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View Poll Results: What was the cause of the delay in relief efforts?
Race
3
10.71%
Class
7
25.00%
Unprepared
19
67.86%
Other
4
14.29%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 28. You may not vote on this poll
I'm very interested to hear everyones opinion as to why things weren't done sooner. Some think it was because of Race, others think it was due to Class (e.g. Upper Class, Lower Class), or just the fact that we weren't prepared at all. What do you all think and why.
Here's a good list of what went wrong:
- The absoprtion of the Federal Emergency Management Agency into the super huge and terrorism focused Department of Homeland Security.
- A military strecthed by wars in Iraq and Afghanistand, which made commanders reluctant to commit some active-duty units nerby.
- A total breakdown of communications systems. A key point being the difference after the hurricane and after the levees broke. Big difference if you guys didn't notice.
- Missteps at the local level, including a rudimentary plan to deal with hurricanes.
- A faiure to plan for the possibility that New Orleans's levee system would fail.
I think its probably in that link I gave you. That article was published in a 5 part series by the Times-Picayune, NO's major news publication... in June 23-27, 2002.
The way I look at it is that the government was just unprepared. I mean they did expect it to do some damage, but I dont think they intended for it to wipe out a whole city, actual a few cities and then have thousands of people stuck in there homes and thousands more stuck in the superdome with nowhere to go. When it first happens, you cant expect the government to be right there at your house and you waiting to be rescued. its not going to happen. Also I didnt think anyone expected there to be so much looting, crime, and what not with all this. I dont think its a matter of they took to long to act on this, I think its a matter of where to get all the funding to rescue everyone, and where to put everyone. Now its to the point that they are just going to start dispersing people to several states and leave it at that.
Well you got to think also...would the govt. have let it gone this far if it were say...a bunch of rich powerful people up in the Hamptons....hmmmmmmmmm....
Well you got to think also...would the govt. have let it gone this far if it were say...a bunch of rich powerful people up in the Hamptons....hmmmmmmmmm....
it probably all depends on how those rich people acted when the hurricane hit? If they went balistic and started looting and killing each other, it would probably be the same way it is now. But if people acted civilized, things might have gotten done faster. See the people in new orleans didnt act civilized when this happened which I think played a big role in the government acting upon this. With everyone going nuts, the government didnt have much choice.
Nah...the way it is...money is power...and those who have it...have connections...high connections...I mean think about it...whens the last time you heard of a celebrity who went to jail or was convicted of something...if you got the money...you can pretty much get a lot of stuff...and those poor people didn't really have anything...
Unprepared. This area hasn't seen a bad storm since the 60's, they were too busy watching florida get battered with so many storms thinking it would never happen to them. I bet ya next time another storm makes it's way into the Gulf, people are going to pay more attention.
Hey shut up Jeff....it's a topic of discussion...I think it was a combination of poor planning for prevention...and after the fact...just utter confusion and incompitence between organizations. Oooooh...how do you like that...huh...
I heard somewhere that those levies (sp?) were only rated to withstand a Category 3 hurricane...can anyone verify this...
I keep hearing that on the news. and I feel this happened due to not being prepared. the mayor said to leave town but left no way for the people w/ no transportation to get out. They were basically screwed.
on a side note there are so many LA folks down here in houston right now it is crazy! and many might be staying here.
hey everyone remember after september 11th when they told us to have a couple days supply of water, food, money and gas well i still do. it sounds crazy but what if theres a huge earthquake or if a dam goes out. if all these people had saved up their water, food, money and gas they could have been alright. i mean even if they were totally broke and saved 5 dollars a month since 9-11-01 they would have 240 dollars which could have rented a u-haul and enough gas to get to memphis. we need to take some personal resposibility.
hey everyone remember after september 11th when they told us to have a couple days supply of water, food, money and gas well i still do. it sounds crazy but what if theres a huge earthquake or if a dam goes out. if all these people had saved up their water, food, money and gas they could have been alright. i mean even if they were totally broke and saved 5 dollars a month since 9-11-01 they would have 240 dollars which could have rented a u-haul and enough gas to get to memphis. we need to take some personal resposibility.
I kinda tend to agree with this to a point. Too often people just sit on their cans and wait for the government to take care of it. There should be some owness on the lack of personal responsibility
Katrina disaster discussion : What was the cause 
