When disaster comes, people living in the area are “taken care of” by a wide variety of coordinated agencies and NGOs. Sent to areas where water, food, clothing, and shelter are made available until they are allowed to return to their home areas.
What’s missing?
Coordinating the vast amount of those local residents who would like nothing better than to do something. As the disaster rolls from staunching the wound to the beginnings of cleanup, virtually every type of company involved in restoration will descend on that 90 mile stretch of wasteland.
Unfortunately they tend to bring their own people, many of whom travel to the afflicted area. Maybe they should think about hiring the locals.
They are the ones who have the talent and desire to rebuild their lives, and their towns and cities. They are the towns and cities. But sometimes that fact gets lost in the top-down management in any disaster.
I’m just sayin. From the “bejebus files”:
A group of us local contractors worked as volunteer construction superintendents on a project to rebuild/rehab our local homeless shelter – a very old home + detached apartment (converted garage). As we struggled to put 22 eager college kids to work on a variety of tasks, we noted that none of the homeless were there. Families had been moved to another shelter, singles told to come back after 5 pm., even though the detached section wasn’t going to be touched.
Couple of us had the temerity to ask the manager of the place whether she had asked the residents if they wanted to help. No. Asked if anyone had experience in construction/remodeling. Don’t know. (Anger rising). Well, did they have any basic tools available, like rakes and shovels, couple hammers, screwdriver set, like that. After all, they had a 10 x 18′ aluminum shed out back. No.
So after the workday was over we asked. Found three people who had worked as laborers, and one who was a professional (drywall). Found that the families staying there wanted to help any way they could – food, cleaning, whatever – but hadn’t been asked.
At the end of that day, we asked for and got help from the residents for the next three days. The three with experience actually took over the landscape/hardscape projects. The drywaller ended up working for one of the board members (major repair project), as well as doing the work on the shelter. The two families w/kids jumped in to help with meals, cleanup, and painting. And we mad-dog contractors got together with our local lumber store owner who donated good quality basic tools.
Anecdotal, but I think a common occurrence when the best intentions are out of square to the real need.
The people of the Gulf Coast are more than capable, and definitely willing to work to rebuild. Any company looking to rebuild could do a lot worse than hire from a pool of highly motivated, skilled, and anxious people. All they gotta do is ask.
On second thought, maybe that should be required.
One of my pet peeves. Yes, get the people to safety, but once stabilized, don’t freakin’ patronize and babysit. They deserve better.
I’ve always found that people live up to – or down to – your expectations. If people are treated as helpless refugees, they will tend to assume that role. If someone comes up to them and puts them to work, they will shine. One can only hope the folks on the ground in the affected areas share your wisdom; there’s too much work to be done to waste anyone’s talents.
Thanks for making an excellent point here today.
Just makes you wonder what ever happened to common sense, eh?
Thanks for this great diary. I was expecting a commentary on Halliburton getting a no-bid contract on cleaning up and rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Anybody wanna bet it’s coming? I hear a lot about the capabilities of the military, but of course we need to free up our soldiers to win a ‘war.’
I remember the interview (but can’t find it) with the demolition and repair contractor at the Pentagon.
Reporter: Do you really think you can get this done in one year?
Contractor: As long as the paper-pushers and bureaucrats stay the f*ck out of my way, I’ll finish in under that easy.
They stayed out of the way. The crews found work-arounds and solutions never tried but worked, and they never lost sight of the goal. I’m just afraid no one will confront the same “data-blockers” along the Gulf Coast.
My father and I are fuming over this very point: let us back in to help with the rescue and clean-up efforts. Our people in New Orleans need help now. Our home is on dry ground. There is much we could do, but we aren’t allowed back in, though we have the most to lose.
Wonderful diary! I hope you will post this elsewhere, it deserves to be very widely read.
I think the need to use local people goes beyond hiring and should include planning as well. We have the old joke “we’re from the government and we are here to help you” – but too often it isn’t a joke. I wouldn’t want good local workers hired to carry out some doofus plan that wasn’t going to fit the area very well.
A small story: My dad was an expert in dealing with post-hurricane damage where just about everything was gone. We got used to him being gone for 8 weeks most summers or early fall months.
He told me about one older gentleman from Corpus Christi Texas who gave him the fish-eye and asked him where he was from. They were surveying the slab of the old man’s house left by that year’s hurricane. When my dad told him (Mississippi River state), the old man visibly relaxed. He apologized, and said he didn’t want some peachy cheeked Yankee telling him what kind of a house to build for coastal heat.
Local talent and wisdom really are essential. In this case there are many local businesses that know what works in coastal areas and what doesn’t, and thousands of folks who will be needing jobs. It will be gross stupidity not to have them take a major role in planning and rebuilding.
One thing we don’t do in this country is pay for people over machines. It may take 10 people two days to clear a lot, but there will be no ancillary damage, and 10 people get paid. Bring in a damn D-6 @ $150 an hour – plus fuel and rig – and the underground plumbing, the lot, and most of the living vegetation is toast.
And as you say with the planning and rebuild, locals know literally every square inch of dirt in the area. You can’t buy that knowledge.