WHO DO WE BLAME?

That seems to be the question of the day. Who do we blame? Was the mayor of New Orleans at fault? What about the governor? And then why did the President not do something sooner? Everyone seems to be pointing fingers in all directions. The Republicans are really pointing fingers at the governor and mayor of New Orleans.

My belief, for what it is worth, is that the governor of Louisiana did not do her job. Of course, I am only hearing what happened and I was not there. So I can only make a judgement on what I hear. I have heard that the President had to call the governor and suggest to have the National Guard move in there. My understanding is that the President cannot go into the boundaries of the state and make decisions. It is up to the state to ask the President for this help. That makes sense to me. So why didn't the governor call sooner and ask for help? Did she expect the government to come in after declaring the disaster before the storm? Did she just not know the procedure? As governor, why didn't she know and understand the procedure?

When I hear the governor talk on TV, she does not seem to have much presence about her. She is not an eloquent speaker. She seems to be in a cloud, which would be understandable. But it also seems to confirm that she did not take the leadership necessary. When you compare all the other areas hit by the same storm, it seems others fared better with the help. There are complaints all over and that is usual. The governor of Mississippi seemed to have the presence to take charge and got results.

I have heard it compared to 9-11 and that Mayor Guillani took charge and things got done quickly. I would suspect that any governor who takes charge and makes things happen, makes decisions, would help in a crisis. When a crisis happens, you need someone to take charge and be the leader. Someone who can coordinate all the different entities. Some say that putting FEMA under the homeland security was a mistake. I hope they re-do this decision if that is the case.

My main concern in discussing all this is that I want to know where the breakdown of communication occurred. Why? ~~ So that it can be fixed. I live on the gulf coast of Texas. But for the grace of God, we could have been hit by Katrina and we are likely to be hit by another hurricane in the future. And, more importantly, with the state of the current world, a terrorist attack could occur anywhere, at anytime. When something happens, will the crisis cause this much mis-communication? Could we be faced with an even greater disaster? How will the government respond? How will the local authorities respond?

This is my concern. We have a mentality in the US that we are the chosen country. We are immune to disasters and when something like Katrina hits, it wakes us up to the fact that we are not immune. But how we respond to these disasters say a lot about who we are as a people.

My biggest response to Katrina's disaster is how Louisiana is ready to party but not ready for a crisis. How can a state with so many Casinos bringing in so many dollars still be one of the poorest states in the nation? Where is all the gambling money going? Whose pockets are being stuffed with dough? If a city, such as New Orleans is so poor, how did it continue to function? How can we, as a people, justifiably build New Orleans back in the same manner? It should be re-thought and re-built in a manner that would not jeopordize people's lives. The devastation is just incredible.

All of our lives are changed by Katrina. We will not see our world in the same light as before. We are all affected by this storm.

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Just an update: I still don't have anyone in my home for shelter. I have tried to find a small family, but have not gone out myself. I have made a call and left my number but no takers to date. We are trying to do what we can, but mainly praying is all we are able to do. I am concerned now that I cannot take anyone in for two reasons. Tollie leaves town every month for his work and I don't want to be here by myself with strangers in my home and secondly, we are not sure of the time frame for their staying. We have other things happening in the coming months and I would not want to have to ask someone to leave for those things. I just pray everyday for all those misplaced by Katrina.