Languish of Louisiana: The Untold Story of New Orleans

In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina there has been much speculation as to where the blame should lay regarding the government failures that cost so many lives. The efforts of both local and federal government to develop and implement proper emergency aide left many evacuees stranded and without any hope of expedient rescue. The struggle of power between federal agencies and local government, in addition to the lack of preparation made by local authorities Ray Nagin and Kathleen Babineaux, slowed the flow of critical aide to evacuees and cost the lives of life saving personnel as well as victims of the hurricane. The ineptness of the state government of Louisiana was the main factor slowing the flow of aide to the devastated region of New Orleans.

From the very beginning of the end of hurricane Katrina there were signs of struggle between government forces that are there to protect the people of New Orleans. Lack of preparations and inadequate response on the state level left many stranded. The state government began pleading with federal officials to do more and make things happen in a disaster area that the locals new far better than the rescuers coming in from all over the country. Frustration mounted and then officials began trying anything they could to move the process along speedily. In a vain effort to make things happen leaders like Ray Nagin make public announcements regarding the lack of help they were receiving just days after the worst of the hurricane passed (Wikipedia). His staunch refusal to speak to any press or federal official until adequate relief was secured for his city caused more trouble and spite between government agencies than it did good. He effectively stopped communications between federal and state agencies at a time when the fast flow of accurate and transparent information was what was needed most.

In response to mayor Nagin's hostile attitude, federal government agencies pooled their efforts and offered to take control of the entire disaster area from the state governor Kathleen Babineaux (Wikipedia). The federal government was vying for control of the state and the state was trying to maintain some semblance of authority while people were dying in the city because there was no concerted relief effort. Regarding the leadership and background of the New Orleans government award-winning author Tom Piazza writes, "New Orleans suffers from a level of official corruption and mismanagement that is as astonishing as the poverty" (81). The apparent unpreparedness and inexperience of these leaders dealing with disasters created an environment of mistrust. Attempting to discern the motives or rationale these authorities used during those dire circumstances is mind numbing. One thing is clear, the inability of any of those individuals to adequately satisfy the emergency needs of citizens under their care cost many lives. Issues of who should've been in charge and where the relief should've gone are the types of time consuming and mismanaged decisions that bogged down the relief efforts of both state and federal authorities. While these battles were being fought on the political front the worst hit areas of the state stood on the sidelines and suffered.

The region of Louisiana worst hit by hurricane Katrina is the ever-famous Big Easy, New Orleans itself. The city is comprised mostly of low-income families with little or no chance for lateral socioeconomic movement (Milne). The of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, was elected in May of 2002. Mayor Nagin was born in New Orleans and is familiar with the cultural and economic needs of his city. In September of 2004 Mayor Nagin called for a voluntary evacuation of 600,000 people from the city of New Orleans to avert disaster with hurricane Ivan. Ivan missed the city and New Orleans was spared what could have been a catastrophe (Wikipedia). However, when addressing the citizens of New Orleans on 26 August 2005 Nagin did not advise a mandatory evacuation, he only suggested the citizens be prepared to evacuate despite the growing concern over flooding and wind damage (Wikipedia). Nagin knowing full well the potential for severe flooding and loss of life caused by hurricanes failed to properly address the escalating severity of the Katrina in time to notify the proper authorities and have evacuation plans implemented.

28 August 2005 Katrina was upgraded to a category 4 hurricane and Nagin calls for a full and mandatory evacuation (Wikipedia). To parallel the situation with hurricane Ivan Nagin was grossly underestimating the capacity for destruction posed by Katrina. Knowing that many of the citizens of New Orleans have no place to go and no means to get there he opened the Superdome as a temporary shelter. These actions may seem noble and cautious to many but truly they are too little too late. The economic make up of New Orleans alone, much less the rest of the state, indicated long before the storm approached that if evacuation was required, then a massive statewide pool of resources would be needed to transplant the entire population of Louisiana's largest city (Myers). The fact that there was no official evacuation plan for an area that had been receiving federal grants since the 1960's to build in flood prone areas had apparently no concern for what happens if there ever was a flood (Pierce). The real issue is why are there no state guidelines on how to deal with such a catastrophe? Why isn't it mandatory to have flood deterrents or other damage reducing stoppers in place for such high-risk areas (Pierce)? The answer is it wasn't a problem before Katrina. No one thought it would happen. So, when things escalated and it looked like it there may be a serious problem, the critical leaders like Nagin who have little or no experience dealing with natural disasters were left to make decisions that affected the lives of those stranded and those who were mobile and trying to help. Since the time for preparation had passed citizens were now depending on their elected officials to come through in their hour of need.

The problems that faced New Orleans were not only problems of foresight but of leadership and critical decision making in the face of adversity. The governor of Louisiana Kathleen Babineaux has been called a failure by many including TIME magazine which cited her in their article "Worst Governors in America" (Ripley). Governor Babineaux, on the eve preceding Katrina, held a press conference advising the citizens of Louisiana that "I believe we are prepared," having already been told that the evacuation of New Orleans would take at least forty-eight hours (Myers). The inability of the head of state to make a decision to ensure the livelihood and well being of every member under its supervision is gross incompetence and borderline criminal negligence. Why both Nagin and Governor Babineaux waited until twenty hours before landfall is still under speculation. In an area so prone to flooding a culture of preparedness would surely have prevented the loss of so many lives (Ripley). A little planning would've gone a long way and the lack of decision ability shown in the aftermath would affect the entire rescue effort.

Even after the devastation was apparent there was still no plan to deal with the thousands of displaced people or the apparent lawlessness that was to arise soon after those distraught individuals realized aide was not coming. There were several executive orders made by the governors office advising that only state approved and mandated officials and vehicles were to be allowed into disaster areas (Hudson). This order restricted aide givers such as out of state doctors and Red Cross workers who wanted to move into the flood damaged areas to help those stranded and set up aide stations. The bureaucratic orders sent out in the first days of aide response slowed not only state efforts but also the federal efforts that were underway. As former United States Court of Appeals judge and currently elected secretary of homeland security Michael Chertoff explained in his 4 September 2005 speech regarding the governors actions, "The way that emergency operations act under the law is, the responsibility and the power, the authority, to order an evacuation rests with state and local officials. The federal government comes in and supports those officials" (Wikipedia). Without a plan or at least and idea of what to do the federal government is blind when responding to devastation on the level of Katrina. the local authorities had a responsibility to take charge under United States law. The federal government was there directly to assist damage control, evacuation, and lifesaving procedures. Unable to direct the efforts properly the local authorities effectively nailed the federal governments foot to the floor, making them reach out into unknown areas searching for where the real problems were.

The failure of government never hurts so much as when it's on the home front. People can stand to lose wars half way around the world. People can see starvation and disaster in other places and their hearts will go out to those who are suffering. But, when the suffering is your neighbor or your brother or sister then the pain and the sorrow go much deeper and across countless miles. The pain is carried in the hearts of the entire country and the thoughts of suffering haunt the minds of those left in the wake of Katrina. Many questions will go unanswered regarding how well things could have been handled and what "should" have happened. One thing remains true, the state and local government of Louisiana has been lax in protecting the lives and rights of its citizens. With no planning for those in real need the state shuffled those underprivileged under the so-called "Superdome" rug.

Hudson, Audrey. Lakely, James. "New Orleans Ignored Its Own Plans." Washington Post on the

Web 9 Sep. 2005

Milne, Kirsty. "Katrina reveals truth of American poverty." Scotland on Sunday on the

Web 4 Sep. 2005

Myers, Lisa." How much blame does Gov. Blanco deserve?" MSNBC Nightly News on the Web

11 Oct. 2005

Peirce, Neal. "Katrina's harsh land-use lesson." Seattle Times on the Web 24 Oct. 2005

Piazza, Tom. Why New Orleans Matters. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc, 2005.

Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. Ed. Jimmy Wales. 3 Apr. 2006. 21 Mar. 2006