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People compare it to Katrina because every hurricane since then has been compared to Katrina and will so for some time until one bigger comes along.
OK, but the aftermath is not the same. In Katrina, people couldn't get in or out after the storm. Here, These people can literally walk or take buses right to shelters and areas of the city that are fully functional. My friend downtown is walking to work in midtown, hanging out there till night, then goes back to his place and goes to sleep.
Neither Bush nor Obama are to blame for post disaster recovery. The magnitude of the destruction in both cases could'nt and won't be solved in a few days. Resources are being sent and the problems will be solved in short order. It will never be fast enough for some people.
The response has been pretty good. As of Thurs the stranded folks could catch the bus and get to fully stocked stores with electricity. The city has websites up designating locations for food etc. There are warships coming into New York harbor to assist. If people are expecting a magic wand that will restore things to pre-Sandy in less than a week then I guess they will have something to complain about. The response is 100 times better than Katrina. I'm in Manhattan less than a mile away from the blacked out areas and life is going on pretty much normally. The people who are the most vunerable are the elderly or disabled who can't navigate the stairs in the high-rises or live in the burbs with no transportation...they are really stuck. Hopefully neighbors and their families will not forget them. Relief efforts should focus on them. Not the whiners who are complaining that the cable isn't back on yet.
Look, when you're dealing with disaster relief, as the top dog what matters most is that you have put competent people in positions of authority. Second, he has to insure that the competent people he has appointed work with the state/local authorities seamlessly. You can be successful even with incompetent state/local authorities as long as the federal disaster relief/rescue team is able to get everyone on the same page. What happened with Katrina is you had incompetence from the top down which led to chaos during relief/rescue efforts. Contrast that with Sandy, where the state/local leaders have been praising Obama and the federal relief/rescue team since Day 1.
Even if all of this is true, you are forgetting the #1 thing... results! Sure, there was some initial praise for Obama, but now we see lingering problems. Remember when Bush said "Brownie you're doing a heck of a job"? Well, (approx) 2 days later Bush sends in General Honore and the military, and Brownie resigns. So, while praise is great, it doesn't mean squat if real relief isn't occurring.
The response has been pretty good. As of Thurs the stranded folks could catch the bus and get to fully stocked stores with electricity. The city has websites up designating locations for food etc. There are warships coming into New York harbor to assist. If people are expecting a magic wand that will restore things to pre-Sandy in less than a week then I guess they will have something to complain about. The response is 100 times better than Katrina. I'm in Manhattan less than a mile away from the blacked out areas and life is going on pretty much normally. The people who are the most vunerable are the elderly or disabled who can't navigate the stairs in the high-rises or live in the burbs with no transportation...they are really stuck. Hopefully neighbors and their families will not forget them. Relief efforts should focus on them. Not the whiners who are complaining that the cable isn't back on yet.
That's not what I saw on the news last night. I saw people begging for help and saying the Red Cross hasnt even shown up. How do you expect them to catch a bus when the streets are still flooded? How could they check the website with no power or internet? lol
It may be fine and dandy in your corner, but there's still a lot of people that need help. Why didn't Obama prepare for gas lines and shortages? The fact that he is back on the campaign trail asap tells me that his helicopter trip was all for show.
My real point is there is no way to be completely prepared for disasters like Sandy and Katrina, and it is simply unfair to blame Bush for that disaster while Obama gets praise here. Let's not forget that the Gulf was almost destroyed permanently under his watch too with the Deep Horizon oil spill.
That's not what I saw on the news last night. I saw people begging for help and saying the Red Cross hasnt even shown up. How do you expect them to catch a bus when the streets are still flooded? How could they check the website with no power or internet? lol
It may be fine and dandy in your corner, but there's still a lot of people that need help. Why didn't Obama prepare for gas lines and shortages? The fact that he is back on the campaign trail asap tells me that his helicopter trip was all for show.
My real point is there is no way to be completely prepared for disasters like Sandy and Katrina, and it is simply unfair to blame Bush for that disaster while Obama gets praise here. Let's not forget that the Gulf was almost destroyed permanently under his watch too with the Deep Horizon oil spill.
There are no gas shortages.
There is simply no electricity to pump the gas.
Generators are arriving at several stations from FEMA tomorrow.
The Red Cross and National Guard have been here for quite some time.
What you see on the news is very different from what people here actually see. You see the small sensationalized stories, not what the majority of the population here is doing, which is getting on with our lives.
Katrina in NO hit welfare victims who expected of others. That same storm hit in Gulf Port and other working areas where the people did for themselves and rebuilt.
Sandy hit the same caliber of people as seen in Gulf Port. They will quickly get back on their feet.
And Obama or Bush deserve no blame. It's all about the people.
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