What I learned as a boy

I grew up in Monroe, Louisiana in the north of the state. At about age 7 Hurricane Betsy slammed into New Orleans. We tracked Betsy hour by hour as it swept northward, its disorganized eye (meaning no longer complete calm) crossed over Monroe. I remember even then being told that New Orleans may be destroyed by Betsy. It was a close run thing then. Betsy did flood portions of New Orleans.

What I learned as a boy, what I could have told the President or the Director of FEMA, was that New Orleans will flood should a strong hurricane hit. Not that New Orleans might flood. New Orleanswill flood. And, I wasn’t remarkably prescient. My grandparents, who grew up near Fort Worth, Texas, knew. My parents, natives of north Louisiana, knew. It was talk around the dinner table repeatedly over the years during hurricane season. And my family wasn’t unique, because all our neighbors and anyone else who’d lived more than even half a generation in the area knew: New Orleans will flood should a strong hurricane hit. Therefore, I wasn’t surprised on Tuesday after the storm to hear it was flooding. Millions of persons who grew up within 200 miles of New Orleans were not surprised on Tuesday after the storem to hear it was flooding. The National Weather Service even had posted a warning that New Orleans was flooding due to a levee breach on Monday of the storm.

Yet, FEMA and the President couldn’t quite see how serious a problem it might be should a flood hit a city of half a million people. Couldn’t quite imagine how they should get lots of materials and manpower to the region. It did not take imagination to see it. It just took reading the myriad reports by experts, the many mainstream press warnings over the years, or listening to people who have lived with hurricanes for generations. This administration just has no imagination, at least, not as much imagination as a 7 year old boy.