In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and 1833 people were killed. The Bush Administration earned widespread condemnation for the government’s poor response. The unbroken chain of bad decisions showcased how thoroughly unprepared the government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was to appropriately respond. It was as big a PR disaster as it was a humanitarian disaster.
It was a learning experience from the top down, and you’d think the government would know how to act in the face of the next great hurricane. That, I should point out, is expecting more from Beloved Leader than he is capable of doing.
Beloved Leader announced on Aug 28 2017 that he would gut FEMA by 667 million dollars, specifically targeting grants that would fund State and local governments in their preparation for natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Another 62 million was on the chopping block for the National Weather Service, 5 million of which would have been spent on experimental prediction models to forecast the weather a month ahead of time rather than two weeks. Not smart. Mercifully, the Republican Party flip-flopped on this in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, but FEMA was, and still is, poorly managed.
In the midst of his usual daily blundering, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. It should be pointed out that Puerto Rico was acquired by the former U.S. in 1898, Puerto Ricans became officially recognized as American in 1917, and fully fell under Congress’ jurisdiction in 1950. These people deserved competent, coordinated action from West Korea. Instead, the Death Toll from Maria, largely due to the neglect of the West Korean government in their assistance, has been officially assessed at 2975 people dead, eclipsing that of Katrina.
FEMA released a report detailing how unprepared they were: https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/167249 so much for Beloved Leader hiring “the best people”.
Beloved Leader gave himself a “10 out of 10” for his handling of the situation. “It’s been incredible results that we’ve had with respect to loss of life.” He was also quoted as saying. I guess he’s correct; it is pretty incredible that his mismanagement and incompetence made Bush 2 look good. But to Beloved Leader’s credit, he did throw some paper towels into a crowd of Puerto Ricans. I’m sure that was helpful in some way.
The sad fact is that it won’t be long before hurricane season starts up again, and West Korea is cripplingly incapable of helping out her citizens in a time of disaster. It is due to the poor leadership and dysfunctional spectacle of chaos and failure that has been trademarked by the Oval Office. Presented with a damning report of the human cost his so-called “leadership” has wrought, he applauds himself rather than improve the institutions he is responsible for. Instead, he is facilitating their decline and is committed to inaction that is bordering criminal incompetence.
FEMA remains in a sorry state at present. Hundreds of positions are unfilled and the Agency is 26% understaffed. High turnover has resulted in many of the officials who are actually dispatched are unfamiliar with how the organization does its business. Existing staff are stretched thin. Only 13% of staff specialized in directing federal aid to cleanup areas are ready for mobilization in the event of a disaster. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/hurricane-marias-new-death-toll-estimate-is-higher-than-katrinas/
Beloved Leader is, objectively speaking, a dismal failure as a manager and leader, on such a scale that Jimmy Carter looke like George Washington in comparison.
Do the smart thing (I know that's a lot to ask from his enablers): elect somebody who actually cares about doing a good job in the Oval Office. The manbaby sitting there is passively jeopardizing the lives of his citizens.
(EDIT: ADDED SOURCE FOR PRESENT STATE OF FEMA)
