The Perfect Storm

Yep, it's been one year since the whole surreal, bizarre, scary, troubling thing. Remember back when New Orleans was, well, New Orleans?

There's a new Katrina board, if you're interested. cmamanda posts, "My father, a Red Cross volunteer, [who has been traveling with] the Gulf Coast this year (he's currently in Montgomery, AL helping out with communication services and disaster training) says while progress has been made there is still so much work left to be done." Other iVillagers are weighing in with hopes and prayers for those who were affected by the storm, and those who still need help.

Then there's this thread, in which scareo06 compares the reaction times of Hezbollah and the US in responding to disaster and beginning to rebuild. Okay, so the comparison isn't entirely apt -- personally, I'd point to the vast differences in scope and context -- but boy, has this post stirred up some conversation.

cl-webbee responds,"The destruction in the Lebanon was strategic and involved bombing of specific buildings, not the carpet bombing that would have been equivalent to that required to equal the destruction in Katrina's path...Comparing the two is idiotic."

scareo06: "I just can't help but stop and marvel at what appears to be such a broken, non-functional bureaucracy, when compared to things like U.S. News crews or even foreign terrorist organizations. Why IS that?"

Then boudicca40 pipes in: "Should we just behead the infidels in New Orleans who aren't measuring up? "

Um. Come on. You know you have a response to that. Is democracy really worth all the danged red tape that comes with it? Why have recovery efforts continued to grind along so slowly? Is the anniversary of Katrina stirring up some emotions? Weigh in here.