So, Katrina.
Nothing new here, I'm sure, but I'm becoming increasingly puzzled by the United States' apparently total unpreparedness for any sort of disaster.
The World Trade Center was a couple of Really Big Buildings. In New York, which I suspect although do not know for a fact to be a major transportation hub of the WORLD, planes included. If a fiction writer could come up with and plausibly write a scenario in which a plane was flown into a skyscraper, how had the possibility not even crossed the collective mind of whoever's supposed to be keeping these things from happening?
Hurricane Katrina struck a city which was
below sea level,
in the possible path of about half the hurricanes to hit the U.S. in a season,
between an ocean and a lake, AND
right on the DELTA of the LARGEST RIVER IN THE U.S.
I don't even know how many states are in the Mississippi watershed. How had it not occurred to ANYONE in charge of DISASTER MANAGEMENT that a levee might break? I mean, it's got to be blindingly obvious, if you look at New Orleans for a second that flooding of any sort would KIND OF BE A PROBLEM.
I mean, call me crazy, but if I lived below sea level you can just bet I'd be extremely twitchy about flooding, and if it were my job to take care of things when a natural disaster hit? I flatter myself that even I might have formulated some general outline of What To Do If That Place Floods.
Just sayin'.
Also, FEMA and the Red Cross and the local authorities should damn well get their act together and figure out WHAT THE HELL THEY NEED FROM US. I take that back. Sorry, local guys, I hadn't read enough of the news. FEMA people, the Bush White House, and anyone else who was surprised by the levee break: shut up, go home, and stop trying to spin this. For the first time in my life, I am this close to turning libertarian just because I cannot believe how poorly thought-out the federal response to all this has been, especially when compared to that of the private sector. For god's sake, WAL-MART HAD A BETTER RESPONSE THAN FEMA.
ETA: *sniffle*
The World Trade Center was a couple of Really Big Buildings. In New York, which I suspect although do not know for a fact to be a major transportation hub of the WORLD, planes included. If a fiction writer could come up with and plausibly write a scenario in which a plane was flown into a skyscraper, how had the possibility not even crossed the collective mind of whoever's supposed to be keeping these things from happening?
Hurricane Katrina struck a city which was
below sea level,
in the possible path of about half the hurricanes to hit the U.S. in a season,
between an ocean and a lake, AND
right on the DELTA of the LARGEST RIVER IN THE U.S.
I don't even know how many states are in the Mississippi watershed. How had it not occurred to ANYONE in charge of DISASTER MANAGEMENT that a levee might break? I mean, it's got to be blindingly obvious, if you look at New Orleans for a second that flooding of any sort would KIND OF BE A PROBLEM.
I mean, call me crazy, but if I lived below sea level you can just bet I'd be extremely twitchy about flooding, and if it were my job to take care of things when a natural disaster hit? I flatter myself that even I might have formulated some general outline of What To Do If That Place Floods.
Just sayin'.
Also, FEMA and the Red Cross and the local authorities should damn well get their act together and figure out WHAT THE HELL THEY NEED FROM US. I take that back. Sorry, local guys, I hadn't read enough of the news. FEMA people, the Bush White House, and anyone else who was surprised by the levee break: shut up, go home, and stop trying to spin this. For the first time in my life, I am this close to turning libertarian just because I cannot believe how poorly thought-out the federal response to all this has been, especially when compared to that of the private sector. For god's sake, WAL-MART HAD A BETTER RESPONSE THAN FEMA.
ETA: *sniffle*