The looming threat that Rita poses to parts of Texas and Louisiana lays bare one topic of discussion that was prevalent in many posts after Katrina. Many claimed that governments did not do enough during the approximately 24 hours before Katrina hit the gulf coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. Some even claimed that Local and State officials in those regions did nothing.
Now Rita is bearing down on another part of the gulf coast and the State and Local officials have had plenty of time to prepare along with enhanced resources and the specter of Katrina fresh in their minds. What is happening? Eventhough the governments took proper steps such as diverting traffic one way on and entire super highway, there is chaos and surely there will be loss of life if the storm remains excessively strong when it makes landfall. Drivers are sitting in traffic for fourteen hours to travel 45 miles if news stories are to be believed-this is to get away from a hurricane that has a 300 mile swath of destruction looming. Many people turned around and went back home, prefering to take their chances at home rather than in the middle of nowhere in a car.
The situation with Rita and evacuations highlight a serious problem that I do not think any government or agency can deal with. In the even of a nuclear attack or gross natural disaster, we will be left to count the number of our dead and that number will be large. The problem is a difficult one because any solution that is implemented can be partially overcome by organized terrorists of overwhelmed by unexpected natural events. But, the solution certainly is not to sit and hope. I applaud the governments that are making the effort to mitigate the damage that Rita will cause and I wish them as much success as possible, in the end their actions will save lives as did the actions of governments during Katrina's wrath saved lives. Some will save that over 1000 people dead is not saving lives, but I say that if nothing was done or plans were ineffective, the number of dead would have been much larger at this point in the Katrina recovery.