Saints & Sinners - Katrina Fallout

The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina has aroused passions, both positive and negative. Conservative, liberal, black, white and everyone in between has begun to offer money and support, praise and criticism.

I had the opportunity to lend a hand with the relief effort this weekend by conducting online searches for lost family members at the Astrodome. I was absolutley amazed at the generosity of the City of Houston and Houstonians. Not only was there an outpouring of material support - food, clothes, toys, etc. - but the level of volunteerism was beyond belief.

I was in an area where evacuees, friends and family could request online database searches for loved ones and also register instructions/meeting places/contact info. There were quite literally thousands of volunteers. We actually had volunteers assisting us by bringing us food and drinks. Volunteers serving other volunteers!

Despite the good work being done currently, the first week produced a clear list of failures and successes, saints and sinners.

Saints:

• The Coast Guard - solid work
• The City of Houston & Houstonians - as mentioned previously, amazing generosity and organization. So many people are volunteering, they are actually having to turn people away. A+
• Several of the "mainstream" media who placed themsleves in the thick of it. I have been somewhat critical of CNN in the past, but Anderson Cooper has done some great reporting.
• New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (part deux) - while I consider him a sinner also, he did manage to get motivated after the levee break on Tuesday. His comments can be found here

Sinners:

• FEMA - The agency is an absolute disgrace and regardless of bureaucratic protocol failed in almost every respect.
• Michael Brown (FEMA Director) - completely out of touch, incompetent, and despite President Bush's praise, needs to be fired. The praise, by the way, was classic "spin" and an attempt to deflect mounting criticism.
• Homeland Security - first test of the department, receives a grade of F
• Michael Chertoff (Director of Homeland Security) - Failed to react, prepare and coordinate the relief effort. Also out of touch with the suffering and currently shifting in to "spin" mode (as witnessed by his evasive attitiude when questioned by Tim Russert on Meet the Press).
• Governor Kathleen Blanco - Where the heck has she been?
• Mayor Ray Nagin - failed to adequately prepare for the storm and didn't really catch on until the levee breach.
• New Orleans Police who abandoned the scene - up to 200 left and walked off the job
• George W. Bush (last but not least) - a truly miserable leader with an unbelievable disconnect. He took several side trips around the country before the press backlash forced him to finally begin to deal with the situation. If the American public doesn't hold his feet to the fire on this one, we are in real trouble.

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technorati:
hurricane relief
FEMA
homeland security
astrodome