What Should Have Been the Proper Federal Government Response to Hurricane Katrina?

[rational thinker]

Many pundits are now chastising Jindal on him stating that the federal government simply doesn't work and offers up the Hurricane Katrina example, illustrating its incompetence.

Paul Krugman writes, "And leaving aside the chutzpah of casting the failure of his own party’s governance as proof that government can’t work, does he really think that the response to natural disasters like Katrina is best undertaken by uncoordinated private action? Hey, why bother having an army? Let’s just rely on self-defense by armed citizens."

If Ron Paul were president and another Hurricane Katrina were to happen, what exactly would he do with the federal government? Would he help or just do nothing?

[youngbuck]

Nothing...... ....

[smithtg]

Many pundits are now chastising Jindal on him stating that the federal government simply doesn't work and offers up the Hurricane Katrina example, illustrating its incompetence.

Paul Krugman writes, "And leaving aside the chutzpah of casting the failure of his own party’s governance as proof that government can’t work, does he really think that the response to natural disasters like Katrina is best undertaken by uncoordinated private action? Hey, why bother having an army? Let’s just rely on self-defense by armed citizens."

If Ron Paul were president and another Hurricane Katrina were to happen, what exactly would he do with the federal government? Would he help or just do nothing?


he would tell the state to deal with it. Where does the constitution says the government helps the people after natural disasters?? the infamous "general welfare" cause?

If we didnt have stupid agencies like FEMA, the states would be forced to come up with their own way. I am sure one could look at the % of natural disasters, storms, earthquakes in various states and the ones that have less (and their citizens) are just providing funding to others that have more via the income tax etc etc etc.

[Truth Warrior]

Outsource the solution to WalMart. ;) :)

[youngbuck]

Outsource the solution to WalMart. ;) :)

Would that be suitably capitalistic? :confused:;)

[Truth Warrior]

Would that be suitably capitalistic? :confused:;) Nope, they just get things done and excel at logistics and distribution. ;) They wouldn't have 20,000 rotting unused NEW mobile homes lying around. :rolleyes: :mad:

[Soca Taliban]

Not a damn thing........
Let the states, insurance, private organizations, and charities take care of it.

[Soca Taliban]

Not a damn thing........
Let the states, insurance, private organizations, and charities take care of it.
Welfare in a natural disaster is welfare non-the-less.

[Krugerrand]

I think it would be reasonable for the military to play a role in the evacuation of people.

Of course, a state militia should fill that role first and then if assistance is needed they could request that of the US military. But, since the National Guards were stolen from the states ... you go to disasters with the military you have not the military you wish you had.

EDIT - I'd also add in the same way protection of property from looters.

[Sandra]

NG for evacuation, private entities and churches for recovery.

[pcosmar]

Not a damn thing........
Let the states, insurance, private organizations, and charities take care of it.
Welfare in a natural disaster is welfare non-the-less.

The Federal Government only gets in the way. Their "help" is not necessary and ofter more of a hindrance.
Do some research on Galveston Tx. and the 1900 hurricane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900_Galveston_hurricane
Wiki is just for quick reference.
People survived without Fed assistance and rebuilt the city.
Katrina was a self inflicted wound. Many MILLIONS were spent on the levies in the year just prior. Many more $$$$$$$$$$ were spent in the years before.
The Government actually interfered with it before, during ,and after.
It was a self inflicted wound. and it is still festering years later while everywhere else is rebuilt and moving on.

BTW,, Katrina was only one of the 4 hurricanes I was hit with that year.

[reaver]

Katrina 06 and Galveston 1900 is apples to oranges. People knew how to live without assistance in 1900 Galveston and this was New Orleans, LA over 100 years later. Higher population density, lower real income, and far far far more elderly dependents. The elderly is a major difference as nearly half of the 1,300 lost were 71 or older, life expectancy was still around what, 50 back in 1900?

But the answer to the topic: "Not fly the President past New Orleans to John McCains birthday party on the same day."

[TonySutton]

A federal rescue, implied by FEMA, lowers insurance rates which causes businesses and individuals to use poor judgment. This is a moral hazard which should be removed from the equation.

[reaver]

A federal rescue, implied by FEMA, lowers insurance rates which causes businesses and individuals to use poor judgment. This is a moral hazard which should be removed from the equation.

True, many individuals rely on federal assistance from a federal disaster so they opt out of buying insurance. Mainly since having insurance disqualifies you for federal assistance and also the perception that insurance pays out less helps (hurts).

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

The only response the Federal Government could legitemately have done is for the Commander-in-Chief to call for the Militia to serve for 90 days and deploy them to Louisiana if the Governor and Legislature requested out of state support. Other than that, they could offer moral support and perhaps offer a list of legitemate organizations to which citizens elsewhere could donate money, time, materiel etc.

[pcosmar]

Katrina 06 and Galveston 1900 is apples to oranges. People knew how to live without assistance in 1900 Galveston and this was New Orleans, LA over 100 years later. Higher population density, lower real income, and far far far more elderly dependents. The elderly is a major difference as nearly half of the 1,300 lost were 71 or older, life expectancy was still around what, 50 back in 1900?

But the answer to the topic: "Not fly the President past New Orleans to John McCains birthday party on the same day."

Wow, do you think you could add any more bullshit to that.
http://www.1900storm.com/redcross/index.lasso

Yet under the leadership of Clara Barton, the American Red Cross helped establish an orphanage for storm victims and helped to acquire lumber to rebuild houses. The organization raised money by selling photographs of the storm devastation.


Barton, then 78 years old, accepted and joined other Red Cross volunteers who traveled to Galveston from Washington, D.C., to administer relief to the people left standing amid the rubble that the 1900 storm piled on the island.

The Red Cross had relief supplies in New Orleans but was prevented from delivering them.
http://www.1900storm.com/rebuilding/index.lasso

Historians contend that between 10,000 and 12,000 people died during the storm, at least 6,000 of them on Galveston Island. More than 3,600 homes were destroyed on Galveston Island and the added toll on commercial structures created a monetary loss of $30 million, about $700 million in today's dollars.

The Great Storm reigns today as the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. But while the storm was phenomenal, so was the response of the people who survived it.


By 10 a.m. Sept. 9, Mayor Walter C. Jones had called emergency city council meetings and by the end of the day had appointed a Central Relief Committee.

Ignoring advice from its sister paper, The Dallas Morning News, that it move temporarily to Houston, The Galveston Daily News continued publishing from the island and never missed an issue. Sept. 9 and 10, 1900, were published together on a single sheet of paper. One side listed the dead. The other reported the devastation of the storm.

In the first week after the storm, according to McComb's book, telegraph and water service were restored. Lines for a new telephone system were being laid by the second.

"In the third week, Houston relief groups went home, the saloons reopened, the electric trolleys began operating and freight began moving through the harbor," McComb wrote.

How much time did it take for the bureaucrats in New Orleans to even start to move?

As I said, I have been through several hurricanes, never gotten a dime of Fed asistance and was clearing roads before"Officials" got out of their beds.
New Orleans was a self inflicted wound on so many levels.

[SWATH]

"We the Federal government send our best wishes to LA as they rebuild, and by the way we can no longer endure our own avarice and ineptitude so we will dissolve effective immediately"

[Anti Federalist]

I recall two things from the whole Katrina debacle:

One is the utterly impotent response at the state and city level, both before and after. Kathleen Blanco, 24 hours before the storm hit, had a look on her face at the last press conference before the storm that can only be described as "deer in the headlights".

The other is the claim, from W down to Nagin and Compass that "Oh, we had no idea this would happen". Bullshit. I've been working out of NOLA for over ten years now, and every summer, on the first day of hurricane season, the Times Picayune, among others, published a whole pull out section that described exactly, but exactly what would happen if a cat 3 storm or greater hit New Orleans. The maps of flooding and levee breaches was exactly how it went down.

This was no surprise to anybody.

Pcosmar has it right, yet another self inflicted wound.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

They should've had a response.<IMHO> :D

[dannno]

he would tell the state to deal with it. Where does the constitution says the government helps the people after natural disasters?? the infamous "general welfare" cause?

If we didnt have stupid agencies like FEMA, the states would be forced to come up with their own way. I am sure one could look at the % of natural disasters, storms, earthquakes in various states and the ones that have less (and their citizens) are just providing funding to others that have more via the income tax etc etc etc.

^This.

And another thing to help prove this point.. Why does anybody think that FEMA would be best prepared to deal with floods in LA AND earthquakes in CA AND hurricanse in FL??? Louisianna should come up with an organization that can best help during a flood, California should have an emergency response team for earthquakes and Florida should have emergency response teams for hurricanes. This puts the response units in best position, geographically, and the units are specialized for each respective disaster!

[Live_Free_Or_Die]

nt

[reaver]

What did I post that was erroneous? I was making a point about people over the age of 71 in Galveston at the time of the hurricane and life expectancy. The woman you mention was in D.C. at the time of the hurricane and life expectancy is an average. I could be wrong about the income though. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make otherwise. The standard of living that you return to after a disaster in 1900 is much different than that in 2006, that is my main point.

[Truth Warrior]

I recall two things from the whole Katrina debacle:

One is the utterly impotent response at the state and city level, both before and after. Kathleen Blanco, 24 hours before the storm hit, had a look on her face at the last press conference before the storm that can only be described as "deer in the headlights".

The other is the claim, from W down to Nagin and Compass that "Oh, we had no idea this would happen". Bullshit. I've been working out of NOLA for over ten years now, and every summer, on the first day of hurricane season, the Times Picayune, among others, published a whole pull out section that described exactly, but exactly what would happen if a cat 3 storm or greater hit New Orleans. The maps of flooding and levee breaches was exactly how it went down.

This was no surprise to anybody.

Pcosmar has it right, yet another self inflicted wound. Well when ya choose to live in a continually sinking below sea level bowl on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, shit's bound to happen eventually.

;)

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

Well when ya choose to live in a continually sinking below sea level bowl on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, shit's bound to happen eventually.

;)

Thanks for the topic bump post. ;) I disagree.<IMHO> Jesus will save us.<IMHO>
<grumble grumble> < yawn > Post to somebody who cares.

[LibForestPaul]

he would tell the state to deal with it. Where does the constitution says the government helps the people after natural disasters?? the infamous "general welfare" cause?

If we didnt have stupid agencies like FEMA, the states would be forced to come up with their own way. I am sure one could look at the % of natural disasters, storms, earthquakes in various states and the ones that have less (and their citizens) are just providing funding to others that have more via the income tax etc etc etc.

Since over $500billion dollars is spent every year on a standing army, $5 billion on FEMA, $30 billion on homeland defense, $50 billion on HUD: I would have expected the following:
Coast Guard response, to pull people out of danger.
National Guard response, for provisions, transportation, and law and order.
FEMA and HUD response, for temporary shelter

If they didn't take my money, it would be up to my state.;)

[pcosmar]

What did I post that was erroneous? I was making a point about people over the age of 71 in Galveston at the time of the hurricane and life expectancy. The woman you mention was in D.C. at the time of the hurricane and life expectancy is an average. I could be wrong about the income though. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make otherwise. The standard of living that you return to after a disaster in 1900 is much different than that in 2006, that is my main point.

My point was that if people get up off their asses and rebuild they don't need the Federal government to do it for them.
Galveston is a prime example of volunteer services and hard work rebuilding after disaster.
New Orleans is a prime example of the welfare state and central planning screwing up at every stage. Everyone expecting a handout, mismanagement, corruption, and it is still a mess.
And as far as the elderly, in that time older folks were still active and useful. as opposed to those left to die in the flooding by the hospital staff in NO.

[NationaliseIt]

^This.

And another thing to help prove this point.. Why does anybody think that FEMA would be best prepared to deal with floods in LA AND earthquakes in CA AND hurricanse in FL??? Louisianna should come up with an organization that can best help during a flood, California should have an emergency response team for earthquakes and Florida should have emergency response teams for hurricanes. This puts the response units in best position, geographically, and the units are specialized for each respective disaster!

An organisation pooling together resources and experiences to deal with events that fundamentally have the same results (infrastructure damage, refugees, resource allocation), rather than each state try and figure it all out individually post-event.

[majinkoola]

Make it a tax haven by permanently removing all federal taxes. You would see people and businesses come back quickly.

[Feenix566]

If the federal government made an announcement today that it was phasing out FEMA over the course of five years, and that from that point forward states would be responsible for handling their own natural disaster responses, then five years from now every state would be capable of handling its own natural disaster responses.

Necessity is the mother in invention. The converse is also true. Dependence is the mother of complacency.

[reaver]

My point was that if people get up off their asses and rebuild they don't need the Federal government to do it for them.
Galveston is a prime example of volunteer services and hard work rebuilding after disaster.
New Orleans is a prime example of the welfare state and central planning screwing up at every stage. Everyone expecting a handout, mismanagement, corruption, and it is still a mess.
And as far as the elderly, in that time older folks were still active and useful. as opposed to those left to die in the flooding by the hospital staff in NO.

Totally agree, I thought you were trying to draw similarities between the two rather than differences. That's my bad.

[LibForestPaul]

My point was that if people get up off their asses and rebuild they don't need the Federal government to do it for them.
Galveston is a prime example of volunteer services and hard work rebuilding after disaster.
New Orleans is a prime example of the welfare state and central planning screwing up at every stage. Everyone expecting a handout, mismanagement, corruption, and it is still a mess.
And as far as the elderly, in that time older folks were still active and useful. as opposed to those left to die in the flooding by the hospital staff in NO.

Yeh, I am sure the parish wants all these colored folk back ;)

Going steal their land, just like the Indians...

Billion dollar banker bailout, but let the poor help themselves.

[GBurr]

The Fed shouldn't have gotten as much shit as they did about Katrina. The people had a ton of notice and still didn't get out. The coastguard mobilization was amazing. The government is fucking up the part they shouldn't even be involved in. The Fed should not be involved in recovery.

[2young2vote]

They should have given money to organizations instead of trying to help with their own resources (if the organizations needed money).

[Mesogen]

The coast guard to fly people trapped on their rooftops. That's about it.

[Uncle Emanuel Watkins]

Many pundits are now chastising Jindal on him stating that the federal government simply doesn't work and offers up the Hurricane Katrina example, illustrating its incompetence.

Paul Krugman writes, "And leaving aside the chutzpah of casting the failure of his own party’s governance as proof that government can’t work, does he really think that the response to natural disasters like Katrina is best undertaken by uncoordinated private action? Hey, why bother having an army? Let’s just rely on self-defense by armed citizens."

If Ron Paul were president and another Hurricane Katrina were to happen, what exactly would he do with the federal government? Would he help or just do nothing?

The first solution is to remove all the beer out of the city before the Hurricane hits. Without any cold beer, citizens will have little reason to remain to loot the stores afterwards.

[danberkeley]

Outsource the solution to WalMart. ;) :)

Wal-Mart sent truckloads full of supplies to New Orleans DAYS before Katrina hit. But they got rejected by FEMA.