Hurricane KatrinaAs you are all aware, hurricane Katrina recently struck America's Gulf coast with catastrophic force. The images streaming through our television sets resemble those of a third-world country, and not of the United States. Countless thousands of individuals are now homeless, jobless, and without the necessities and traditional comforts of modern life. Criminals have been released from prison and lawlessness has become the order of the day in New Orleans. The sheer magnitude of the event--the massive amount of refugees--has completely exhausted the public safety resources of New Orleans and many other affected areas. Assistance cannot arrive quickly enough.
In extreme situations such as this it is common for the initial fear and anxiety to be replaced with anger and resentment. Such has been the case with Katrina. A group of angry individuals has resorted to violence and criminal activity instead of a more productive and peaceful approach. Rather than focusing on survival and assisting their families and neighbors they have resorted to looting, fighting, shooting, and of blaming others for their plight. The fact of the matter is simply that this was an unavoidable natural disaster that nobody--not even the United States government--had the ability to completely prevent. True, likely more could have been done in advance to strengthen levees in anticipation for a greater than class three hurricane, however such was not the case and as a result this is a reality that we must live with and get beyond. Dwelling on what-ifs and steps that should have been taken in advance is not productive in addressing the current issues. Although at a later point in time such an examination of preceding events will be necessary to help prevent any future devastation of this magnitude when the Gulf coast is eventually struck again by another massive hurricane; presently, the focus must be on the victims and of restoring some semblance of normalcy to the region.
In the meantime, however, it is important for people to realize that we are all human--including rescuers and government officials. Those who suffer most from the affects of hurricane Katrina must realize that help is coming as quickly as possible. In fact, it is likely that the police officers and medics themselves have no homes to go back to. Never before in the history of the United States has such a massive emergency response been undertaken. Despite "wargames" that have been played out in the past, when the real thing comes along there are bound to be speedbumps on the way. Delays are not the result of racism or classism as some have insinuated. They are the result of executing plans that have never been executed in the history of this country and having to continually modify these plans as they are being executed.
We as a society have come to take for granted the incredible amount of essential emergency services that are generally available to each of us any second of the day or night. In most cases 911 calls result in nearly immediate responses by all necessary resources. Unfortunately, when a catastrophic event occurs, these services become taxed and must be distributed with the greater good in mind. The individual focus no longer becomes possible. This is the harsh reality of these trying times and does not occur because rescuers and government officials decide that individuals are not deserving of their assistance. Although difficult, we must all try to understand the situation from larger perspective. I truly believe that relief workers are doing the best that they can with the resources afforded to them.
If you want to help and are unable to assist directly in the efforts please give to the American Red Cross, especially if you donated to the Tsunami of 2004. Where is the international support for our "tsunami"? Exactly where I thought it would be last year when I told people that the world would not do the same for us. It seems that I was largely correct in my assumption. Americans must help Americans at this juncture. Give what you can and help your fellow countrymen.
posted at 06:00