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Quote of the Day – Problems
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. – H. L. Menken
We have seen this illustrated daily over the last week in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Recovery involving the rescue of thousands of people in remote mountain areas is a complex problem. Yet government – on most levels, from federal to county – all offer the same clear and simple answer to the problem: let us run everything. Do not assist without prior permission and clearance from us. Most of all, respect my authoratah!
That this delays response matters not. Process uber alles. It may cost lives, but better a few people be rescued properly than many get rescued in an unseemly manner, without procedures being followed.
This bureaucratic ineptitude is not universal. In Texas and Florida, the government knows enough to get out of the way of helpful volunteers. They even facilitate them. Apparently not so much elsewhere, especially on the federal level. I would say FEMA is turning in a Keystone Kops performance, only that is unfair to the Keystone Kops.
While disaster relief is a complex problem, some straightforward guidelines exist.
- Do not micromanage. That is counterproductive in a dynamic environment.
- Guide rather than dictate. People on the ground have the closest view of what is happening, not someone in a command center.
- Be adaptable. The rules may not apply in extreme situations.
- Lead people, don’t drive them. Most folks can figure out the right thing to do once the direction is pointed out.
Finally, embrace “the suck.” Accept the fact that things are going to go sideways regardless of your actions. Do not let that discourage you. Instead accept the challenges and complexity that a disaster entails. Own it and look for solutions, not problems.
Published in Group Writing
When I hear a puffed up official loudly assert “I am in charge!” I begin to worry.
I don’t begin to worry at that point. I just flat worry.
Government is always incompetence ar best, and evil at worst.
I used to think they embodied the former more than the latter but I no longer believe that.
No, as Seawriter accurately noted, the states of Florida and Texas have done great jobs.
It is the woke, liberal, authoritarian dictator types that embody the incompetence and evil process
The Feds and FEMA deserve their share of contempt here, but I haven’t seen much coverage of Gov. Cooper and his response. Seems to have gotten lost in this.
I have to take exception to the assertion that Texas has done a great job.
During the evacuation ahead of Rita (after Katrina in 2005), the state mandated that everyone had to stay on the designated evacuation routes. They blocked all exits and wouldn’t allow anyone off unless they could show that they lived in the immediate area. Why? Because that’s what the bureaucrats’ plan said.
The result was massive traffic jams that took days to unsnarl. People ran their cars for the A/C in the sweltering heat until they ran out of gas. There was heat stroke and other health problems. People with no food or water, or not enough. Had the storm veered west instead of east, it would have passed right over thousands of stranded motorists on I-45 north of Houston.
I pray that the state government learned from that experience, but I have my doubts. Abbott is a good governor, but the permanent bureaucracy in Austin is just as arrogant and hubristic as anywhere else.
Rita was 20 years ago. Texas has learned and adapted since then. I live on the Texas Gulf Coast and have been through every storm since Allen (1979). That includes Ike, Harvey, and most recently Beryl. The state’s response during all three of those storms was outstanding. I was here for all three, so I speak from personal experience. At least over the last decade, in Texas even a Cat 5 storm is summer. We get over it quick. Much of the reason for that is the state is flexible and lets volunteers help out without hindering them.
Abbott knows how to keep the Austin bureaucracy in their cages.
Well, Rick Perry was no Greg Abbott.
Texas has lots of corruption in its law enforcement.
Everything I can expect from anything the government says.
The government never gets it right. They are always wrong. It is bureaucrats who have no idea what is going on in the ground and they make up rules and they never have to suffer from the consequences of their actions. It is only other people who die.
I think disaster relief should be more local than federal, but certainly want the federal government to help where possible. I don’t see why they should get to be in charge though.
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And sometimes one that’s clear, simple, and right.
Like “Stop spending so much money.”
Spending all that money is the point. That’s what the systems are designed to do.
They’re not designed to do anything else.
The government also inhibits help by making it illegal to charge high prices. The best way to get potable water to a disaster area is to make it profitable. It doesn’t last long. But rewarding those who get there first is good, and shouldn’t be illegal.
We never used to have FEMA. It came of age (though it existed before on a smaller scale) for hurricane Andrew, I believe. That also coincided with cities asking the feds to give them money to compensate for a dearth of parking tickets after the storm.
I have nothing but contempt for FEMA.
FEMA has been a federal afterthought for a long time. It was a dumping ground for fourth-rate appointing minor political allies–like the state troopers who fetched women for Gov. Bill Clinton. I think Congress envisioned their role and function as teams of people armed with checkbooks who would follow an elected official (tie loosened or missing, sleeves rolled up or maybe an official windbreaker of some kind) as he walked through the refugee center handing checks to whomever he points at.
Being a decision-maker in FEMA meant being the guy in charge of calling the Red Cross to ask them to come and handle things.
The genius move of rolling FEMA into Homeland Security to add a few more layers of bureaucracy above it virtually guarantees a lack of focus and effectiveness. Like any federal agency, the number of people required to handle PR, DEI and ever-expanding internal needs probably takes up most staffing.
With the election at hand, getting illegals comfortably registered to vote remains an agency priority whereas rescue of deep red state rural areas is not. Shocker.
I’ve watched at least a million YouTube video clips about the helping efforts being made throughout the region affected by Hurricane Helene. This one (three minutes) made me laugh out loud:
Bridge made up of flatbed trailers keeps NC, TN supply chain alive – YouTube
It is incredible to see such heroic ingenuity to build that bridge. But the best part is at the end.
They are still looking for generators and propane, but not one person is seeking a windmill or a solar panel.
:) :) :)
I wonder what this crisis will do to the price of arugula.
If either of the leaders were what they pretend to be, they’d be rallying folks to help out. They could raise 100 million in no time. Clinton Foundation, MIA?
Harris could win this election if her supporters showed compassion, even fake compassion.
Plus had some individuals been dying, the KCs most likely could have saved a single individual.