Here We Go Again...

By the time I am done writing this, Hurricane Gustav will be very close to making landfall. According to NOAA predictions, it looks like it will catch NOLA with it's northeast side; the most powerful side of a counter-clockwise spinning hurricane.

We had a short show today and not much for me to do, so I spent a lot of the day on the internet. I checked out CNN, FOX, BBC, etc. One thing they seemed to have in common really pissed me the fuck off.

All of them mentioned how the RNC was holding off on the celebratory aspect of the convention. This was then followed by a quote or soundbyte from Bush in Texas. This was then followed by how he doesn't want a repeat of how he and FEMA fucked up Katrina.

Excuse me?

What I want to know is why, after soundbytes with Ray Nagin, NOLA mayor, they did not say the same thing. Nagin fucked up and fucked up bad. In fact, had Nagin and the now fired Gov. Blanco not fucked up, there would have been nothing for FEMA to fuck up. Nagin, in my opinion, has taken no responsibility and accepted no blame.

On the BBC, they showed stories from 2005. The BBC and his intrepid photographer found people and interviewed them in the days after the hurricane. One by one... "Where's Bush?" "Why has Bush abandon us?" "Help us FEMA!"

Not a single 'Where's Nagin?' 'Where's NOLA PD?' 'Why has Nagin abandon us?'

Do people not understand how this country works?

We are a nation of 50 sovereign states. Each state has a government that works for the whole state. In each state there are multiple counties or parishes. Each one of those has a government that works for each county or parish. In those there are villages, towns, hamlets and cities. Most of those have their own government.

After each one of those fails, city > county > state, THEN it's the federal governments responsibility to step in.

I guess when I put it that way, the feds should have intervened before the hurricane hit. Nagin failed to order a mandatory evacuation soon enough. He failed to make sure that those who couldn't leave, got out. He failed by setting up the Superdome without enough supplies and police to keep things from falling apart. Blanco failed by not stepping in and fixing what Nagin screwed up.

Then FEMA and the feds failed. FEMA, a formerly reactive organization by its very nature didn't move in fast enough. Yes, I believe that FEMA failed as well. They respond to emergencies. That's all they do. Yet it took them days to get fully mobilized. Don't get me started on the trailers.

However, had the city and state not failed first, the human suffering and death toll would have been FAR less.

You know, I posted a warning from NOAA/NWS before the hurricane hit. Here's an excerpt.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

...

WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

Seems like they are doing things this time like they SHOULD have done last time. The National Guard has been activated ahead of the storm. The city is making sure people get out. They are bothering to evacuate the hospitals and nursing homes. And NOLA PD, assuming another batch doesn't walk off the job again, has placed every officer on duty.

I am sure that if NOLA is spared, or damaged without massive loss of life, Nagin will be the first one to accept credit.

(A section was removed due to new information coming to my attention!)