I also posted most of this edited response to amper's ETS v. Long Term Survival thread, but wanted to share here also.

I don't want to sound too critical, as I believe many in NOLA are strapped for resources in the best times and any of us might be the victim of bad decision-making, bad info or bad luck but...

Seeing how the events have been playing out near the Gulf, my observations and thoughts have been on:
-- how Totally unprepared many of these unfortunate individuals are
-- how people refused to leave
-- how people seem unwilling to take responsibility for preparing for their own well-being
-- how the local, state and federal governments apparently didn't provide a means of evacuation for those who didn't have the resources or were too ill to leave BEFORE the storm
-- how the local, state and federal governments apparently didn't put enough forethought into responding to a disaster of this size and scope (and let’s face it, from a US geographical perspective, this is a relatively localized event – imagine the repercussions of a significant terrorist attack or natural disaster on two or three US cities at once)
-- how the local, state and federal governments were apparently not prepared to secure the safety of people and property immediately after the severe storm threat had passed (even though with an event like a hurricane they had several days to prepare and now must respond, not to mention the years ahead of time they should have been planning).
-- how even with all our government agencies, that we fund, there seems to be a total lack of coordination and leadership
-- how difficult it seems to be for people to remain calm after the events
-- how uninformed many of these victims seem to be (expressing dissatisfaction that the power is out, as opposed to understanding the dangers of electrocution if it were just turned back on)
-- how I’ll bet that many will be surprised that there are more repercussions yet to come – health issues as disease starts to spread, injuries that may arise from local critters (snakes, gators and crocs, etc)
-- how many of these unfortunate individuals seem to have some expectation that their lives should be able to return to “normal” overnight.
-- how incredulous the victims seem to be that it's difficult to provide food, water and shelter for tens of thousands of victims
-- how mean, violent and uncooperative people appear to be when being sheltered (even as I write this news channels are reporting about the shootings, fire-settings, muggings and rapes inside the Superdome, the lootings (not referring to food and water) and the shootings at rescuers in helicopters and boats outside the Superdome and in the remains of the city).
-- how even as uncomfortable as I’m sure life inside the Superdome is -- probably beyond my ability to comprehend -- many people are complaining about the taste of MREs, and leaks in the roof – as opposed to expressing any thankfulness that they are 1) alive, 2) being given food, water and shelter that they and others are paying for and 3) being given potential relocation to even better accommodations
-- how I can’t help but feeling that (in my uninformed opinion), it is likely that some small percentage of individuals who stayed behind, may have done so just to have the opportunity to loot, pillage and plunder.
-- how the rest of us will likely be paying indirectly through increases in taxes (or reduction in services), insurance premiums, gasoline prices, building materials, etc. for quite some time.
-- how, as other have said, people can be surprised when common sense and analysis have indicated that when one lives below sea-level, next to large bodies of water, this exact result was just a matter of when, not if

For those that believe, please join me in praying that the suffering will be minimized, but also that many will at least learn from the misfortune, for if they don't learn, then all the suffering may really be in vain.

I could go on and on ……and I’m sure many others could too. Just some initial thoughts that I felt the need to express.

Michael