Allow me to add a modest observation: all American states with a coastline on the *ahem* Gulf of Mexico are deep, deep red. Hurricanes punish the stupid. I think you're right, I think the future devastation and suffering will be unimaginable. They didn't vote for that. But yes, yes they did.
I worked with several agencies, including FEMA, in the aftermath of Katrina.
I have nothing but good things to say about the Seventh Day Adventist response team, the Salvation Army, and FEMA, from what I saw of their conduct during the first 100 hours of disaster response, from where I worked on the ground.
It strikes me as almost literally incredible that a country with the resources that this one presumably has to hand, would let its disaster preparedness peter out, or suffer, by way of the perfidy, cruelty, and stupidity of a single “administration”putting teenagers in charge of “trimming waste,” and promoting an unelected golem like Stephen Miller to have power anywhere, under any circumstance.
Saying these people have impaired judgment is an understatement.
Come time for the next Katrina — and assuredly, there will be one — an unprepared country and region will suffer mightily. As did the people of central Texas.
The toll this next time, probably in some coastal region of our country, is likely to be far greater than what happened in the hill country of Texas.
As far as disasters go, many people have short memories, beyond some who are morbidly fascinated with human chaos.
There is nothing that will be worse than for the grieving families in Texas who lost little daughters, and other loved ones, as the wall of water bore down with death.
The bell already tolls for us, again, as the smoke of countless wildfires drifts over the continent, and the administration spends more time in retribution than it does in relief.
There is something that seems almost disingenuous, and quite wrong, about discussing these things in terms of numbers, as my fingers tap the keyboard.
America is into a religion of counting, and its toll, in the hands of people with little compassion, is more than weighty.
When disasters happen, as happen they will, real human beings, with real families and lives, are affected.
"Saying these people have impaired judgment is an understatement."
I believe that they know exactly what they are doing, and that they plan to blame the fallout on the Democrats and then use it as an excuse to consolidate their control even more. It's the people who support them who have impaired judgement, and their judgement was impaired by the intentional actions of Trump and his minions.
I don't envy you your next deployment. If your organization has been Trumped, you are likely to suffer from disrupted management and poor morale, and if your performance suffers, Trump will blame you for it and judgement impaired people who listen to him will believe it.
Your first statement is right. This is an observed political strategy, but it will have non-political ramifications. I am retired so I can watch from the sidelines.
Thankfully, I, too, am retired. That does not stop me from being most interested in the mission, and in the people of, FEMA. And in those they are tasked with helping and, in some cases, saving.
You are correct. I believe it’s a deliberate strategy. If you consider what the Meidas group just posted about Trump’s 4 hour Cabinet meeting. Trump’s health is deteriorating fast. His mind isn’t working as it should and it’s much worse than Biden’s was - when he left office. So who is calling the shots? Miller? Vance? Putin? Elon? Thiel?
Not one of those people give a damn about the American people! Look at Gov Abbott’s response to the flood disaster! The American people need to know the state of the President’s health NOW! Then we the people can decide what is going on with these National Guard “deployments” to cities that don’t even have the highest crime rates! Where are the FEMA $$$?
Trump is deploying units from red states to cities in blue states with Black mayors and histories of trying alternative social arrangements. Yet the most dangerous cities in America are almost all in red states. Last I heard, Memphis Tennessee is the top the list, much more dangerous than LA or Chicago. This is clearly a hostile occupation.
An evil, corrupt dictator-wannabe who spent his time hiding the facts of the Covid-19 virus while he looked for ways to profit on vital equipment & supplies needed by hospitals, doctors, nurses and the general public, doesn’t care who lives or dies as long as his family and (more importantly) his financial backers (the billionaire oligarchs) live well and profit.
He and his cronies think they can get by a lot better with a smaller population by using AI & robots. Rump really wanted to wipe out the poorer seniors, the immigrants (especially POC) and he probably saw Covid as a way to get a good start.
Natural disasters in his mind are another way to cull out those he feels are unnecessary and likely to need social programs that cost tax dollars. Frivolous things like healthcare, public education, FEMA, climate change laws, sensible gun laws, renewable energy…etc. He isn’t against welfare as long as it’s corporate welfare and not wasted on people like his base or really anyone that isn’t in his elite club. The joke is that he came to drain the swamp and punish the Democrat “Elites”, when he really planned to eliminate the watch dogs, fill the swamp with legal snakes, gators, and other wealthy predators and feed the rest of us to them.
So well written Olivia. Ty!! I was in Ft Myers to help my immediate family after Ian hit. My cousins house literally floated down the road during the storm surge. He was two blocks behind the Lani Kai. The magic word there is “was.” FEMA isn’t just for federal disaster aide, they also act like the Red Cross and are likely your only source of fresh water & basics after a catastrophic hit. DJT is being completely irresponsible with FEMA and it’s a matter of time before someone dies or gets seriously injured by his actions.
Good luck finding Republican Representatives or even Senators, even when their own people are at risk of being abandoned by FEMA, standing up to Trump. They know their own voters will not care unless they themselves were impacted, because in the Republican party, compassion is seen as 'stupid', and even in disasters it is a relatively small portion of their voters who are actually hurt. Trump will bray and shout all sorts of BS, but will let those politicians know, as he has before, that dissent in the ranks will NOT be tolerated.
It has long been clear, certainly since Covid, that Trump NEVER accepts responsibility, and considers these various disasters as state problems. Sure, in the past he went along and got his 'Photo-Ops', but he never cared about the people.
Not to wish harm upon any of the innocents just trying to get by, but it would be good if Mar-a-Lago was to get destroyed in a hurricane, because Trump's disproportional response will be educational for the people. I fear what is more likely is that 'Katrina' like failure will be multiplied, because as fouled up as they were back then, they at least tried. Trump will just strut around blaming democrats, Biden, immigrants and 'Fake News', while using it to further distract from the Epstein files and the faltering economy (made worse by the disasters).
Until the people wake up and realize who and what Trump is, in very large numbers so that even Republican Politicians will grow a backbone, we will continue to take damage from Trump as a nation, and just hold on, praying our democracy stays intact, against Trump's clear intent.
We all know there will be at least one devastating hurricane this season. I live in Bethany Beach Delaware and just seeing the waves and wind generated by Erin which was hundreds of miles offshore last week really hit home how serious even a ‘moderate’ hurricane is and how important FEMA is. I will hope for the best in the next few months but know w this administration no one can depend on there being the resources needed, be it the Gulf or East Coast.
Trump is threatening to send the national guard to Chicago. Governor Pritzker opposes this action. Imagine this scenario: Trump sends National Guard units for red states. Pritzker sends in National Guard units from Illinois, declaring that "if we need the National Guard in Chicago, it will be my National Guard, under my command." The two units clash and the civil war is on.
Truth to Power Olivia and the brave folks inside Fema. I remember Katrina well, it is also the anniversary of my health descent 20 yrs ago. I live in Arkansas and housed Katrina evacuees, heard their stories. One family's daughter was a newscaster and she stayed in New Orleans to report the news. Brave and tragic. It is astounding our systems and safeguards have eroded so much but the incompetence, brutality, greed and inhumanity of those who govern. It's time for the wisdom of our collective to Rise up.
As a native New Orleanian living in New Orleans at the time of Katrina, I thanked you before for your service there, I thank you again. We needed help because our state failed us long before fema did. Not a popular opinion.
We knew before Katrina that our levee system was not ready for a major storm even as we were already mired down in a multiple evacuation storm season before Katrina. State readiness?.
I'll say it because I was there: New Orleans' mayor and its governor stunk at emergency preparedness and coordinating with the federal government. Governor Blanco went on record applauding our readiness and Mayor Nagin went to jail for stealing fema funds.
Alexandria, LA has an airport that deports immigrant so fast it's operators call it the "human fed ex"
9 immigration detention centers are in LA.
State agencies loose their state monies if they are caught not reporting undocumented immigrants.
I live in Maryland on higher ground now and that is where I speak from.
Where will LA. house its climate refugees when the next storm comes?..in those detention centers? Their red state Mystic Krew government cares more for ethnic cleansing than it does for humane common sense emergency preparedness.
No doubt that FEMA will suffer with operations because of stupid people making decisions. The same can be said for every damn federal department, agency, and service. Now, the imbeciles are begging for many of these people to return. This is an almost complete kakistocracy and a plurality of the voters opted for this. I always knew that a scary percentage of the public was intellectually challenged and having Trump as president confirms that.
I appreciate your first-hand knowledge here.
Allow me to add a modest observation: all American states with a coastline on the *ahem* Gulf of Mexico are deep, deep red. Hurricanes punish the stupid. I think you're right, I think the future devastation and suffering will be unimaginable. They didn't vote for that. But yes, yes they did.
I worked with several agencies, including FEMA, in the aftermath of Katrina.
I have nothing but good things to say about the Seventh Day Adventist response team, the Salvation Army, and FEMA, from what I saw of their conduct during the first 100 hours of disaster response, from where I worked on the ground.
It strikes me as almost literally incredible that a country with the resources that this one presumably has to hand, would let its disaster preparedness peter out, or suffer, by way of the perfidy, cruelty, and stupidity of a single “administration”putting teenagers in charge of “trimming waste,” and promoting an unelected golem like Stephen Miller to have power anywhere, under any circumstance.
Saying these people have impaired judgment is an understatement.
Come time for the next Katrina — and assuredly, there will be one — an unprepared country and region will suffer mightily. As did the people of central Texas.
The toll this next time, probably in some coastal region of our country, is likely to be far greater than what happened in the hill country of Texas.
As far as disasters go, many people have short memories, beyond some who are morbidly fascinated with human chaos.
There is nothing that will be worse than for the grieving families in Texas who lost little daughters, and other loved ones, as the wall of water bore down with death.
The bell already tolls for us, again, as the smoke of countless wildfires drifts over the continent, and the administration spends more time in retribution than it does in relief.
There is something that seems almost disingenuous, and quite wrong, about discussing these things in terms of numbers, as my fingers tap the keyboard.
America is into a religion of counting, and its toll, in the hands of people with little compassion, is more than weighty.
When disasters happen, as happen they will, real human beings, with real families and lives, are affected.
Let us remember that, most humbly.
"Saying these people have impaired judgment is an understatement."
I believe that they know exactly what they are doing, and that they plan to blame the fallout on the Democrats and then use it as an excuse to consolidate their control even more. It's the people who support them who have impaired judgement, and their judgement was impaired by the intentional actions of Trump and his minions.
What you say may be so from the viewpoint of overall political strategy.
I hope not. What you write is unfortunately plausible.
The people who do support them have impaired judgment, I have never doubted that for a moment.
Look no further than the Trumplican majorities in the House, and in the Senate.
Look no further, for example, then those in the Senate who voted to confirm Krash Patel;
Kristi Noem; and Bobby Kennedy, Junior.
Many of those whom the regime installs in critical agencies are incompetent, and have bad judgment. That will be borne out in the days to follow.
On the ground, tactically, many of them cannot find their back sides with both hands
I am talking from the viewpoint of a disaster relief person on the ground.
I don't envy you your next deployment. If your organization has been Trumped, you are likely to suffer from disrupted management and poor morale, and if your performance suffers, Trump will blame you for it and judgement impaired people who listen to him will believe it.
Your first statement is right. This is an observed political strategy, but it will have non-political ramifications. I am retired so I can watch from the sidelines.
Thankfully, I, too, am retired. That does not stop me from being most interested in the mission, and in the people of, FEMA. And in those they are tasked with helping and, in some cases, saving.
You are correct. I believe it’s a deliberate strategy. If you consider what the Meidas group just posted about Trump’s 4 hour Cabinet meeting. Trump’s health is deteriorating fast. His mind isn’t working as it should and it’s much worse than Biden’s was - when he left office. So who is calling the shots? Miller? Vance? Putin? Elon? Thiel?
Not one of those people give a damn about the American people! Look at Gov Abbott’s response to the flood disaster! The American people need to know the state of the President’s health NOW! Then we the people can decide what is going on with these National Guard “deployments” to cities that don’t even have the highest crime rates! Where are the FEMA $$$?
Trump is deploying units from red states to cities in blue states with Black mayors and histories of trying alternative social arrangements. Yet the most dangerous cities in America are almost all in red states. Last I heard, Memphis Tennessee is the top the list, much more dangerous than LA or Chicago. This is clearly a hostile occupation.
Absolutely
An evil, corrupt dictator-wannabe who spent his time hiding the facts of the Covid-19 virus while he looked for ways to profit on vital equipment & supplies needed by hospitals, doctors, nurses and the general public, doesn’t care who lives or dies as long as his family and (more importantly) his financial backers (the billionaire oligarchs) live well and profit.
He and his cronies think they can get by a lot better with a smaller population by using AI & robots. Rump really wanted to wipe out the poorer seniors, the immigrants (especially POC) and he probably saw Covid as a way to get a good start.
Natural disasters in his mind are another way to cull out those he feels are unnecessary and likely to need social programs that cost tax dollars. Frivolous things like healthcare, public education, FEMA, climate change laws, sensible gun laws, renewable energy…etc. He isn’t against welfare as long as it’s corporate welfare and not wasted on people like his base or really anyone that isn’t in his elite club. The joke is that he came to drain the swamp and punish the Democrat “Elites”, when he really planned to eliminate the watch dogs, fill the swamp with legal snakes, gators, and other wealthy predators and feed the rest of us to them.
I admire your first hand knowledge. I continue to share your stories 🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸
So well written Olivia. Ty!! I was in Ft Myers to help my immediate family after Ian hit. My cousins house literally floated down the road during the storm surge. He was two blocks behind the Lani Kai. The magic word there is “was.” FEMA isn’t just for federal disaster aide, they also act like the Red Cross and are likely your only source of fresh water & basics after a catastrophic hit. DJT is being completely irresponsible with FEMA and it’s a matter of time before someone dies or gets seriously injured by his actions.
I wish I shared your faith in Congress.
President of retribution, not relief.
Good luck finding Republican Representatives or even Senators, even when their own people are at risk of being abandoned by FEMA, standing up to Trump. They know their own voters will not care unless they themselves were impacted, because in the Republican party, compassion is seen as 'stupid', and even in disasters it is a relatively small portion of their voters who are actually hurt. Trump will bray and shout all sorts of BS, but will let those politicians know, as he has before, that dissent in the ranks will NOT be tolerated.
It has long been clear, certainly since Covid, that Trump NEVER accepts responsibility, and considers these various disasters as state problems. Sure, in the past he went along and got his 'Photo-Ops', but he never cared about the people.
Not to wish harm upon any of the innocents just trying to get by, but it would be good if Mar-a-Lago was to get destroyed in a hurricane, because Trump's disproportional response will be educational for the people. I fear what is more likely is that 'Katrina' like failure will be multiplied, because as fouled up as they were back then, they at least tried. Trump will just strut around blaming democrats, Biden, immigrants and 'Fake News', while using it to further distract from the Epstein files and the faltering economy (made worse by the disasters).
Until the people wake up and realize who and what Trump is, in very large numbers so that even Republican Politicians will grow a backbone, we will continue to take damage from Trump as a nation, and just hold on, praying our democracy stays intact, against Trump's clear intent.
Thank you for continuing to provide your insights, based on your personal experience, on how government should work and how it's now being undermined.
The damage was done when FEMA was merged into the Department of Homeland Security after 911.
this doesnt help my digestion---but oh...so true! Thanks for your vivid description of a truly "man-made" disaster.
We all know there will be at least one devastating hurricane this season. I live in Bethany Beach Delaware and just seeing the waves and wind generated by Erin which was hundreds of miles offshore last week really hit home how serious even a ‘moderate’ hurricane is and how important FEMA is. I will hope for the best in the next few months but know w this administration no one can depend on there being the resources needed, be it the Gulf or East Coast.
As a reasonably senior former USG employee, (now retired) I agree with you 100%.
"The National Guard as Political Theater"
Trump is threatening to send the national guard to Chicago. Governor Pritzker opposes this action. Imagine this scenario: Trump sends National Guard units for red states. Pritzker sends in National Guard units from Illinois, declaring that "if we need the National Guard in Chicago, it will be my National Guard, under my command." The two units clash and the civil war is on.
All too plausible.
Truth to Power Olivia and the brave folks inside Fema. I remember Katrina well, it is also the anniversary of my health descent 20 yrs ago. I live in Arkansas and housed Katrina evacuees, heard their stories. One family's daughter was a newscaster and she stayed in New Orleans to report the news. Brave and tragic. It is astounding our systems and safeguards have eroded so much but the incompetence, brutality, greed and inhumanity of those who govern. It's time for the wisdom of our collective to Rise up.
As a native New Orleanian living in New Orleans at the time of Katrina, I thanked you before for your service there, I thank you again. We needed help because our state failed us long before fema did. Not a popular opinion.
We knew before Katrina that our levee system was not ready for a major storm even as we were already mired down in a multiple evacuation storm season before Katrina. State readiness?.
I'll say it because I was there: New Orleans' mayor and its governor stunk at emergency preparedness and coordinating with the federal government. Governor Blanco went on record applauding our readiness and Mayor Nagin went to jail for stealing fema funds.
Alexandria, LA has an airport that deports immigrant so fast it's operators call it the "human fed ex"
9 immigration detention centers are in LA.
State agencies loose their state monies if they are caught not reporting undocumented immigrants.
I live in Maryland on higher ground now and that is where I speak from.
Where will LA. house its climate refugees when the next storm comes?..in those detention centers? Their red state Mystic Krew government cares more for ethnic cleansing than it does for humane common sense emergency preparedness.
No doubt that FEMA will suffer with operations because of stupid people making decisions. The same can be said for every damn federal department, agency, and service. Now, the imbeciles are begging for many of these people to return. This is an almost complete kakistocracy and a plurality of the voters opted for this. I always knew that a scary percentage of the public was intellectually challenged and having Trump as president confirms that.