This week's headline news: The response to Katrina really was a disaster.

There you have it, the truth is out. Five months after Hurricane Katrina ripped into the Gulf Coast and the New Orleans levee broke—really, isn't it two separate incidents?—officials in Washington, D.C., have finished their investigations and interviews and declared that the response to Katrina was handled poorly. A few more White Papers are most likely forthcoming to also confirm what most emergency service responders--and residents of the stricken area—experienced firsthand.

I realize that the federal government is a bureaucracy operated by opposing parties, where trying to make changes is like a committee trying to teach an elephant to roll over. But will we ever be able to say the nation is "prepared"?

Last week, it was interesting to hear questions about Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff being responsible for the federal response to Katrina and the levees. Personally, I don't believe that Chertoff has been given enough of a free hand to make necessary changes. Extensive research he initiated early last year was recently presented to him, and now that Chertoff has a year's experience under his belt, he has just announced several changes to be implemented.

Perhaps it's time to tap some of the large corporations to come in and do a "dusting and cleaning" on the Department of Homeland Security. What if this new branch of government were actually run like a for-profit organization? Why not hire the CEO of Oshkosh Truck Corp., for example, to spend one year retooling the DHS? FEMA could use the logistical expertise of the Wal-Mart CEO and leadership team. The U.S. Fire Administration might benefit from the director of California's Disaster Response program and/or the chief of the ever-expanding Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System. And the National Fire Academy could learn a great deal from Phoenix University and its global online educational programs.

Later this year will be the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 devastation. Afterward, there were investigations, 1,000-page paperback reports and endless White Papers. Despite a new layer of bureaucracy, we still hear that the United States isn't any better prepared. I think there has been some progress, but it's just not enough.

Janet Wilmoth, Editorial Director

Reader Responses

Insolence

Such insolence! Keep up the good work! We HAVE to learn to do it better. As a tax payer it offends me – the striving for mediocrity. Thanks for the reading.

Joe Mackey
Deputy Chief of Operations
Vancouver Fire Department
Vancouver, Wa.

Caught

I must disagree with your assessment of the Katrina response and how prepared the US is today verses that time period. The government has 285 million masters and not a one of them agrees with what should be done. You have a framework of legislation that honest people put together to react to disasters of this type. Katrina showed how poor large organizations react to new situations. No CEO can compare to this disaster-guys like Bill Gates make only a couple of real decisions each year that turn their battleships over several month to years.

Katrina showed how the local folks had fallen on their faces. How can you explain the number of police and firemen who walked away? How can you explain the facts about an actual working evacuation plan? Florida does it each year. Louisiana and New Orleans got caught with their pants down.

How far inland where the relief supplies? How long did it take to clear the roads back into New Orleans to get those supplies to the Superdome? So, when Mayor Nagan told the people to come to the Superdome and bring 3-5 days of supplies, how come there were no supplies stockpiled there to begin with? No emergency backup power. No water, no food. No waste disposal plan. No emergency medicine. And the list goes on and on. Missouri sent our TF-1 search and rescue unit, but it is at least an 18-hour drive from Columbia, Mo. to Baton Rouge. Did we get the call from Governor Blanco to come and help or from FEMA? When did the governor call for help from FEMA, and what did she need? Did she want search and rescue or did she want power utilities restored?

No, the Feds back up the state that backs up the locals. It fell apart at the foundation, not the roof.

Mike
St. Robert, Mo.

Their fault

I think it is about time for New Orleans' mayor and citizens to step forward and take 90% of the blame. If they had evacuated when they were told to, if the buses that were flooded had been moved to higher ground instead of being left in low areas to be flooded, and more and more ifs....

New Orleans' floods: expected.
Mississippi's delta floods: expected.
Gulf coast hit by hurricane: expected.
California has mudslides from too much rain: expected. (People all over build on top of or on the side of a hill. They won't trim their trees back to prevent fires.)
Many others: expected.

The question is, why do average American taxpayers who don't live in those areas have to pick the bill and bail these people out? Why are we expected to? When we do, do we get a thank you? No, they just want more.

What has happened to people helping themselves? What has happened to common sense? If you park in the middle of a freeway, don't you expect to get hit? If you jump off a cliff or bridge, don't you expect to get hurt?

During the good times, does the average taxpayer share in the wealth and near perfect living conditions? You know they don't.

They have had the good times-let them get themselves out of the mess they caused by living there. Why should we be expected to bail them out? We didn't put them there. Where was all the help for people in the Great Depression? Did they set back and wait for the government to give them everything and kiss their backsides at the same time?

The majority of Americans help themselves-you don't hear about those people. They just have to pay the bills and all of their children for many years to come will continue paying.

So many people want the government to:

Support them: they won't work--they want positions, not jobs.
Feed them: they're too lazy to work.
Clothe them: same reason.
Raise their kids: its too much trouble for them to do it themselves.
Teach them when they won't listen: because they didn't have any training at home and you can't correct them without getting sued or fired.

I'm 70 years old with only a high school education. I raised four children, never drew unemployment, never received food stamps, and was never without a job longer than a week.

There is a difference in the way some people have been raised. Some have been raised to work, some to sit on their butts and expect someone else to support them!

Marion Ward
Buchanan VFD