Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Photo of a Texan, holding a guitar
Ted Koppel raised two serious points on Nightline. The first was if New Orleans
can be saved. The answer to that is likely no. The Big Easy tourists love will
be there; the French Quarter & the riverfront. But the residential city is
being destroyed right before our eyes. The entire population has had to be
removed, with no prediction as to when they may be allowed to return, if ever.
A large percentage can never go home. There will be too much flood damage
& residual pollutants.
This leads to the other point. Katrina was a slow moving storm, everyone knew
it was coming, everyone knew that New Orleans was a city at risk anyway.
The evacuation went surprisingly well. & yet - it wasn't a terror attack.
The levees weren't blown up. No "dirty" weapons were detonated. How well have government agencies prepared, & how well have they responded? I think we all
see that it isn't going good. Elected politicians act increasingly frustrated
& even dumfounded, FEMA overwhelmed, the Army Corps of Engineers stumbling for solutions. Only the Coast Guard & Army rescue units & the National Guard
look sharp, but this what they have trained for.
With the scope of the disaster ranging from the poorest neighborhoods
of New Orleans across a large swath of generally prosperous coastline,
the levels of human misery & material loss, the breakdown in basic services,
the disruption of oil production, a major city's economy taken off the map
of America, many thousands of jobs permanently wiped out, what will happen?
can be saved. The answer to that is likely no. The Big Easy tourists love will
be there; the French Quarter & the riverfront. But the residential city is
being destroyed right before our eyes. The entire population has had to be
removed, with no prediction as to when they may be allowed to return, if ever.
A large percentage can never go home. There will be too much flood damage
& residual pollutants.
This leads to the other point. Katrina was a slow moving storm, everyone knew
it was coming, everyone knew that New Orleans was a city at risk anyway.
The evacuation went surprisingly well. & yet - it wasn't a terror attack.
The levees weren't blown up. No "dirty" weapons were detonated. How well have government agencies prepared, & how well have they responded? I think we all
see that it isn't going good. Elected politicians act increasingly frustrated
& even dumfounded, FEMA overwhelmed, the Army Corps of Engineers stumbling for solutions. Only the Coast Guard & Army rescue units & the National Guard
look sharp, but this what they have trained for.
With the scope of the disaster ranging from the poorest neighborhoods
of New Orleans across a large swath of generally prosperous coastline,
the levels of human misery & material loss, the breakdown in basic services,
the disruption of oil production, a major city's economy taken off the map
of America, many thousands of jobs permanently wiped out, what will happen?
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