Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Myths About Katrina

The Democrats, with the media's help, have painted Hurricane Katrina as an example of the Bush administration's incompetence and lack of caring (especially about black people.)  Oddly enough, the facts don't always match the narrative.  Several years ago Popular Mechanics ran an article entitled "Debunking the Myths of Hurricane Katrina."  One salient passage:

"...the response to Hurricane Katrina was by far the largest -- and fastest -- rescue effort in U.S. history, with nearly 100,000 emergency personnel arriving on the scene within three days of the storm's landfall." 


Given the recent publicity accompanying the anniversary of the hurricane -- and the accompanying Bush-bashing -- it might be worth a look to get more of the story.

2 comments:

Barry Green said...

"[N]early 100,000 emergency personnel arriving . . . . "

But if those weren't workers sent by the United States, can Bush be credited with that? Weren't there thousands of city and state "emergency" workers who voluntarily went to NO to help at no urging of the federal government?

I guess I could read the article, but I'd rather fire off that hot opinion. :)

wordkyle said...

BG, the narrative is "Katrina was a disaster of historic proportions and consequences, and it's Bush's fault." The article shows how at least the first two parts of that assumption are false. Another passage from the article:

"While the press focused on FEMA's shortcomings, this broad array of local, state and national responders pulled off an extraordinary success -- especially given the huge area devastated by the storm. Computer simulations of a Katrina-strength hurricane had estimated a worst-case-scenario death toll of more than 60,000 people in Louisiana. The actual number was 1077 in that state."