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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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 Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:56 pm Dealing With Tragedy: 9/11 vs Katrina |
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I'm interested to hear any thoughts as to why there was such a drastic difference in reactions by the two regions.
Yes, I understand one was nature, and one was man made, but let's move beyond that. Both were unexpected, and both catastrophic.
Yet the reactions from the two areas were completely (for the most part), polar opposites.
9/11 you have people bringing their personal construction equipment to help out, and being cheered. In LA, you have the same thing, except for people jumping up in the windows with guns. (Happened to a friend of my Dad's, needless to say he quit that job quickly).
And then the policemen. Heroes on one end, committing suicide on the other.
**DISCLAIMER** - I'm not saying LA was bad while NY was good. I'm sure there are more stories to be told. But these are the first that came to my mind. Feel free to contribute more.
-------signature-------
Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Founder
Dominion Leader
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Posts: 12755
Location: Gamma Quadrant
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| Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:24 pm |
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I don't know what the difference was. Some people would use the "race card", saying that "Bush don't care about black people".
I don't know about that theory, especially considering that N.O. is not as "black" as many think it is.
I think what happened in N.O. was mistake after mistake after mistake. Not personal hatred or biased towards the citizens there. Also, what happened with 9/11 was completely random, while people knew a storm was coming towards LA, just not it's intensity.
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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Sun Jul 30, 2006 12:20 am |
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| Founder wrote: | | I think what happened in N.O. was mistake after mistake after mistake. |
I agree. The problem was that the United States was prepared for another terrorist attack, so when a natural disaster struck and the damage was greater than expected, multiple levels of civilian and government resources were too slow in engaging the threat.
Prior to 9/11, there was really no system in place to recover after such an attack, so from the chaos order emerged.
Prior to Katrina, there was supposed to be emergency responses in place to such a disaster, so when those responses failed, chaos ensued. Instead of order emerging, however, we ended up with politicians finger-pointing at each other while innocent people died or further suffered.
The only thing worse than having no plan is a plan that goes horribly, horribly wrong.  Because if one can at least improvise and make it up as one goes along. If one is dedicated to following a plan that goes wrong, however one is basically screwed.
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madlilnerd
Duchess of Dancemat
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 5885
Location: Slough, England
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| Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:18 am |
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IMO opinion, the main problem was that everyone put their faith in the levees (sp?) that held back the water, and when those failed they didn't know what to do.
Also, consider the area of the twin towers compared to the area that Katrina destroyed. 9/11 was focused in one relatively small place, and even though it did affect the surrounding area, it wasn't as big as katrina, which needed a higher response from authorities.
No one seemed to want to help New Orleans. During Katrina, a boy filled a school bus up with people in desperate need and drove it to the next state. They had to wait several hours in a bus full of the sick and dying because the other state didn't know what to do with them.
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teya
Commander
Joined: 02 Feb 2005
Posts: 423
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| Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:53 am |
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| madlilnerd wrote: | Also, consider the area of the twin towers compared to the area that Katrina destroyed. 9/11 was focused in one relatively small place, and even though it did affect the surrounding area, it wasn't as big as katrina, which needed a higher response from authorities.
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That's the main issue, I think. Had 9/11 destroyed, say, all of Manhattan, you would have seen the same behaviors among the survivors. Indeed, when the lights went out in 1977, you did see the same behaviors--looting, rioting, and so on.
Those workers who escaped the WTC had homes to return to. Katrina survivors had nothing--and no way out.
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:08 am |
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I think that with Katrina we also had a little bit of warning. People knew it was coming, and knew what had to be done to get out. And as Hitchiker pointed out, there were supposed to be systems in place to prevent this from happening.
9/11 was so sudden. If I remember correctly there wasn't more than half an hour's warning. No one could have possible imagined.
I think that the result was that in Katrina people felt abandoned and hopeless, so they switched into a 'every man for themsef' mode. 9/11 every knew that they were in the exact same situation, and so they took a different path.
Basically: what Hitchiker said 
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TrekkieMage
Office Junkie
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 5335
Location: Hiding
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| Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:11 am |
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| teya wrote: | | madlilnerd wrote: |
Also, consider the area of the twin towers compared to the area that Katrina destroyed. 9/11 was focused in one relatively small place, and even though it did affect the surrounding area, it wasn't as big as katrina, which needed a higher response from authorities. |
That's the main issue, I think. Had 9/11 destroyed, say, all of Manhattan, you would have seen the same behaviors among the survivors. Indeed, when the lights went out in 1977, you did see the same behaviors--looting, rioting, and so on.
Those workers who escaped the WTC had homes to return to. Katrina survivors had nothing--and no way out. |
Somehow I missed your post
That's also a really good point. While there was a lot of damage, there was also a large support system around the damaged area that could assist with the fallout. And the damaged area in 9/11 was in the buisness district, not the entire state.
The hopelessness was much more widespread in Katrina.
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