New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin told local radio station WWL-AM exactly what he expected the federal government to do in response to Hurricane Katrina’s wrath.
Clearly a public official under enormous pressure to deliver to his constituents demands, I saw an elected official finally do what you “NEVER” see them do. Demand, demand, demand! If you want a concrete view of what is really happening in New Orleans, you have got to listen to the audio-cast on CNN.com or read the transcript of the interview that the Mayor gave to WWL Radio. It’s incredible. And it’s the kinda thing we should be hearing from FEMA Under Secretary Michael Brown.
The desperation in the Mayor’s voice has put this relief effort in a new light for me. Before the interview I assumed, like most, that the wheels were in motion and that help was on the way and that this nightmare for our fellow countrymen would soon be over. Apparently I assumed wrong. FEMA “is” doing something, but they are by no means, doing it fast enough or in large enough scale. I am not impressed.
This morning as I got ready for work I heard CNN’s Soledad O’Brien fiercely question Michael Brown about the response effort. She was in disbelief that the intelligence of CNN was greater than that of FEMA. “How is it possible we’re getting better Intel than you are getting.” She went onto address the relief effort provided to the tsunami victims in Bande Ache, Sumatra, Indonesia in late 2004. ” “Why no massive airdrop of food and water?” Tsunami victims were being provided with food and water as soon as 2 days after that catastrophe. It was astounding to hear the FEMA director squirm and simply say, “We’re getting ready to do that now.” That interview is also available on CNN.
In June 1997, as a Marine aboard the USS Kearsarge and an integral part of Operation Noble Obelisk, I saw first hand what a massive military response effort can look like. The Marines that hit the beach that morning came with a massive “show of force” akin to the U.S. Marines. We came ashore with 4 LCAC’s (hovercrafts), 20 CH-46 Sea Night and 10-15 CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters/gunships, numerous Cobra attack helicopters, Tanks, AAV’s, LAV’s (I was a gunner on this vehicle), and several Humvees carrying medical personnel. And all this was from only ONE ship. In less than 5 hours, we evacuated over 2500 Americans and third-world nationals from Freetown, Sierra Leone and housed them in our own “coffin racks” in our birthing areas on the ship. We then transported the refugees to Conakry, Guinea over a period of 4 days, the entire time providing them with electricity, hot food and other “basics” required by those in need.
That is what should be happening in New Orleans.
Please help in any way that you can. I will. Visit the American Red Cross for more information.