The Fall of New Orleans

Everyone who hears what I say but doesn't obey it will be like a foolish person who built a house on sand. [Matthew 7:26]

What an interesting place, New Orleans. The Mississippi River has an average annual highwater level of 14 feet above sea level with a floodwall along the river that's 23 feet high - just in case. Lake Pontchartrain has a normal level of 1 foot above sea level with a levee that's 17.5 feet high - just in case. Most of New Orleans sits at or below sea level (to an elevation of 8 feet below sea level). Do the math. And remember that water flows downhill.

Several years ago I saw a program on the Discovery Channel about cataclysmic natural disasters that could occur - in fact, there was a good chance any of these could occur. The last segment of the show illustrated what a Category 5 hurricane would do if it made a direct hit on New Orleans (something that hadn't happened before). In this scenario, most of the city - being below sea level - would be swamped by the storm surge.

This is nothing that should be a surprise to anyone living in the Big Easy. FEMA has been working on how to deal with this very scenario for a couple of years now. There are public service announcements every hurricane season in New Orleans warning that "this could be the year of the Big One." Many have become desensitized to this warning.

The worst case scenario played out on the Discovery Channel did not play out this last week. Instead, Katrina had weakened into a Category 4 storm just before grazing New Orleans. (Models show that a slow-moving Category 3 hurricane could flood New Orleans - see link). But the result was the same - and perhaps even worse than anyone had foreseen.

"There's no food. There's no water. There's shooting. They're killing people," evacuee Tishia Walters told CNN. "They're robbing men in the restrooms, they're raping women trying to go to the restroom. So people have resorted to defecating on the floors. You can't walk. There's babies without Pampers, mammas without milk. It's chaos total chaos."

It's a frustrating situation to say the least. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was addressing the Federal government in an interview with radio station WWL when he said, "Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country." (see entire transcript)

But one has to realize it has been extremely difficult to get in and out of New Orleans. The National Guard had to literally cut their way through Mississippi down Interstate 55 with chainsaws and heavy equipment. Hurricanes tend to leave things behind on the highways - like trees and houses and God only knows what.

And here's the part that really pisses me off. Once anyone gets there, they're liable to get shot at. Let me tell you something. If I come to rescue you and some wingnut is out there taking pot shots at me, then the rescue is off. And I won't be back until I bring some friends with me who have bigger guns with a longer range. What the hell business does anyone have shooting up a medical convoy anyway?

The New Orleans Police Department has had a long reputation for its corruption. However in recent years, they've been working to try and reverse that. Certainly, some of them truly are New Orleans' finest, and this week is perhaps their finest hour. Certainly it is a trying time for them. According to CNN, "One New Orleans police sergeant compared the situation to Somalia and said officers were outnumbered and outgunned by gangs in trucks." I'm sure the criminal element of New Orleans is pretty much operating in a manner which they are accustomed to. I'm also willing to bet that many them deliberately ignored the evacuation order so they could take advantage of all the folks leaving town.

CNN reports that, "Mayor Nagin said except for a few 'knuckleheads,' the looting is the result of desperate people just trying to find food and water to survive.

"Nagin blamed the outbreak of crime and violence on drug addicts who are cut off from their drug supplies and wandering the city 'looking to take the edge off their jones.' "

I agree with both of those points. Keep in mind that one of the stores looted was a new Walmart - it was completely cleaned out of guns and ammunition. I also think there are more "knuckleheads" than Mayor Nagin realizes.

Not every citizen packing heat is bad - I think most are carrying a gun just to protect themselves from the dangers out there. Many people arriving at evacuation centers such as the Superdome are gladly surrendering their weapons as well.

But what I fear we have in New Orleans now can almost be categorized as an insurgency. But they are under martial law, are they not? Why not send in some helicopter gunships? A burst from a 50-caliber machine gun into the truckbed full of these predators should send a pretty strong message, especially if repeated against similar truckbeds across the city.

Interfering with a rescue operation? That's a capital crime as far as I'm concerned. And you don't need a judge and jury to convict. Any dope firing a weapon at a rescue operation needs to be dropped right then and there - no questions asked (the answer would be pointless anyway).

I've also heard one intriguing opinion as to another factor that may have exacerbated the situation - our welfare system. I heard this during a radio talk show this morning. One of the guests, originally from New Orleans (and who has two cousins still unaccounted for) pointed this out. He said (and sorry, I paraphrase), "Not to sound racist, but look at the faces. It's like Mogadishu." He went on to say that a lot of these people have been told all their lives that the government would take care of them and still fully expect the government to help them now. Nagin said the government was "feeding the people a line of bull." They probably didn't have the means to get out when the evacuation order came, nor did they have the means to help themselves until help arrived.

Then he asked the question, "Do you know how much a Greyhound Bus ticket from New Orleans to Baton Rouge costs? Twenty-seven dollars." He then went on to say that on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (when it was clear that Katrina was coming), those buses were mostly empty.

It also appears that there are contradictions between what was being said and what was actually happening. Mayor Nagin has every right to be angry. He should be. We have seen how Katrina has brought out the worst in people. It's time to end the pissing contest. This morning, before touring the Gulf Coast region, even President Bush was not happy with the progress of relief efforts, stating, "The results are not acceptable."

Now that the convoys are arriving to bring in supplies and evacuate the populace, perhaps we will see more of how this disaster is bringing out the best in people.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to help out, may I suggest a donation through UMCOR or the American Red Cross?