Okay jrv. My much promised, and probably less anticipated response.

We're getting more information out about what happened in Katrina. You've seen how some people are saying not only was Katrina a big storm, but also a big cultural event? David Brooks:

Bursting Point

I have heard more news about there having been lots of rumors about deaths and rapes that didn't happen. I read that link that you posted to above. That link says that only one murder happened in the convention center, and none in the dome. They have a better feel for this than other crimes because with murders, there are actual bodies laying around. One murder in the convention center sounds like a lot to me. Not the hysteria and such the rumors were floating around about. But, I can see one guy getting murdered in the convention center as having caused that many rumors. I sure as hell wouldn't want to be locked in the convention center after somebody had been murdered in there. I'd get hysterical too. But, not as many murders as had been rumored.

I saw a thing on Charlie Rose that reviewed the press's role in Katrina. And, it was interesting that they had reporters on there saying that government officials were reporting some of the non-sense that had been rumors. One guy was saying he reported it because the officials said it, but that he noted in his story that he hadn't personally seen it. Just goes to show how incompetent the management of that catastrophe was.

Here's a permanent link to the one I posted about the violence during the aftermath of the storm. The reports, false or not, of the violence start around the end of page 4 if I remember right. Might have been the end of page 5.

Breakdowns Marked Path From Hurricane to Anarchy

Then, the thing about getting 100% of the people out of New Orleans. I don't know that this is such an interesting point either way. I wasn't arguing that you couldn't get enough buses to get all the people out. I was arguing that you can't get all the people on the buses. The people who take pride in "riding out the storm". The huge effort it would have taken to get all the poor, sick, and elderly on the buses that you would have had two days to do. Yes, you could have gotten a lot more than the incompetents in New Orleans did, but say you got 95% of the people out of New Orleans. Which is a number I just threw out, but sounds pretty good to me. In a town of 500,000 people, you've still got 25,000 people in town and some of those people are going to die in a Hurricane as big as Katrina. Not that it would nearly approach the 1000 that did die in New Orleans.

Then, as to FEMA's responsbilities. If you're going to assign blame according to the number of deaths in New Orleans, yes I would definitely assign more deaths to the locals. They are supposed to be handling intial response and evacuation. The most crucial element involved in saving lives. Screwing that up killed more people than how I think FEMA screwed up.

But, I do think FEMA screwed up. And, from what I've read, it's not just in New Orleans. But Mississippi also. Maybe you've heard that House Congressman Taylor from Mississippi doing everything he can to tear up Michael Brown because he feels like he screwed up in Mississippi? Here's the first story I heard about Mississippi not getting much help:

Gulfport Residents Call for Increased Security

It's 2:15 minutes into the story where they talk about the Salvation Army being there but nobody else.

Here's a link I found today that made me think about this post that summarizes what FEMA was supposed to for a hurricane but didn't. Notice that they also talk about FEMA not deploying many resources preparing for the storm like the NPR link story I posted to start this thread does:

Actually, It Was FEMA's Job


That last link will expire after so many days.