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Gulf Coast Crisis Getting Worse By the Day Judy Stillson | 9/01/05
Instead of planning for what was an imminent Category 4 or 5 hurricane in the days before Katrina stormed into the Gulf Coast states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the Bush administration was apparently more concerned with vacationing and pimping Medicare reform out in California.
The seriousness of Hurricane Katrina was evident as early as Thursday or Friday of last week after it ripped through southern Florida as a Category 1, killing nine people, and re-energized over the 90-degree waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Katrina was charting a course of destruction with a heading toward the vulnerable US Southern coast and the softest target was New Orleans.
Unfortunately, overwhelming the Big Easy was all too easy for Katrina. The gulf cities of Biloxi, and Gulfport, Mississippi were also easy targets and were violently whisked away by howling 140+ mph winds and a 20 to 30-foot storm surge.
Most of this carnage was predictable, yet the administration, FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security failed to heed the warnings and pre-place resources. Only on Tuesday, a full day after the storm blew through, was there any semblance of organization or concern from the government agencies charged with disaster relief.
It is because of that poor planning that we have the mess currently underway in those three states most affected by Katrina. Mostly New Orleans is under siege, by high flood waters, stranded citizens, lack of food, potable water, lack of supplies, but mostly lack of an organized approach to the worst natural disaster to ever reach our shores.
The President's response, on Wednesday, fell tragically short of the smell test. He offered nothing but a laundry list of "assets" and cockily urged Americans to give "cash", as though throwing money at the aftermath of Katrina was going to solve the real human crisis which was quickly developing.
Today, looting, shooting and the inadequacy of the government's emergency response is the standard by which we are being subjected. The response is entirely too small, too fragile, too poorly planned and completely disorganized. Instead of 20,000 National Guardsmen, there should be 100,000 or 200,000 executing rescues, giving aid and restoring not only essential infrastructure but the will of the people as well - a people who are quickly becoming dehumanized by forces far beyond their control.
President Bush has refused aid of any kind from Venezuela, Holland, Iran and other countries willing to assist in any kind of recovery effort. Bush himself hasn't seen fit to personally visit the area until tomorrow, Friday, five full days after the event became a catastrophe.
This administration has failed us so often it's becoming routine, but the American people are beginning to demand more. The situation in New Orleans and elsewhere is unacceptable, not sustainable and it's about to get even worse.
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