that said this whole hurricane thing was Bush's fault...you know...with the global warming and all creating these hurricanes.  

Thanks...I just get sick of hearing folks repeat the tripe they hear on the tv and radio all the farking time without thinking. Oh well.

The City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana knew that this would happen when NOLA got hit by a Cat4/Cat5 hurricane for the past 40 years. They only prepared for a Cat3. They could spend money building a new casino for jobs & tourism, but did nothing to prepare for this event for 40 fucking years.  NOLA did nothing about upgrading the pumping system that uses some antiquated shit from the turn of the century. They did a half ass attempt to build a second evacuation route out by extending I-49 from Lafayette through Morgan City to the west side of NOLA.  But thanks to the Sierra Club's law suit to protect endangered cypress tree knees that were somehow important to the ecology of alligators and brown pelicans, this was stopped. So, they were corked in a shithole with no way out, no protection from the flooding, and no preparations to stay.

And the people of the area laughed about it. Ask them about the phrase, "We're not scared of hurricanes, we drink them." The only reason that this question isn't being asked because it would show the political corrupton in that socialist shithole and couldn't be cast upon Bush.

They knew what to do and the consequences of inaction but did nothing anyway??

Sorry, sounds like they got what they deserved.

wganz
¶

So, which of these dummycrap complainers is on record as having called for Federal troops to be sent in before the hurricane hit?

nice