book report: The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley

The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley, a history professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, La., is a passionately written condemnation of bureaucratic ineptitude at the local, county, state and federal levels during Hurricane Katrina. Fortunately, he also counters the depressing anecdotes with positive ones, of the Coast Guard, of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, of the National Guard, of doctors , and, especially, of neighbors. He acknowledges that the appearance of racism and hindrance of aid is not the same as ineptitude, but it's hard not to suspect motives...

p.334-335
In his column, Novak brought to light Representative Mark Foley's complaint that his community, West Palm Beach, Florida, had airplanes ready to evacuate Gulf Coast residents on Tuesday, August 30, but FEMA refused the offer. Examples of FEMA's flat-out rejection of help were unfortunately common. It was a form of proactive dereliction that was downright baffling to most observers. When the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held hearings on January 30, 2006, it was revealed the FEMA even neglected a "red-high" priority plea on Sunday, August 28, for 300 rubber boats from Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries. A FEMA executive in Denton, Texas, simply scrawled at the top of the document, "Request denied." As Lieutenant Colonel Keith LaCaze of Wildlife and Fisheries said, "We could have used them to tow additional evacuees, and in lower water the rescuers could have used them to load people who were sick and handicapped."
At the same time, the U.S, Department of the Interior offered FEMA 300 dump trucks and vans, 300 boats, 11 aircraft, and 400 law enforcement officers to help in the search and rescue effort. FEMA turned it all down...
The problem was worse, however, than simply pushing "resources to the limit." Once looting started in New Orleans, Homeland Security pulled the plug on helping Katrina's victims. Like the Red Cross, FEMA was not about to put its employees in harm's way.
p.336
[Senator] Lieberman [D-CT] criticzed FEMA for having "left early," noting the stark contrast with such outfits as the Coast Guard, Wildlife and Fisheries, National Guard contingents from dozens of states, and faith-based organizations. They all had security concerns, but kept helping fellow Americans in need. "This is shocking," Lieberman said, "and without explanation." And the trend continued.
p.578
He [Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Jimmy Duckworth] particularly refused to criticize anything that President Bush or Governor Blanco did: they were, to his mind, his bosses. He respected both of them. But then, not wanting to dodge the question entirely, he turned to page fourteen of the journal and said one word, "bureaucracy." He them pointed to something he wrote that Friday which, just weeks after Katrina, remained incomprehensible in its stilted red-tape language. "However, FEMA rep FIAT CA DEP is Requiring Request for Type II Incident MGMT TEAM for Assessment for Establishment of DOD Supported Base Camp." When asked what this meant, Duckworth shrugged. "That's the point. The Coast Guard was successful because Captain Paskewich had gotten our assets our of New Orleans before the storm, we situated ourselves in Alexandria, and we threw away the playbook," he said. "We took all comers and didn't wait for Type II Incident Management Teams. We winged it. We entered the game and stayed in the game until our job was done." And then, he added, "Too much bureaucracy can be a big, big problem in a catastrophe."

Brinkley follows the experiences at some hospitals, of some neighborhood protectors, of some neighborhood saviors, of some who died. He juxtaposes the stories the infuriate you with stories that break your heart and warm your heart. There were no larger than life heroes. But there were plenty of average people who rose to the occasion. He gives praise to the Hancock Medical Center's staff who treated people from Bay St. Louis and Waveland Mississippi. He praised the mayor of Bay St. Louis, who he also contrasts with the NO mayor, Ray Nagin, holed up in the Hyatt Regency and terrified of mixing with his people- how was he reelected? why was he reelected?

perusing the Times-Picayune while reading this provided me with a FLASH map that showed what Brinkley described, and the current state of Katrina rehabilitation. The city is still a mess and hurricane season has come around again. The city isn't ready, nor is the gulf coast. on the gulf coast, as i witnessed in March and read about in the Sea Coast Echo, there is still debris in huge piles on the sides of the roads. NO also has huge piles of refuse on the sidewalks. some relocated people in Connecticut are choosing to stay. there are many amazing before and after pictures the Sun Herald.

thumbs up on this book. but you won't enjoy it if you think President George Bush is above reproach.

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