Last night, I began writing a very angry email about all
the things I'm upset with regarding this disaster. Fortunately, Lucie advised me
that it would be best to sleep on it. I'm glad I did. I'll get to the things I'm
upset about, but first, here's a list of things I'm grateful for right
now.
1. We're safe, our friends we have spoken to are safe, nobody we know
is unaccounted for as far as we know, and our pets are with us.
2. By all accounts, our uptown neighborhood is still high and
dry.
3. I'm grateful for all of the police, fire, USCG, medical, national guard,
volunteers, and civil servants who stayed behind to try to deal with this mess.
Their efforts have been heroic in many cases.
4. We're very grateful for the warm welcome we have received from family,
friends, and strangers here in Houston. We've been moved beyond words by the
hospitality and aid we've received.
5. We're most grateful for all of the prayers, emails, and phone calls of
concern we've received. It means a lot to us.
6. We're grateful I have a job. I'll get started again this
afternoon.
So keep in mind, while you're reading my negative stuff below, that Lucie
and I are in good spirits and we're optimistic about our future. We're in better
shape than a lot of people, probably most actually, and we should be
fine.
Now, for the things that are upsetting me.
1. The people who chose to stay behind.
Tens of thousands of people in New Orleans don't own cars. We know several
in our neighborhood. Others have cars, but can't afford to drive far or stay in
a hotel. And as in any city, there are plenty of elderly, infirm, and home bound
people who simply can't evacuate without a lot of help.
The city's
hurricane plan accounted for these people. Long before the evacuation order was
given, the city began issuing instructions for those who could not leave New
Orleans. Buses were to be sent around the city to designated pick up points to
take people to the Superdome. Those who could leave but could not afford hotel
rooms were advised of a number of shelters around the state.
Anyone who could get to a bus stop could get to the dome. The stops were
well publicized through TV, radio, newspaper, and church/community
organizations. It's unfathomable to me that anyone could not know how to get
there. Anyone unable to get to a stop could call a well publicized phone number
for assistance. The city has a van system that goes door-to-door for the
handicapped. In short, everyone, regardless of health or means, had the
opportunity to get to a shelter.
And yet, despite all of that, thousands - tens of thousands, perhaps -
chose to stay in their homes and ride out the storm, despite a mandatory
evacuation order. Many of these people had to be rescued from their homes
earlier this week. These people had small children with them, pregnant women,
the elderly, and the sick. They risked their own lives, the lives of their
families, and the lives of those sent to save them.
Furthermore, resources that could have been devoted to other purposes were
diverted to save these people. I'll go into further detail below, but hospital
personnel have been robbed at gunpoint, stores looted of non-survival goods,
prison riots have occured, and worst of all, levee breashes have remained
unrepaired. Many of these problems would not have been as severe had so many
resources not been dedicated to rescuing people who would not have needed rescue
had they done what they were obliged to do under the evacuation order. I am glad
so many have been rescued, and I pray for those who haven't. But this incident
should be a lesson and a warning: your actions have consequences not only for
yourself, but for others. Heed the authorities when they tell you to
leave.
What are you going to do if you stay behind? You can't stop the wind. You
can't stop the water. You can shoot looters dead I suppose, but really, is it
worth it? We pondered this question last year before Ivan, and we concluded that
we should leave. I've never regretted evacuating.
2. Failure to repair the levees.
This is frustrating. I can accept the notion that the city may be destroyed
by a hurricane. That's why I have insurance. It's a risk you run living in New
Orleans, and we pay for it in higher rates. What is somewhat more troubling is
that the scenario that's playing out has been aniticipated for years, and yet it
seems that the Army Corps of Engineers did not have a plan for repairing a levee
breach without overland access to said breach. The interviews I've heard with
ACE personnel so far have left me with the distinct impression that they had not
thought much about this, nor planned or prepared to deal with what's happening
right now.
Even worse, Mayor Nagin was assured that ACE would send helicopters with
sandbags to the levee breaches Tuesday afternoon. The National Guard was in
position ready to place the bags. You must understand - without repair of these
levees, the city is essentially in open communication with the Gulf of Mexico
via Lake Ponchartrain. Without repair, the city cannot be pumped out and
recovery cannot begin. The helicopters, however, did not show up. They were
apparently diverted for search and rescue. Nagin called it a case of "too many
chiefs". Whoever gave the order to divert those aircraft I'm sure did so in good
faith, obviously trying to save lives. However, at a high level, someone has to
have their eye on what's best for the city overall and allocate resources
according to priority and immediacy of need. But this balancing didn't happen.
The disaster plan and chain of command need tweaking in this respect. I'll note
here that I believe the evacuation effort was far improved this time around, and
that the efforts of everyone from the Mayor on down have been commendable, and
even heroic in many cases.
3. Looting.
Referring back to item 1 for a moment, let's keep in mind that every effort
was made to encourage people to either leave or avail themselves of the shelters
provided by the city and state. It's a free country and you can't send people to
the Superdome at gunpoint (at least before the storm; now may be different). But
I believe that if you choose to stay in your home in these situations despite
all advice and caution to the contrary, you are obligated to provide for
yourself in the event that you lose power and water for the amount of time that
you are warned that you may be without them.
Of course, if you run out, I don't mind much if you simply take what you
find someplace. If somebody breaks into our house tonight, I hope they partake
of anything edible they find. They need it more than we do. Keep in mind,
however, that MRE's and other supplies are provided at the Superdome. This was
publicized.
And yes, Winn Dixie and Wal Mart have insurance. Guess who pays for
it.
Thing is, most of the looting that I've seen is a lot more than food.
There's people taking TVs, tennis shoes, whatever. And they look happy to do it.
First hand reports of rampant, wanton looting of non-essenetial items are all
over the news, the web, and word of mouth. Worse, gunmen are carjacking and
robbing innocent people, rescue workers, and hospital personnel. Nurses are
being robbed at gunpoint while attempting to evacuate hospital patients. The
people doing these things are not "desperate victims" just trying to survive.
They are criminals, and they are mistreating people who would happily help them
if given the chance. They are taking advantage of the fact that the police and
National Guard are too busy rescuing people (who should not need rescue, see
item 1) to maintain law and order. I'm really angry that so many people around
the nation and the world are seeing that what New Orleans does in a hurricane is
rob and mob. These looters disgust me, and a full accounting needs to be done
some day. Justice must be done. People must be held accountable for their
actions.
Anyway, that's my take today. We still don't know when we can go home. But
as I said above, we have a lot to be thankful for. God is merciful and we have
faith that we'll find a way forward.
CheersOwen
I asked a few questions and pointed him to cnsnews.com where they had a story on the "class warfare" aspect of the looting. His response:
Dude, I hear you about the "class warfare" stuff and the management
nightmare vs amazing rescues story lines. The real story is that so many who
could have died didn't because the city and state got the evacuation plan going
and made it work better than it had before. The problems we're having, while
preventable, are just the understandable result of fallible human beings dealing
with an unprecedented distaster. It's nobody's "fault", and mistakes happen. I'm
just upset and want an explanation as to how some of these mistakes came
about.
Really, I don't have a problem with somebody who's house is under water
breaking into my house because they need food, clothes, water, whatever. Please,
help yourself and survive. I'm angry that you chose to stay, but I want you to
live. Once you cross the line from necessities to jewelry or something like
that, now you're a looter and a criminal.
I'll go into it more in some other email, but the national correspondents
covering this story most likely don't live next to public housing the way Lucie
and I do. I don't think most of my neighbors would wantonly steal from us, but I
know some would. So yes, there are some people in New Orleans right now looking
to get theirs from some rich white guy's house. Race and New Orleans is
something we could talk about endlessly.The billion dollar question: will there be a next time? I dunno. What I'm seeing tonight is really disheartening. Thousands keep showing up expecting to be rescued from the some and now the convention center. They're angry. This is looking bad.
