The governor of Louisiana called for Federal help on Sunday, August 28th. The following link shows the letter in full.
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf
The whole document focuses primarily on assistance after Hurricane Katrina with the evacuees and victims already out of harms way. It is all very legalese, and very difficult to sift to the meat of the request. However, there is one sentence on page 3 that tells it like it is, and this is the meat of the request:
"I request direct Federal assistance for work and services to save lives and protect property."
This plea for Federal help was sent on August 28th (and most likely sent via fax, email or other service that would get it to the right place as quickly as possible, not by snail mail, er the postal service). From all accounts on the news media, Federal help with the National Guard arrived on Friday, September 2nd. That's five days. Wow.
This is why we must not rely on the Federal Government. That is why we must prepare (remember the scout mottos?) ourselves. That means we must have the knowledge, resources and ability to coordinate ourselves locally and individually for major disasters (hurricanes, tornados, terrorist attacks, war strike, etc.) and the aftermath of those disasters (chaos, looting, human suffering, etc.).
Are tornado and fire drills enough preparation? I don't think so. As we have learned with the disaster in New Orleans, it can sometimes be the consequences of devastation that harm us. Many times we don't think of survival past the initial incident, but we need to and must prepare for continuous survival in adversity. This should include provisions for thirst, hunger, shelter, and bodily protection (clothes and defense); along with monetary provisions (liquid cash in a protected location).
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Did you watch The Daily Show last night? I did. Brian Williams from NBC was on. He covered Hurricane Katrina, was there before she struck, experienced her wrath with thousands of others in the Super Dome, and trudged through some the worst of the aftermath. He saw the looting firsthand. He and his film crew waded through the flood waters (albeit in a Hummer), protected by armed guards from those wishing to do harm.
And he saw FEMA and the National Guard there in New Orleans before, during and after the hurricane. And apparently doing very little.
Sure there was a break-down in communication between local, state and federal resources for the relief efforts. No doubt about that.
This was our nation's turn to show the world that we had beefed up our emergency relief efforts from the perfect, almost flawless response to 9/11. But, no we had not. In fact, the response to Hurricane Katrina is the opposite of 9/11.
Hurricane Katrina showed the world the best and the worst of America. Individuals willing to risk and sacrifice their own lives to save others, yet troops and first responders unwilling to help and even refused food and supplies to be brought in for victims.
Individually, the majority of US citizens are good people, our intentions are good. As a group (not the Federal government, per se), we are selfish, mean, unresponsive, unwilling to lend a hand or help unless told to do so (and convinced otherwise) by some authority.
As a group, we learned to be this way by attending school for at least 12 years of our lives. We learned that to be submissive is good. We learned that even though it isn't ok to be mean, the school bully will get away with it, and there is nothing you can do about it. Be nice to the teacher, regardless if you like it or not, because the teacher dictates if you succeed or fail in the class, not your own intelligence.
Some of the ideas and teachings from school are good, but that is where we also learn to respond to things as a group. If you don't like how we respond as a group, then look to how we run our schools.
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