September 05, 2005

Katrina and Institutions

Two recent editorials in the New York Times ("Ben Franklin Had the Right Idea for New Orleans" by John Tierney and "The Bursting Point" by David Brooks) highlight important points about the hurricane Katrina disaster, but also highlight differences in attitudes towards the government by their different perspectives.

Tierney argues that New Orleans is in so much worse shape now than New York was after 9/11 because of the different histories our nation has in regards to fighting their types of disasters (water vs. fire). Specifically, fire (which used to burn down cities frequently) has been seen as a local problem, and Ben Franklin invented two ideas which helped to combat fires - the fire department, and fire insurance. As a result, building codes for buildings have improved so much and fire departments have become so powerful that fires usually do not threaten widespread areas - they are generally well-contained.

Floods, on the other hand, have become the federal government's responsibility since the 1960s. Worse, it subsidized flood insurance, thereby encouraging people to build in flood zones.

People don't bother to protect themselves because they figure - correctly - that if disaster strikes they'll be reimbursed anyway by FEMA. It gives out money so freely that it has grown into one of the great vote-buying tools of the modern presidency.

Tierney doesn't argue that the federal government should completely leave flood control to localities, but he points out the appropriate respective roles:
The federal government has a role in coordinating flood control among states and in organizing outside disaster relief, but the locals should fight floods much the same way they fight fires. Fifteenth-century Dutch burghers didn't have the financial or technological resources of today's Louisianians, but they managed to hold back the sea without the Army Corps of Engineers.

Tierney argues that a reduction in the federal government's role in flood relief (especially in subsidizing flood insurance, and spending gobs of money to rebuild every shack hit by a hurricane) combined with flood insurance would encourage development of city capabilities to handle floods:
Private flood insurance has come to seem quaint in America, but in Britain it's the norm. If Americans paid premiums for living in risky areas, they'd think twice about building oceanfront villas.

Brooks' article, on the other hand, focuses solely on the government's role. Given the current situation (as opposed to the preferred one, as outlined by Tierney), he makes good points. He notes that after 9/11, Rudy Giuliani "took control" and the response was seen as relatively well-organized and competent, and people came together regardless of class, race, etc. For New Orleans, however, things were different:

Last week in New Orleans, by contrast, nobody took control. Authority was diffuse and action was ineffective. The rich escaped while the poor were abandoned. Leaders spun while looters rampaged. Partisans squabbled while the nation was ashamed.

The first rule of the social fabric - that in times of crisis you protect the vulnerable - was trampled. Leaving the poor in New Orleans was the moral equivalent of leaving the injured on the battlefield. No wonder confidence in civic institutions is plummeting.


I wonder if the breakdown of coordinated response and cohesion amongst people is an indication of the beginning of a transition in our culture, similar to that seen in the 1930s as untrusted institutions were replaced with new ones to handle unforeseen problems (e.g., formation of the SEC to deal with stock scammers). Brooks feels the same way:
Katrina means that the political culture, already sour and bloody-minded in many quarters, will shift. There will be a reaction. There will be more impatience for something new. There is going to be some sort of big bang as people respond to the cumulative blows of bad events and try to fundamentally change the way things are.

Posted by Tom Nugent at September 5, 2005 09:05 PM
Comments

I wonder if the breakdown of coordinated response and cohesion amongst people is an indication of the beginning of a transition in our culture, similar to that seen in the 1930s as untrusted institutions were replaced with new ones to handle unforeseen problems

It would thrill me no end if the State would cede it's responsibility for disaster management back to the local authorities - state and county. We don't - I think - need something new but a return to agencies that did work well.

We could call this organization Civil Defense for a catchy name. I purely hate the idea of re-inventing the wheel.

Posted by: Brian at September 5, 2005 11:27 PM

The comparison to the Netherlands is wholly inappropriate. You too could dry out a nation one sea wall at at time if a hurricane didn't hit every five years, with a big one every forty. There is an advantage to being a Low Country off of the North Sea instead of the Gulf of Mexico.

The view on 9/11 was also a bit different. On September 11, New York lost a non-zero percentage of their capability to respond (police and fire), and thus were at the mercy of help. In addition, the problem was loalized to a small part of New York. Also, there was no dire prediction ..... just the prattlings of an ultraconservative techno-thriller author, and whispers in the back rooms of the CIA.

This disaster had not only five days notice, but decades of notice. You do not build a major city on the flood plain of a major hurricane zone and come out totally shocked when you're the Mayor of Atlantis one day. This was a shock to the ignorant, but not to many others. The fact that FEMA has loused it up since showing up is one thing, but why the mayor/governor weren't begging for help five days before the storm hit borders on criminal ignorance or indifference.

The best story I saw today was the hundred sof people who showed up in Charleston, SC waiting for a plane of refugees due to arrive: nurses, doctors, ambulances, etc, etc.....

Only to learn that the plane landed, accidentally in Charleston, WV. It's a wonder more people have not gone on rampages of sheer frustration.

Posted by: Tom at September 6, 2005 09:21 PM
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