tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post115685674262180182..comments2023-10-29T09:20:01.247-05:00Comments on In This Moment: Hurricane Katrina: Where were you a year ago, Mr. Bush?Diane Silverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01134079095789524153noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28633811.post-1156883305103759112006-08-29T15:28:00.000-05:002006-08-29T15:28:00.000-05:00Before I comment, I must preface my comments with ...Before I comment, I must preface my comments with the following:<BR/>(1) I live in a trailer on the Gulf Coast of Florida and in 2004 evacuated 4-times for hurricanes;<BR/>(2) I live 55-miles north of Punta Gorda, FL which was hit by the eye of Hurricane Charley in 2004; and<BR/>(3) Individual volunteers were in Punta Gorda the next day; and at the latest, first responders were providing help within 48-hours.<BR/><BR/>I had evacuated to a friend's condo and we were glued to The Weather Channel watching Katrina move up the Gulf, praying we would not be hit. We were aware that Katrina would make landfall as a Cat 4/5. We knew the National Weather Service had predicted that the wind and storm surge damage would be catastrophic. After we were by-passed, we continued to watch TV and follow Katrina's continued progress.<BR/><BR/>When we saw and heard it would hit New Orleans; we felt empathy for what we knew was coming and we prayed for them. Then when TV started showing the aftermath; we couldn't turn away from the images.<BR/><BR/>That early empathy, turned to dis-belief, and then to ANGER. Wasn't Washington (DC) seeing these same images? Where was FEMA? Where was the National Guard?<BR/><BR/>Then came the excuses: FEMA said they didn't know about the Conven-tion Center until Thursday (Day-4}; the President said he feared violating "Posse Comitatus" re-strictions. State and Local govern-ment was slow in demanding help; but weren't they just like us in the expectation that we'd see the calvery ride to the rescue.<BR/><BR/>The media was the first to suggest what a lot of us were thinking and fearing: that race, class and partisan politics had played a big part in allowing the suffer and deaths to occur. In last night's NBC, Brian Williams identified the issues of race, class, petroleum and environment as causes of this disaster; and he called for a National Conversation on these issues.<BR/><BR/>We all must take responsibility for making sure that a National Conversation does take place. Natural (earthquakes; tornados; wild fires; hurricanes; volcanic eruptions; tidal waves, etc.) and man-made (chemical spills; atomic accidents; terroris; etc.) disasters will continue to happen.<BR/><BR/>Jamie Lynk, Sarasota, FLAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com