There seems to be three major problems in New Orleans which are crippling aid.
The first is that the communication between agencies and elements directing relief is abyssmal. No one has the slightest clue who is supposed to be in charge, so instead of a directed straightfoward response, most of the efforts have been stopgap and piecemeal. In a situation like this, you need a clear set of priorities, and a focused allocation of resources in order to meet those goals. New Orleans can't be fixed in a few days, but the groups should be setting attainable hourly and daily goals. Unfortunately, in the absence of leadership, its become a question of 'what seems most important' at the time to the individual agents, and lacks an overall plan.
The second is the utter lack of preparedness amoungst agencies. They have known this was coming days. In fact, they knew and even assumed it was going to strike at a higher level and directly on the city itself. What should have been happening is an organized effort to respond as soon as the storm was passed, discussions with other governments for aid prior to the event, and the reallocation of facilities and resources so that disaster relief could start instantly. At the very least, specialized disaster relief like DART could have been moving and set up days ago to help with the efforts.
Last of course are the actual physical elements. With the range of damage, difficulty with terrain, and the ongoing evacutation issues, it is going to be more difficult to bring in relief rapidly. That will slow things, and there really isn't a way to counter that.
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Date: 2005-09-02 03:31 pm (UTC)The first is that the communication between agencies and elements directing relief is abyssmal. No one has the slightest clue who is supposed to be in charge, so instead of a directed straightfoward response, most of the efforts have been stopgap and piecemeal. In a situation like this, you need a clear set of priorities, and a focused allocation of resources in order to meet those goals. New Orleans can't be fixed in a few days, but the groups should be setting attainable hourly and daily goals. Unfortunately, in the absence of leadership, its become a question of 'what seems most important' at the time to the individual agents, and lacks an overall plan.
The second is the utter lack of preparedness amoungst agencies. They have known this was coming days. In fact, they knew and even assumed it was going to strike at a higher level and directly on the city itself. What should have been happening is an organized effort to respond as soon as the storm was passed, discussions with other governments for aid prior to the event, and the reallocation of facilities and resources so that disaster relief could start instantly. At the very least, specialized disaster relief like DART could have been moving and set up days ago to help with the efforts.
Last of course are the actual physical elements. With the range of damage, difficulty with terrain, and the ongoing evacutation issues, it is going to be more difficult to bring in relief rapidly. That will slow things, and there really isn't a way to counter that.