In the past two weeks the gulf coast has been battered by hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Gustav, luckily, spared New Orleans the tragedy and damage that Hurricane Katrina brought three years ago. Ike hammered Texas, and now the lingering rains have dumped on St. Louis. Both hurricanes provide the Bush administration with a second chance to right the wrongs fostered in the wake of Katrina.
Katrina hit New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005, resulting in more than 1,800 deaths, widespread flooding and $81.2 billion in eventual damages to the gulf coast. Visions of people standing in water, wandering through the Super Dome and National Guardsman patrolling what looked like a demilitarized zone still haunt the United States today. The mishandling resulting from the poor delineation of roles, resources and personnel was rampant and lead to numerous Congressional investigations. The executive director of FEMA, Michael Brown, lost his job, and the head of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, handed the relief work over to Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad W. Allen.
Brown was a political appointee who for the previous 11 years had served as Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association. Not exactly a prepatory job for heading up emergency responses on a national scale. Unfortunately, the poor response was the only thing preventable.
President Bush made an appearance in Texas, meeting with emergency response staff, giving pep talks and hoping no one dropped the ball on these hurricanes. The people of New Orleans learned a valuable lesson, and an estimated 90 percent of the population evacuated. Massive relief efforts and resources were put into place, and levees were reinforced.
While commendable, this obscures that the levee system is still not fully repaired and that a sizeable chunk of the $62.3 billion in aid still sits undistributed. Many are left wondering why this level of response did not happen last time.
While Bush works on his legacy, hoping to repair a mistake made three years ago, this year’s presidential candidates pander to the populace with condolences and reassurance. A look at Sen. John McCain’s website shows no mention of rebuilding for New Orleans or plans for national disasters in the future.
A search of National Security, domestic issues, the enivornment or economic planning reveals no plan or support for FEMA, New Orleans or plans for future disasters. Sen. Barack Obama has a five page plan on how to rebuild New Orleans from Katrina and how he plans to respond to future disasters in his plan on how to “Protect our Homeland”.
Sunday, Sept. 14, rains from Ike caused flash flooding in the St. Louis metro area. Three deaths are related, roads flooded and were impassable as well as damages expected to be in the millions.
This past summer in the St. Louis area, a levee breached and more than 3,000 acres flooded, much of it farmland. Widespread flooding in Iowa, Missouri, Illinios and Nebraska resulted in millions of dollars of lost crops and in record prices. Homes and property were lost, people displaced and highways and other public utilities destroyed leading to millions of dollars being redirected from other public uses.
St. Louis sits at the confluence of two great rivers and is no stranger to flooding. It also sits on the edge of a major faultline for earthquakes. It’s no stretch to think that major environmental disaster could happen here in the Gateway City.
When this disaster hits are we prepared? It behooves us as citizens to learn more about our preparedness for such events and who is ready to lead when these events happen.
McCain is prepared to fight in Iraq for a hundred years, has no idea how many homes he owns and drilling for more oil with no articulated idea of how he will respond to homeland disasters.
Obama has a plan to respond to homeland diasters. Do you?
Lew Griffith is a graduate student at Saint Louis University.
