Radical Noesis - Thinking outside the box

The folks being moved from the Super Dome to the Astro Dome are stuck. The Astro Dome is at capacity. Overflow is going to another stadium. Isn't there a better option that moving folks into football stadiums? What is the next step? Reports are that folks could be there for more than a month.

Meanwhile the inadequate response continues. It is estimated that up to 25,000 people have been waiting at the Convention Center - not the Super Dome - without food, water, or attention. They had been directed to go there. Last night the director of FEMA had just found out those folks were there.

There is a very slow process of evacuating the failed hospitals of the area. People are being triaged at the airport. The death toll is rising there as well. Why in the world were the hospitals not evacuated before the hurricane? I ma totally baffled by this. Apparently at least some nursing homes in Mississippi were also not evacuated.

The conditions at the Super Dome continue to deteriorate as more people arrive to replace those being evacuated. People are still being rescued from areas where they are trapped. Five days after the hurricane, many still have no access to clean water or food.

There is no question at this point, despite the increasing valiant efforts of rescuers, that the response has been too slow and too little. There is no question at this point that despite what might have been averted or mitigated by actions long before the current crisis (i.e. massive decreases in funding for flood control in general, and repairing and strengthening the New Orleans' levee system), even the preparation for the disaster was inadequate in the extreme.

Please remember that we are four years of "emergency" preparation past the events of September 11, 2001, Supposedly billions of dollars have gone into responding to the mass disaster of a "terrorist" attack. That attack expected to take the form of biological, chemical or nuclear release. All of those involve evacuation as a response - evacuation that would likely involve at least some destruction of the infrastructure. It would seem that much of that "preparation" and "planning" applies to the situation across Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and the Florida panhandle. Perhaps the real plan is just to write off impacted areas.

The response to the current emergency should stop folks in their tracks about how much "help" will be available when disaster strikes. It will strike again - perhaps even this year as the worst of the hurricane season is in front of us. Of course, there is the spectre of global warming which looms in this crisis. The drowning of the coast, and of New Orleans is a picture of what rising oceans, and furious storms will look like. Bush's plan to simply build "sea walls" looks woefully inadequate in looking at the floating roof tops with starving people and pets sitting on them.

I feel anger turning to rage at what is happening in this "relief" effort. I can't help but feel that what I am watching is murder. Virtually every death at this point is at least criminal negligence. Parent who don't feed their children are charged with criminal negligence. What of a government that does not respond?

This disaster is not a surprise. Even the Director of FEMA talks about how they had selected and evaluated New Orleans as a prime disaster area two years ago, and last year the "gamed" the scenario. Yet, this year when disaster strikes, they are totally caught with their pants down. Now remember that unlike most disasters, this was a disaster that was announced days in advance. Once the Katrina went to Category 3, and it was known that it was heading directly for the areas that were hit, there should of been mobilization. Afterall, the Red Cross and Salvation Army seem to have largely successfully pre-positioned themselves. By Saturday, evacuation warnings were going out. By Sunday morning, evacuation of New Orleans was MANDATORY.

At least by Saturday, the most critical hospital patients and most vulnerable populations should have been being moved out of the city. That did not happen. How many folks could have been relocated when the roads and airports were open? Why were the airlines allowed to cut off flights to New Orleans before the storm stuck? This stranded thousands of tourists in the city. The most optimum time to act to save lives and despair was before Katrina struck. That did not happen.

This lack of action was compounded by the tremendous delay in response after the fact. A delay that is just now (5 days after the hurricane) beginning to start. This is a situation where after five days, there is still apparently no one in charge of coordinating relief efforts.

When I was in high school, we did a one month module on "emergency preparedness." The focus was on surviving the first 72 hours after a nuclear attack or other major disaster. Looking back on that, I don't know if it was wishful thinking that officials would be able to take over and handle caring for the needs of the people after 72 hours, or whether if help had not arrived by that time most of us would be dead.

In New Orleans and elsewhere, that 72 hour window has come and gone. People (and animals) can generally survive a while without food. They cannot survive without water. We are not in a situation in New Orleans, or Jefferson Parrish (which has been getting refugees and also has no food, water or shelter), or other areas across the region where the time line of survival is not today or tomorrow, but measured in hours. Every delay, no matter how short, at this point means lives lost. The ships being sent by the Pentagon left port on Wednesday and Thursday. They will not arrive in the area until next Tuesday at the earliest. Apparently, there is the expectation that by next Tuesday (8 days after the hurricane and flooding of New Orleans) there will still be people trapped inside of New Orleans. Or perhaps, those facilities will be for the workers who are expected to clear the city of water.

What is happening in New Orleans and surrounds is criminal and frightening. It falls into the pattern of the Iraq plan where disaster was created and people were just going to bounce back. No plans were made for "recovery." The folks in charge clearly "lack creativity." That was a claim about failure to respond to avert 9/11; failure to prepare for the aftermath of "regime change" and "shock and awe" in Iraq; failure to prepare for their own scenarios of disaster in New Orleans; failure to respond to disaster once it does strike. What is left in the wake of this crew is death and destruction - both of which are great for generating fear and creating photo opportunities for a strutting president. Continuing in its "go it alone" stance to everything, the administration has rebuffed emergency assistance from Canada.

Meanwhile, all those of us can do outside the area is to contribute funds to organizations that are working, contact our representatives and push as hard as possible for them to act, and pray that folks can hold out a little longer.

p.s. Unbelievably, there is a web log operating out of the heart of New Orleans - The Interdictor. It reads like something from some para-military group, but they are getting out information from within New Orleans, and pictures and video tape of various areas. I can't believe they are still going, but miraculously they are.