HURRICANE KATRINA -- THE DISASTER
Posted by Bella at 8/24/2008 9:23 PM 
Categories: natural disasters, HURRICANE CINDY, Global Warming, Atlantis, C. RAY NAGIN, KATHLEEN BLANCO, Hurricane Katrina, NEW ORELANS
Categories: natural disasters, HURRICANE CINDY, Global Warming, Atlantis, C. RAY NAGIN, KATHLEEN BLANCO, Hurricane Katrina, NEW ORELANS
Good Evening, Everyone:
This coming Friday, August 29, 2008, will mark the third anniversary in which the most devastating natural disaster in U.S. history made landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
I was a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana when Katrina struck and it has forever changed my life and the lives of many people who are important to me. For the most part, most of my family, friends and acquaintances have managed to put their lives back together but not without considerable personal sacrifices. I still remember the news broadcasts with pictures of frightened, displaced people; looting; flooding and overwhelmed public officials who seemed to be drowning in a "black hole of chaos and administrative finger pointing".
This unfortunate catastrophe revealed an "unacceptable" breakdown in communication between C. Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans and Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, the first female governor of Louisiana. According to the Bush Administration, they made several attempts days before Katrina made landfall to mobilize the necessary resources in the event of a serious disaster. The governor's office was contacted but the response was not swift. However, it would be unfair to say that Mrs. Blanco did not care, because I remember a news report about a visit that she made several weeks before this disaster became a reality to the New Orleans office of the American Red Cross in preparation for natural disasters.
On the other hand, was C. Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans prepared for the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina? It would also be unfair to say that Mr. Nagin did not care, because arrangements were made to transport people who decided not to leave the city to public shelters such as the Louisiana Superdome. In contrast, public officials in neighboring Jefferson parish did not open public shelters and when the city was flooding, refused to allow evacuees to enter their parish via the Crescent City Connection Bridge which spans the Mississippi River. Furthermore, the late Jefferson Parish Sheriff, Harry Lee, made it quite clear that rescuing people in the event of flooding would not be a priority and if you chose to ride the storm out in his parish, "you would be on your own".
Both Mrs. Blanco and Mr. Nagin made preparations, but not in concert for a worst case scenario and the rest is history!
Should the individuals who decided not to evaluate have stayed in the city? Obviously, not! Everyone who decided to ride the storm out was not without opportunities or resources to evacuate. Many who decided to stay in their homes barely escaped rising flood waters and some lost their lives.
Earlier that summer, Hurricane Cindy made landfall on July 5, 2005 near Grand Isle, Louisiana. This storm was originally classified as "tropical storm" but her destructive aftermath forced scientists to "upgrade" her to a category 1 hurricane. New Orleanians were not advised to evacuate for this storm but Cindy's devastation was acutely felt in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Storm debris was everywhere. Power lines were down. Trees were broken in half and some even fell on parked cars. Some citizens were without electrical power for almost a week. Cindy's devastation surprised most people in the New Orleans Area. Hurricane Cindy was certainly a "wake up call" for all New Orleanians.
In retrospect, could the Hurricane Katrina disaster have been better managed with more in-depth preparation? Perhaps, but this is something that we will never really know. Our public officials have no control over "Mother Nature" and the waters that flooded St. Bernard Parish and Eastern New Orleans were primarily "storm surge" from the Gulf of Mexico. Could a more extensive system of levies throughout southern Louisiana have better protected these areas? I'm no scientist or engineer, but I strongly suspect that with the onset of "global warming", the variable are too numerous to know for certain.
The only thing that we know for certain is that our environment is changing and has always been changing. Science and modern technology has enabled us to better understand our natural world but we can't allow them to give us a "false sense of security". Everything has its' limitations and modern man is becoming more aware of this on a daily basis. I constantly pray that our world will not end up like the "mythical continent of Atlantis" which was destroyed due to the misuse of technology. The human race seems to be approaching a crossroad; I sincerely pray that we can better align our existence with what's best for our environment while we still have the option to choose.
May Peace Be With All Of You,
Sistah Selah
This coming Friday, August 29, 2008, will mark the third anniversary in which the most devastating natural disaster in U.S. history made landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
I was a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana when Katrina struck and it has forever changed my life and the lives of many people who are important to me. For the most part, most of my family, friends and acquaintances have managed to put their lives back together but not without considerable personal sacrifices. I still remember the news broadcasts with pictures of frightened, displaced people; looting; flooding and overwhelmed public officials who seemed to be drowning in a "black hole of chaos and administrative finger pointing".
This unfortunate catastrophe revealed an "unacceptable" breakdown in communication between C. Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans and Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, the first female governor of Louisiana. According to the Bush Administration, they made several attempts days before Katrina made landfall to mobilize the necessary resources in the event of a serious disaster. The governor's office was contacted but the response was not swift. However, it would be unfair to say that Mrs. Blanco did not care, because I remember a news report about a visit that she made several weeks before this disaster became a reality to the New Orleans office of the American Red Cross in preparation for natural disasters.
On the other hand, was C. Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans prepared for the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina? It would also be unfair to say that Mr. Nagin did not care, because arrangements were made to transport people who decided not to leave the city to public shelters such as the Louisiana Superdome. In contrast, public officials in neighboring Jefferson parish did not open public shelters and when the city was flooding, refused to allow evacuees to enter their parish via the Crescent City Connection Bridge which spans the Mississippi River. Furthermore, the late Jefferson Parish Sheriff, Harry Lee, made it quite clear that rescuing people in the event of flooding would not be a priority and if you chose to ride the storm out in his parish, "you would be on your own".
Both Mrs. Blanco and Mr. Nagin made preparations, but not in concert for a worst case scenario and the rest is history!
Should the individuals who decided not to evaluate have stayed in the city? Obviously, not! Everyone who decided to ride the storm out was not without opportunities or resources to evacuate. Many who decided to stay in their homes barely escaped rising flood waters and some lost their lives.
Earlier that summer, Hurricane Cindy made landfall on July 5, 2005 near Grand Isle, Louisiana. This storm was originally classified as "tropical storm" but her destructive aftermath forced scientists to "upgrade" her to a category 1 hurricane. New Orleanians were not advised to evacuate for this storm but Cindy's devastation was acutely felt in the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Storm debris was everywhere. Power lines were down. Trees were broken in half and some even fell on parked cars. Some citizens were without electrical power for almost a week. Cindy's devastation surprised most people in the New Orleans Area. Hurricane Cindy was certainly a "wake up call" for all New Orleanians.
In retrospect, could the Hurricane Katrina disaster have been better managed with more in-depth preparation? Perhaps, but this is something that we will never really know. Our public officials have no control over "Mother Nature" and the waters that flooded St. Bernard Parish and Eastern New Orleans were primarily "storm surge" from the Gulf of Mexico. Could a more extensive system of levies throughout southern Louisiana have better protected these areas? I'm no scientist or engineer, but I strongly suspect that with the onset of "global warming", the variable are too numerous to know for certain.
The only thing that we know for certain is that our environment is changing and has always been changing. Science and modern technology has enabled us to better understand our natural world but we can't allow them to give us a "false sense of security". Everything has its' limitations and modern man is becoming more aware of this on a daily basis. I constantly pray that our world will not end up like the "mythical continent of Atlantis" which was destroyed due to the misuse of technology. The human race seems to be approaching a crossroad; I sincerely pray that we can better align our existence with what's best for our environment while we still have the option to choose.
May Peace Be With All Of You,
Sistah Selah
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