Fellow Conservatives: A Conspiracy is Not in Progress

Okay, fellow conservatives, let's talk. I do not believe the (many) things going wrong with the disaster response in the southern Appalachians is a conspiracy by the Biden Administration. Since the creation of FEMA, these foul-ups in major disasters are routine. To demonstrate my point, here is a short excerpt from my book Warnings pertaining to the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew (1992) which destroyed 28,000 homes and damaged 110,000 in the south Miami area. 

 

In south Dade County, the nightmare worsened. Showers and thunderstorms moved through the area, causing further damage to homes with open roofs. There was no food, no water, no medical attention. The State of Florida’s response was completely inadequate, mainly comprised of sending a few National Guard troops to the area.

 

State officials then told the Feds they didn’t need federal troops. When the on-scene locals (Dade County officials) told the Feds otherwise, the Feds began playing bureaucrat. In those days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was well known as a dumping ground for political cronies and was widely considered to be a joke. Officials in south Dade were getting the runaround from FEMA, in part because FEMA was getting differing requests from the Florida government.

 

Meanwhile, the residents of the 138,000 damaged buildings continued to swelter and suffer. Local Miamians, as well as citizens from Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, attempted to drive bottled water, food, clothes and other supplies into the stricken area. They were successful during the first few hours; but they were shut down by the end of the first day. The same bureaucrats who were giving mixed signals to Washington seemed to prefer organized suffering to disorganized relief.

 

I realize this excerpt doesn’t help except to point out that it occurred during the George H.W. Bush Administration. I agree that Kamala Harris shows no sign of particularly caring about Helene. But that does not mean it is the intentional cruelty that a surprising number are contending. What appears to be intentional cruelty is built into the system when FEMA steps in. The agency is no better today than it was when I wrote this about its response to Andrew 30+ years ago. Yes, the evidence says they (FEMA, FAA, whatever) have stopped many or all private relief helicopter flights. That due to the built-in, “we’re from the federal government and we’re in charge now!” response. 

A presidential visit would probably do more harm than good at
this point. The motorcade alone would sap valuable resources
from giving needed, immediate relief.

Our only hope of fixing this is a National Disaster Review Board (NDRB), modeled after the hugely successful National Transportation Safety Board, that will conduct top-to-bottom reviews of disasters like Helene, Maui, Joplin, Katrina, et cetera, that will bring about real change. Flying, for all of its awfulness, is incredibly safe. That is due to the NTSB. 

You will find a more detailed discussion about Helene and a National Disaster Review Board, here. 

Governor Ron DeSantis in Florida seems to have a good grasp of how to handle disasters. What is he doing right? A NDRB will find out and publish "best practices" in its report as well has learning what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future. 

 

Time after time, after time, after time, the same mistakes are made in response to tragedies like Helene. Until we have a National Disaster Review Board, we are doomed to make these same mistakes in future disasters.