10: Katrina

From the BBC:

"Hurricane Katrina: George Bush in New Orleans 10 years on"

 

Former US President George Bush has returned to New Orleans 10 years on since Hurricane Katrina, a crisis his administration was criticised for at the time over its slow response.  In a speech at a secondary school, he said he would never forget the images of "misery and ruin". It comes a day after his successor, Barack Obama, said New Orleans was "moving on" from the disaster. Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 2,000 people and displaced one million. It was the most expensive natural disaster in US history, causing destruction along the Gulf coast from Florida to Texas. But the city of New Orleans, in Louisiana, bore the brunt. George Bush's administration's slow response to the disaster remains a source of deep resentment in the city.

 

 

 ^ People go on and on about all the suffering in New Orleans by the people who refused to evacuate even when it was made mandatory. Of course the mayor at the time didn't do a great job of informing the people even though there was plenty of warning that Katrina was going to be a massive storm when it was still by Florida. If you are told to evacuate for any reason (ie flood, hurricane, power failure, terrorism, wildfire, volcano, snow storm, etc) and you refuse to leave then you are on your own. I remember the government officials in New Orleans telling people that if they stay they would be on their own for some time. People decided to stay anyways and the storm was as massive as expected so of course it was difficult to get supplies and troops into the city afterwards and people out. The only people I feel sorry for that stayed in New Orleans before Katrina hit are the elderly and the disabled. Both groups are the most vulnerable and are often overlooked. I'm not saying President Bush handled everything right after the storm, but in that one respect you can't blame him or any other government official (city State or Federal)  - - not even for what happened in the Super Dome. People need to learn that they can be advised what they should do and they if go against that advice then they have to deal with the consequences and the only person to blame is themselves. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34088853