Hurricane Katrina/response

Opinionated Summary

George W. Bush's administration has been shameful in its lackadaisical response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and has compounded this shame by focusing their belated responses primarily on their own political power-reinforcement, self-congratulations, and (when they reach the point of admitting that the response has been inadequate) claiming that nobody had foreseen the possibility of such a disaster.

The government's response has been widely described as a national disgrace, by critics inside the US and abroad. Such accusations tend to fly thick and fast in any major disaster such as this — but in this case they do seem warranted in that there seems to have been no contingency plan, despite the countless discussions of the inevitability of exactly this disaster (and worse) over the past few years, with plenty of warning that action was needed if it was to be prevented.

Worse, the administration seems to be actively denying that anyone had any idea that this could happen (Bush: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." [1]; Chertoff: "That 'perfect storm' of a combination of catastrophes exceeded the foresight of the planners, and maybe anybody's foresight." [2]). This can only be monumental stupidity, willful ignorance, or perhaps a deliberate application of the Big Lie technique.

It should be noted, also, that this administration has "repeatedly denied full funding for hurricane prevention and flood control" (siphoning much of the money off to pay for the war in Iraq), thus allowing a known problem to remain unaddressed until it was too late.

Transportation Effects

A further effect of the hurricane has been a sudden leap in gasoline prices, because of damage to the supply lines (many of which went through southern Louisiana) and drilling rigs (many located just offshore in the Gulf of Mexico). This has added to already high gasoline prices which appear to be ultimately due to gradually decreasing output as the Earth's supply of crude oil dwindles (see Dependence on Oil), which highlights the current administration's continual inattention to strengthening public transportation (which uses less fuel per passenger-mile) and development of alternative fuels.

Links

• Katrina-related quotes from government officials and others
• CNN: Models predicted New Orleans disaster but Bush says "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."
• Chertoff: Katrina scenario did not exist: "Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff argued Saturday that government planners did not predict such a disaster ever could occur." WTF??

Notes

• There have been rumors that Canada offered help, but that the help was not allowed to enter the country — details, anyone?
• Despite the shamefulness of this weak response, the Department of Homeland Security has apparently gone ahead with declaring September to be National Preparedness Month.