"Houston, we have problem"
Today I finally broke down at work. I hurriedly left the office to go to "lunch" so I could have my meltdown in private.
This week has been extrodinary. I heard the, soon to become infamous, interview with the New Orleans Mayor which ended with both he and the interviewer in tears.
I've spent the better of the last two days at work streaming the news. I've heard so many things....
"Where's the help?" "Why didn't we plan for this?" "Who's coming to help?" "We didn't know there were people at the Convention center." (that was said by the director of FEMA).
What happened? I think it basically came down to the fact no one really believed it would happen. Isn't that the American way? It won't happen to us.
Finally, the calvary arrived, literally. Convoy after convoy rolled into town to bring provisions. I think we can breath a sigh of relief, a little. But, what now? Is it only Houston's burden to house the refugees from a whole region?
A city was just wiped off the map. Beach communities were washed away. No more homes, no more cars, no more work, no more.
The local newspaper had a lengthy article some two years ago outlining how ill-prepared the city was for such a disaster. They had a mock disaster last year (Why Wasn't New Orleans Better Prepared?" http://www.npr.org/templates
As a former employee of a hospital we had mass casualty drills. A Command Central was critical. There didn't appear to be a Command Central or HQ in any of the Gulf States until the Lt General stepped off the helicopter today. With no phones there was no communication between the first responders. I doubt anybody factored in the possibiltiy of there being no lines of communication in any of the mock scenarios. Everyone was hit and the ones who were "supposed" to know what was going on were showing there humanity. Some were heroes. Some left the city.
Through all this our dirty little scecret namely the plight of the poor inner city(mostly black) was exposed. What we like to ignore was broadcast vividly, as we saw the helpless were left to die. I heard an interesting report on the view of the blacks today as well ( "Seeing Black America in Crisis on TV" http://www.npr.org/templates
Was the president to blame? Was it the govener's fault? At some point we have to concede to the fact that there are "Acts of God" that we mere mortals cannot with stand. Even if the levies had held the Gulf States would have still been washed away. It reminds me of the Vanport flood which took place just after WWII. At the time there was only one place in town for the 20,000+ Blacks to live, many of whom were from Lousiana, Mississippi and Alabama. In a matter of hours thier lives were changed when the dyke gave way flooding that low lying area of town. Everything they owned was gone. Where were they to go to start a new life especially when they weren't wanted.
So was it an act of God? I'm not trying to predict. All I know is that this year opened with the Tsunami. As the year has gone on the violence has escalated in Israel, Iraq and Afganistan; there've been bombs in London; plane crashes; not to mention the ongoing crisis in Sudan. I could go on.
It hit me as I viewed image after image, that nothing those people could have stored up would have really helped them other than buying a boat, bottled water and a battery powered radio. I guess it just makes me think that what I have to be preparing is my heart. I'm sure the nameless, countless people of character are the ones who had the greatest impact this last week. We'll never see their faces on CNN, but Jesus did. It makes me think of the parable of the 10 virgins. When the hour comes there's no getting oil. You got it or you don't. Lord, prepare me to be your sanctuary where ever, when ever, ready to be used for whatever.
This picture is picture of the city as it is covered in water. More satellite images can be seen at http://http//www.digitalglobe.com/katrina_gallery.htmll
posted by kt @ 9/02/2005 03:51:00 PM
1 Comments:
Yes...yes, Kathleen...Rightly said... You either got it or you don't... There's no gaining it once the day is upon you... You go into it with what you have and if you don't have it...well, then you don't have it... That's the sobering reality of it.
Post a Comment
<< Home