New York vs.. New Orleans, why the difference?

[hedgehog]

Why is there such a difference between the general area response to disaster bt New York on 9/11 and New Orleans after Katrina? I can recall only 1 incident of looting in NYC, and that was the stack of blue jeans found n a buried fire truck.The stories I remember are of workmen rushing to the site to try to rescue people. Is this a result of the difference in the number of people affected, the limited area hit in NYC vs most of New Orleans, etc? Or is it an illustration of a civic culture based on communitarian (NYC) vs. libertarian (NO) philosophies? I don't man to kick people while they're down, but I'm wondering if we're seeing the end result of red state vs. blue state in action.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

Where Do You Want To Begin? n/t

[DebJ]

1. for one thing, there was still food and water and housing available

in New York City.

[shoelace414]

2. I think it has to do with things like

people in NYC could still get fresh water and food.

[never_get_over_it]

13. and a roof over their head eom

[Zenlitened]

3. People in NYC weren't left to rot for 4 days with no food or water.

[NashVegas]

10. Yeah, There's That

..

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. Very different disasters

There were no shortages of food and water in NY. The damage was concentrated in one area and the transportation infrastructure was intact.

[philosophie_en_rose]

5. Saddam

9/11 was caused by terrorists, with ties to Osama... which Bush used to go after Saddam.

Bush doesn't care about New Orleans, because he doesn't get anything out of it.

[KamaAina]

6. NO is libertarian? Sure must have changed since I left.

maybe ten years ago. NO culture is heavily based on neighborhood, church, and above all family.

Is this a result of the difference in the number of people affected, the limited area hit in NYC vs most of New Orleans, etc?

I'm gonna go with this one.

I'm wondering if we're seeing the end result of red state vs. blue state in action.

NO (Orleans Parish) voted 78% Kerry. It's the rest of La. that's Red. So there.

[hedgehog]

17. By communitarian vs libertarian I 'm referring to one

culture (New York State) that assumes government has a duty to care for the neediest citizens vs. another culture (dare I say Louisiana?) that expects private charities to take care of them. New York City lost its emergency command center in an unexpected attack but seemed to recover quickly and rose to the occasion. People have known for years that the disaster in New Orleans was coming sooner or later, and it looks like they're making it up as they go along. The chaos broke out because there was no government. It sounds like even whoever was in charge at the SuperDome didn't have the foggiest idea how to organize a crowd to work together.

[mondo joe]

7. NY was able to handle the bulk of it by itself.

NO is not in a position to do that.

NYC had water, food, transportation. The affected area was SMALL.

These things are all reversed in NO.

[NashVegas]

8. Damn Yankees

Northerners are more resigned to hard times, they've got winters to get through.

[nonconformist]

9. The area affected this time is quite vast compared to 9/11

But the simple answer?

This disaster isn't easy to spin into a PR showcase and use for justifications to carry out already planned wars.

[Faygo Kid]

11. Iraq. 9/11 was the neocon dream. They don't care about this.

Poor people dying? Can't comprehend the meaning of that. 9/11? The "Pearl Harbor" the neocons needed, and no expense should be spared. That's the difference.

[Book Lover]

12. Breadth of affected area

NYC and tri-state infrastructure was not destroyed by 9/11. You can't drive into NO right now...

[NYC Liberal]

14. Because in NYC the area of damage was limited

Compared with NO, where basically the entire city is underwater. And THOUSANDS have no food, water, or shelter, nor any means of getting to any.

Bit of a difference.

[Miss Chybil]

15. Was the WTC surrounded by the poorest of the poor in our

country? Were the people left to fend for themselves for days? Did they lose water, sewer and electricity to 80% of the city? Did the entire city lose the ability to communicate with the outside world?

[mcscajun]

16. The limited area, certainly, and the ability to maneuver around

the rest of the city, in the case of the collapse of the Twin Towers.

The area inolved in N.O. is just TOO huge, and the water makes things much, more difficult.

[tsuki]

18. Get real. It's a stupid question.

[SmokingJacket]

19. Very different kind of situation, too.

People in NY were either killed right away, or were fine and could go home. In NO there are people who survived the immediate storm, but were left to die.

AND New Orleans is very very poor, and there are far more disaffected people there -- many people with no stake whatsoever in the society at large.

I know both cities well... and can't imagine two more different towns (although, shoot, Los Angeles is unlike them too...)

[incapsulated]

20. You can't compare these two events at all

In NYC the event was localized. The entire city wasn't under water or filled with homeless, injured, sick and needy people. No one needed to evacuate. Aside from transportation and those that lived in the area, basic services continued without interruption.

Unfortunately, we didn't even have much in the way of casualties, most of those that were in harms way were killed instantly. Hospitals waited for injured that never came.

As for the Feds, we took care of the immediate situation on our own. They only came in much later. Thank Christ.

[Retrograde]

21. NY was quick, unexpected and limited

There was a feeling of we're all in this together, rather than of "we're stuck here because we don't have the resources to evacuate".

For most people (how many live and work in lower Manhattan on a typical day?) in NY 9/11 was an inconvenience,a major one in many cases, but if was lucky enough to be below the impact floors it for the most part meant long walks out of the area, frustration at not finding working phones to notify loved ones, temporary problems finding food and water perhaps, worry about one's job near-term, but for the most part if you got through that day a lot of the immediate problems of survival were over. In NO, on the other hand, the problems just started after the hurricane blew through. There are no new supplies coming into the city: once stockpiled food and water are gone (the stocks that haven't been washed away, contaminated or buried in rubble) there's been no way to get new material in. I suspect even saints would get testy after 2-3 days of post-Katrina conditions.

Two other factors: in NY the attacks were in a mainly business district. While some people were displaced for a time, it was understood that that was temporary, and that they would most likely be allowed to return in a few weeks to mostly intact - if dirty - homes. In NO, many people are not going to have a home or belongings to return to: the lucky ones may have a house still standing, but probably little of the the contents will be salvageable.

In NY the causualties were distributed more democratically: victims ranged from busboys to VPs. In NO, the victims appear to be poor or disabled.

On the bright side, I did see coverage last night that showed people helping each other - using (possibly) looted air mattresses to transport elderly people.