The lesson of Gustav

Luckily, Gustav did much less damage than feared. But we learned that New Orleans- and by implication, any major city- can be evacuated in time.

The reason FEMA did a terrible job taking care of the victims of Katrina is that Bush made a terrible pick to head it. But the reason there were victims is that the Mayor didn't evacuate the city- let that horrible photograph of a huge parking lot full of unused busses soaking in floodwaters be a warning to all mayors of coastal cities, cities near faultlines, and cities near volcanos: Don't wait for the federal government to offer advice, don't hesitate for fear that if worst doesn't come to worst you'll catch heat for wasting money... if you get a warning, ACT. The only waste you can't explain away is the waste of human life.

Has the Federal Government done enough in New Orleans?

I hear many people say no; but when pressed for details, few seem to know what actually has been done so far, or how much has been spent- just not enough.
So how much have we spent to date? Quite a bit, actually, according to the Washington Times : “The flow of federal dollars to the Gulf Coast two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the region already exceeds what the U.S. spent on the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II. President Bush and Congress have committed more than $127 billion in resources and tax relief for the region — significantly more than inflation-adjusted $107.6 billion directed to 16 countries in Europe between 1947 and 1951.” Thank goodness Ray Nagin wasn’t president of France back then!