KATRINA IV

The situation is still evolving. Trying to deal with what might happen.

We have been told that there will be hundreds of new students that we are “absorbing” from the NO schools, so I guess that means we’re going to have a semester.

Like many places in the country, we don’t have any gas. Most of the stations are closed. Prices, when there is gas, are not as bad as they are in some places, because Louisiana has a law that freezes gas prices in an emergency. The doubling of the population, and the fact that many people are still running generators for their electricity compounds the basic problem of no supply. The trick now is to keep the tank full so that if you need to get out, you can. My friend and hero Tom Anderson, said that several people in the emergency response business told him yesterday “Don’t panic, but be ready.”

Reports of civil unrest yesterday here in BR turn out to have been exaggerated. However, the speed at which the fear swept this town is scary. I don’t think we’re there yet, but we are approaching a tinder-box stage where a single incident could ignite the whole thing. One of my colleagues who was in LA during the riots says that the atmosphere is similar.

I heard yesterday that one of the reasons why the national coverage has been so slow to get up to speed is that seasoned reporters got down here and immediately reported back that they needed to be put on a “war footing”. They need the stuff they use to do war coverage which, although I don’t know all the ins and outs of, I’m told is a lot more hard-core than hurricane coverage and is taking some time to get.

Lately I’ve heard a tone of outrage on NPR that is resonating better with what I’m feeling here than it was before.

Several people have asked me why the evacuation wasn’t more effective early on:
Here’s the thing. The amount of time that Katrina was a Category 5 was not that long before it hit. When it hit Florida, it was a Category 1, which is small consolation to the death and destruction that caused, but the doomsday scenarios for NO required a 3 or higher. The evacuation that was ordered was extensive, and on the whole, effective (now granted there was no plan in place to evacuate the poor, primarily black population that we are now watching die), but the escalation of the situation was very steep. Also, there was in the early, critical hours of Monday and Tuesday, a sense that we may have dodged the bullet. We went from “Oh my god!” To “whew!” to “…oh …mY …GOD!!!” There was a momentum that was lost in the “whew” moment that I think was critical.
Don’t get me wrong. I think there is incompetence, stupidity, lack of imagination, racism and particularly greed all over the place and people are dieing horrible deaths as a result even as I write this.
There is also the simple matter of logistics. Where do you tell people to go? Balls are being dropped out there, but I don’t think people are maliciously saying things like “Forget about the 2500 in the convention center.” At this point it’s just that the job is overwhelming.

Despite the fact that this is a disaster that was known about as a potential for a really long time. The reality of what is unfolding in practical terms is hard to fathom. I am reminded of the fact that when the Capital of Ancient Japan was moved from Nara to Kyoto a primary reason was that the growth of Nara had overwhelmed it’s sewage system. There are similar “infrastructure issues” at work down here. It’s hot. It’s humid. We have a brief window now before Typhoid and Cholera potentially become the main story. And then there’s West Nile (standing water anyone?). I hope I’m wrong about this stuff. I really do.

Have you heard about the shark? There was a shark in lake Pontchartrain all summer. And now it’s prowling around New Orleans.

Fats Domino has been found and he’s fine.

Try to think up an image. I bet it’s happening.

Speaking of images: Perhaps people have seen the image of the two wrapped corpses outside the Convention center; one in a wheelchair, one on the ground. It is interesting how these two corpses have resonated. I’ve seen so many media outlets show them and reference them. I think part of what’s going on is that because the bodies are wrapped, the pictures show no race or social class. It could be anyone in those shrouds, and I think that’s helping people relate to the fact that what’s going on is about PEOPLE. We project ourselves and our own kith and kin into those pictures.

It’s hard to escape the feeling that I’m in that part of the movie where, as an audience, because you know what’s going to happen, you’re screaming “Get out NOW! Just leave!”. Trapping inside either an interesting eventful couple of weeks, or the first half hour of “The Pianist”. There’s no way to know which. Ah the hindsight I will have in the future.

We have a major US city that is suddenly wandering the roads. The people who are turning to violence simply have nothing left to lose. It’s really very simple and really very dangerous. My earlier allusions to “Road Warrior” are coming back to haunt in very real ways.

I am frankly scared. Right now we have every emergency worker that can be spared, every resource that isn’t nailed down screaming towards the gulf coast. The shock and awe of the National Guard are already there. We absolutely need everything we can get our hands on to help people who need it now. I am not a criminal mastermind, but it seems to me that in another couple of days, this country is going to be so completely vulnerable to an attack somewhere else that it is almost implausible that it won’t happen. It’s a perfect storm, and I can’t fathom the possibility that terrorist sleeper cells are not seeing his. The dragon is down, and his claws are stuck in a desert on the other side of the world. What an ideal opportunity to go in for the kill.
I don’t want to be unnecessarily alarmist, and I really really hope that I am wrong. There is never a good reason to panic. But I haven’t seen a better time to “be prepared” than right now.

It is becoming increasingly important that we take this conversation to the next level, and keep it there. This country is poorly led. It has been poorly led for a long time. The important thing, I think is not to sling mud at this point. I know people like Moore and even to a degree myself have been doing this. But we need to show people in rational terms that the chickens of some long term stuff are coming home to roost. This goes beyond Blue vs Red. There is a window of opportunity to be taken advantage of here. Hard core Republicans have started to register complaints. Bill O’Reily has been criticizing the administration for goodness sake, and that wasn’t supposed to happen until there were airborne porcine. We need to start figuring out how to fix what’s broken and stop fighting over who should be fixing it (or pretending to).

In the vein of giving voice to the situation in vehement terms that are really clear: I encourage all of you to listen to NO Mayor Ray Nagen go off about it. You can read the transcript here:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/nagin.transcript/index.html
But I suggest you follow the links to hear him speaking.

I know a lot of you want to find ways to help. Here are some further suggestions:
1. Pressure your local government to demand more/better response and reform.
2. DO NOT tolerate people speaking ignorantly about what is going on, particularly in terms of race.
3. Live your daily life with a richness that suggests an appreciation for what you have. Understand that all your stuff, and your life, is on loan from capricious forces, and drink hearty.

I started off today thinking there wasn’t very much to report…

L.