We’re on a road to nowhere…
New Orleans still is unprepared for catastrophes 10 months after Hurricane Katrina, and the two cities attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, don’t meet all guidelines for responding to major disasters, a federal security analysis concluded…
Ten states were rated in a Homeland Security Department scorecard as having sufficient disaster response plans. But the analysis found that the vast majority of America’s states, cities, and territories are far from ready for terror attacks, huge natural disasters, or other wide-reaching emergencies.
“Frankly, we just have not in this country put the premium on our level of catastrophe planning that is necessary to be ready for those wide-scale events,” Homeland Security Undersecretary George Foresman told reporters.
Foresman said the results highlight disparate and disconnected emergency plans in the absence of national preparedness standards. “This is not something that is a grand surprise; it has simply put documented numbers on what we intuitively knew in the post-9/11 era,” he said.
The usual analysis from the Feds, of course, is that all’s right with the world because “we” are in office.
Not that I’m being extra cynical; but, I wonder if a note of reality was finally requested by the guys in charge of PR — just to cover their buns before the next disaster rolls into town?
Hey, where did that pic come from? That appears to have been taken at the facility where I work (Pensacola, FL).
New Orleans, rated as bad as possible, yet they reelected the same mayor.
I live in Houston Tx and I am a conservitive republican and I have to say my democratic mayor Bill White did an outstanding job in the face of hurricane Rita last year , there were some problems getting 6 million people evacuated but they have learned from the mistakes and I believe they will do even beter this time. I would rate Houston as being ready for a natural disaster, but I dont know how we would rate on a terrorist attack.
Gee, people reelected Bush, too. How many times can anyone be shocked over a known quantity? Sure, he was a little slow to respond, but he should get around to finishing the job before the end of his term. Kerry would have wanted international support before taking on a natural disaster. And then he would have surrendered to it.
If the federal government didn’t want responsibility for dealing with them, then they should have disbanded FEMA. And if they weren’t going to do that, why didn’t they just mail everyone a debit card, would have gotten it out of the way and then they wouldn’t have to tell people they weren’t prepared. Its not like AT&T didn’t just give them everybody’s billing address.
Besides, we all know the atlantic hurricane season is in its last throes.
In much of the Midwest, the only disasters that occur regularly are tornadoes and snowstorms. There is a low but non-zero probablility of a repeat of the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes, which could be devastating because few buildings in the Midwest were built to withstand earthquakes. Retrofitting buildings for earthquake resistance is very expensive, and somehow I doubt that business and home owners will be willing to make the changes.
I’m in new orleans, and the sight of trailors lined up with no one living in them (as pictured) is all too common.
I’m pretty much over it. I’ve been here since the hurricane; able bodied and talented. I’ve made myself available for volunteer yet no one has taken me up on the offer. I’ve tried finding any it job, but if it is not construction, then it is not here. Housing prices more than doubled after katrina. No kidding, freaking doubled. There’s a sense of lawlessness, especially in the way people drive – especially construction worked in full sized pickup trucks. I now have a permenant injury because of a careless driver, I was stopped he was going 70.
Even though I’m one of the most careful and courteous drivers, I’m the one that gets a ticket for turning left of green. The court address listed on the back of the ticket does not exist, this is some 8 months after the hurricane and no one bothered to tell me or print new tickets or stamp a note on the back.
That’s New Orleans. No one cares about anyone else. If you’re not a good-ol-boy in construction or politics then you are darn near poverty. What a crap hole this place is.
The sad truth is…as I continue to live in New York and go about my business, there are obvious areas where security needs to be improved. I may not be one of the smartest people in the world, but I don’t think randomly checking bags at subway stations would stop anything. It’s just a wasted resource that could be better spent on something else that is more efficient.
Meanwhile, many crowded areas of the city are still left unprotected from possible truck bombs. I am not even trying and there are at least half dozen ideas I can think of within 2 minutes…it’s ridiculous. But then again…the Department of Homeland Security cut our funding and gave more to hick towns with populations ranging in the hundreds…HUNDREDS!
I just like the Talking Heads reference.
This is called intelligent design.
#9, OK, you win the best post award.
Seriously, very few cities are prepared for ANY disaster. Even San Fransisco still has tens of thousands of unreinforced masonry buildings even though it is well known they are the worst in an earthquake. Very few bridges in the mid-west could withstand an earthquake of 7.0, including the ST. Louis to Memphis corridor which is most likely to repeat a severe quake. How would Washington DC weather a hurricane? Or Chicago a Force 3 Tornado?
Why? Because it has only been since 1989 and the SF quake that bridge construction is being re-evaluated. Before 2001 terrorists acts happened in the Mid East, not the Mid-West. It is only since 2004 that tsunamis have been regarded as a serious threat. And it has only been since 2005 that a hurricane hitting a major city has really been thought of outside of Florida. It is unfeasible to think that every city has the resources to fix decades of building in only a matter of a few years. Shoot, even the federal government has seen fit to upgrade the Interstate Highway system to make it earthquake resistant.
A failing grade? Sure, but by someone covering their butt. The resources are just not there to retrofit everything against every possibility.