February 2008

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Of all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed: everyone thinks he is so well supplied with it that even those who are the hardest to satisfy in every other respect never desire more of it than they already have.

-Rene Descartes

From Dome to Dome

Section 132, Row 11, Seat 3. This could be the ticket you are holding for the opening weekend of football to see your favorite team. Unfortunately it could also be the ticket for some 20,000 people stranded from Hurricane Katrina that are being transported to the old Astrodome in Houston. How could this happen? Was it because whoever was in charge was thinking, “Hey, they were already in one dome, let’s just move them to another! What a great idea! We’ll just ship them over to Houston and they’ll be plenty happy there!” I don’t know about you but I’ve seen a few football games in domed stadiums and the four hours I spent in there was enough for me, and I chose to go. These people are almost forced. Well, forced if they want to survive on the government’s help, which in some if not all cases is all they have left. It could be months before any of these people will be able to go back to New Orleans, and to what they are going back to is uncertain. Has anyone thought this through? Are they going to transport all these people back by bus to New Orleans once the city is dried up and drop them off at the Superdome and say, “Thanks for playing!”

But again, why the Astrodome? Why a dome at all? What is it about a dome that makes it an appealing thought to house 20,000 people for who knows how long? Is it because they were already stranded in one, so why not another?

I don’t see why the government can’t put them up in one of the numerous military bases that have been shut down the over the past few years. They’ve shut down so many the choices are out there. The infrastructure is already in place for a somewhat civilized living arrangement. There is housing, a mess hall, and probably room to run around if that is what is desired, and it would beat living in a dome for a few months I could guarantee that. It just makes too much sense to do this, I guess that is why it was overlooked.

I feel for these people, I really do. Having your whole life taken away from you in one morning is a devastating thought to me, but it is a reality to many. I can somewhat empathize with the looters. Well, let me clarify that. I can empathize with the ones who are taking food and water. They are in survival mode. As for the ones that are taking whatever they can get their hands on, that’s a whole different story.

Mike McConnell over at Kokonut Pundits also has a similar view.

Posted by G-Dawg on September 2, 2005 at 04:28 PM

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It would not surprise me if part of the mentality now is to house them in this dome with the understanding that they won't like it much and will seek other arrangements. How long will it take for these 20,000 to be whittled down to 5,000? If you find them reasonable housing, they might try to stay longer.

I might have to eat my words about the number who will die in this catastrophe. I am flabbergasted by the apparent lack of any plan on any level for how to deal with a cat4 or cat5 hurricane making landfall in New Orleans. It takes 4 days to realize the National Guard to get there? I cannot express my level of flabbergastation.

Posted by: Wulf at September 2, 2005 6:40 PM

Of all things, good sense is the most fairly distributed: everyone thinks he is so well supplied with it that even those who are the hardest to satisfy in every other respect never desire more of it than they already have.

-Rene Descartes

From Dome to Dome

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