Hurricane Katrina

It has been five days since the hurricane hit the gulf states. The images of the natural disaster are just heart breaking. Images that people in America see happening only in third world countries. It is unbelievable how poor the response was and is to the disaster. I cannot imagine what kind of first response we'd get if the country had been hit by some bio or nuclear terror?

This country does not seem prepared to handle any large scale disaster. It took 4 days for help to arrive when Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992. One would think that by now, when a hurricane of such a scale hits, help would come much quicker after lessons learnt from Andrew.

One of the most disgusting after-effects of a large scale disaster such as Hurricane Katrina seems to be how easy lawlessness can ensue. Images of such lawlessness in New Orleans are beamed around the world. I feel embarrassed and disgusted that some evil people can take advantage of an already bad situation.

Why were there still tens of thousands of people in New Orleans when the Mayor had ordered a mandatory evacuation? I don't want to sound cruel but a lot of the blame on what the people are facing now lies on the people themselves. How come the higher ups in the city, in the state and in the federal government find it difficult to get help quickly enough? Makes me believe all the more that I cannot trust the government to help me in my time of need!

Help may have been slow in coming but Americans in general are quick to help with their financial assistance. Private charities are in the front line of the aid. Countless stories of help and assistance are there but of course you won't see very many of those stories on your TV and newspapers!

I just hope the poor and wretched people in New Orleans are able to be moved out of the city quickly now that help seems to be coming. So many have said that they will never return to New Orleans and face the same situation again, a scenario that is likely to happen again, New Orleans being under sea level and the likelihood of another hurricane hitting the city.

I've heard some Californians say that they'd rather put up with earthquakes than tornadoes or hurricanes. Earthquakes happen in a few seconds whereas tornadoes and hurricanes are regular occurences! I'm beginning to agree with what those Californians are saying!