Naw..
never put anything down to deviousness that can be adequately explained by incompetence.
-- de Rochefoucauld.
What was happening was ordinary vehicles could not get supplies to the people without stalling out or flooding engine compartments-exhausts. So they had to arrange a ferry system for tons of stuff, or get special high lift military vehicles to wade the water. It is 4 feet deep on the highway into the stadium. Helicopters were in short supply for lifting stuff into the stadium and anyway emergencies about health etc were not communicated by radio or phone as none of that was working in NO centre. People assumed things about what was being done locally that they should not have assumed. (Incompetence.)
That people could not see that the stadium facilities and food-water would not run out in 48 hours and the whole thing start to fester, that boats would not be available and that looting and roving gangs would not start is unbelieveable but it can be explained by the lack of co-ordination of efforts to aid people.
People will-nilly assuming things would not get desperate fast in terms of human needs can be explained by the comfort at the bunker mentality. If have not lived in a hand to mouth deprived situation, then you cannot know what to supply. What is desperately needed. I have for years lived in far flung situations of every kind, and can shop a camp in about 1.5 hours and not miss anything. I just go through my camp day in my head as I push the cart. I will bet not one person in 20 at the top in FEMA has camped for a whole winter in the bush with no town supply. They just don't know.
Do you know the hardest thing to supply for a week or two with camp supplies other than potables? Light. It is harder than anything to keep light going. Batteries are gone in a few days. Lamps break globes in rain and water. Coleman lamps are too delicate to carry far. With Hurricane lanterns (N.P.I.) the glass globes are too thin. without them they smoke like crazy. Fuel is hard to find. In a city, with water everywhere you cannot find a place to take a crap and there is nothing to drink. In a day or two you are dehydrating seriously and some people will die. No place to lie down, you soon die of exhaustion and exposure. Back at Kennabunkerport, theories of what was happening were not gone into in detail. The personal crises of ill people with no dialysis, no insulin, no pain killers, no antibiotics, no AZT was just not thought of.
Whereas you cannot give a greenlight to stealing, the statement about looting, even for food and water says it about the admin. I can see why they made the statement, but had they thought of what they would say if their 70 year old mom had to steal water at a grocery store, just to get through the day?
hmmmmmmmm....
The admin people who did not act like lightning and get a massive boat supply of dry goods, food water, sanitaries and tents were just not thinking. This is not the sort of thing that a few static rescue units with the odd heli could take care of. This needed 2500 boats on the water in 48 hours to start to take people off and supply dire needs. To drink that water you first need to filter it through sand and charcoal, and then you need to add iodine or sodium hypochlorite till it is 2 PPM Chlorine and stays at least 0.5 free chlorine. eyyuck...
The admin was not callous or uncaring about some groups. Just not experienced and not smart and organized enough to do the deeds needed.
It was America's Dunkirk and there were no British watermen. The lights were on but nobody was home.
EC<:-} |
