I don't think anyone needs to be a genius to realize that our federal response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster on the Gulf Coast has been shameful at best.
By now it is obvious that our political leaders need to be prepared for more than the massive-excuses and back-slapping, self-congratulatory, grand-standing news conferences that we have been seeing coming faster than the water poring over the levies of New Orleans.
To be honest, I thought a lot of these following ideas had already been put into effect after we learned the lessons of the 9/11 attacks. Now I know that was just my own fantasy.
And please don't tell me we don't have the money or that we can't afford these ideas. 9/11 and Katrina proved that we can't afford to be so unprepared again. The rich and powerful want us to believe we cannot rely on government to protect us. Most of our politicians live and act like royalty who are above both the laws of nature and the laws of man. We need to remind them loud and clear that it is their responsibility to serve and protect us citizens, not the other way around.
Some of the things that must be done, as of yesterday:
Thousands of buses should be ready to mobilize and evacuate at least two million people a day. In the event of a nuclear terrorist attack, or other massive man-made or natural disaster, they will be invaluable.
We need to have well-maintained large planes, helicopters and ships loaded with heavy equipment and basic life-sustaining necessities like food, water and medicine. They should be ready to mobilize and deliver supplies to disaster areas at the first notice of problems. Many deaths occur long-after the hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorist attacks and other natural or man-made disasters occur. We need to be ready to save the living before it is too late.
Amphibious vehicles, swift-boats, tractor-trailers, bulldozers, dump-trucks, cranes, water-purifiers and other life-saving equipment also should be ready to move into disasters areas before and after a catastrophe happens.
The government should have a database of people who can be put into paid-service when disaster strikes. Volunteers and donations are wonderful, but we should not be depending on the charity of others when our citizen's lives are at stake and time is of the essence.
We need to have trained doctors, nurses, computer technicians, communications experts, engineers, sanitarians, plumbers, construction workers, cooks and people of every possible type of expertise needed when facing disasters such as terrorist attacks, floods, building collapses, fires etc.
These people should be pre-screened and pre-hired to be put onto government payroll whenever and wherever they are needed. The database could be set up to mass email, phone and fax as soon as extra help is needed. If spammers and politicians can send out millions of targeted emails and phone calls for votes and other nonsense, the federal government should be able to contact and put into paid-service, trained personnel who want to help during any disaster.
We already have a National Guard to keep order and peace in the event of disaster. They must be segregated from other military troops and equipment, with strict laws resulting in tough penalties for any politician who dares sends them overseas.
We should coordinate these plans in advance, not only between states, but also with other allied nations. Much as we like to think we are an island unto ourselves, we need to help our allies in war and peace. It may cost us millions when helping others today, but it could help save the lives of millions of Americans tomorrow.
These are just a few of the preparations we should make. We need to ensure that never again any American unnecessarily dies while waiting for help.
