Katrina Lessons
Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has some great lessons that beauracracy can learn from Katrina. Hopefully they, especially FEMA, will, but chances are they will not.
There are nine in all, plus a a large amount of commentary and response. You need to read the whole thing.
SOME KATRINA LESSONS: We're going to see a plethora of commissions and inquiries (most about as useful and non-partisan as the 9/11 Commission), but here are a few lessons that seem solid enough to go with now:
1. Don't build your city below sea level: If you do, sooner or later it will flood. Better levees, pumps, etc. will put that day off, but not prevent it.
2. Order evacuations early: You hate to have false alarms, but as Brendan Loy noted earlier, even 48 hours in advance is really too late if you want to get everyone out.
3. Have -- and use -- a plan for evacuating people who can't get out on their own: New Orleans apparently had a plan, but didn't use it. All those flooded buses could have gotten people out. Except that there would have had to have been somewhere to take them, so:
4. Have an emergency relocation plan: Cities should have designated places, far enough away to be safe, but close enough to be accessible, to evacuate people to. Of course, this takes coordination, so:
5. Make critical infrastructure survivable
There are nine in all, plus a a large amount of commentary and response. You need to read the whole thing.
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