Or, more bashing on the New Orleans tragedy. Hurricane katrina and the levee break in New Orleans was a disaster. The absolute lack of leadership by the Chief of Police, Mayor of New Orleans, the Commander of the LANG and the Governor of Louisiana turned New Orleans into a tragedy. I hate to sharpshoot folks involved in an overwhelming situation, but the people who stayed behind are being killed by the result of years of corrupt and inept leadership in that town and that state. Heroes abound in the New Orleans tragedy, but the leadership has caused people to die. For example:
1. They are all going by "plans" and don't have the brains to figure out that the plans aren't covering this.
2. There is no one responsible for developing a situation map and acting on the situation. How else could you explain not noticing that thousands are sitting on I-10 without food and water for days? How else could you miss several thousand at the convention center with no food or wate for days? How else could you explain no plan for moving those rescued by boat and then left without an operating collection point or even directions? It ain't in the plan, so we just don't have to do it.
3. NOPD has been ineffective because they didn't have communications. Any of those 5-watt bulbs think about calling the LANG commander and getting guard communications units moving to NOLA YESTERDAY? Add a few hummers with FM sets (up to 3-hummer) and a few command post vans and you have all the command, control and communications you could ever want. If your city ops center is out of power, then start using paper, pens and thumbtacks.
4. Any of those folks think about going into every electronics store, Wal-mart, and sporting goods store and getting the el-cheapo walkie talkies and batteries? Not great, but it's communications. Instead we have had says of whining that our "communications don't work." Any of those dimbulbs ever think about using runners?
5. How the hell can your priority be saving lives when you are not coordinating anything?
6. Where the hell was the LANG commander? He should have been pushing command and control assest on NOLA Tuesday AM. Was he waiting for a 5-part operation order from higher command. He is the bull who makes this happen within the guard. He can't do it, find a 2LT with moxie and get the guard moving.
7. Sen. Landrieu proudly said her brother was personnally recovering bodies. Anyone but me think that the Lieutenant Governor of the State could find better things to do? If that's the best he can do, then replace him now.
8. I'm not sure what the governor has been doing. It certainly doesn't seem that she was taking charge.
9. Charity Hospital is the main city hospital. How the hell do you miss the fact that they have no power, patients and need help? How the hell do you evacuate the one across the street and forget Charity? How the hell do you send patients to the roof for helicopter pickup, cancel the bird and forget the folks on the roof until the next day? (See operations center).
10. Special Kudo's to the FEMA director. He said on tonight's news that he wasn't aware of the situation in the convention center and totally ignored the I-10 refugee camp. Hard to miss the folks on I-10 when your busses travel down I-10 to get to the dome. How do you miss the busses not showing up because a driver got scared? Noone tracking these guys? He was real good at citing the megatons of stuff they had, he just missed the fact that it isn't getting distributed.
From tonight's news, it looks like, after 4 days, a few of these folks are getting their acts together. It's time the leadership got out of the way. People have died because of their incompetence.
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