A government for the people, by the people, where are they now?
Angry, frustrated refugees had been wondering that for five days after
the worst natural disaster predicted to hit the United States slammed
into the Gulf Coast virtually obliterating whole towns and taking many
lives.
The storm itself was the beginning, a predicted storm of epic
proportions that would cause mass destruction and loss of life.
New Orleans was pin-pointed to be the intended target of this monster
storm, but did the National Government take the intial first steps of
deploying the national guard and FEMA to strategic points to ensure
swift action and offer assistance with evacuating the people that
wanted to leave but did not have the means? The devastation in
New Orleans had been predicted for years, but no plan of action
was in place for the evacuation of the sick, the infirmed, the elderly
or the impoverished. Instead, shelters were opened and people
were left in nursing homes and hospitals in New Orleans to face a
record-breaking storm in a virtual death bowl.
After the storm, chaos insued. Pictures began coming out of
the affected areas of the damage and flooding depicting people trapped
on roofs, in attics and in the shelters used to protect. It was
known in the early stages there was no power and no means of
communication amongst the devastation that spanned 3 states, but no
swift action was offered by the federal government. As days went
by, it was evident that not only was the storm ravaged coastal region
in chaos, the federal government was dealing with a chaos of it's
own. Reaction time was hindered due to the commander and chief
appointing committees and having press conferences for 3 days, before
committing the resources and sending the relief that was so badly
needed. It was apparent, that no plan was in place for a
catastrophe of this magnitude.
People that survived the worst disaster to ever hit the United States,
were beginning to perish due to dehydration, starvation and the total
breakdown of American society. The in-humanities suffered by
these people were like watching horrors from third world countries
where governments do not have the means to protect their own. No
law or order was visible as the scourge of the earth began looting,
shooting and raping and the pictures of human suffering kept coming
with no specific action taken, only promises.
The National Guard troops arrive in New Orleans" five days
after the storm, and were met first by hails of relief and then
anger. Anger that in what is supposedly the strongest government
in the world, this type of human suffering could exist. Anger
that with all the predictions, people were allowed to die after the
fact, due to governmental breakdown and lack of committed
resources. Yes, there were some that chose to stay, believing
that they would be missed once again, but in what proportion were these
people in relation to the people that actually wanted to leave, but did
not have the means? This is a statistic we may never hear because
no provisions were made for these people by any level of the
government.
The truth of the matter is the famous government which is based on
being "By the people, For the people" was caught with it's proverbial
pants down. The leader that can deploy hundreds of thousands of
troops to declare war on terrorism in a moments notice, failed as a
leader and a fellow american. These people were left on their own
to try and survive the ordeal among the worst possible conditions they
could never have imagined, especially in the Big
Easy, which was predicted to be a death bowl for many years and
with horror, we watched the realities of those predictions come true.
Is the government, in particular, our leader, prepared to handle
the aftermath of the turmoil that will impact not only the people of
the devastated regions, but will also have a direct impact on the rest
of the natn due to shortages in building supplies, gas and oil
supplies, shipping and the mass transit of refugees to other states?
The gas wars have already started and with heading into winter months
and already high oil prices will more deaths occur due to starvation in
order to have heat or hypothermia in order to have food?
Unfortunately, the saga has just begun. We can not even begin to
fathom the impact this historic storm will have in the weeks, months
and years to come to the entire nation. With the breakdown of
government at every level and the inhumanitities still being seen in
the ravaged Gulf region, no reassurance is being felt by the American
people for a quick recovery. This is evident in long lines at the
gas pumps, hourding of gas, and the rush of obtaining building
materials all across the country due to the predicted sky-rocketing
prices.
The American spirit has taken a tremendous blow, more so than 911, due
to the scope of human suffering and the lack of governmental
commitment. The aftershocks have just started to unfold, the road
ahead, still uncertain. We can only pray along with the
victims that civilization will be restored, human suffering will end
and rebuilding will begin.