Any sort of national disaster is a bad thing and I am probably the first person to admit that. I don't like hearing of the deaths, looting, and violence that follow them.
I remember when sim city first came out on the computer. You could build your own city from scratch, set up your own infrastructure, and optimize your city's overall prosperity. I also remember the natural disasters that you could unleash on your man-made town if your frustration with its citizens reached its breaking point. It was refreshing to unleash a tornado or fire on a simulated city that never saw it coming. It made me feel vindicated for the high tax complaints of my citizens.
In the real world, unlike the game, there are cirumstances where you have time to evacuate your home, city, or state in order to seek protection. For example, many Californians know what it's like to hear of an uncontrollable forest fire and can choose to either evacuate the path of the ravenous fire or to sit and do nothing (and ultimately die a horrendous death). Floridians know what it's like to abandon state, sometimes even 2 or 3 times a hurricane season. As a result of these scenarios, we hear of a lot of destruction, but few casualties. I can live with that, and probably so can everyone else.
What I cannot live with is what has been going on in Lousiana. People were told to evacuate from New Orleans and surrounding suburbs before hurricane katrina had even touched American soil. The smart ones left, the not so smart ones stayed and ignored the advice. As a result, people have been stuck on second story apartment floors, in attics, in collapsed buildings, and I'm sure that many more have died. The death toll is relatively small as of today because rescue workers were told to look for survivors and ignore the death count and the lifeless bodies, but I imagine that it will rise sharply over the next week. This irrational decision has made rescue workers efforts sometimes futile and tireless. It has caused more of a problem than the actual hurricane damage itself and has endagered other lives as well.
I've never been in a hurricane, but I've seen pictures. I'd like to think that if one were coming and people who knew about it more than I did told me to evacuate I would. The last thing on my mind would be a second story apartment building or an attic to climb into. I'd rather float my way through the middle of an ocean storm on a small, wooden boat. But then again, I have common sense and a strong sense of logic. I'm not saying that those who decided not to flee deserve the fate that was handed to them or that they have no basis to make any more critical decisions in life. Wait, I guess I am saying that. I wonder if the witch doctors saw this one coming. And then I wonder if anyone who is still left in New Orleans listened.
1 comment:
Oh justin,
just want to know how those people were expected to get out of town? what about those without cars or money for transportation. it is not so easy for all. what the city should have done was started to bus the poor to safety BEFORE the hurricane hit. we are now dealing with the consequences of a government that didn't think too far ahead and didn't take into consideration that we are not all as well of as others. To some (SUV owners, HUMMER owners, Truck owsners, etc.) the cost of gas probably isn't much of a dent in the pocket book becuase as gas guzzling drivers, they are used to spending the big bucks at the fuel tanks. others can't. these others either can't afford it or don't even have personal transportation. We must always consider the options available to those less fortunate than us.
just see this from their perspective...that's all i'm suggesting.
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