Katrina - Slow Response and Leadership

We spent a good amount of time watching TV and checking out what was going on in both New Orleans and Mississippi (don't forget that it wasn't just New Orleans affected by this storm). Like everyone else, we were shocked by the slow response from those organizing the relief. Looking back I have not devoted much time to studying the research, analysis, and news reporting (those 3 are not always the same thing by the way) to have developed an educated opinion as to who was at fault for what. Because of that, I do not have a strong opinion positively or negatively toward any of the main characters (President Bush, FEMA's Michael Brown, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Governor Blanco, etc.). What I do have an opinion about is what I believe is to blame for the slow response in general -- weak leadership!

Personally, I do not believe that President Bush is specifically to blame and I do not believe that he is racist or that he did anything intentionally wrong. He may not have asked the right questions or pushed the right buttons to keep wheels moving however. In some information that I have seen, it seems like Michael Brown was sitting back waiting for something to happen rather than being proactive. We were also amazed at the inefficiency with which FEMA operated even months after the event.

Being administratively minded, I tend to place more blame on the local leaders. It's easy to say "get help down there" or "bring buses to evacuate." But it's another thing to know specifically what kind of help, where should they go, how should they get there, where are we evacuating people, where are the people who have already been evacuated that need help, etc. New Orleans is below sea level for goodness sakes, what is their disaster plan for a flood! Of course, the plan may not be on the same scale as reality but it's a starting point. I have a negative overall impression of New Orleans Mayor Nagin. I don't want to leave out mentioning that the leadership of Lt. General Honore seemed to be outstanding.

I am frustrated also by the lack of leadership in the non-profit sector. I have a very favorable impression of:
* the local churches, synagogues, and charities;
* the Southern Baptist, Catholic, and Methodist response teams;
* and the Salvation Army.

Surprising to me, the organization who was not impressive was the Red Cross! They were sitting on millions (perhaps billions) of dollars, resources, and volunteers and in my opinion they were unresponsive, unorganized, and squandered their resources. That is not to say that they didn't do anything right. We were just continually frustrated to hear what they were doing or not doing. Even on our grassroots level, we knew several things were a waste of time and money and not meeting the real needs of any of the people that we had daily contact with. We had donated to them during the tsunami in Indonesia but I don't think that I'll be giving them any more of our money after seeing them in action (more like inaction) during this crisis.

Next Katrina post . . . Our Response