Can anyone explain why San Diego is receiving so much aid, in comparison to New Orleans not so long ago?
I have a hard time believing the obvious and just want to explore this further and hear some opinions.
Aid for New Orleans after Katrina was delayed by Louisiana's >>> Democrat <<< governor, who refused to allow the president to federalize the disaster response. That was why it was almost a week before the FIRST national guard convoy reached New Orleans.
Otherwise, comparing the two disasters is comparing apples and oranges.
Up to 7 people are reported killed by the fires. At least 1600 were killed by Hurricane Katrina.
About 800,000 people evacuated because of the fires but relatively few lost their homes. Almost 1.5 million people evacuated from the New Orleans area alone and about 1 million of them were made long-term homeless by the storm. Another 50,000 to 100,000 people in Mississippi were made long term homeless by Katrina..
About 1800 homes were destroyed or damaged by the fires and the damage is estimated at $1 Billion. At least 250,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by Katrina, and the damage to New Orleans alone is estimated at more than $200 Billion.
The fires are affecting an area of about 700 square miles. Katrina wrecked an area larger than Great Britain (90,000 square miles).
The fires are bad, but basic services and communications are intact. Katrina simultaneously wrecked + isolated a huge area, and disrupted basic services + communications for months.
As other answers point out, California has wildfires every year. New Orleans had not flooded from a hurricane in living memory and was last struck by one in 1965.
Katrina was the strongest storm ever recorded to strike North America and the lessons learned are being applied to disaster respone across the world. I would bet CA benefited from that process.
I keep seeing comments about all the violence the news media reported as having happened inside the Superdome. In reality, there were NO murders in the Dome, NO children were raped, NO shootings occurred, and so on. It was alll made up by the media and abetted by city officials who commented on rumors as though they might be real. Living conditions were bad in the Dome because there was no electricity, no running water, the tolilets didn't work, phones & cellphone service was down, and the stadium was cut off from help by flood waters. However, New Orleans Police and the National Guard were in the Dome and provided security..
Would you all still be talking about how wonderful things were in Qualcomm Stadum if it had no electricity, no running water, the toilets didn't work, no communications, and was cut off from aid (including food deliveries)?
I was made homeless by Katrina and I really feel for the folks who lost their homes to the fires. However, the long-term affect on California is minimal. It will take years for Louisiana and Mississippi to recover from Katrina.
May 10th, 2009 at 5:35 am
1) Feds are more prepared to deliver aid
2) Victims of the fires have more money and influence
3) Schwarzenegger rocks!
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May 10th, 2009 at 6:22 am
simply put, the people in san diego have much more money than those in new orleans. those who have the gold make the rules, and get aid faster and more efficiently.
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May 10th, 2009 at 7:01 am
What did you honestly expect ?
Arnie is in charge for one thing…and the powers that be do not want to look stupid again…plus there are richer people there…
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May 10th, 2009 at 7:12 am
I see several reasons…
1. I think it's because people in California are richer.
2. George Bush doesn't care about black people. – to quote Kanye
3. Also because FEMA is afraid of all the negative feedback they got from the New Orleans incident.
4. If there were sweat shops (or other cheap labor) in New Orleans, they would have gotten the swift aid that was provided to people in Indonesia after the Tsunami
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May 10th, 2009 at 7:41 am
They are waaay more prepared.
And it's not like flooding–where it's hard to move about the city and you're having to deal with all sort of power outages. Also, it's not happening as fast so they have more time to plan and react.
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May 10th, 2009 at 7:55 am
Maybe because San Diegans aren't shooting at the people trying to help them? Keep in mind, too, getting stuff to the the evacuation sites here is much easier than it was in New Orleans – most roads are opened. As far as federal aid, though, we had to beg for it just like the people in New Orleans did. I think the National Guard just arrived yesterday and the fires have been burning since Sunday.
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May 10th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Another reason may be that there were huge lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and the huge wildfires that occurred in San Diego back in 2003 and perhaps has influence from added paranoia of 9/11. After both disasters San Diego organized in preparation for disasters (earthquakes, fires, terrorist attacks) setting up reverse 911 call systems, funneling more funds towards disaster preparation and suppression. I worked in social services and witnessed funds targeting low-income neighborhoods move towards disaster prep. The fires here are devastating but things are running a little more smoothly than back in 2003.
I'm not going to argue with with money idea. Those with money do have power and there are a lot of rich folk that live in the outskirts of San Diego where most of the fires are wreaking havoc.
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I live there.
May 10th, 2009 at 8:23 am
CA is the best prepared state when it comes to natural disasters in America. People and the Governator did not stand around whinning, they new what to do and did it. Instead of looting and such they came to their neighbors' aid.
Fema and the Gov. of New Orleans new for many years that levy could flood and has many times in the past.
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May 10th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Rich, white, Republicans. Lots o' country clubs and golf courses.
The rich must be protected. Many of them inherited their fortunes and aren't capable of fending for themselves or doing an honest day's work… they need all the government assistant they can get. Besides , who are the greatest financial contributors to our politicians??? The over-privledged, abundantly monied, San Diegans.
The poor have always had to think for themselves. This situation is no different.
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I live here , too.
With working-class family in North County San Diego (Escondido).
May 10th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Because were rich white Republicans. Did you have another question?
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May 10th, 2009 at 9:07 am
rescuers are not being shot at. there is not 10-20 feet of water to deal with. new orleans mismanaged their plan and had no line of communication. a friend of mine from slidell,la. seems to agree. N.O. got billions.
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May 10th, 2009 at 9:12 am
I am proud of the San Diegans….When they were told to evacuate…they did!! They did not even have a 10 day in advance warning like Katrina victims……Now, instead of shooting and looting the San Diegans are waiting to find out if thier homes are there or not. They are making the best of a sad situation. Katrina was a different situation due to all of the water……but many of the people behaved very badly. Looting for food….ok I understand that…..but TV's, no!! Kudos to San Diego and the Gov………….
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May 10th, 2009 at 9:52 am
I am an American Red Cross volunteer for 15 years. Each disaster is different, we learned so much from past mistakes. Never in the history of our organization or the US government, has there been so much devastation as there was in Katrina. One of the big differences, is accessibility to the devastated parts comparing Katrina with the fires. Another huge difference is with flooding, you are dealing with a different problem altogether than with a fire. The roads are not like Katrina, where no one road was accessible, there is no contamination of water and people still have food available at shelters. Your hotel and motels are OPEN in other areas. It is not a 3 state event. Even though a lot of people are affected, not as many as Katrina. Aid was able to get there quickly to the CA fires, whereas, it was impossible to get there after the Katrina event. The Governor of CA called immediately for help, whereas, Louisiana did not. In order to get help, your governor has to ask for it. That brings out the "big guns" to aid the population. CA has had much experience with wildfires, whereas there had never been an event as great as Katrina. We have to compare apples to apples not apples to oranges/
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May 10th, 2009 at 10:38 am
GEE! I asked this yesterday. Now it's on the news. I guess my buddy didn't see my answer to the feeling compassion for other's question.
It's obvious: They were poor & black (in general) and these folks (Malibu) are rich & white (in general). No one has mentioned that there were also 3 dead blue whales that washed up on the beach in Malibu. That's a VERY unusual occurance.
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May 10th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Aid for New Orleans after Katrina was delayed by Louisiana's >>> Democrat <<< governor, who refused to allow the president to federalize the disaster response. That was why it was almost a week before the FIRST national guard convoy reached New Orleans.
Otherwise, comparing the two disasters is comparing apples and oranges.
Up to 7 people are reported killed by the fires. At least 1600 were killed by Hurricane Katrina.
About 800,000 people evacuated because of the fires but relatively few lost their homes. Almost 1.5 million people evacuated from the New Orleans area alone and about 1 million of them were made long-term homeless by the storm. Another 50,000 to 100,000 people in Mississippi were made long term homeless by Katrina..
About 1800 homes were destroyed or damaged by the fires and the damage is estimated at $1 Billion. At least 250,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by Katrina, and the damage to New Orleans alone is estimated at more than $200 Billion.
The fires are affecting an area of about 700 square miles. Katrina wrecked an area larger than Great Britain (90,000 square miles).
The fires are bad, but basic services and communications are intact. Katrina simultaneously wrecked + isolated a huge area, and disrupted basic services + communications for months.
As other answers point out, California has wildfires every year. New Orleans had not flooded from a hurricane in living memory and was last struck by one in 1965.
Katrina was the strongest storm ever recorded to strike North America and the lessons learned are being applied to disaster respone across the world. I would bet CA benefited from that process.
I keep seeing comments about all the violence the news media reported as having happened inside the Superdome. In reality, there were NO murders in the Dome, NO children were raped, NO shootings occurred, and so on. It was alll made up by the media and abetted by city officials who commented on rumors as though they might be real. Living conditions were bad in the Dome because there was no electricity, no running water, the tolilets didn't work, phones & cellphone service was down, and the stadium was cut off from help by flood waters. However, New Orleans Police and the National Guard were in the Dome and provided security..
Would you all still be talking about how wonderful things were in Qualcomm Stadum if it had no electricity, no running water, the toilets didn't work, no communications, and was cut off from aid (including food deliveries)?
I was made homeless by Katrina and I really feel for the folks who lost their homes to the fires. However, the long-term affect on California is minimal. It will take years for Louisiana and Mississippi to recover from Katrina.
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New Orleans resident
May 10th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Economics:
San Diego = rich white people
New Orleans = poor African-Americans
Politics (and I'll throw the Greensburg, KS tornado in here as well, since Bush's response to that was similar to New Orleans):
California's governor: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican)
Louisiana's governor: Kathleen Blanco (Democrat)
Kansas' governor: Kathleen Sebelius (Democrat)
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