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NOLA Officials Achieve the Impossible
By Brian | September 3, 2008 | Share on Facebook
What a difference three years make.
Three years ago, despite warnings of a major hurricane approaching, Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, didn’t issue a mandatory evacuation until more than a week after the storm had passed. He didn’t have a plan in place for getting patients out of hospitals or nursing homes in the event of system-wide power loss. He told us that people in the poorest wards of New Orleans couldn’t leave their homes because they couldn’t afford basic transportation out of the area, despite school buses and Greyhound buses which sat idle in parking lots as the storm hit. He had no evacuation plan, causing massive confusion and unsafe conditions at places like the Convention Center and the Superdome. His police force was ineffectual, allowing massive looting and violence which delayed rescue and rebuilding efforts. He went on television and complained that the federal government wasn’t doing enough to save his city, and refused to do any more press conferences until help arrived.
Three years ago, despite warnings of a major hurricane approaching, Kathleen Blanco, the governor of Louisiana, couldn’t properly fill out the paperwork to federalize the National Guard. She told guardsmen from Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas that her state didn’t need assistance, turning away manpower and supplies at the borders. She couldn’t coordinate with neighboring states to handle displaced people, share resources, or communicate effectively with the federal government. She joined with dozens of others to sharply criticize President Bush and FEMA director Mike Brown for letting her state down.
All of these things, we were told, were unavoidable. Coordinating a response to such a large natural disaster in a city that was below sea-level, inadequately protected by a crumbling levee system, and suffering from extreme levels of poverty, crime and drugs was impossible.
Last weekend, though, the impossible became the actual. Mayor Nagin evacuated the city before the storm hit. He took care of hospital and nursing home patients. He provided free buses to those who couldn’t afford to leave on their own, and convincingly instructed them to leave. He issued a dusk to dawn curfew. He sent his police force into the streets before the storm to make a final sweep for people or property that was in avoidable danger.
Last weekend, the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas coordinated with the federal government to prepare for damage control. The national guard stood ready to assist, their mission clear and their authority unquestioned. There were some communication difficulties, but these were addressed as much as possible before the storm hit, and with little or no political finger-pointing.
FEMA’s role in Hurricane Gustav is just beginning now. When they enter New Orleans and other coastal cities, they will do what FEMA usually does – hand out money, build temporary shelters, coordinate local relief agencies in providing assistance to those in need. They will not be scrambling to pull survivors off of rooftops or rescue dying patients from the top floors of hospitals where doctors and nurses try in vain to keep patients alive with CPR because their life support systems are without power.
Three years ago, FEMA was faced with a situation unlike anything it had ever experienced. It’s lack of flexibility and responsiveness earned it a well deserved black eye, and provided unfortunate cover for the travesties brought upon the area by a mayor and governor who so badly dropped the ball.
Three years ago, Louisiana’s two senators – Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican David Vitter
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