They Really Dropped the Ball..

[stargazer99]

Originally Posted by sodascouts

Janet, please, be realistic. Of course at least one person would die. Many people REFUSED to leave. Should they have been hit on the head and kidnapped? As for the poor, it's so easy to say "more should have been done! More should have been done! Obviously if one person died someone screwed up!!" Here we are in the comfort of our homes. We weren't there trying to get people out. We weren't there trying our best to save as many people as possible. But we still have the nerve to sit here and gripe how those people just didn't do good enough, according to us, in all our wisdom and vast knowledge about hurricane preparation and relief. Perhaps you know of some of the magical ways technology could have prevented every single death? If so, please alert the proper authorities.

It is absolutely absurd to argue that anyone wanted this massive amount of death.

While I agree with you, Nancy, it's unrealistic to say that every single death could have been prevented, what I think most people have a problem with is the length of time it took for any real rescue effort to get in there and get those people out. And while I'm sure there were many people who just flat refused to leave, I'd be willing to bet that was the minority. New Orleans has an ungodly number of poeple living in poverty. In fact, 50% of children living in New Orleans are living in poverty! When you have no car and no money, how are you supposed to get out of there on your own? There were also many physically handicapped people who were stuck.

And while I don't know a lot about hurricane preparedness, the Louisiana government sure does. They've been begging for years for money to fix the levees, to no avail. They had drills addressing disasters of this magnitude. And the governor sent a very detailed letter to the White House before the hurricane, outlining exactly what they would need both from a money standpoint and a people/equipment standpoint in responding to this hurricane.

What I find "absolutely absured" is the fact that we didn't have any real rescue effort in place until 4 days after the hurricane. And that FEMA didn't accept any of the many offers of resources and equipment from a number of other states. And that the head of FEMA had the nerve to say that the people themselves are partly responsible because they didn't get out. And the lack of communication, where they didn't even realize there were people trapped in the convention center when it had been reported for days. And the fact that there were numerous reporters there, helicopters capturing news footage, etc., but we couldn't get the military in there for several days?

And while it's easy to say that we shouldn't criticize because we didn't go down there ourselves to help, isn't it the government's job to do so? To be prepared for disasters of this magnitude, and have a plan in place when it does happen? And to act on that plan, not 4 days later, but immediately? Especially when they had warning this hurricane was coming?

So yes, it was impossible to prevent any death. But the number of deaths that occurred, due to the fact that it took four days to get help to these people, is totally unacceptable.

- Mary