Assignment #3

This again, is mandatory assignment, this time discussing "What went wrong" with Katrina. As I have previously discussed, there were many indications that a disaster like this could and would occur. In my previous posts, I have discussed the vulnerability of the city due to it being built below sea level, the weak structure of the levees, and the erosion of the land that has been occurring for many years.

It is not only the geographical vulnerabilities that caused Katrina to be such a devastating natural occurrence, it was also in part due to unresponsive and incompetent government agencies. As the authors of City Adrift state, "Katrina and its devastating aftermath were much more the results of cumulative, incompetent, insensitive act of man than an act of nature."

As City Adrift continues to explain, help and especially FEMA did not come for days after the devastating event which is in complete contradiction to the belief and notion that Americans and the United States are ready all the time, for everything and anything with the best and most competent leaders guiding us through times of trouble. As we learned the hard way, this was by no means reality. We were not prepared, even though there were years and years of warning, so even if we took no precautionary measures to ensure that this would not happen you would think we would have a plan in case it did, but we didn't. This lead to many more deaths and much more destruction than was necessary.

80% of the city was under 20 feet of water and still no help arrived for days. The Superdome which became a 'safe haven' was not safe or clean to be in, let alone live in for days or even weeks like many had to do. New Orleans had lost confidence in its government who ignored the signs of trouble for many years prior to "The Big One." These government agencies that were set up to protect and help us through times of trouble were not and probably are not much more competent than they were before "The Big One." If another Katrina were to strike again today, do you think we would be better prepared and would have less death and destruction? I don't think so.