Marc Choquette
Assistant Perspectives Editor
Once in a blue moon, something so powerful comes along that the aftermath can change the meaning of a word forever. Before this time last year, Katrina was someone you might have known in high school. Now Katrina is the most detrimental hurricane to ever make landfall on U.S. soil, and the name is associated with a multitude of thoughts and images that came out of New Orleans and the surrounding area in the days and months following the natural disaster.
Rarely are most Americans in such peril that they have to rely on the human instinct of survival. People fought for safety, food and for help from the rest of the country who were watching from their intact homes.
More than a year later, a telltale sign regarding progress in New Orleans comes from NBC’s “Nightly News.” Anchor Brian Williams, who spent those fateful few days in the Superdome and around the French Quarter, made a pledge from that day forward to keep close tabs on events in the New Orleans area for some time after the event.
On this particular newscast, the 2006 hurricane season was about to begin and the critical deadline that the New Orleans public was assured of was that the levees would be not only repaired but also improved in time. Williams reported that there were many concerns within that community that the levees would not be fully functionable in time.
As of this past week, the head of the Army Corps of Engineers conceded that they are still not sure whether the levees could hold up to any sizeable hurricane.
Communities on the Gulf Coast are always concerned with hurricanes, but especially the past few seasons because of abnormally warmer Gulf waters. There have been no small storms in the area to stir the water up and if a hurricane turns into the gulf there isn’t much to stop it before it takes aim at the Gulf Coast.
Luckily, New Orleans has so far been spared from any further destruction. The true test, however, for this rebuilding process will come with the next storm to bear down on “The Big Easy.”
The facts show that deadlines cannot be met, a lot of taxpayer money cannot be accounted for, a lot of unused FEMA trailers can probably be seen from space, along with the sad fact that not a lot of people outside the area seem to care much about what is transpiring there. It is important to study this event and the aftermath, especially since was one of the few times in recent history that one could honestly say that “our government failed us” at all levels. On Aug. 29th Michael Brown, former head of FEMA even said on NBC’s “Today Show” that “there was no plan” for the hurricane and he regrets sticking to “White House talking points” rather than leveling with the country about the severity of the disaster.
It is terrifying that an administration that prides itself on preparedness and resolve in the face of adversity could drop the ball so extensively and proceed to get out of the woods practically unscarred. Following Sept. 11, our fearless leader was standing atop the rubble of the World Trade Center, after Hurricane Katrina, Bush hopped on a plane from where he was rubbing elbows and strumming with country music singers to merely fly high atop New Orleans and “survey” the damage from the window of Air Force One. While these visits are rather symbolic and done to boost morale and support, what could local residents have been thinking when they are standing on their rooftop, seeing Air Force One at 10,000 feet, far from the chaos down below.
While Sept. 11, can be seen as a wake-up-call to us that we are not immune to attack here on our own soil, Katrina was perhaps an important sign that while government is spending $319 billion of our tax dollars abroad to try to keep us safe at home (according to the Congressional Research Service), we cannot even save one of our own cities from utter chaos and destruction when the predictions of such were thrown right in our face as the storm approached. And while citizens bear some responsibility in protecting themselves, too many of the neglected in that city had nowhere to go not only during the evacuation, but after the storm passed.
It is very possible that Katrina proves that this administration’s policy of constantly assuring us that they will keep us safe is just one big façade. The gigantic new Department of Homeland Security, designed specifically to pool resources to keep us safe here at home, was completely lost and without a plan as the city went underwater. This is not about politics — it is about results and proper response.
The results did not come, the response did not come in time, and yet detractors love to claim that the “blame game” is inappropriate. If it is now wrong to hold leaders accountable for the sufferings of the people they’re put in charge (and taxpayer paid) to protect, then we have failed ourselves.
09-07-2006