NOLA - deciphering what's happened

mannybolone

A friend of mine in New York does policy analysis but I forgot what kind. I caught him on IM this morning and asked and he responded: "emergency management/natural disasters."Like whoa. So I asked him to break shit down for me about what happened in NOLA, who bears responsbility, yada yada.Some interesting things...1) Prior to Bush taking office, the federal government prepared a hazard study to look at the most serious, big-scale catastrophes potentially facing the nation. Number 1? "Terrorists attack New York." Number 2? "Hurricane hits New Orleans."2) The management of the disaster has been poor first and foremost because federal funding has been steadily eroded, with much of that money being siphoned into anti-terrorism budgets. This set up a lot of problems that we've seen today. The PRIMARY responsiblity for immediate response is NOT on the federal gov't. It's on the city and state. HOWEVER, if they lack the resources (which they have) then the federal gov't is the only other body with the power to respond. 3) Lest we not forget, a huge part of this is that everyone knew NO was in danger. The signs were as clear as day. But no one did enough about it. 4) Bush tried to dissolve FEMA. And FEMA was also directed to cease preperation initiatives, presumably for budget reasons.5) Logistically, the biggest problem with what happened - besides the levee failing - is the lack of power in the city. That, more than anything, has hampered relief efforts.More to follow.