Pretty quiet, they’re saying, all along the coast tonight. Nearly 2 million people evacuated (incredible!). And now it’s the big wait…
I can’t help thinking, though, that this looks a lot different from three years ago. I sure hope so.
This entire exercise — another hurricane roaring into Louisiana… me watching from my safe perch in Katy… people emailing and contacting from Algiers… preparations… fear… it’s brought back a whole host of memories.
I don’t know which memory is worst: Businesses from outside the region contacting me for ideas on how to get some generators into the city? The calls and emails from terrified parents whose children were in the city then? The 4 am phone call about explosions outside? Panicked, breathless reports of gunshots fired in the streets?
The terror?
Because that’s really what happened 3 years ago in New Orleans, you know. Mindless, utter terror. And it happened because of the sheer, screaming ineptitude — at every level — of the people in charge.
As everyone hunkers down to wait for Gustav’s force to manifest, I can’t help turning all these terrible vignettes over in my mind. Surely, it’s not going to go that way again.
Surely, the lessons were learned.
Right?
The waiting…
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I think someone learned something.
When I left the Point this morning, there were police and National Guardsmen driving around. In fact, I noticed the Guard was everywhere driving out of the ghost town that was the West Bank this morning.
Yes, the lessons were learned. No one wants a Katrina on their resumé.