However, my advice to people facing a crisis is this:

1. Do everything in your power to get out of harm’s way. Government may not be able to help you out.

2. Local leaders including city, county and state officials should have first tier responsibility for ensuring that shelters are set up and that evacuations are completed.

3. The federal government can be tapped for after disaster care, specifically using the Coast Guard for rescues.

One thing about New Orleans is that the levee system being rebuilt isn’t adequate to withstand a Category 5 storm. This is another subject, but my contention is that rebuilding the entire city doesn’t make sense.

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The federal government, as well as state and local agencies, failed badly when it came to Katrina. People are still living nightmares. Many are still unable to return to their homes. There are some very serious concerns when it comes to public safety and education.

In the aftermath of Katrina, I think a hard line needs to be taken that results in resolution on all issues related to public policy and public safety. On Whitehouse.gov’s Urban Policy page (under the subhead of Homeland Security), you’ll find this:

Prepare Effective Emergency Response Plans: As our nation witnessed in the Hurricane Katrina crisis and its aftermath, too many localities do not have integrated emergency response plans to handle disasters. President Obama will further improve coordination between all levels of government, create better evacuation plan guidelines, ensure prompt federal assistance to emergency zones, and increase medical surge capacity.

I think it’s appropriate that the Obama administration addresses this issue. The White House is also taking a hard line on Homeland Security, which I think is also appropriate, given the times.

Back to Katrina: I don’t see Obama looking back. History is full of persistent themes and social issues because of our failure to address them head on and to put structure in place to prevent the problems from reoccuring.

The evidence is overwhelming that Bush administration buried its head in the sand. To be fair, no one could have been completely prepared for the devastation of Katrina. Still, there is no excuse for the emergency response infrastructure not being in place.

Interesting topic. This is my first visit to your site. I’ll be back.

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I believe that Obama will present one of the greatest challenges to our country. The change he plans on implementing could be our very undoing.

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