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Story Archives: Lessons to be learned . . . quickly
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Lessons to be learned . . . quickly
 Life comes at you fast, says the TV commercial, and so do hurricanes. The state's citizens and leaders, better prepared after Katrina and Rita, need to absorb quickly the lessons learned from Gustav and be ready to use them for, if not Ike, whatever comes next.
Instead of the storm surge and levee breaks of the 2005 hurricanes, Gustav made his mark with felled trees on houses and power lines as it drove a deep, destructive path through the center of the state. Were Ike to strike, while thousands still wait for power, a crippling blow could turn to paralysis.
Overall, most were better prepared, from the top down and bottom up, but every hurricane brings its own challenges and surprises.
Calm at the center of the storm, Gov. Bobby Jindal inspired his team and fostered public confidence--both in and out of the state--by his command and control, which he communicated in fact-filled briefings and helicopter fly-ins to trouble spots. Certainly there was more federal attention and support than last time, but the governor had to improvise on to go and to bully around the feds and utility companies to move relief faster.
Jindal's performance was given an A+ by the state government's top Democrat, Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, who seemed attached at the governor's hip throughout. The inclusiveness proved to be wise on Jindal's part, showing unified leadership without regard to party lines.
State and local government performed best at providing transportation and shelter to those who could not get out on their own or had nowhere to go. But it was the motoring public who made the evacuation work, because organized traffic contra-flow worked spottily. Jindal needs a sit-down with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to work out some major kinks, especially the blocking of interstate exits, which aggravated the ordeal of drivers trapped on four-laned parking lots.
Those problems won't be as bad next time only because many drivers will forsake the interstates for country roads, or they will stay home.
Some public shelters were better than others, but officials and volunteers can hardly be criticized for the free accommodations. It would have been much worse had not Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden ruled out using the downtown River Center as a shelter, which otherwise would have reprised the misery of stranded masses at the New Orleans Convention Center post-Katrina. It was a good call for evacuees and for Holden, who faces re-election next month.
Though the worse is over, the aftermath has turned into another marathon emergency response that will drag on for weeks before the basics of clean water, electricity and food are available in everyone's homes. Even as power returns to the hardest hit areas, the sight of empty grocery shelves stirs dread.
The gasoline inaccessibility--there was no shortage--can be fixed. Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain proposes requiring businesses that sell gasoline to install back-up generators, as does Florida. Surely, if gas stations and convenience stores purvey Twinkies and porn magazines, they can also ensure the availability of their primary product.
In the bigger picture, Jindal already has cited the need for a new kind of energy policy, one aimed at keeping on the electricity we have. Lines and substations can be strengthened and trees better maintained. Burying power lines in all city neighborhoods, which has been talked about since after Hurricane Betsy in 1965, was exhorbitant then and prohibitive now. Whether or not the government helps with the cost, we will pay either way, as ratepayers or taxpayers.
Louisianians will continue to improve at avoiding future hurricanes and at bouncing back from them, but the long-term prospects are as troubling as were last week's events. Climatologists attribute the increasing size and strength of recent hurricanes to global warming, which this state on its own can do only so much about. The storm hazard experience can only make property insurance more expensive, where available, and pose one more obstacle to business investment. Back-to-school time and football season openers will ever be haunted by cones of uncertainty.
It is the price that people here will pay to stay, or not--where life will still be good, but the living won't be as easy.
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