Mission Impossible

I don't want to blog much about Katrina and New Orleans. There isn't anything I can do. You're bombarded with 24 hour television concerning the disaster. I don't want to add to the bombardment of dispair. After going through various news reports, blogs, and online articles I ask people to think a little bit. Do you honestly believe that no one cares to rescue the people in trouble? Do you believe we truly knew how horribly bad it would be after the hurricane? Do you believe that anyone and everyone that can help isn't rushing from across this large 3,000 mile wide across country to get to the Gulf Coast? Sometimes we need miricles. The reality is that we're human and limited by what we can do. Our technology is amazing, but it can do only so much. Below is a reply I wrote elsewhere to keep things in perspective.

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I know you're frustrated, but the hospital ship (I'm assuming you're talking about the USNS Comfort out of Baltimore) takes 5 days to prep from standstill to sailing status. (I looked on their website.) I've been hearing about it being readied since the weekend because someone figured it would be needed after Katrina.

I know everyone is frustrated at the situation. I know everyone is asking why wasn't more done ahead of time. When it hit FL it was a minor hurricane, then suddenly it got ginormous. We knew ahead of time the situation would be bad, but we didn't know it would be this bad. We hoped it wouldn't be this bad. Hell, right after the hurricane things seemed relatively okay until the levees burst.

The Red Cross and other organizations that prepare for disaster relief are there now doing the best they can. They prepositioned and brought as many supplies as they could. The military is doing the same thing, but think of the logistical nightmare. ABC or CNN can send in one truck easily, but the army and the guard have to bring in hundreds of trucks, dozens to hundreds of small boats. They have to bring in the fuel, the spare parts, the mechanics to keep the machines running and right now the only machines that can easily get in are helicopters. Few, if any, runways still exist for planes. Roads are gone for trucks and Humvees. Roads that still exist are littered with debris. Docks and other ports are smashed for large ships. The massive amount of aid required to help these people require large ships or planes, the very types of transportation hampered by this disaster.

Everyone involved is trying their best. Everyone involved wishes things could go faster. But the reality is this is practically Mission Impossible.

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Between television, movies, books, the internet and who knows what else I often think people have an unrealistic view of the world. We're so used to instant results that we're surprised when we can't do something right now. I'm not blaming anyone. I don't want to come down hard on anyone. But big problems take big amounts of time to resolve. It hurts us to see some many in pain. It should hurt us to see that kind of misery and fear. We're a compassionate people.

We're a great country filled with great people. We will save and help as many victims as we can as soon as we can. Yet here is the reality: we can't save everyone no matter how hard we try and there isn't a damn thing that can be done about it. Deep down most of us know that, and that is why we're so frustrated.