New Orleans, Louisiana, survives because of a system of levees, earthen
embankments and concrete-encased metal plates built to hold back the waters
of Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. That "old man river"
rolls its strongest as it passes the city at the end of its long journey
through the heartland of America. The flooding that engulfed the city
in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was caused in large part by three
failures of the levees holding back the lake. Tragically, the city saw
the collapse of another kind of "levee," the moral levee of
civilization, as looting and violence broke out when thugs and unscrupulous
people scrambled to take what they could from the wreckage.
This has been the nation's biggest tragedy since 9/11, and there
are inevitable comparisons. The New Orleans disaster is citywide, whereas
the devastation in New York was limited to the vicinity of the World Trade
Center. People from other parts of the city could get to the site and
offer aid. In New Orleans, the majority of the city was evacuated and
suffered massive damage. Vital municipal services were cut off citywide.
The city's poorest and most helpless were left to survive as best
they could. Unfortunately, the worst elements came out to prey on the
tragedy.
In a matter of hours New Orleans was reduced to a third world status.
Toilets would not flush, sewage was everywhere and dead bodies floated
by, untended because rescue workers had to prioritize their efforts to
focus on the living. The city had the smell of death. It was a classic
wartime triage situation. Americans are not used to seeing such sights
at home, but only on television in far-off places. It has been more than
13 years since we have seen such scenes of rioting in an American city.
We forget and have grown complacent—twin enemies of the thin veneer
that covers any civilization.
