I’m stressed. Watching the CNN coverage of the preparations for Hurricane Rita for the past couple of hours has raised my anxiety level again. I can’t even begin to imagine how the people on the ground are feeling – those waiting in the extremely long lineups to get out of Houston.
What’s going on here?
Houston is a city of some 4 million people. Once again, we are witnessing the failure of the Dept of Homeland Security and other branches of government on a massive scale. As I write this, whoever is in charge of the highways in Houston has not opened all or most of the incoming or outgoing lanes – freeing up much needed routes to evacuate. People are running out of gas. Gas stations are running out of gas. People are running low on patience. People have decided to not even attempt to vacate the city, despite the mandatory evacuation.
Meanwhile, at the airport, reportedly many TSA employees have not shown up for work. Two questions: does the US have legislation that makes it mandatory for essential workers to show up during times of crisis? And, how about getting some of those huge military transport planes in there to airlift people out? Oh – and do they have emergency supplies at the airport in case those people are stuck there for the duration? Will that turn out to be the new convention center-like hellhole?
What if this was a nuclear attack? Do you trust this damn administration to protect you anymore? Should anyone? Will heads roll over these failures or will more medals of freedom be handed out?
Seriously – lessons learned? Obviously not. This is insane.
