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Duck Duck Gustav!

By: Chris Hendricks Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Irony is a funny thing, usually the game of life dose not grant a person or group of people to many chances to do things over. You make a mistake, you learn your lessons, and then move on. Well the Bush administration at the federal level, the Blanco administration at the state level, and the Nagin administration from the City of New Orleans all have a chance to re-take the test of Hurricane Katrina as Hurricane Gustav approaches the West Side of New Orleans. Along with a host of others; relief agencies, media, National Guard units, city and parish police forces.

Now we all know that everything that could have gone wrong did when it came to New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina and everybody that was involved has some blame. Lets replay a couple of things that went wrong with Katrina and help those involved not repeat the same mistakes:

1. Evacuations should have been taken place for the sick and shut-in. New Orleans can’t afford to “test” this new levee system against the lives of the sick and shut in. There were far too many people that were left to “parish” in the wake of Katrina because evacuations of these citizens were not accounted for.

2. For those who depend on mass transportation, or just can’t afford to drive away from New Orleans and the surrounding areas, every city bus in town should be moving people to the northern parts of the city in non-flood zone areas. Now I know that’s hard to think of in New Orleans since the city sits a couple of feet below sea level. There has to be some area’s that are not flood zones that are on the northern out skirts of the city. If not there should be some agreement with New Orleans and a dry city like Baton Rouge to provide a safe shelter.

3. Federal and State Aid in the form of supplies, food, water and shelter should be staging around the Louisiana area for preparation and immediate relief of those that are “Left Behind.” Its interesting how we in a neighboring state can see utility trucks lined up and ready to go into the heart of the strike zone to cut down tree’s and limbs, restore power lines and other utilities but it took forever to get basic food and water to the residents who were fending for themselves.

4. NO GUN CONFISCATIONS, which still amazes me how the last and only defense against all the mayhem that ensued after Hurricane Katrina, the city and parish police wanted to round up arms from the people of New Orleans who were trying to protect themselves from the criminals. The ability people to protect themselves cannot and should not be infringed. Criminals break the law, that’s why we call them criminals.

5. Communications from the top down seemed to be lackluster up until the final 48-72 hours before the storm was due to impact the Louisiana coast line. Well we all know that when a company starts to fail…you cut off its head and bring in new talent to resolve the problems the first head were to blind to see and deaf to hear and dumb to talk about.

6. Now a reality Check for those who live in and around New Orleans. Your city is below sea level, as low as 10 feet below sea level. This is common knowledge and you have to take just a moment and think prepare yourself for the worst and pray for the best. Put your safety first and especially that of children before you consider roughing it out. Get out of harms way because if you don’t it may cost you your life.

7. For the media, thanks we saw a lot you help bring us the devastation and urgency to help those that were victims of the hurricane and the flooding of the city. The one thing I did not see much of was a lot of was helping hands from those same media choppers flying around the city none stop.

I think we are going to leave it there for now. We’ll put together a report card from this and let’s see how well these administrations of the people support people……this time around.

About Essential Supply Company

Founded originally in 2005 as a sole proprietorship of Chris Hendricks, Essentials Only was built around the growing need for disaster preparedness following two years of devastating hurricanes along the gulf coast. With the successful launch of the online store www.essentialsonly.com, Chris Hendricks was able to help families, 24/7 industries, and large corporations such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama prepare for natural and man made disasters. He and his wife then formed Hendricks Investments LLC and the first outgrowth, Essential Supply Company to continue preparing individuals for natural and man made disasters. For more information, visit www.essentialsonly.com.

For further information contact:
Chris Hendricks
President/CEO, 850.777.9909
www.essentialsonly.com