Effective Response

The Observernotes

Fema appeared to have been taken by surprise by the extent of the New Orleans flood. It took four days to begin a large-scale evacua tion of people stranded in the Superdome stadium and to bring in significant amounts of food and water to an American city easily accessible by motorway.

Relief agencies took half that time to reach Indonesia after the Boxing Day tsunami. Fema has quickly become the scapegoat for what some American politicians are conceding is a 'national disgrace'.

Just think about this. The tsunami hit third world countries out of the blue, without warning. Katrina hit a first world country after giving warning for several days. And Indonesia had a better response time? That's pathetic!

Also keep in mind that FEMA is part of the Department of Homeland Security, so what does Katrina say about our government's ability to respond to a terrorist attack? With all the money we pour into Homeland Security, what are we getting?