Lessons One Year Post-Katrina That Have Actual Use

The one year anniversary of Katrina is coming up early next week, and there will undoubtedly be all kinds of stories out there slamming various levels of government (with varying degrees of deservedness depending on who the slam is addressed to), much screaming of "Why?!" in a fashion that would do Nancy Kerrigan proud, and performing many other types of self-flagellation and guilt tripping that I can't think of right now. What got to me more than anything though was how many people were utterly dependent on the gummint to take care of them, to ensure their survival. It's as if when the checks disappear and the basic life to which they have become accustomed utterly breaks down, even temporarily, they are lost beyond measure, paralyzed beyond belief, and more helpless than your average mammalian child (hence the Pets & Animals classification). It should not be this way, folks have got to learn some basic survival skills in order to take care of themselves and their loved ones until order is restored, and here's some good advice from the LawDog blog on that point:

"1.) The only people responsible for the safety of you and yours -- is you. Nobody, not the local government, county government, state government, federal government or the United Nations, nobody owes you survival.

Take it upon yourself to be ready. If you can't protect you and yours for a week, then start figuring out how you're going to do it. Mother Nature is a bitch. Accept it. Not only that, but she is shacked up with Old Man Murphy, and they both hate your guts. Personally.

Once you understand this simple concept, take an honest look about you. Do you live in Tornado Alley? If so, sooner or later there is going to be a tornado addressed to you. Accept this, and plan for it. Do you live on a fault line? Sooner or late there is going to be an earthquake. Accept this fact and plan for it. Same thing for living in dry forests, below sea level or anywhere else that has been the subject of a Discovery Channel disaster special.

Take simple medical training. Self-taught, if nothing else. Take rescue classes, wilderness survival classes and learn how to swim. If the only thing you can do is read the Boy Scout Handbook, then read it cover-to-cover every year or so.

2.) If you are in, or wind up in, a de facto leadership position, then LEAD. Leaders have to do the most difficult, simplest, and most important task during a crisis: they must lead.

You must be calm. You must give the appearance of being in complete control, even if --especially if -- you aren't. You are there so that all the people under you who actually get things done, can look to you and think: If he's calm, then things must be under control. That way each person under your command can take heart and do the million tiny things that add up to getting, and keeping, the situation under control

If you don't think you can keep your mud in a ball during a crisis, then step down from your leadership position. And I'll give you a hint: bursting into tears on national television, or spewing obscenities on national television is not keeping your mud in a ball. Once your people see you losing your grip, then they loosen their handle on the situation, and their subordinates come unwound, so on and so forth until the whole situation snowballs into a complete cluster****.

More than likely you will wind up with survivors/refugees/displaced persons or whathaveyou wandering about. If you find yourself with a large group of the above, give them something to do. Do not let them sit and stew on the situation. Grab them, and have them make shelters. Move the elderly. Pitch tents. Dig latrines. Dig graves. Pour tea. Fold towels. Anything. Have them do something and keep them doing something until the situation resolves itself or command passes.

Give your group identity and purpose, impose order and do not allow your group to devolve into anarchy. Use short, simple tasks:

"We're going to the field and erect these tents."
"Now, we will dig 30 latrine pits."
"We will now help everyone move into the tent city."
"Now, we will go to the Wally-World, where we acquire and distribute food, water and medical stuff."
"Now, we will keep watch in rotation on the tent city until morning."
"It is morning, we will now clear the streets between this Dome and the airport to ensure that vehicles can move between the airport and our tent city."

Simple, easy tasks. If their minds and bodies are busy, it is better for everyone involved.

...

Doing something about the problems, and in that doing something, helping the group as a whole, is what a large percentage of humans instinctively want to do in a crisis. It's what they need to do.

Most of them simply require someone to tell them to do it, and point them in a direction. Unfortunately in these modern times, people seem to think that "help" involves counseling, and requires "time-outs" and "coming to terms" with the situation. I guess so, but all that is to be done after the fan has finished flinging the manure. You can counsel, pat-hands and empathize on National TeeVee after civilization has returned.

Up until that time what is needed is someone who can say:
"You and you -- get off your arses and grab that tent.
You, stop snivelling and give them a hand.
Take the tents over to that flat ground.
You and the rest of your pack, grab those shovels, go over to the far side of the parking lot and start digging trenches. Five feet deep, two feet wide and as long as you can make them."

It's not fun. There will be no rewards. You will have to make tough decisions and stand by them.

Why should you do it?

Because someone has to."