Passing the Test

In early 2006, about 6 months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city of New Orleans, I had the opportunity to witness the devastation first hand.  The sight of homes lifted from their foundations relocated to the middle of residential streets.  Cars positioned head first through broken windows in abandoned homes. The now infamous circle symbol with quadrants representing people missing and animals dead.  And the horrible sight of complete devastation and inactivity from the federal government in the Lower 9th Ward.  

Three years later, it was good to see that we have learned from our mistakes.  While the threat from Hurricane Gustav still lingers, the proactive approach taken by FEMA and the Federal Government gives me hope that we can get past cronyism and failed bureaucracy to a more responsive government.  Furthermore, the levee on the Industrial Canal which breached during Katrina, is only reporting about 6 inches of water by late Monday afternoon--passing its first significant test.  

While it is way too early to assess the damage of Gustav, there are positive signs that catastrophic conditions were averted because of the lessons learned from Katrina.