State of Disaster

Thoughts on the Hurricane aftermath in Louisiana..
I've seen the news reports, read the stories, and looked at the comments made by bloggers and other posts written by various people and have come up with a few thoughts on the ranting and raving of those who believe everything went wrong with the relief efforts and the opinions about those who stayed behind.
Blaming the people who stayed is as ridiculous as blaming the government for not showing up right after the hurricane moved out. Do you know the logistics in getting supplies, people and equipment into an area where the roads are all destroyed and there are no feasible areas to stage help from? Then add to that people shooting at those who were trying to help and you have now created a scene where caution makes things go even more slowly. Why weren't there more people evacuated via busses set up by the local and state government? What makes those that decided to stay think they were immune to the devastation of a category 5 hurricane? Where were the Jesse Jacksons before the hurricane hit? Couldn't they have been telling people to get out? Funny how the critics and "leaders" only show up after the devastation and all they offer is criticism instead of help. I agree that the government could have moved faster and I'm sure they'll be some repercussions on that fact, but let's not forget that even the civilian disaster relief organizations had trouble getting there in a timely manner. Also, many of the people that stayed are victims, but there are also some that made a decision to stay and ride the storm out who could have left.
Why is Louisiana the state that has had the worst problem with the relief efforts. Could that be due to local and state unpreparedness? They have a lot of responsibility in this as well.
The lawlessness is what really gets to me. I can understand people needing to raid a store for food, batteries, flashlights and other necessary items, but guns, jewelry, TV's? Those are the people who are not taking to survive, they are taking because they can. Those are the ones who would prefer the state of chaos and will do things to keep it that way. I believe that anyone who shoots at the relief efforts should be treated as they would on the street by law enforcement and be shot back at. There is no excuse to be shooting at people who are coming to the aid of those in need. Then the woman on TV saying how bad the food she received was after she hadn't eaten in 3 days. She ought to be ashamed. How dare you profess to be hungry and in need and then turn around and insult the aid you were provided. You ungrateful person. Give it back then and fend for yourself if the meals we feed our soldiers are not good enough for your palette. Entitlement seems to run rampant in her mind. I know it's harsh, but there are others in need also who would be grateful to receive food and water even if it is the MRE's fed to our military.
It boggles my mind how some people can react with such arrogance.
Those who blame the Administration for the mess are just grasping at anything they can to blame the President and government. Let me say this once... IT was a Category 5 Hurricane! What did you expect, that the state would be back on it's feet in a few days? It'll take years before it's back to normal, but you know what? I bet it's rebuilt better than it was before. It needs to be. There were so many problems just waiting to surface with the gulf coast. Having a city that is on the coast and under sea level just doesn't seem like a smart thing to me. Add to that the fact it's sinking also and it was just a matter if time before something happened or something had to be done. Maybe now is the chance to rebuild New Orleans and make it stronger and more stable than ever. I hope so, it is a city rich in culture and would be a great loss.
People will find anything to complain about these days. Where is the help from other countries? Why can't we do something about the price of gas? Why don't they stop those people from looting? Where was the President and why did it take so long for him to respond?
First, do we need help from other countries? We are the most powerful and resourceful nation on the earth, who is more able to help us then us?
The price of gas is affected by everything these days. Do you think that having the restrictions on where we can refine petroleum products to the gulf area was smart? Diverse locations would ensure more stability should anything else happen somewhere else.
The looters are not all bad. In fact most are probably trying to find supplies to survive and for that there is no fault. Who wouldn't do the same? Unfortunately those who loot for profit are doing so because there is no way for police to stop them. The police also have families to care for. Those that are working are in help mode and to try and grasp what to do next while being shorthanded.
Where was the President? Staying away as he should have. The fastest way to slow down everything is to have the President visit too soon. This diverts resources from the job of getting aid enroute to where it is needed. The security needed and restrictions placed around the President's location would have made matters worse.
The relief effort is in full swing now and I'm sure we'll be seeing better management of this situation. With a catastrophe of this size, you can't expect everyone to be cared for in 3-4 days. But of course that's not what people think.
There are so many more issues on this subject that I could go on for days, but that's enough for now.