There are times that we all must pause from our daily activities to stop and look around. RePete has paused from the issues of his beloved cycling at various times. Yearly this happens just before Christmas with an inspirational message. Then there are those driven by the events of the day. The last time this occurred was with the tsunami earlier this year. Now the events driven by hurricane Katrina force RePete to look around.

As with all things that RePete does…a vacation of but three days had a surreal feeling to it. Departed on a Tuesday morning for Ocean City, Maryland to return on that Friday. A vacation of just over three days. A storm called Katrina was blowing in the Gulf of Mexico heading for the United States. I mused during the drive down, just my damn luck to schedule a vacation weeks ago and now a storm threatens to wash away most of the enjoyment. Gas prices were just over $2.40/gallon that caused me to also grumbled about that. Even quipped that prices could be over $3.00/gallon for the trip back.

Almost from the minute after arriving, witnessed a human drama unfold. Tuned into the weather channel to check on the progress of the storm. Heard that Katrina was going to hit close to New Orleans within hours. As the correspondents spoke, they worried about the levees breaking and flooding the city. I dismissed this as hype and tried to focus on the potential path and how much of my vacation that could be rained upon.

Tuned in the Weather Channel again on Wednesday morning to hear that the levees from Lake Pontchartrain had broken and New Orleans was flooded. In disbelief I went quickly to CNN. Somehow thinking the Weather Channel went wild and misreported…what was on CNN was even worst. They reported that 80% of the city was flooded, thousands of people were stranded and in danger of drowning, entire homes and businesses were being washed away, those that could make it were being told to go to the Super Dome for safety. The story was like that of a movie…but this was real…and this was live television! Where were the boats? Where were our leaders? Where was our National Guard? Surely emergency rescue was already in action…but what was being reported and shown were our leaders indicating there was nothing that could be done!!! Our Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff and FEMA Director Michael Brown simply indicating the people were warned to evacuate and many decided not to leave the city. How could anyone be pointing the finger at these desperate people and blaming them? Worst yet…there seemed to be no emergency plan but to wait for Lake Pontchartrain to empty!!!

Here are some of their lame, stupid statements:

Director Michael Brown (FEMA): “We just learned of the convention center – we being the federal government – today."

ABC's Ted Koppel: "Don't you guys watch television? Don't you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters have been reporting on it for more than just today."

Robert Siegel: We are hearing from our reporter, he’s on another line right now, thousands of people at the convention center in New Orleans with no food, zero.

Director Chertoff (Homeland Security): As I said, I’m telling you we are getting food and water to areas where people are staging. The one about an episode like this is if you talk to someone or you get a rumor or an anecdotal version of something I think it’s dangerous to extrapolate it all over the place.

Robert Siegel: But Mr. Secretary when you say we shouldn’t listen to rumors. These are things coming from reporters who have not only covered many many other hurricanes, they’ve covered wars and refugee camps. These aren’t rumors, they are saying there are thousands of people there.

Chertoff: I would be…I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don’t have food and water.

Then there was this exchange:

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA): "Thank President Clinton and former President Bush for their strong statements of support and comfort today. I thank all the leaders that are coming to Louisiana, and Mississippi and Alabama to our help and rescue. We are grateful for the military assets that are being brought to bear. I want to thank Senator Frist and Senator Reid for their extraordinary efforts. Anderson, tonight, I don't know if you've heard – maybe you all have announced it -- but Congress is going to an unprecedented session to pass a $10 billion supplemental bill tonight to keep FEMA and the Red Cross up and operating."

CNN's Anderson Cooper, "I haven't heard that, because, for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated. And when they hear politicians slap – you know, thanking one another, it just, you know, it kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours. And there's not enough facilities to take her up. Do you get the anger that is out here?"

Some will say that our President Bush cannot be responsible for acts of nature…acts of God. Such are not predictable. But in this case, this storm was predicated days in advance. Worst yet, a series of newspaper articles warned of such an event and the consequences. Specifically, Louisiana State University engineer Joseph Suhayda and others have warned for years that [New Orleans’s] defenses could fail. In 2002, the New Orleans Times Picayune published a five-part series on "The Big One" examining what might happen if they did.

It predicted that 200,000 people or more would be unwilling or unable to heed evacuation orders and thousands would die, that people would be housed in the Superdome, that aid workers would find it difficult to gain access to the city as roads became impassable, as well as many other of the consequences that actually unfolded after Katrina hit this week.

Published here are photos of the horror and suffering caused by the storm. Some of these are strong…and shocking. There are many more photos available on the internet. Finding these took but several hours and not all are shown. There can be only one conclusion, the administration did not simply fail; they demonstrated an inability to react and react quickly to the known consequences of this major storm and an appalling lack of concern to the suffering.

Others may say this is not the time to criticize, but time to pull together and save lives. This is exactly what we need to do…both save lives and be critical. Otherwise, more lives will be lost in the next emergency unless we now examine what went wrong and make changes. The prediction is that several thousand have died. We all need to look around and see the major dangers that are near us. Then ask our local, state and federal officials what plans are in place for a doomsday event, what training has taken place, what equipment is available, how quickly, and who coordinates. We can no longer simply rely that our leaders will lead…or will they know what to do or how to do it. One very sobering thought with this hurricane, just where would we now be if that instead of an event caused by nature, that the event was an act of terrorism?

To close out, my trip home proved that RePete is also clairvoyant. You see…gas prices had risen to over $3.00/gallon. But now that issue did not seem important.

You can now read what the Philadelphia Inquirer had to say in their September 11, 2005 editions. Go to Failure At Every Turn.

I would like to know your comments. Email me at repeten@verizon.net

RePete
www.oocities.org/repete_bike
September 5, 2005