'JfJortlanh © bseruer_________ ____________________
September 7.2005
Government Response Failed Hurricane Victims
From shoring up levies to
responding quickly
(AP) — At every turn, political leaders
failed K atrina’s victims. They d id n 't
strengthen the levees, They ceded the
streets to marauding looters. They left
dead bodies to rot or bloat. Thousands
suffered or died for lack of water, food and
hope. W ho’s at fault?
There’s plenty of blame to go around -
the White House, Congress, federal agen
cies, local governments, police and even
residents o f the G ulf
Coast who refused or
ders toevacuate. But all
the fin g e r-p o in tin g
misses the point: Politi
cians and the people
they lead too often ig
nore danger signs until
a crisis hits.
It wasn’t a secret that
levees built to keep New
Orleans from flooding could not with
stand a major hurricane, but government
leaders never found the money to fully
shore up the network of earthen, steel and
concrete barriers.
Both the Bush and Clinton administra
tions proposed budgets that low-balled
the needs. Local politicians grabbed what
ever money they could and declared vic
tory. And the public didn’t exactly de
mand tax increases to pay for flood-con
trol and hurricane-protection projects.
Just last year, the Army Corps o f Engi
neers sought $105 million for hurricane
and flood programs in New Orleans. The
White House slashed the request to about
$40 million. Congress finally approved
$42.2 million, less than half of the agency ’ s
request.
Yet the lawmakers and Bush agreed to
1 Look at all they've had
to deal with. I'm telling
you, nobody ever thought
it would happen like this.
a $286.4 billion pork-laden highway bill
that included more than 6,000 pet projects
for lawmakers. Congress spent money on
dust control for Arkansas roads, a ware
house on the Erie Canal and a $231 million
bridge to a small, uninhabited Alaskan
island.
How could Washington spend $231
million on a bridge to nowhere - and not
find $42 million for hurricane and flood
Hurricane Katrina survivors Janova Jackson (left) and her sister Marion Young,
both from the Nigh Ward area o f New Orleans, read the newspaper at a shelter
in Dallas, Texas. The women, who both worked as housekeepers in a sm all hotel
in the French Quarter, said their side-by-side houses are gone. (AP photo)
projects in New Orleans ? It’s a matter of
power and politics.
Alaska is represented by Republican
Rep. Don Young, chairman of the House
Transportation Committee, and Republi
can Sen. Ted Stevens, a senior member of
the all-important Senate Appropriations
Committee. Louisiana’s delegation holds
far less sway.
Once the hurricane hit, relief trickled
into the G ulf Coast. Even Federal Emer
gency M anagem ent Agency director
Michael Brown, whose agency is in charge
of disaster response, pronounced the ini
tial results unacceptable.
Looting soon broke out as local police
stood by. Some police didn't want to stop
people from getting badly needed food
and water. Others seemed to be over
whelmed. Thousands of National Guard
troops were ordered to the G ulf Coast, but
their ranks have been drastically thinned
by the war in Iraq.
On top of all this, Katrina is one of the
worst natural disasters ever to hit the
United States. The best leaders running
They responded quicker to the
How did the government respond to
the devastation of Hurricane Katrina?
-T im Kemp, Portland resident
The governm ent knew way in
advance the hurricane was
com ing and should have been
better prepared. R elief could
have been in place before the
damage hit.
tsunami and that’s another county.
I’m surprised. It’s a shock. We
should worry about our own country
before somebody else’s.
a
-D ebbie Moore, mother
-Elizabeth Farver,
Apollo College student
I sat through H urricane Hugo and Alicia.
I grew up in south Texas where there
was 10 feet o f water in my room. The
governm ent got on it and they're doing as
much as can be done. We can ’t ju st snap
our fingers and have an answer.
the most efficient agencies would have
been sharply challenged.
“Look at all they’ve had to deal with,”
former President Clinton told CNN. “I’m
telling you, nobody ever thought it would
happen like this.”
T hat’s not true. Experts had predicted
for years that a major hurricane would
eventually hit New Orleans, swamping the
levees and filling the bowl-shaped city
with polluted water. Yet even Bush in
sisted that nobody anticipated the breach
of the levees in a serious storm.
The politicians are doing what they do
in time of crisis - shifting the blame.
“The truth will speak for itself,” Sen.
Mary Landrieu, D-La., said of potential
lapses by government. Later, her office
blamed the White House for budget cuts.
If it’s not the Republicans’ fault, per
haps some in Washington would like to
blame New Orleans itself. House Speaker
Dennis Hastert, R-lll , questioned whether
a city that lies below sea level should be
rebuilt. "That doesn’t make sense to m e,”
he said.
But for anybody living - or dying - in the
devastated region, there are far too many
villains to name.
R obin L ovin, ethics p ro fe sso r at
Southern M ethodist U niversity in D al
las, said it’s too convenient to blam e
one branch o f governm ent when they
are all, at some level, failing people.
From W atergate to C lin to n ’s im peach
ment, governm ental institutions have
disappointed the public.
I don’ t think the president
is too n tuch involved. He’s
just taking his time.
It’s disappointing.
1 understand that the levee system
could’ve been better prepared for
hurricanes - that breaks my heart.
T hey’re not taking care of it as
well as they need to.
-T yler Anderson,
Quizno's employee
-Louise Berg, Portland
Community College student
•
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I M A R K E T
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