Katrina Refugees...Does the Government Have A Clue??

[Barack_America]

I, like most of you, have been absolutely dumbfounded by the sheer magnitude of our government's incompetence on many occasions, but with this one they're truly outdoing themselves.

You would figure that the first mission of the so-called "Department of Homeland Security" would be to enact detailed plans for the evacuation of major cities. You would also figure that our government would know that many people in cities can't evacuate themselves. I wonder where all of those school buses were on Sunday? How many years have we had to prepare for this?

However, I digress. True, the government response has been absolutely pathetic and thousands have died and will die as a result, but the emerging crisis is what to do with nearly one million refugees for the next 6-9 months by many estimates.

Well, United States Government, beacon of hope, liberty and prosperity for all the world, what is your solution?

Sports stadiums, school gyms, tent cities and...cruise ships?

Really?

There are thousands of Americans across the country posting offers to take in refugees on craigslist and the like, and tens of thousands more willing to do so. Yet the government thinks it makes more sense to fill every stadium and gym in the gulf region as well as probably every cruise ship in the world?

Really?

Do massive refugee camps really make more sense than asking refugees where they either have family and/or are willing to go and sending them there? Does it really make sense to take people who have lost everything and are overwhelmed with hopelessness and helplessness and keep them hopeless and helpless when they could relocate to another city and retain some semblance of normalcy?

If the US Government (which I mean to include state governments) wants to save any shred of dignity and credibility they should abandon these asinine solutions and focus instead on putting Americans in need in touch with Americans willing to help. Average US citizens know how to handle this crisis, but our leaders have not a clue.

Go stand in the corner, US Government, and take a time out. You have failed us in the most basic responsibilities of government and should be ashamed of yourselves, you are a disgrace.

Sorry to ramble guys, and thanks for reading...

-Kristine

[etherealtruth]

1. "Does the Government Have A Clue??"

NO

welcome to DU :hi:

[AValdoux]

2. Well said n/t

Avaldoux

[Lindsay]

3. Not a ramble but a righteous rant!

And welcome from me as well.

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

4. I ask again

Where the Hell is all this aid???? I am dumbfounded by the number of people being interviewed within the "ground zero" region, be it NO or in Mississippi, who still haven't seen FEMA, the NG, or any other type of aid.

I asked this under another topic here on DU and was told by several people "they can't get there". I find that answer pure BULLSHIT. The reporters can get in, citizen volunteers can get in, people who had earlier evacuated can get in... why the F*uck can't our government emergency response teams and relief organizations get in????

[Blue_Roses]

11. EXCELLENT POINT!

"I asked this under another topic here on DU and was told by several people "they can't get there". I find that answer pure BULLSHIT. The reporters can get in, citizen volunteers can get in, people who had earlier evacuated can get in..."

this needs to be it's own thread...:applause:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

5. Yes. What is the plan for evacuating any of the major cities in event

of a catastrophe (earthquake, hurricane, terrorist attack, fire), those with no money or means to evacuate themselves?

We see that there was no plan for New Orleans.

What plan, if any, exists for such people in any other city?

[demo dutch]

9. There is no plan, you're on your own! See link

Disaster experts: Federal government wasn't ready for Katrina"
Knight Ridder Newspapers - August 31, 2005

WASHINGTON - The federal government so far has bungled the job of quickly helping the multitudes of hungry, thirsty and desperate victims of Hurricane Katrina, former top federal, state and local disaster chiefs said Wednesday.

The experts, including a former Bush administration disaster response manager, told Knight Ridder that the government wasn't prepared, scrimped on storm spending and shifted its attention from dealing with natural disasters to fighting the global war on terrorism.

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/nation/12528135.htm

[skypilot]

6. One really scary thing about all this...

...is that it broadcasts loud and clear to any potential terrorists just how un-fucking-prepared we are for anything they might unleash on us. I don't even want to think about it too much.

[Eurobabe]

8. see my reply below. thoughts same here exactly.

[Eurobabe]

7. Scary thought, had 9-11 happened 10 days from now

and the country would be on its knees. Conditions here are so much worse than they were 4 yrs. ago, economically, etc.

[lawladyprof]

10. See my thread re: using RV's, campers--eom

N/T

[Eloriel]

12. NOMINATD -- Welcome to DU, Kristi n/t

[Barack_America]

13. What concerns me the most is....

The solutions that are being proposed show that the government doesn't even understand the scope of the problem!

All of their solutions are temporary solutions. Estimates are that it will take up to 3 months to drain NO. Thus the cleanup won't even begin for another 3 months. How many months will it take just to remove the trees and cars that clog the city? Then the structural integrity of nearly every building in the city will have to be assessed. Most of them will have to be razed and cleared. This will have to take at least 6 mos. This means that it will be at least 9 months before homes can begin to be built.

Therefore, assuming their house is still standing, the MINIMUM time people can expect to live in these camps is 5 months (3 months drainage, plus additional time to rebuild basic infrastructure such as sewage and electricity). Any sort of mass housing for this amount of time is absolutely unacceptable.

I understand this, you understand this, the people on the streets of NO understand this (hence the looting and "fend for yourself" attitude). Why can't our officials give even the slightest hint that they do too?