Do you wish our government would have been as eager to help New Orleans as it is to help Myanmar?

Question

Because I sure as h**l do.

Answer 1

If Katrina could have struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast , New Orleans and other places same as Nargis in Burma (Myanmar) and if the toll was 100,000 as feared now in Burma, the government would have declared emergency and would not have hesitated to take the aid from every one including Burma!

Answer 2

No.  The people at the local level caused N.O. mess and the idiots who lived there believed them.  More of them should have died.  I will never give that garbage pit another dollar.

Answer 3

No. There was a ton of boots on the ground before the storm hit and the stupid democrats in charge of the state and city refused to let them get it going.  Add in that the mayor of NO had hundreds of buses that he could have used to evac people and didn't tells me he thought less of his fellow chocolate city people than I do and I do not care for them at all.

Answer 4

I assume you are criticizing the federal government with your question.  The thoughts for New Orelans are appreciated (really), but there are many myths about Katrina and your question seems to have prompted many of them.

There was a failure to provide quick action after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, but the failure was by the State of Louisiana and not by the federal government. Realize that disaster response is a constitutionally-mandated authority of state government that is jealously guarded by the state governors. Disaster response is NOT a federal responsibility and FEMA is not a first-responder agency.

Then-Governor Kathleen Blanco earned the nickname "Governor Blank Stare" from her own staff because of an inability to make decisions during the crisis. The only decision she seems to have made was to REFUSE the President's request to "federalize" the disaster response when the scale of the catastrophe became clear. That was why the FIRST Louisiana National Guard convoy reached the city almost a week after the storm, when one could drive the 75 miles from Baton Rouge to New Orleans in an ordinary car by the evening after the storm hit.

Blanco was/is a Democrat and it is clear her motivation for refusing federal assistance was based on partisan politics. Hundreds of people died needlessly as a result. She could be prosecuted for mass negligent hiomicide except that the Governor has immunity regarding the consequences of decisions made in office.

We elected a Republican Governor last year in a first-primary landslide as a result. Blanco didn't even run.

Note that response to disasters overseas IS a federal responsibility. However, the actual response is by the US military and agencies like the State Department or USAID, and not FEMA.  That is why the USA can offer aid to Burma immediately - though Bruma seems to have its own Blancos.

One of the most prevalent Katrina myths is that "no one left when they were warned".  In reality, the evacuation of New Orleans was a tremendous success and 95% of the metro area's 1.4 million population was able to leave with only 48 hours notice. Half of the remaining 5% went to the Superdome, which was the designated shelter. Most of the rest didn't evacuate because they were too poor to afford to pay $300/day for hotel rooms and restaurant meals (there were almost no free places to go and FEMA did not start paying for hotels until after the disaster).

There is a widespread myth that New Orleans is "built below sea level", but that is not true.  Another common belief is that New Orleans is "prone" to hurricanes or being flooded. Not true. The last hurricane to hit before Katrina was in 1965 and before that was in 1947. Neither of those flooded the city proper like Katrina, which was the strongest storm ever recorded to strike North America.

Answer 5

The Mississippi Gulf Coast took the direct hit from Katrina. You did not see anyone from Mississippi on TV whining. Our state and our Governor got in there and stated taking care of the disaster as soon as possible.

The jerk democrats in Louisiana could have done the same thing but Naggin and their Governor preferred whining on TV.

Your term "our government' includes the state's governments.

Criticize Louisiana's democrats first and foremost. Each state has finances and facilities but who is in charge can create snafus like post Katrina New Orleans.

AND- Obama will be just like Naggin if the U.S. becomes stupid enough to elect him.

Answer 6

I think the question is:

Why aren't all of New Orleans going to Myanmar to help the grieving people there like so many in America went to New Orleans to clean up the mess?

Don't they know what these people are going through, or do they just not care?

Answer 7

It was.  Blame it on Governor Blanco, who took her sweet old time moving the process along.

The feds could not proceed without her request (by law) and she was too busy with her hair and makeup to do her job!

Answer 8

n.o. was a dumb idea from the word go, and i guess we're stupid enough to do it again.....will we ever learn from our mistakes?  lets build a city by the sea, below sea level...  genius!(NOT!!)

Answer 9

As someone else here had eloquently stated, the mayor had hundreds if not thousands of school buses he could have dispatched them to save the lives of his loyal subjects.

Additionally, the national guard was ready to go and help the people but the Kathleen Blanco (the then Governor) and or The Famous Chocolatier Raymond Naggin told President Bush no, when he offered to send the National Guard. There was a ton of pre-warning by the local and national media and the national weather service telling people that a hurricane was coming, and yet the people just sat there like a bump on a log.

If you want a good laugh play these two videos simultaneously and insert the name Raymond Nagin in the place of Willie Wonka:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp7TfRGW5...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5-sNqJW7...

Answer 10

Well the first answer pretty well sums it up!  Nothing else needs said!