New Orleans finally gets relief but what a disgrace

It took more than enough time but it seems finally someone has a grip on the situation in Louisiana and Mississippi. The Army has rolled in with flat bed trucks filled with emergency aid. People with authority are actually giving the survivors direction. Victims are now deemed refugees and are being bused out to cities like Houston and Dallas and to other neighbouring regions. The situation seems to have improved but still there are trapped people and dead bodies left untouched since last weekend.

I think the USA is embarrassed and ashamed at what has happened. A city of around 2 million people has been devastated as well as a surrounding region the size of England with little or no help sent to them for over 5 days. It is shameful actually. I know Canada had emergency aid including a mobile water purification plant ready to ship out early in the week but we never received the ok to send it from the US government. It sat waiting for days up here in Ottawa. I sense that once the immediate crisis is over there will be a huge re-examination of everything that took place to make sure it will never unfold like this again. I for one thought the USA of all nations was the one country on the planet best able cope with such a disaster but in the end it turned out to be no better than what has happened to third world countries with the added feature that locals got access to weapons which added to the overall dangerous mess. It's unreal and I honestly expected more from a country of such great wealth and means. A country who's people boasts about its greatness when ever and where ever.

Some African American leaders, aid workers and local politicians are now claiming there was a racist motive behind why aid was so slow in coming to those most severely affected. Although I understand logistically it was difficult I still have to wonder the same thing. The levees were built to protect the city from a Category 3 hurricane. Katrina was category 5 then 4. Why did they not raise the levees knowing this could be the worst case scenario? Why was funding to the levees and pumps cut back earlier in the year knowing the hurricane season was approaching and meteorologists were predicting a warmer than average gulf water temperature and warning of more potentially powerful hurricanes this season? Why was there not a mandatory evacuation with transportation provided for every living soul without means in the New Orleans area knowing full well for days in advance such a storm more powerful than the levees could hold back was coming towards the city? Why was there no organized emergency rescue plan to go right into the city immediately after the storm hit and not 5 -6 days later? Why was the army so late in getting to New Orleans? Why was there no replacement for the US National Guard knowing most local members are in Iraq? Why did it take so long for the US government to sign out emergency aid funding to get things rolling and into place on day one and not day 4? Why didn't the US immediately call for international aid from the very start of the hurricanes onslaught and not days later? Why was it decided to protect property and not humans once the outbreak of lawlessness led to shootings and street madness? Why was there no plan to get up and running emergency generators and a basic electric grid and water supply that could supply hospitals and essential services right after the storm? Lastly, why were homes in New Orleans not all built to the city codes and people were permitted to live in regions below sea level in the first place knowing full well the levees could be breached?

Ok I don't suppose many other nations of that size would do a heck of a lot better given the shock of what happened but the difference is that in the US there are people and organizations that are paid to plan for exactly these sorts of disasters. Instead of thanking every government official on television for basically doing their jobs they should have been helping ship off water, food, tents and clothing to the stricken region as well as creating and organized plan of action based on the immediate circumstances and all the proactive drills they were suppose to go through to make it all happen right away. I sensed they were spending more time praising each other for basically nothing than actually doing their work.

Now, the question is why all this unfolded like it has? Is it about the logistics of it all? Is it about poverty and wealth and the priorities of wealthy politicians? Would the same thing happen if it was Beacon Hill or Lower Manhatten that was flooded? Would it be different if the stricken area was populated by historically strong Republican voters in the oil, gas, coal or auto industry states, those who helped put Bush in power in the first place? How about if everyone left in New Orleans were white and not black? I suspect it's about all these things... poor black people who hold no power and influence... who don't run giant corporations that make giant donations to political causes, who basically cost the government money and don't generate new money. They are people who don't have the resources or power to fight back in the courts. They are Democratic voters who weakened the South's Republican voter percentages. They are people who don't fit into the Republican platform of increasing the wealth of the wealthy to make the entire population better off. They are seen more as a hindrance than a benefit. They don't hold wealth or power and offer little the rich can gain from. In short they are disposable.

Since African Americans in the South are largely poor they represent all this in the mindset of many Republican politicians making the decisions to move aid into the region. No I seriously doubt anyone sat down in Washington DC and said "they're black and no one cares" but I do think there was a subconscious feeling that this was not going to be anyone's priority unless it unfolded in an ugly way where they could be hurt politically. The effort before hand just wasn’t there as it might have been for people and a social class deemed important. Image after all is everything in Washington. They basically gambled and lost. I seriously doubt they would have taken that risk had it been a wealthy white Republican region that was threatened.

Thankfully this time the news media, although not perfect, did put pressure on the politicians to react but let's face it that is not something they should have to do unless forced to... those politicians are paid by Americans to react willingly because it's part of their job description not because Anderson Cooper or the Mayor of New Orleans gets on TV and starts screaming at them to get off their asses and do something. It's been a disgrace and I feel for the American people for all of this and especially those hit by the disaster. They all deserve better from their elected officials and levels of government including the President. If I were American I would ask some serious questions about the quality of their politicians. Evidentially substance is more important than image. Gee what a new concept. People must demand that of them in the future.

Still as I write there are new stories of murder, hospital or illness related deaths, rape, gunshots, theft and violence coming in from New Orleans. A shoot to kill policy was in effect at least until the army arrived. I still have trouble understanding how the US could criticize China for turning on its own people in Tiananmen Square and accepts a shoot to kill policy aimed at American citizens for stealing electronic goods in a flooded out New Orleans. In effect this puts priority on this over getting people rescued and dead bodies removed. It looks like consumer merchandise was deemed more important than human lives in a sense although I'm sure the genuine aim was to just curb the shootings to protect human lives. Just putting the priority of getting aid to the victims while getting them out seems a much more logical goal than shooting to kill. Who gives a shit about stolen electronic goods at this point in time?! Let them have it they can’t use it anyways.

It's going to be a long six months or more of this I'm afraid. Refugees will become restless. There will be psychological scars. People need a purpose to live and there must be one for everyone who's been displaced. The cities that take them in will find it straining their finances and services. Crime could increase like it already has in Mobile where some victims were taken in already. What will happen to New Orleans itself? The toxic water probably means most of the city will have to me mowed into the ground. It may become uninhabitable in the end. It's all going to trickle down on many levels world wide before the dust finally settles. I can't think of anything, including 9/11, that had been as depressing and sorrowful to watch unfold. I truly hope the world somehow shows its love for these people because up until now there's been everything but.