I've Had All I Can Stand, I Can't Stands No More

Sorry for not blogging lately...I seem to suffer from the problem of indecision when faced with so many things that come to or get my attention. The end result is that I write about nothing. My wife Kelli, who follows news and talk radio more than I (she's lucky enough to work at home) has become so insensed following the week long blamefest after Katrina that she sat and wrote the following.

What happened to New Orleans?
I keep hearing more crap from officials and talk radio. Do you know why everyone is spurting out crap? It’s because they’re all scared in one capacity or another. They’re all protecting their own interests. God love Rush and Sean Hannity, but they are protecting the reputation of the president and bringing down all Louisiana officials. (BTW Rush, your commentaries were dead on today, Tuesday September 6) Mayor Nagin is protecting his own neck. Kathleen Blanco seems purely dumbfounded and isn’t doing much to protect anything. Don’t even get me started on the brother and sister team of Landrieu and Landrieu. After this they’ve both shut up. They’re scared speechless. Jesse Jackson sees scared African Americans as an opportunity. He’s promoting his interests and politicizing the entire event.

Let’s put all this aside to analyze what is going on and why, no matter how prepared we are this probably will happen again. I’m going to give you the low down. Why do I know this? Because I worked from 1995 – 1997 to educate, as the Public Relations Assistant through the ARC, about hurricane evacuations. I sat in meetings with the Corps of Engineers. I saw the animated images created to show what would happen to New Orleans if hit. I was there. I lived in New Orleans. What you will read below is fact.

One: What actually was the disaster or disasters?
A hurricane hit the Gulf Coast. Portions of Southeast Louisiana flooded. St. Bernard flooded due to Katrina. St. Tammany Parish (North of Lake Pontchartrain) flooded due to Katrina. Some levees protecting Orleans and East Jefferson Parishes were compromised causing additional flooding after the hurricane passed.

Two: Why was this a problem on a human level?
This was a problem because many humans were still in Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes.

Three: Why were there people in harms way? Doesn’t South Louisiana, New Orleans in particular, have evacuation plans?
Yes, there are evacuation plans. The plans have two levels, that of preparation and that of implementation. Implementation involves the public transit system, RTA, the public busses that run through the city.

Preparation was not just on the shoulders of the local government, but also on the shoulders of the American Red Cross. I do not put one ounce of blame on the ARC because they, by far, do the best job of getting word out.

FOUR: What information was known?
For years the office of the mayor of New Orleans, the Corps of Engineers, FEMA, and the ARC have known of what could happen to New Orleans when hit by a hurricane. The Corps of Engineers have maps of where flooding could take place and basically it was all of Southeast Louisiana. It didn’t have to be a cat 4 or better. A slow moving cat 3 storm could do more damage than a fast moving cat 4 or 5 according to their research.

FIVE: What preparations were made?
For years the city of New Orleans and the ARC have preached self responsibility. They have said get your emergency preparedness kit and get out. Evacuation is the only true protection. You know if you are immobile. Your neighbor knows if you are immobile. If you are immobile, make arrangements in advance to evacuate. The ARC hugely recommended getting in touch with a local Church. I know that the Catholic Churches did help evacuate to Baton Rouge, many people that needed assistance during Katrina. Some implementation was put into effect according to a caller to the Rush Limbaugh Show. He said that the public busses were put at points around the city and it was made known that if you could not leave on your own accord that the busses would take people to a shelter.

SIX: Why were there still people in harms way?
This is the easiest question to answer. Those people did not want to leave. They chose to stay. The Times Picayune ran a huge article in mid-July stating in the event of a major storm if you did not rely on yourself to get out of town, then you would be left to fend for yourself. If you don’t think this didn’t make it to the ears of many, you do not know the people of New Orleans. The adults knew what could happen. They chose to stay.

SEVEN: Why did people choose to stay?
There are a multitude of reasons why various people chose to stay.
Most people just flat did not believe the devastation would hit. They did not believe it could become a reality. In New Orleans there was a huge “it can’t happen to me” attitude. Some people stayed for lack of preparation. They knew it might happen, but they had the attitude, “I’ll do that tomorrow.”
I’m sure there was a small minority that honestly had no idea of what was going on.
The rest of the people stayed for various criminal reasons.
Some stayed because they’re drug addicts and needed to be near their fixes. Some stayed because they saw the opportunity to break and enter homes and steal goods. Some stayed because they’re involved with gangs and there are territories at risk. The looting and shootings should seal it in the minds of Americans that the criminal reasons are true and not fabricated.
The people of Jefferson Parish got the message. They all got out of town. St. Tammany Parish got the message. They, too, got out of town. St. Charles Parish got it. And about 80% of Orleans Parish got it. It might be inconvenient, but it’s not rocket science to know how to get out of harm’s way. It so simple, the initiative to find a way to leave was not present.


EIGHT: Did you notice there were no American Red Cross shelters in New Orleans?
The big shelters of the Convention Center and the Superdome were set up by the city of New Orleans. In 1996 there was a huge controversy over where shelters should be established. Elizabeth Dole, then the president of the ARC, was a catalyst in making the decision to not allow ARC shelters to be set up in “death traps.” Southeast Louisiana below I-12 and the Florida Keys are designated areas not to set up shelters in the case of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane. These areas actually would put people into harm’s way. The people of New Orleans would be subject to drowning and if they survived the flooding, then the dehydration and starvation could come into play. Marc Morial worked against the ARC concerning this topic to gain political altitude. He stated that the ARC did not care about people and took the donations of disgruntled New Orleanians. If you’ll notice, the people that were evacuated to shelters outside of the effected areas did not go a minute without a meal. They have been well provided for.


WHY HAS GERALDO RIVERA SHOWN HIMSELF TO BE BLINDED BY IGNORANCE?
On the September 6 Sean Hannity show Geraldo said to Sean that people were not evacuated because no body wanted them. He said it was the equivalent of people from 9/11 being transported to Park Avenue and being turned away. Mr. Rivera, the vast majority of Louisianans turn away no one. We are at the top when it comes to giving our time and money. We are a large Christian community that believes in helping those in need. Look at the shelters that were set up through out Louisiana. If I am to believe that nobody wanted the evacuees, then show me the proof. Show the paperwork that denied those people.

Ultimately I think our people did a damn good job of saving people. Some were in extreme situations for two to four days. It wasn’t immediate, but considering that it only took one week to transport nearly two hundred thousand people out of the city, I would say that’s pretty damn good results.

The unsung heroes in this picture are the hundreds of volunteers with boats that traveled through the flooded city finding trapped people. By Thursday 4,000 people had been rescued. It takes incredible strength and endurance to accomplish those types of feats. They put themselves at huge risk of loss of life and health to save those who stayed behind.

WHY WILL THIS ULTIMATELY HAPPEN AGAIN?
See number seven. This disaster will happen again because there will always be 10% of the population that care for themselves only. They will stay strictly for personal reasons whether that reason be lack of initiative, ignorance or criminal. Once again, people will go to their roof tops, stranded. The only element that may change concerns the Superdome and Convention Center shelters. Attending to those evacuees probably will not be a dire situation, as we experienced. Even if the levees are made to withstand incredible pressure, New Orleans will always have to worry about the heavy rains associated with hurricanes. (A side note: When hurricane Goerge came through a few years ago there was an evacuation notice. People went to the Superdome and many stayed overnight. When they left, the Superdome had thousands of dollars in repairs that were needed. Why, because of the element of people that stayed there. They painted graffiti on the walls, ransacked the kitchens, destroyed the bathrooms, littered beyond belief, and ripped the cushions from the seats.)

ANOTHER SIDE NOTE:
Saturday, September 3 around 11:30 P.M. on WIBR I listened in on people calling to the radio station with fantastic stories. One woman called and said that she felt it was ridiculous that FEMA had to do damage assessment before she could get a check. She said “I want my money.” Well, Miss, YOUR money lies in the t.v.’s and furniture you purchased in your house beneath flood waters. The money that comes from either FEMA or The Red Cross is a GIFT from the American population. And a large portion of that money was used rescuing your neighbors from dire straights. Yes, Miss, “your money” is being spent by your neighbors that didn’t feel the need to evacuate.