Jeez, the list of malfed efforts with these storms is pretty long, and certainly not party specific.

Katrina:

Neither the mayor of NO, nor the governor of LA reacted quiklcy enough or decisively enough after declaring an emergency and calling for evacuations. NO really never put its carefully crafted plan into practice.

The Feds, including George Bush, failed to bring int relief assets quickly enough, and could have been far more directly involved in securing the governors permission earlier. The relief effort itself was also swaddled in more red tape than necessary.

Both parties, for 3+ DECADES, bear responsibility for not funding levee improvement projects sufficiently, and diverting some of the funds that had been earmarked for improvements into other projects. Politics as usual, from Washington on down, did not meet appropriate standards of emergency preparedness.

The Media sensationalized the whole thing. Since they are now on constantly, they'll broadcast any half-substantiated rumor that's tawdry or shocking enough. They have to get the audience's attention before another network snags it, and then feed in enough new stuff -- can you say rush to print -- to keep them glued to the tube.


Rita:

Evacuation orders and federal support were all much faster this time. Response has been quicker and casualties lower (though the ebbing of the storm's power helped here). A much improved effort, but the response to Katrina hardly set a high benchmark.

Moreover, as Red H's own experience attests, the USA is woefully unprepared to effectively evacuate a major urban area. Gas supplies not sufficient, failure to accurately model the number and timing of vehicles, insufficient staff/resolve in opening all transit lanes to evacuees. Also, its pretty obvious that evacuating oxygen dependant folks in non-medical transport can be improved. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the HSA's ability to respond to any man-made crisis either.

Media didn't do much better here and the public is a bit bored with flooded bayous, so they are having to work other angles to sell advertising time and keep ratings up.


All in all, SNAFU -- possibly TARFU -- but no FUBAR, we've seen all of this stuff before in other forms.

Seamus