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Sunday, August 27, 2017

Watching the Storm



I am curious to see how the Trump administration is going to handle the response to the storm.

There was an interesting thing that stood out during the storm coverage. Anyone else notice how may of the emergency agencies are being headed by someone other than the normal head person? It's acting director this, or interim director that. Really brings home how many critical positions have yet to be filled.

There are some things that government should do. Protecting the people is one of them. That means more than just having a strong military. Disaster response is a big deal. I hope the administration has brought its “A” game to the party, even though they are working with the backup team.

If nothing else it really goes to show that we should be prepared to deal with disasters on our own.

-Sixbears

7 comments:

  1. Hopefully those interim department heads are the people who have actually been running them all along while the actual department heads have just been political appointees.

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    1. I hope that's the case. Remember the not ready for prime time players of Katrina?

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  2. I watched the Governor of Texas speaking on the storm this morning. He was very effusive in his praise of the help he is getting from the Feds, and particularly from FEMA. He also said that the support from the White House had been all he could want it to be. I was impressed with the governor, he was calm and seemed to be in control. After the antics down in Louisiana during Katrina it was quite a contract.

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    1. It will be weeks before we really know how good the response is going to be. However, I'm glad the early reports are good.

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  3. Been watching CNN all day -- some parts of Houston have really been hit hard where water is up to the roof of some homes. They have put out a call for more boats and have stopped rescue efforts for tonight, will start up against tomorrow. Am afraid some folks did not make it out in time.

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  4. I see you hav made some references to the Katrina aftermath. New Orleans certainly had problems. Some were of their on making- starting with failure to evacuate after being ordered to and offered many options for assistance with evacuation. When the first rescue helicopters showed up they had to retreat due to sniper fire from the ground - the very people they were there to help. I am a Katrina survivor. My town east of New Orleans had 93% of the buildings flooded, including my home and business. Seven feet of water in my business. Within a couple of days, we were covered up with government assistance. Every household was immediately given $2,000 with no questions asked. Trucks were lined up with water, ice, baby supplies, etc. National Guard was there in force, walking the streets, keeping the peace, assisting anybody and everybody in need. After the initial surge of assistance, government grants were made available, up to $150,000 per household to cover losses for people without flood
    insurance. Remember, Katrina affected the gulf coast from New Orleans to Mobile Alabama and further.

    The criticism of a George Bush for not landing in New Orleans was ridiculous. In the best of times the President totally disrupts any area he visits. Would that have been a wise use of personnel at that time. He did tour the entire coast at a later date. I was standing there when he passed thru our area.

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    1. My in-laws were able to miraculously get out on their cell phone to tell us they were still alive. They are in Refugio. We hadn't heard anything until yesterday. My sister-in-law and her husband made it through to them to discover that her father, John, had purchased a generator a while back. Their house was built in 1944 by an architect in the area and was double bricked. It withstood the storm. The fridge is on the generator and they laid a pad down in his stop with an air conditioner. He is 83 and on oxygen, but they have food and ac and are carrying on. They are not interested in FEMA. Their town is decimated.

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