"Katrina and the Waves"

In keeping with the "hot news" of today, I would like to focus on current events surrounding our Gulf Coast states.

I've read in countless articles and online forums that everyone is looking for a scape-goat or someone to blame for the response & recovery efforts, or perceived lack thereof, in Mississippi and Louisiana. One posting in particular caught my interest. It is a posting of an article run by the New Orleans Times-Picayune on July 24, 2005 (six weeks ago).

The message was clear and simple: City, state and federal emergency officials are preparing to give a historically blunt message: "In the event of a major hurricane, you're on your own."

Staff writer Bruce Nolan reported: "In scripted appearances being recorded now, officials such as Mayor Ray Nagin, local Red Cross Executive Director Kay Wilkins and City Council President Oliver Thomas drive home the word that the city does not have the resources to move out of harm's way an estimated 134,000 people without transportation."

"In the video, made by the anti-poverty agency Total Community Action, they urge those people to make arrangements now by finding their own ways to leave the city in the event of an evacuation.

"You're responsible for your safety, and you should be responsible for the person next to you," Wilkins said in an interview. "If you have some room to get that person out of town, the Red Cross will have a space for that person outside the area. We can help you."

Now, if there is one recurring message that has been echoed by many, yet apparently embraced by far fewer, it is that citizens and communities must come together and become self-sufficient. CERT/NERT and numerous other good programs have started at the grassroot level and have seen success. But in order to be a success, they had to be supported by everyone in the community from the leadership to the populace.

Will the aftermath of Katrina and her violent waves provide us with another wakeup call? Or will we as a nation, once again, fall victim to our short-term memory and be content with the fact that these types of catastrophic disasters could never happen in our hometown?