Disaster response pitiful

According to experts, the first 72 hours after a natural disaster are the most critical. If resources are available during this acute time period, lives can be saved and chaos can be avoided.

Unfortunately for the residents of the Gulf Coast, the response to Hurricane Katrina was anything but prompt.

Those who did not evacuate when recommended often cited a lack of funds as their primary reason for staying. Many claimed to have not had enough gas in their cars to make it out of town, and those who could leave had nowhere to go.

In the years following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, we have seen the inception of the Department of Homeland Security, which has come to overshadow the Federal Emergency Management Agency, an agency primarily concerned with natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes.

Immediately following President Bush's election in 2000, Joseph Allbaugh was appointed as head of FEMA. Allbaugh had virtually no experience in the disaster preparedness field, yet one of his first actions was to cut funding to FEMA preparedness and disaster relief programs.

In 2003 Allbaugh was replaced by Michael Brown, his former college roommate. Brown followed in Allbaugh's legacy of having no experience for the job he was about to undertake.

Before becoming the deputy director of FEMA, Brown was a family lawyer and estate owner. He we also spent 11 years overseeing judging for the International Arabian Horse Association.

On Sept. 3, President Bush flew south to survey the disaster area. While corpses rotted in the floodwaters around him and people cried frantically from their rooftops, the president remained oblivious.

He made small talk and joked about the days when he used to party on Bourbon Street. He did however take a moment to mention how the devastation was affecting people in the federal government. According to President Bush, Trent Lott, a Mississippi senator and personal friend, had lost one of his houses but that it would be replaced with "a fantastic house -- and I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."

While President Bush lollygagged, food, water and medical resources that were available stood stagnant, even as hospitals with bed-ridden and near-dead patients exhausted dwindling resources and hope for survival.

According to reports by the Chicago Tribune, the U.S.S. Bataan, an amphibious assault ship equipped with hundreds of hospitals beds, six operating rooms and the ability to produce 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day, sat off of the Gulf Coast for more than a week -- empty.

Now, nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, television personalities and celebrities are touring the disaster area with the intention of raising awareness and money for hurricane victims.

Perhaps Dr. Phil and Chris Rock should be directing their awareness efforts at a more applicable audience -- our federal government. It seems to be the only group embarrassingly unaware of the situation's magnitude.

Although natural disasters may not be President Bush's enemy of choice, they can still destroy lives just as effectively as any weapon of mass destruction.

Lisa Moreno is a senior.