Thanks Patrick and those that have given

[Onephd]

On behalf of those residents of New Orleans, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama and Florida that have been affected by the flood. I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Your contributions will help those affect reconstruct their lives.  My mother and I will also be involved in rebuidling when she can return to the city.

Thanks all.

[JaySlo]

... in response to Thanks Patrick and those that have given, posted by Onephd on Sep 3, 2005

I am one the few individuals in this country certified in the above and can say without a doubt that delayed  response has been disgraceful. If you have taken the position of politicizing your opinion, you are a pure ignorant idiot. In short, there is a specific model that is followed for disaster recovery. There is a chain of command and weekly/monthly meetings of all affected agencies, municipalities, utilities, organizations, hospitals, law enforcement, etc. The discussions focus on what to do in the event of a disaster, and to prioritize the distribution of resources. Hell, in addition to the obvious emergency orgs, there are groups such as CERT (community emergency response teams), BEPN (similiar group for business), associations of contingency planners, etc. Here is the clincher my friends. All of the planning in the world can not prepare you for all of the wheels coming off at the same time. Or in other words, if the bomb hits the sweet spot,there is only one result, destruction & death!! This disaster is as close as the bomb hitting the sweet spot as you can get. No amount of recovery planning could get this rebuilding show on the road any time sooner. However, the contigency plan should have had the Natl Guard on the ground in the first 48 hours. In addition, food, water, and basic meds should have been in place much sooner as well.
There is no comparison between NYC and NO. In NYC one of the wheels came off, in N.O. ALL came off at once. Guiliani did have one thing in his favor and that is he was intimately involved in disaster recovery (towers were bombed before) and took an active role once the business continuity plan went into effect. Mr. Mayor of NO couldn't have been remotely prepared for what happened to his city. There is no room for blame here. Whats needed is open hearts and wallets. My wife and I will volunteer to be part of the economic reconstruction effort. I was part of the economic recovery program after Andrew in South Florida in 92 and was paid handsomely by our gov. This time it will be on my dime. So if you can donate, please do. If you only have a political opinion, fut the shuck up!

[MarkNJ]

... in response to Disaster recovery,contingency planning, ..., posted by JaySlo on Sep 3, 2005

I have to agree with all that you are saying.   Most of my past history has been with K9 search and rescue but it was not until Sept. 11, 2001 that my career had changed as a direct result of that event.   I remember that day well as I was in the process of traveling into Manhattan to attend a meeting down in the Wall Street area.   After that day the company I was with lost 95% of our business and since that time I have been working on various projects for several counties here on Disaster Recovery and Business Continuation.   I find it amusing, and sometimes scary when I hear the various “Monday morning quarterbacks” give their opinions on what should have been done and how inept all the people are who are responding.    Similar to a football game or other sport, you will have a game plan, but not until you are actually having the stuff thrown at you will you then know exactly what it is that will need to be done and what resources you have available to use in your response.    The magnitude of this event, the location etc. is something that does not happen often.    We are all very fortunate that we did not incur simultaneous destructive events of the same magnitude in different locations this time.  We do not know what the future will hold for us but we need to keep an open mind and be flexible enough to adapt and change to whatever situation arises.    I am just glad that we do have the “responders” available to us… and they were not the “disaster”.    These people will be suffering for a long time to come.    This recovery will take years.   We can all help out in our own little way, be creative.    I know that I am not in the position now to directly help but will be rearranging my schedule to be able to lend support down there during the holiday season.    Even though all of the people are suffering I do have strong feelings about the children and the images that they will have of their fellow Americans as time goes by.

[OkieMan]

... in response to Re: Disaster recovery,contingency planni..., posted by MarkNJ on Sep 4, 2005

Mark NJ,

So, what's the deal?  Do you work in the private sector or the public sector?  I would be curious to know more about what you do, especially since 9/11, and all of the Katrina stuff.  To my knowledge, you are the only one on this board with that type of experience.  I know Heat used to be a Fed, but you are apparantely in a unique position to better explain to the rest of us you "insider" info.  Are you going to be involved, or are you already involved with the relief efforts in the Gulf?  Take care.

                            OkieMan

[Heat]

... in response to Disaster recovery,contingency planning, ..., posted by JaySlo on Sep 3, 2005

This time it will be on my dime. So if you can donate, please do. If you only have a political opinion, fut the shuck up! ""

It's shameless how some people will use this disaster to try and gain political.   I appreciate your position and your efforts.  Thanks for excellent insight.

[doombug]

... in response to Disaster recovery,contingency planning, ..., posted by JaySlo on Sep 3, 2005

Amen to that.  

The political stuff is another disgusting element embraced by all too many arm-chair catastrophe theorists.

[CelticUrge]

... in response to Disaster recovery,contingency planning, ..., posted by JaySlo on Sep 3, 2005

"fut the shuck up!"

Polite and effective way to drive home your point shown through considered opinion, experience and knowledge of the matter at hand. I assume your not dyslexic. LOL. Thanks for being a part of those that assist us in an emergency, and before it even occurs.

Over the next several months there will be a great deal of politicizing, posturing, pointing blame, etc. The proverbial s**t always hits the fan. I'm curious to see if there are any substantive changes as a result of hindsight from this disaster. Time will tell.

[Ray]

... in response to Thanks Patrick and those that have given, posted by Onephd on Sep 3, 2005

:-)