| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, September 12 2005 |
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| I feel anger, disgust and frustration. And I don't even live in Mississippi, Alabama or Louisiana. No matter how many millions of dollars are spent, or how many thousands of troops are sent; how many emergency medical centers are set up, or how many bottles of water or pallets of food are delivered; it is too little, too late.
It was not necessary for people to die of starvation or dehydration. It was not necessary for children to live in filth. It was not necessary for the sick to go for days without medication, or for hospitals to go without equipment to tend to the gravely ill. There was no need to allow human desperation to reach a boiling point, for police officers to commit suicide and for victims to have to steal to feed their kids. People didn't need to get shot, women didn't need to be raped, and tourists didn't have to be attacked.
When you are in the news business, like I am, a tragedy of the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina becomes part of your life. It's a major story to cover. It consumes your every minute. It demands your full attention. Rarely do you have time to sit and digest the enormity of what is happening around you.
But when I finally had time to sit in front of a TV set and not in front of a camera to report the news, I felt the same disgust that millions of other Americans felt. I could not believe the images of total anarchy and desperation unfolding in New Orleans -- not one, or two, or three, or even four, but five days after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast. I could not help it; I just cried. I cried with the victims, and I cried for them. I cried out of frustration.
Of course, since then the aid finally began to arrive, and those who were stranded finally got some relief. President Bush went to hug some victims, and the National Guard restored order in New Orleans. But no public-relations campaign or presidential visit is going to erase the failure of our government to respond to this human tragedy.
We cannot blame the government for Katrina. As rich and powerful as this country is, there is nothing it can do to stop Mother Nature. But while we cannot stop a hurricane from happening, thanks to technology we know that it's coming, when it's coming and its approximate target. How can the United States plan and execute a pre-emptive war and not be able to prepare for a natural disaster that announces its arrival?
After brushing through Florida, leaving a deadly trail even as a measly Category 1 hurricane, forecasters warned that Katrina could become a Category 5. You didn't have to be a meteorologist to realize that this storm was a monster ready to unleash its fury on the Gulf Coast. The news obviously made it to Crawford, Texas. President Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana and Mississippi two days before the storm hit. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was ready to set up shop. The mayor of New Orleans ordered a mandatory evacuation.
So what went wrong? The American people have the right to ask, and the government has the responsibility to respond. Why couldn't those same helicopters that rescued people from rooftops a day after the storm deliver food, water and medical supplies? Why did it take the amphibious vehicles so long to get to New Orleans? It takes three days to drive coast to coast in the United States. New Orleans is 1,100 miles from Washington, D.C. -- an 18-hour drive, a two-hour-and-45-minute flight. It should not take five days to rescue thousands of people from a flooded city.
There are, of course, a lot of unsung heroes in this tragedy, and they deserve to be praised. People who have given so much of themselves to save lives, to tend to the sick, to console the children: the military, relief workers, volunteers, neighbors helping neighbors. Millions of dollars have been donated, and regular citizens all across the country have sent tons of goods to those in need. It's good to know that Americans have such a giving spirit, because we now know that we can't depend on our government in these tragic times of need.
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