Thoughts on Hurricane Katrina

I’m extremely proud of, and awed by, the heroic, selfless efforts and contributions of tens of thousands of caring, compassionate Americans who have committed themselves personally to the rescue and relief operations in support of the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

I’m equally dismayed at the extreme viciousness of the rhetoric and the politicization and criticism of the relief effort on the part of many on the political fringes. There seems to be an overabundance of fatuous outrage that the massive, overwhelming operations required to bring relief to millions of people across 90,000 square miles didn’t match the near-instantaneous timeline demands and expectations of a self-appointed, self-annointed crowd of second guessers. Furthermore, so many of the aforementioned seem to be reveling in sanctimonious anger that everyone else’s foresight wasn’t on a par with their oh-so-crystal-clear hindsight.

No doubt the after action reviews at the local, state, and federal level will find much that requires improvement, and some that will require significant improvement. But some things are bigger than all of us, and Katrina was (is) a natural disaster of a magnitude that even the elusive perfection at all levels would not have been sufficient to preclude substantial loss of life and property. Recriminations, posturing, politicizing, and rancor add nothing to what is and should be the sole current ongoing priority, which is saving lives, donating money and resources, repositioning people, and rebuilding the shattered cities and towns of the afflicted areas.