[extropy-chat] Getting AId to people in need

[J. Andrew Rogers]

On 9/1/05 6:30 PM, "kevinfreels.com" <kevin at kevinfreels.com> wrote:
> Is it my imagination or is someone bumbling this entire rescue effort in New
> Orleans? I cannot believe for a second that FEMA just found out this morning
> that thousands of people were at the convention center and 8 hours later the
> best they could do was a single Blackhawk helicopter with bottled water. This
> is 4 days after this event. I am certain there are supplies all around that
> area just waiting to get to people. Why aren't there C130s flying out of Baton
> Rouge dropping water and MREs? Where is the command and control center?


A few points that you may have missed:

1) The Federal government has very limited jurisdiction in this case, and
the Feds have been very proactive to the extent they could be; they
pre-positioned most of their assets a couple days before the storm.  The
truly grotesque failure of leadership and planning falls squarely on the
State of Louisiana, which not only shows clear evidence of having no plan
whatsoever but also is sitting on their asses rather than pushing the
necessary buttons required to get more Federal resources in there.
Remember, the State of Louisiana is a sovereign entity, and the Federal
government has very limited ability to act in their jurisdiction without
official permission by the governor.  Unfortunately, the governor is WAY out
of her league, and clearly lost.

2) The logistical infrastructure has been so thoroughly destroyed that there
is extremely limited ability to deliver support.  Dropping water and MREs
does not do much good if half the place is under a few meters of water.
Can't drive in, can't boat in, and can't fly in, for a country-sized region.
They are using what logistical assets they can reasonably mobilize under the
circumstances.  Anybody expecting more has utterly unrealistic notions about
the nature of logistics under the circumstances.

3) What transportation elements can operate in this environment have a very
low carrying capacity that is entirely inadequate for the sheer number of
people the have to support.  If there were only thousands of people left
behind, it would have been less of an issue, but there are hundreds of
thousands of people spread over a vast area.  Massive airdrops are not
granular enough, as there is no distribution channel within the city once
you drop a pallet somewhere.

4)  As further evidence, the disparities in competence and reaction between
affected States, notably Mississippi and Louisiana, is stark.  Mississippi
is just about the poorest State in the country and took the hurricane head
on, thoroughly annihilating a fair portion of that State, but the
authorities took charge of the situation very quickly.  Louisiana did not
prepare ahead of time, and then sat around with a thumb up their ass after
the fact.  Looting in Mississippi was squashed with extreme prejudice early
on.


The biggest villains in this whole mess is the State of Louisiana, and its
leaders.  Criminal incompetence and negligence, amplified by a genuine
crisis.  Heads are going to roll in the that State when this is all over.


J. Andrew Rogers