Friday, September 02, 2005
Negligent New Orleans mayor wants someone else to blame
Congress was rushing through a $10.5 billion aid package, the Pentagon promised 1,400 National Guardsmen a day to stop the looting and President Bush planned to visit the region Friday. But city officials were seething with anger about what they called a slow federal response following Hurricane Katrina.
"They don't have a clue what's going on down there," Mayor Ray Nagin told WWL-AM Thursday night.
"They flew down here one time two days after the doggone event was over with TV cameras, AP reporters, all kind of goddamn — excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed."
The people of New Orleans should be "pissed" too... at this imbecile.
Here's a clue for you, Mayor Nagin: your administration left your city totally and woefully unprepared for a disaster which was not only forseeable, but inevitable. You see, when your city sits below sea level near the coast, sooner or later you are going to end up under water.
Nagin, knowing he will be aided and abetted by the Bush-hating leftist national media, wants to shift attention and blame for what is a disaster made infinitely worse by his own ineptitude and negligence. It is not now, and never has been, the responsibility of the federal government to provide instantaneous aid in a local disaster. The first responders are, by geographic necessity, local and state personnel. And in the critical 48 hour period following the hurricane, New Orleans demonstrated it was absolutely unprepared for the disaster that the geography of the city had guaranteed was only a matter of time.
Here are a few questions for you, Mayor Nagin:
Why wasn't your city prepared for this? It didn't come as a surprise. Any fool can figure out that sooner or later a coastal area at or below sea level is going to end up under water, and that water is not going to recede quickly. Water does not run uphill, you know.
Much of your city sits at or below sea level. Why didn't your emergency respose forces have a flood-proof backup communications system? All indications are that the Police Department completely dissolved, unable to coordinate or communicate.
Why was there no mandatory evacuation of densely populated low-lying areas before the storm hit?
Why wasn't the National Guard already mobilized and on-station to oversee such an evacuation? Or, since there was no evacuation, to maintain order?
Why weren't plans already made for "refugee camps" of some sort? The city's total plan for dealing with a homeless population seems to have been "send 'em down to the football stadium." Once more: much of the city is below sea level. Floodwaters are not going to recede quickly. Eventually, you will be flooded.
Why didn't the city and state have an evacuation plan? Once more: much of the city is below sea level! Floodwaters are not going to recede quickly! Eventually, you will be flooded!
That a sizeable portion of the urban population would be left homeless in the event of a hurricane or severe flooding by the Mississippi River was absolutely forseeable. No plans had been made for dealing with that eventuality. And it was an eventuality, NOT a possibility.
The magnitude of this disaster can not be overstated. But quite frankly, it has been made vastly worse NOT by a slow relief efforts after the fact, but by the fact that the city of New Orleans, which was absolutely going to end up under water at some point, had apparently NO PLANS to deal with that contingency.
The ineptitude and negligence of the city administration, and probably a series of city administrations dating back to the aftermath of the 1927 flood, has resulted in hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of deaths because of a total lack of preparedness to deal with a situation that was absolutely going to happen... again... some day.
"They don't have a clue what's going on down there," Mayor Ray Nagin told WWL-AM Thursday night.
"They flew down here one time two days after the doggone event was over with TV cameras, AP reporters, all kind of goddamn — excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed."
The people of New Orleans should be "pissed" too... at this imbecile.
Here's a clue for you, Mayor Nagin: your administration left your city totally and woefully unprepared for a disaster which was not only forseeable, but inevitable. You see, when your city sits below sea level near the coast, sooner or later you are going to end up under water.
Nagin, knowing he will be aided and abetted by the Bush-hating leftist national media, wants to shift attention and blame for what is a disaster made infinitely worse by his own ineptitude and negligence. It is not now, and never has been, the responsibility of the federal government to provide instantaneous aid in a local disaster. The first responders are, by geographic necessity, local and state personnel. And in the critical 48 hour period following the hurricane, New Orleans demonstrated it was absolutely unprepared for the disaster that the geography of the city had guaranteed was only a matter of time.
Here are a few questions for you, Mayor Nagin:
Why wasn't your city prepared for this? It didn't come as a surprise. Any fool can figure out that sooner or later a coastal area at or below sea level is going to end up under water, and that water is not going to recede quickly. Water does not run uphill, you know.
Much of your city sits at or below sea level. Why didn't your emergency respose forces have a flood-proof backup communications system? All indications are that the Police Department completely dissolved, unable to coordinate or communicate.
Why was there no mandatory evacuation of densely populated low-lying areas before the storm hit?
Why wasn't the National Guard already mobilized and on-station to oversee such an evacuation? Or, since there was no evacuation, to maintain order?
Why weren't plans already made for "refugee camps" of some sort? The city's total plan for dealing with a homeless population seems to have been "send 'em down to the football stadium." Once more: much of the city is below sea level. Floodwaters are not going to recede quickly. Eventually, you will be flooded.
Why didn't the city and state have an evacuation plan? Once more: much of the city is below sea level! Floodwaters are not going to recede quickly! Eventually, you will be flooded!
That a sizeable portion of the urban population would be left homeless in the event of a hurricane or severe flooding by the Mississippi River was absolutely forseeable. No plans had been made for dealing with that eventuality. And it was an eventuality, NOT a possibility.
The magnitude of this disaster can not be overstated. But quite frankly, it has been made vastly worse NOT by a slow relief efforts after the fact, but by the fact that the city of New Orleans, which was absolutely going to end up under water at some point, had apparently NO PLANS to deal with that contingency.
The ineptitude and negligence of the city administration, and probably a series of city administrations dating back to the aftermath of the 1927 flood, has resulted in hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of deaths because of a total lack of preparedness to deal with a situation that was absolutely going to happen... again... some day.
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