New Orleans

I've only been to New Orleans once, for my brother's wedding in '92. (Luckily, his wife's family, who lives a couple of hours out of New Orleans, are fine.) After the wedding, I accompanied my mom, her brother, three of her sisters, and my grandma on a sight-seeing tour of New Orleans, specifically, the French Quarter. What stuck me was how rich the town was in history and character. (Oh, and the drive-thru daqueri stands. Yeah. That's a bad idea.)

Now, watching the news, I'm absolutely floored. It kills me to think of the thousands of people who placed their trust in "the system" only to find themselves with nothing. Men, women, and children are dying not from the actual hurricane but from a failure of their government and public services.

I guess, coming from earthquake country, it's hard for me to understand how we can be so unprepared when you know the disaster is coming. Granted, I don't think anyone thought it would have been this devistating; however, they knew it was going to be bad. Shouldn't all emergency services have been on alert, ready to go into action at least as soon as the storm passed? Or doesn't this come down to the have's and have not's. With the have's evacuated, the have not's are left to fend for themselves.