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The Lessons of Hurricane Katrina

D.J. Maglio

Some important lessons we learned from Hurricane Katrina are: Man cannot overcome the forces of nature, looters cannot be ignored, freedom means people can make wise or unwise choices and responsible individuals trump government bureaucrats.

One lesson we learned is that man is foolish to think he can control nature. Throughout history humans have been humbled by the hand of God. The Old Testament is full of instances of the smiting of decadence by nature’s devastation. New Orleans has been living on the edge morally and physically for a long time. The “Big Easy” has earned its reputation for perverted behavior illustrated by the yearly “Decadence Parade”. The inhabitants of New Orleans choose to tempt fate by living in a bowl nine feet below sea level and refuse to leave even after warnings.

The magnitude of Hurricane Katrina made our pathetic human effort to prepare for it ahead of time meaningless. No matter the height and number of dikes or pumps to drain the rainfall, the power and fury of nature cannot be countered by man. The scope of the recent Tsunami in Asia and Hurricane Katrina on the gulf coast of the United States were of Biblical proportion denying our ability to prepare ahead of time. The most powerful nation on earth’s limitations was exposed to the world by the awesome power of nature.

Another lesson we learned is it is irrational to ignore looters. The police ordered to do nothing while hoodlums wrecked havoc on businesses and private property was political cowardice and malfeasance. Authorities allowing improper and/or criminal behavior to take place in front of their eyes without any response was an immoral act. It gave a green light to these thugs to escalate to more destructive and evil actions against innocent people. The politicians stated they were not going to permit police officers to establish order by shooting looters since these officers were needed to save lives. As we heard on television to our horror the looting morphed into rape and murder. Total lawlessness disrupts the opportunity to assist others. As we witnessed in the aftermath of our take over in Baghdad and in New Orleans the enforcing of law and order is essential to halt the spread of death and destruction.

We learned that people often make choices different from what bureaucratic officials would like. America is not a totalitarian nation. No branch of government has the constitutional authority to remove a citizen from his home. Most Americans believe it is their right to leave or stay in our homes in a pending disaster even after a mandatory order from a branch of government. Many people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, even after calls for a mandated evacuation, chose not to leave their homes. Some did not want to leave their pets or their belongings or their memory filled homes or thought this storm would be another false alarm that has occurred many times in the past. This is a privilege of living in a free country, to make one’s own choices wise or unwise. It was a conscious choice to stay in one’s home. Anyone knowing this was “the big one” would have left regardless of his economic condition. They would have found a way. Only the disabled or elderly would have needed assistance from others to travel out of harm’s way. Many people in the aftermath of this catastrophe with water surrounding their homes still refused to be evacuated.

Another lesson learned is most responsibility for addressing a disaster belongs to local and state not federal government. First responders to a disaster are local officials. Local government leader’s function is to devise plans for natural and man-made disasters. They have the power to call for and assist in evacuations. The state government is in charge of the National Guard, the only military who can use force in establishing order according to the law. It is not the state or the local government that is the most important element in improving the conditions of a catastrophe, it is the people affected. It is family members helping family and neighbors helping neighbors, Americans helping Americans. Our generosity in helping the unfortunate is an American tradition. Our tax dollars pay local officials to be prepared and ready for action to deal with crises. In the initial phase of 9/11 Rudy Giuliani took leadership to deal with the relief effort. He did not wait for the feds to come to the rescue. He tackled the problem right up front. If the federal government is expected to take care of all our problems we will be living in a totalitarian nation.

A major governmental function is to provide law and order. This stability allows people to develop a healthy community. Our strength as a people does not come from waiting for the government to solve our problems. It comes from our freedom and indomitable courageous spirit to help our fellow man. People assisting each other are the force that cannot be duplicated by local and federal bureaucrats. The area from Louisiana to Alabama will be rebuilt through the efforts of law-abiding citizens to make a better life for themselves and their families not through passive reliance on government.