Considerable credit is due to state and local officials, the White House and especially Federal Emergency Management Agency director R. David Paulison (in photo) for the ready, coordinated, professional response to Hurricane Gustav’s assault on the Gulf Coast. It’s no small feat to evacuate 2 million people quickly. That action, as well as the storm’s different path, also helped keep Gustav’s death toll low compared with Katrina’s 1,600 dead three years ago. The effort should rebuild some trust in the willingness and ability of government to help when storms threaten. It’s just a shame that it took the Katrina catastrophe to bring out the best this time.
Registered?
Commenting on WE Blog now requires you to be a Kansas.com member. Use the links above to register, if you haven't already, or to log in.Contact us
Follow us
Daily Archives
-
Recent Comments
- BlueJay on Open thread 11/22
- Regular on Open thread 11/22
- Regular on Open thread 11/22
- Rage on Open thread 11/22
- cosmos_originally on Open thread 11/22
- Chas on Open thread 11/22
- BlueJay on Open thread 11/22
- Boxlock20 on Open thread 11/22
- satatom on Open thread 11/22
- JimJohnson on Open thread 11/22
23 Comments
I bet R. David Paulison is on a steady diet of Tylenol and coffee. That has to be a nightmare agency to run.
Kind of like comparing apples to oranges in the devastation of Katrina as opposed to the damage of Gustav. I still think if Katrina had hit during the Republican convention the response would have been much quicker and thorough.
Considerable credit is due to state and local officials, the White House and especially Federal Emergency Management Agency director R. David Paulison (in photo) for the ready, coordinated, professional response to Hurricane Gustav’s assault on the Gulf Coast.
Wait, wait, that’s impossible! Katrina proved that government just doesn’t work, ever! Rush, Hannity etc. all told us after Katrina!
They couldn’t have been, like, lying or anything, could they?
So the Katrina response was all Bush’s fault. Now that the system proved better, sure don’t see any praise Bush’s way.
What gives Dems?
Kudos to George W. Bush, David Paulison, Michael Chertoff, Bobby Jindal, and Ray Nagin for working together and getting it right this time.
And for showing that it is, indeed, possible to do so.
Satisfied, Sol?
Could it be that the Florida model of evacuation works just like every one said it did before Katrina? :)
The Mayor of the Chocolate People, Nagin had other ideas and penned everyone up in the arena and them act as ‘floaters’ on the bayou and causeways.
Sol, I think the federal government was tested due to the local and state leadership being so greatly improved. Some people don’t take the opportunity to learn what experience always offers. This time it looks like everyone learned their lessons!
ooops,
*WASN’T tested
It usually hadn’t been the practice in the past to thank government officials who respond well to disasters other than by re-electing them.
That’s something we used to expect them to do, you know, as a normal part of their jobs. Katrina set the bar low.
Hurricane Andrew was handled badly by Bush I because the nutcases under Reagan had turned FEMA into a nuclear-war-surivalist agency.
Clinton fixed that, and we saw competent hurricane relief under his administration.
Then W. got into office, and cronyism took precedent over everything. The results were predictable.
“Republicans always say that government doesn’t work and then get elected and prove it.” — Bill Maher
Amen,
Just didn’t see many folks pointing the finger localy last time ’round. All fingers at Bush.
Glad to see the system worked this time.
Rage,
Good on ya mate.
Kudos to George W. Bush, David Paulison, Michael Chertoff, Bobby Jindal, and Ray Nagin for working together and getting it right this time.
And for showing that it is, indeed, possible to do so.
Satisfied, Sol?
I second that, government can work
Clinton fixed that, and we saw competent hurricane relief under his administration.
Then W. got into office, and cronyism took precedent over everything. The results were predictable.
Kinda what I’m talkin about. . .
Kinda what I’m talkin about. . .
Roger that.
Katrina was primarily a failure of local and state governments.
New Orleans did not re-invest the funds supplied to them to improve levee’s, pumps and other storm surge protections. Instead, they frittered the funds away on parks and cosmetic improvements around town.
New Orleans had the most disastrous evacuation plan outside of Bangladesh.
The disaster plan for New Orleans had so much dust on it, it could have been used for crop spraying.
The New Orleans police department basically fled the city leaving it absent of a law enforcement presence.
Katrina was a huge storm and it devastated many areas. Fortunately, not every one is a whiner like the city of New Orleans where they shot their own feet in non-preparedness.
Other states dealt with the disaster and knew pretty much what to do.
Louisiana, on the hand, was pretty much clueless.
Governor Jindale took charge and showed the Dumbocrats how to manage. The Dumbocrats should take copious notes and learn.
If N.O. hadn’t been evacuated at all, you wouldn’t have seen the death and destruction that you saw with Katrina. NO comparison.
Govt. can work when elected officials and govt. agencies carry out their jobs.
Did anyone think the federal government might be sort of a safety net if local or state governments needed help? Ya know, since they have all those expensive “agencies and departments.” I did. Katrina proved I shouldn’t have. Since local and state governments / leadership worked much better with Gustuv I still don’t know if there is a safety net at the federal level.
Did anyone think the federal government might be sort of a safety net if local or state governments needed help? Ya know, since they have all those expensive “agencies and departments.” I did. Katrina proved I shouldn’t have. Since local and state governments / leadership worked much better with Gustuv I still don’t know if there is a safety net at the federal level.
My understanding is that a fair amount of federal dollars were involved in making things happen this time around. Ray Nagin got the fleet of evacuation buses he was begging for prior to Katrina.
One of the biggest crimes of Katrina was the withholding/diverting of funds intended to fix the problems alongside the Ninth Ward. This allowed the Lake Ponchatrain to flood the city.
Katrina didn’t do that. Our government did.
Hey wait a minute, Nagin and his Governorness had a fleet of buses that ‘drowned’ because they were sitting empty and unused in a parking lot the whole time.
AMTRAK was told not to send trains to assist in the evacuation because they weren’t needed before Katrina. FEMA was told not to worry by the Governorness because they had everything under control.
Interesting how the parts of the actual story get left out to sell a biased agenda.
Considerable credit is due to mother nature and her decision to spare New Orleans this trip.
Those flood walls will come tumbling down again. Just give mother nature time.
To think a government can protect a city built below sea level when the big one hits is ludicrous.
But the dreamers (who also KNOW about global warming), will want Uncle Sugar to continue to pump billions into a defense that cannot withstand the ultimate test. And we will spend the money over, and over again.
Solution: Move the city. Raise the city (fill it with garbage as a landfill), protect the shoreline by ENDING all public support for private property within distance of the storm surge – and convert our entire shoreline to public lands, protected for enjoyment by all Americans – not just the rich. Let mother nature rebuild the sand dunes, swamps, and other “natural” barriers.
It’s all just another form of corporate welfare.
AMAZING what happens when the local evacuation plan is FOLLOWED and ENFORCED before the storm hits.
Why Didn’t Mayor Nagin Get It Right The First Time!?!
Nagin killed 1,600 of his own people by not evacuating before Katrina.
1,600 lessons learned.
(But blame Bush!)
Well Max, there was sure plenty of blame to go around. It’s not nice to fool mother nature.
Dinosaur,
Are you saying it was Bush’s fault that Mayor Nagin didn’t have the city of New Orleans evacuated?
Jindal showed Blanco what a Governor is supposed to do. Jindal did everything he could to make sure Mayor Nagin didn’t F-UP again!
The whole event was turned in to a gop convention
spot it was stupid to evacuate there was no need we have storms that bad 10 times a year in kansas.Now we must start to evacuate sc.there will be a cat 2 storm later this week.Then we must start to evac.florida possable cat 2 ike headed there.Now we must evac.everytime there is a cat 2 storm.Phil was right this nation has become whiners and sissys