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Suffering in storm's wake reveals official disorganization

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FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But how can an emergency be managed without a plan? The physical devastation from Hurricane Katrina was unavoidable. But our national leaders, one and all, have been caught flat-footed in its aftermath. This is so despite billions of taxpayer dollars funded annually for emergency planning and management.

As a former airline operations manager, I had to have a plan to cover every conceivable contingency. Yet for a predictable and inevitable event, now people are stranded without food, water and life-saving medicine. They are without shelter and no way to be transported to safety. And bloated bodies float freely through neighborhoods.

What's the difference between this and, say, Haiti? Politicians here spout hollow words of concern and make vague promises. But the human suffering and loss of life are sickening proof of their ineptitude and neglect. Punish the looters? Yeah, that's the solution. This is almost as despicable as U.S.-made conditions in Iraq.

Where is the help?

The poorest of the poor are left in the streets of New Orleans. Prior to the hurricane, they had no means to leave the city. After the hurricane, they have no food and no water as they wait for someone, anyone, to help them.

Children, parents and the elderly are dying on the streets. New Orleans no longer looks like America. It looks like a Third World country.

We live in the richest country in the world. We have the smartest minds to find the means to help these people. Why are these people starving to death? Where is the help?

Our troops are needed at home

I think this hurricane should show President Bush that he has to bring our guys home. We can't justify this war if our people need them here. Our National Guard needs to be here helping us.

In a country as rich as this one, nobody should go without care during an emergency. A billion here and a billion there go to every project the president wants, but this money could instead be helping out here.

The New Orleans levees were old and should have been shored up years ago. Every town along the Gulf Coast should have had government assistance with an emergency plan to speed people out. It's time to admit, Mr. President, we should bring our guys home. They are needed here.

Using tragedy for political gain

Some of our predictable liberal leaders and their supporters are already blaming President Bush for Hurricane Katrina. To mention a few, they are Sen. Charles Schumer of N.Y., Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cindy Sheehan. Even Germany's Environmental Minister Jurgen Trittin has put in his two cents. So far the media have limited most of their coverage to the storm, as it should be. But using a natural disaster as a political windfall and pointing fingers at George Bush for its cause is unforgivable and an insult to the victims. To accuse our president in the name of global warming and conservation is a poor attempt to point fingers of blame and use politics as a means to do it.

This was a natural disaster, and if you report on these words by politicians, stupidly spoken while the country is suffering, they should not be given credibility.

We need to come together as a nation in this emergency to assist the victims. How dare anyone point their fingers in blaming our president?

Is race a factor?

Perhaps I'm just being cynical. But I can't help but believe that if the images coming out of New Orleans for the past four days were of white, middle-class people, rather than poor, black people, the situation would not have deteriorated as it has. I truly believe help would have arrived sooner, and the federal government would have had troops there long before this.

There's much we can do

For those who are unsure what to do about the survivors of the Hurricane Katrina, there is much that can be done.

Contributing money to the Red Cross or another organization is very effective. And then take action. Why not volunteer to answer phones at the Red Cross? The Red Cross also has classes for people who want to help during disasters. You can find an area that is of interest, whether it's learning how to unite separated family members or doing an intake on what possessions someone lost during a disaster or simply cooking food for the victims. (Three of several classes.)

Check out what churches are sending a truck and donate food, water, personal items that are so in need. Some of the TV stations do this as well.

Conserve: Use less electricity and much less gasoline. Start carpooling.

Louisiana now realizes the importance of protecting the wetlands that have been destroyed just as they have in Florida. Join an environmental group, such as the Sierra Club, that strives to work with officials while protecting the environment.

Call local and state officials to ask for more green space and less destructive development.

Oppose oil drilling off Florida. Sen. Bill Nelson has been fighting to protect Florida from oil rigs that can be destroyed in a hurricane and pollute.

Ask for higher mileage standards for cars.

Make a difference. It takes more than just empathy to help the people of Louisiana and Mississippi.

Putting things before people

How distressing to read in the St. Petersburg Times that the mayor of New Orleans has ordered 1,500 police to leave their search-and-rescue mission to try to stop the looting. Since when do "things" have more value than "people"? While we don't condone law-breaking, surely we must value human life more than material things.

The storm's touching reality

The Aug. 31 article Silence from New Orleans, as daughter waits for word, by Jennifer Liberto, touched me. I had not felt the extent of Hurricane Katrina until I read her article. It bought a realization of the storm to me with her insightful look at New Orleans and its problems with storm surge and flooding. I used to be one of those people who would not evacuate. Not anymore.

I hope you find your father, Jennifer. I feel as though I know him after reading your article. He's in my prayers.

Moving photos

Tears dropped from our eyes as my daughter and I looked at your staff photographers' photos online. They convey the total devastation, isolation and horror the afflicted residents of the Gulf Coast states are facing.

Katrina will have people asking, "Andrew who?"

[Last modified September 2, 2005, 02:15:35]