September 8, 2005

Lessons not learned before Katrina hit

By LTC Joseph C. Myers
The disaster in New Orleans seems unimaginable to all of us, and personally disconcerting to me as a former resident and Tulane University graduate.  I return annually to the Big Easy, my favorite city in the USA, and seeing it under water and knowing the trauma being borne by the good people of New Orleans, friends and acquaintances alike, is heart—wrenching. But now, as a nation, we cannot just feel sorry for ourselves. We also must focus on fixing the problems in our catastrophe planning—and—preparation system.  But first, let's understand a very important point. The terrorists are watching our response.  They are identifying new vulnerabilities —— and they are unlikely to give us 96 to 48 hours' warning before conducting a weapon of mass destruction attack.  Katrina is as close a drill to a nuclear weapon event as we could ever hope to exercise.  Bottom Line:  Our federal crisis planning and response system is too...(Read Full Article)