August 29, 2005 - Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana and decimated huge areas, including New Orleans.But the real tragedy was how poorly the Federal response to the emergency played out. Five years later, they're still trying to get back to normal.
Spazeboy made a trip down there earlier this year, to help out the rebuilding of the city. Be sure to visit LowerNine.org if you'd like to contribute to actual volunteer efforts to rebuild the damaged ward. They do great work and are already making a real difference.
2 comments:
I, along with many others, have spent the past week reliving Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the federal government to respond effectively.
Every story is sub-headed 'why did'nt the feds do more'? I fear this may be another watershed (No pun intended) moment in the realization that the federal governent can't do everything for everyone.
Those of us who grew up in the 50's, believed John Kennedy's call to a new generation..., were inspired by Edward R Murrows Apalachia expose and Cronkites' migrant labor programs, participated in the March on Washington; truly believed that this country could do anything once it committed itself. Nothing was beyond the government's reach.
Thirty years of insoluble problems both here and abroad, can't be defined as a rude awakening, but Katrina wa just one more brick in the wall.
Katrina was one more example that there are limits to the abillity of government to heal our ills. The question is whether the anomie we see around us can be reversed or turned to a positive reassessment of governments role in society.
Rather than turning away from government, we must make it work. Left to our own devices, too many will be left behind.
>>the failure of the federal government to respond effectively.
Odd that other states, hit equally hard didn't have the same experience.
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