Soldiers Face Neglect and Frustration.

Behind the door of Army Spec. Jeremy Duncan's room, part of the wall is torn and hangs in the air, weighted down with black mold. When the wounded combat engineer stands in his shower and looks up, he can see the bathtub on the floor above through a rotted hole. The entire building, constructed between the world wars, often smells like greasy carry-out. Signs of neglect are everywhere: mouse droppings, belly-up cockroaches, stained carpets, cheap mattresses.
This is the world of Building 18, not the kind of place where Duncan expected to recover when he was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Iraq last February with a broken neck and a shredded left ear, nearly dead from blood loss. But the old lodge, just outside the gates of the hospital and five miles up the road from the White House, has housed hundreds of maimed soldiers recuperating from injuries suffered in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The common perception of Walter Reed is of a surgical hospital that shines as the crown jewel of military medicine. But 5 1/2 years of sustained combat have transformed the venerable 113-acre institution into something else entirely -- a holding ground for physically and psychologically damaged outpatients. Almost 700 of them -- the majority soldiers, with some Marines -- have been released from hospital beds but still need treatment or are awaiting bureaucratic decisions before being discharged or returned to active duty.

They suffer from brain injuries, severed arms and legs, organ and back damage, and various degrees of post-traumatic stress. Their legions have grown so exponentially -- they outnumber hospital patients at Walter Reed 17 to 1 -- that they take up every available bed on post and spill into dozens of nearby hotels and apartments leased by the Army. The average stay is 10 months, but some have been stuck there for as long as two years.

Not all of the quarters are as bleak as Duncan's, but the despair of Building 18 symbolizes a larger problem in Walter Reed's treatment of the wounded, according to dozens of soldiers, family members, veterans aid groups, and current and former Walter Reed staff members interviewed by two Washington Post reporters, who spent more than four months visiting the outpatient world without the knowledge or permission of Walter Reed officials. Many agreed to be quoted by name; others said they feared Army retribution if they complained publicly.

While the hospital is a place of scrubbed-down order and daily miracles, with medical advances saving more soldiers than ever, the outpatients in the Other Walter Reed encounter a messy bureaucratic battlefield nearly as chaotic as the real battlefields they faced overseas.

On the worst days, soldiers say they feel like they are living a chapter of "Catch-22." The wounded manage other wounded. Soldiers dealing with psychological disorders of their own have been put in charge of others at risk of suicide.

This world is invisible to outsiders. Walter Reed occasionally showcases the heroism of these wounded soldiers and emphasizes that all is well under the circumstances. President Bush, former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and members of Congress have promised the best care during their regular visits to the hospital's spit-polished amputee unit, Ward 57.

Along with the government promises, the American public, determined not to repeat the divisive Vietnam experience, has embraced the soldiers even as the war grows more controversial at home. Walter Reed is awash in the generosity of volunteers, businesses and celebrities who donate money, plane tickets, telephone cards and steak dinners.
The Pentagon has announced plans to close Walter Reed by 2011, but that hasn't stopped the flow of casualties. Three times a week, school buses painted white and fitted with stretchers and blackened windows stream down Georgia Avenue. Sirens blaring, they deliver soldiers groggy from a pain-relief cocktail at the end of their long trip from Iraq via Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and Andrews Air Force Base.

One amputee, a senior enlisted man who asked not to be identified because he is back on active duty, said he received orders to report to a base in Germany as he sat drooling in his wheelchair in a haze of medication at Walter Reed. "I went to Medhold many times in my wheelchair to fix it, but no one there could help me," he said.

Finally, his wife met an aide to then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, who got the erroneous paperwork corrected with one phone call. When the aide called with the news, he told the soldier, "They don't even know you exist."

"They didn't know who I was or where I was," the soldier said. "And I was in contact with my platoon sergeant every day."



Army Surgeon General Kevin C. Kiley abruptly stepped down under pressure from military superiors, the third top Army official forced out in the fallout from revelations of shabby treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
The Army said Monday, March 12, that Lt. Gen. Kiley had submitted a request to retire over the weekend. Acting Army Secretary Pete Geren had asked Kiley for his retirement, said a senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the events.
Kiley's removal underscored how the controversy, which began with reports of dilapidated outpatient housing and a nightmarish bureaucracy at the Army's flagship hospital, has snowballed into a far broader problem for the Bush administration.
Kiley, 56, who headed Walter Reed from 2002 to 2004, has been a lightning rod for criticism over conditions there and has been a frequent target of hostile questions at congressional hearings.
Geren has had his position for less than two weeks, having replaced Army Secretary Francis Harvey, who was dismissed March 2. Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, who had been in charge of Walter Reed since August 2006, was ousted from his post the day before.
In a statement released by the Army, Kiley said, "I submitted my retirement because I think it is in the best interest of the Army." He said he wanted to allow officials to "focus completely on the way ahead."
"We have failed to meet our own standards at Walter Reed. For that, I'm both personally and professionally sorry," he said last week.
Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, current deputy surgeon general, assumed Kiley's job while a permanent replacement is sought. Kiley remains on active duty during the retirement process, which could take up to two months.
Amid the focus on Walter Reed, VA Secretary Nicholson on Monday ordered his department's clinics to provide details about their physical condition by next week to determine if squalid conditions found at Walter Reed exist elsewhere.
"We've made a good start, but much remains to be done," Geren told staff members Monday. "I share in your conviction that we will do whatever it takes to do it right."

Praying Solomon's Prayer in the Workplace


Judge London Steverson’s work for the Social Security Administration involves him in the lives of a wide variety of individuals as he makes decisions on whether they will receive disability benefits, or other benefits under the Social Security Act. “My satisfaction comes from helping deserving people get what is due them,” he said, “and in preventing liars and cheats from defrauding the government.”
Steverson and his wife are members of the Hollydale Community Seventh Day Adventist Church in South Gate. He hears as many as eight cases on an average day, reviewing each case file—which can weigh up to 20 pounds—three to six months in advance of the hearings, and averages about 40 finished decisions per month.
Federal Administrative Law Judges are also known as Circuit Riders. Some hearings are conducted at remote locations away from his central office. On one trip, while waiting outside before the first hearing, he noticed a young woman get out of an old VW bus in the parking lot with two men. “She was swinging a pair of crutches as she walked, having a good time with her friends. She passed me on her way into the building. I was not sure she had even noticed me. When she came into the hearing room and saw me behind the bench in my black robe, her expression changed markedly. She was leaning on the crutches as if she were an amputee. She knew that I knew that she did not need the crutches. I thought she was going to faint.” he said. Needless to say, she did not win her case.
These types of constructive declarations against interests not always so fortuitously timed. “In another case, I had decided a case in favor of a woman claiming disability because of bi-lateral carpal tunnel syndrome and chronic and constant pain in the hands, wrists, and upper extremities. Sometime later, I was shopping in Ralph’s Supermarket and I saw her shopping with someone that I presumed to be her mother. She was not wearing the wrist braces that she ha worn to the hearing. She was reaching and lifting items from the shelves with no difficulty at all. She appeared to exhibit no apparent discomfort whatsoever. I abandoned my shopping cart and just stared at her. When she realized that I was looking at her, she must have recognized me. I am not sure if it was the incredulous look on my face or her sense of profound guilt, but she burst into tears and ran crying from the store. I had no way of going back and trying to correct an obvious fraud upon the court. The case decision stood. I only hope that I had written into my decision that the case should be scheduled for Continuing Disability Review in 18 months or 5 years.”
Steverson is in his 17th year as a Federal Administrative Law Judge. His role represents the third layer of appeal and the first at the federal level for individuals denied benefits by the State Disability Determination Service for the State of California.
As the judge weighs the evidence of each case, whether it is a Claim following a Workman’s Compensation Case or a Disabled Widow’s Application or a mental or physical disability claim, he is to dispassionately review the facts and rule according to the Social Security Act and regulations.
All of his cases are Bench Trials. The claimant is represented by an attorney but there is no jury present. The decision in every case is his and his alone. In some of these cases his decision might determine whether a person will be able to buy food or afford housing. When asked how he can be sure he has made the right decision, he said “I pray Solomon’s prayer for wisdom and discernment. Because I believe God answers my daily prayer, I act in confidence that my prayer has been heard, and decide each case to the best of my ability according to the light that God has given me, in faith that God supplies wisdom for each decision.
“If my decision is appealed and reversed or remanded, I still believe that I have done my best with the Lord’s help. I believe this is possible because my decision is not always the final decision; there are two levels of appeal between me and the U.S. Supreme Court. Many cases make it to the U. S. District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but few make it to the Supreme Court.”
Steverson’s stress-management library in his office includes many translations of the Bible and inspirational books. If a walk around the block does not help, he reads and prays. “I compartmentalize to manage stress,” he added. “I have disciplined myself to leave my work at my office.”
By Betty Cooney, Pacific Union Recorder.



Judge London Steverson
London Eugene Livingston Steverson (born March 13, 1947) was one of the first two African Americans to graduate from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1968. Later, as chief of the newly formed Minority Recruiting Section of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), he was charged with desegregating the Coast Guard Academy by recruiting minority candidates. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1988 and in 1990 was appointed to the bench as a Federal Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration.

Early Life and Education
Steverson was born and raised in Millington, Tennessee, the oldest of three children of Jerome and Ruby Steverson. At the age of 5 he was enrolled in the E. A. Harrold elementary school in a segregated school system. He later attended the all black Woodstock High School in Memphis, Tennessee, graduating valedictorian.
A Presidential Executive Order issued by President Truman had desegregated the armed forces in 1948,[1] but the service academies were lagging in officer recruiting. President Kennedy specifically challenged the United States Coast Guard Academy to tender appointments to Black high school students. London Steverson was one of the Black student to be offered such an appointment, and when he accepted the opportunity to be part of the class of 1968, he became the second African American to enter the previously all-white military academy. On June 4, 1968 Steverson graduated from the Coast Guard Academy with a BS degree in Engineering and a commission as an ensign in the U.S. Coast Guard.
In 1974, while still a member of the Coast Guard, Steverson entered The National Law Center of The George Washington University and graduated in 1977 with a Juris Doctor of Laws Degree.

USCG Assignments.
Steverson's first duty assignment out of the Academy was in Antarctic research logistical support. In July 1968 he reported aboard the Coast Guard Cutter (CGC) Glacier [2] (WAGB-4), an icebreaker operating under the control of the U.S. Navy, and served as a deck watch officer and head of the Marine Science Department. He traveled to Antarctica during two patrols from July 1968 to August 1969, supporting the research operations of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Research Project in and around McMurdo Station. During the 1969 patrol the CGC Glacier responded to an international distress call from the Argentine icebreaker General SanMartin, which they freed.
He received another military assignment from 1970 to 1972 in Juneau, Alaska as a Search and Rescue Officer. Before being certified as an Operations Duty Officer, it was necessary to become thoroughly familiar with the geography and topography of the Alaskan remote sites. Along with his office mate, Ltjg Herbert Claiborne "Bertie" Pell, the son of Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell, Steverson was sent on a familiarization tour of Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force bases. The bases visited were Base Kodiak, Base Adak Island, and Attu Island, in the Aleutian Islands.[3]
Steverson was the Duty Officer on September 4, 1971 when an emergency call was received that an Alaska Airlines Boeing 727 airline passenger plane was overdue at Juneau airport. This was a Saturday and the weather was foggy with drizzling rain. Visibility was less than one-quarter mile. The 727 was en route to Seattle, Washington from Anchorage, Alaska with a scheduled stop in Juneau. There were 109 people on board and there were no survivors. Steverson received the initial alert message and began the coordination of the search and rescue effort. In a matter of hours the wreckage from the plane, with no survivors, was located on the side of a mountain about five miles from the airport. For several weeks the body parts were collected and reassembled in a staging area in the National Guard Armory only a few blocks from the Search and Rescue Center where Steverson first received the distress broadcast.[4]. Later a full investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the accident was equipment failure.[5]
Another noteworthy item is Steverson's involvement as an Operations Officer during the seizure of two Russian fishing vessels, the Kolevan and the Lamut for violating an international agreement prohibiting foreign vessels from fishing in United States territorial waters. The initial attempts at seizing the Russian vessels almost precipitated an international incident when the Russian vessels refused to proceed to a U. S. port, and instead sailed toward the Kamchatka Peninsula. Russian MIG fighter planes were scrambled, as well as American fighter planes from Elmendorf Air Force Base before the Russian vessels changed course and steamed back
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COOPERATION WITHOUT COMPROMISE

The Chief of Champlains for the United States Navy wears two stars on his shoulder and keeps the Sabbath.

Depending on the traffic, the drive from southern Baltimore, Maryland, to the Navy Annex in Arlington, Virginia, takes about an hour, more or less. But for Rear Admiral Barry C. Black, his journey from being a child in subsidized public housing to the U.S. Navy’s chief of chaplains has spanned several decades; covered hundreds of thousands of miles by land, air, and sea; and led him to assume a variety of roles: student, missionary, district pastor, evangelist, counselor, husband, and father.

Seated in his office on the main floor of the Navy Annex, Chaplain Black reflects almost casually, “God has been preparing this all along.”

Indeed, after spending the better part of a morning tracing the significant events of Black’s personal and professional careers, it’s easy to recognize the accuracy of his statement: “There was one series of miracles after another that brought this about.”

Surrounded by Witnesses
Barry Black was born in the Cherry Hill neighborhood of southern Baltimore on November 1, 1948, the fourth of eight children. Oddly, it was because of some of the social programs of the time that were designed to alleviate poverty that Black and his siblings were raised mostly in a single-parent home. Although his father was often present, “the regulations at that time mandated that there be no adult male present in the home,” he observes. “I remember social workers coming by and looking in the closets to ensure that there was not.” Beyond that, Black’s mother was limited by the policies of the day in terms of how much she could earn as a “domestic.”

When Black’s mother was pregnant with Barry, she noticed an evangelistic handbill advertising meetings at the Berea Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church in Baltimore. Mrs. Black (who passed away in 1987) liked to recall that as she was being baptized, she prayed that the Holy Spirit would do something special for her first son.



“My earliest memories are those of being picked up and kissed and held in the air like a trophy,” Black says. “It was a tremendous blessing for me, because a lot of psychologists believe that how your self-esteem reservoir is filled, particularly in the early years, is critical to your ability to handle vicissitudes and setbacks and challenges. My reservoir was overflowing.”




In addition to the familial attention Black received as the first male child of the family, he was also mentored and encouraged by the members of the Berea Temple. “We attended church for early [Sabbath] morning prayer service, and we stayed for the entire day,” he says.

Through the generosity of members of the Berea Temple, Black and his siblings were able to attend Pine Forge Academy. And it was at Pine Forge that he was exposed to some of the premier practitioners of Adventist preaching. “Elder Luther Palmer, who is a pastor in the Washington, D.C., area, was principal of the school then. He did some special mentoring of teenagers who indicated an interest in the ministry,” Black recalls. “When people like Calvin Rock, or [Charles] Brooks, or [Charles] Bradford would come to the campus, he would invite us to his home, and there these giants of the church would talk to us about preaching. I first learned a very simple topical approach to preaching from Calvin Rock.”

Throughout his formative years the conviction that God was calling him to the pastoral ministry nagged Black, a conviction that he resisted until his sophomore year at Oakwood College. That was when Black was chosen to be Oakwood’s first student missionary.

Black’s assignment was to travel to the Unini Mission Station in the forests of Peru, to work with Siegfried and Evelyn Neuendorff. “While I was there I had a lot of baggage,” Black confesses. “I was a disciple of Malcolm X, and I really had a chip on my shoulder. [But] in spite of my often bellicose and vitriolic rhetoric, they [the Neuendorffs] loved me into the arena of racial reconciliation.” Black’s experience in Peru included evangelistic and Bible work, construction, even pulling teeth.

When he returned to Oakwood College, Black was ready to make some life choices. “Francis Thomp-son’s ‘Hound of Heaven’ caught up with me,” admits Black, “and I finally, in my junior year, threw up my hands and said, ‘I yield.’ And it was the best decision I could have possibly made.” It was at Oakwood that Black met Brenda Pearsall, whom he would eventually marry.

For God and Country
Chaplain Black’s entry into the world of military chaplaincy came about, in part, because of five Adventist sailors who were stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. When Black was pastoring the Raleigh, Durham, and Rocky Mount churches in North Carolina, these five sailors would drive five hours (one way) to listen to Black preach at the Durham church. When he asked them why they didn’t attend services at the base chapel, they replied, “We’ve never seen an African-American chaplain.”

About that time Black received a letter from the National Service Organization (NSO) of the General Conference, encouraging Adventist pastors to consider careers as military chaplains. Black’s burden for ministering to young adults, combined with his interest in travel, led him to enlist in the Navy. He began chaplains’ school in Newport, Rhode Island, in the summer of 1976.

“When I went to chaplains’ school I was exhilarated by the pluralistic context of the training and the ministry,” he says. “I had never had an opportunity to interact with a rabbi. I had never met a Roman Catholic priest. I had never associated with pastors from the various Protestant traditions. I found that exciting: iron sharpening iron; sharing ideas, demythologizing some of the notions they had about what we believe. They called the rabbis and me the four rabbis because we always had special dietary considerations.”

Three years into his military ministry Black was assigned to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, the second person of color to serve in that capacity, the first Seventh-day Adventist. “Imagine 2,500 midshipmen packing a chapel Sunday after Sunday and you having the opportunity to speak to these very bright young people about the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he enthuses.

Throughout his career as a chaplain Black has used his pulpit skills to provide a springboard for questions, spiritual discussions, and Bible studies with the military men and women with whom he served. “During one [shipboard] deployment we had a Bible study every day when we were under way. I simply used Bible Readings for the Home. I would publicize the title, and the men would say, ‘How do you have the time to come up with all these different titles and all of these studies?’ (I never told them my secret, of course.)




“When I got to the more testing truths (they already knew I was a Seventh-day Adventist) I would say, ‘You all are not ready for this; you can’t handle it.’

“By the time they were threatening to throw me overboard if I didn’t tell them, I would basically get into the more distinctive truths [of the Bible]. At the end of one six-month deployment we baptized 40 members of our Bible study group who had basically, for six months, been exposed to the doctrines of the church.”

Chaplain to the Chaplains
Admiral Black lives with his wife, Brenda, and their three sons at the historic Washington Navy Yard in southeast Washington, D.C., at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. In addition to his passion for running, Black enjoys reading (he describes himself as a “lifelong learner”) and writing. He has earned three master’s degrees and two doctorates.

Black lists among his hobbies preaching and worship. “I know it’s not supposed to be a hobby, but worship is a hobby for me,” he says. “I find places, many times non-Adventist worship experiences. If there’s a revival in town, I’ll sneak in and listen to the evangelist and enter into the praise of the Lord wherever I find the opportunity to do that.

“When you develop a love for the Word of God, you live in another world. There’s a cloud of witnesses who inform you and guide you,” Black says about the heroes of the Bible: David, Solomon, Moses, Paul. Then he talks about the many who have served as mentors and role models over the years. He remembers his first year in the Navy Chaplain Corps, when he worked with Admiral John O’Connor (later John Cardinal O’Connor of the New York Archdiocese). “I’m thinking to myself, What is God up to?”




Pointing to a photograph on his desk, Black says, “In this picture I’m still in my 20s, and here I am chatting with the chief of naval operations, the highest ranking person [in the Navy]. So I was in many ways like David, playing a harp in the palace. Though I grew up in the meadow, taking care of sheep, God exposed me very early to the palace, to the protocol of the palace, to the vocabulary of the palace, in order to prepare me for this day.”

_________________________
Stephen Chavez is an assistant editor of the Adventist Review.

1947-2007. Year of the Boar (Pig). Happy Birthday. Zhong Hei Fat Choi.
Fortune: Year of Pig Will Bring Disaster, many predict.
HONG KONG - Sunday marks the start of the Chinese New Year and it's a lucky one for those starting out in life. But the rest of us are in for a rough ride. Expect epidemics, disasters and violence in much of the world.

"The Year of the Pig will not be very peaceful," said Hong Kong feng shui master Raymond Lo.

Feng shui is the ancient Chinese practice of trying to achieve health, harmony and prosperity by using specific dates, numbers, building design and the placement of objects.

The pig is one of 12 animals (or mythical animals in the case of the dragon) on the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, which follows the lunar calendar. According to Chinese astrology, people born in pig years are polite, honest, hardworking and loyal. They are also lucky, which is why many Chinese like to have babies in a pig year.

"Any children born in The Year of Pig will receive help from others throughout their lives," Lo said.

President Ronald Reagan was a pig. So are California Govenor Arnold Schwarzenegger, London Steverson, Actor Woody Allen and Singer Sir Elton John. Not to mention Presidential Hopeful New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But a word of caution to the presidential candidate.

The pig finished last in the race that determined the zodiac's order, behind the dog.

Other animals in the zodiac are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey and rooster. The zodiac runs on a 12-year cycle, and each year is associated with the five elements that Chinese mystics make up the universe: metal, water, wood, fire and earth.

Therein lies the trouble.

Pig years can be turbulent because they are dominated by fire and water, conflicting elements that tend to cause havoc, Lo said.

"Fire sitting on water is a symbol of conflict and skirmish," he said. "We'll also see more fire disasters and bombings."

He noted that the Russian AK-47 rifle, a weapon of choice among insurgents around the world, was invented during a pig year.

"So it will not be surprising to see more gunbattles, murder with guns and bombing attacks in 2007," he said.

Malaysian feng shui master Lillian Too agreed.

"I wish I could say that there won't be natural disasters, but I am afraid it could be as bad as last year," she said.

"There could be epidemics," she said. "I am very worried about bird flu. Eat healthy foods and take care of your health."

Few Chinese seemed to be worried about the warnings, though, as they prepared for their biggest bash of the year _ Saturday's Lunar New Year's Eve _ celebrated by one-fifth of the world's population.

It's an occasion to have family feasts, buy new clothes and exchange red envelopes stuffed with gift money.

Not everything about the future looks bleak.

Most soothsayers said the world economy will continue to boom, though they advise people to be cautious about their investments.

"Because of the water element in the Year of the Pig, the economy will continue to grow, which also paves the way for another round of interest rate hikes," said Peter So, a celebrity fortuneteller in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong soothsayer Alion Yeo is predicting North Korea will undergo a power struggle that will bring leadership changes around May. Last year, the Year of the Dog, Yeo warned that the North Korean nuclear crisis would worsen.

The North conducted a nuclear test in October.

Singapore fortuneteller John Lok predicted the situation in Iraq will not settle and President Bush will have a bad year.

He also said the next president of France may be a woman _ no surprise there since one of the main candidates is a woman, Segolene Royal of the Socialist party.

While the pig is beloved by the Chinese, the animal is offensive to Muslims, who consider it unclean. For that reason, Chinese New Year celebrations have to be handled with care in Malaysia and Indonesia, mainly Muslim countries with large ethnic Chinese minorities.

For the first time in its history, Indonesia introduced a special set of postal stamps to mark the Lunar New Year. But concerns over Muslim sensitivities led the postal service to drop plans to put a large pig on the stamps. It chose a Chinese temple instead.

"We took the middle path," said Hana Suryana, director of the Indonesian postal service.

Still, that was progress for a country where ethnic Chinese, who make up 5 percent of the population and have long faced discrimination, once were not allowed to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

"That has changed now, but we still feel uncomfortable celebrating the day in a large way because there are some people who cannot accept that Chinese culture is a part of Indonesian culture," said Jhony Tan, a trader in Jakarta's bustling Chinatown.

Yusri Mohammad, president of the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, said he had no problem with the Chinese celebrating the pig year in his country. He said decorative pictures of pigs in shopping malls are fine _ as long as Chinese don't start using live pigs or eat pork in public.

The Faces of Hurricane Katrina 2005.
The preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina
should disturb all Americans. The failure of a complete evacuation led to
catastrophic circumstances when Katrina made landfall, particularly in New Orleans where the force of the hurricane breached the levee system in multiple locations throughout the metropolitan area. As the resulting floodwaters spread
through low lying urban areas,thousands of people who were trapped in their homes climbed to their roofs or fled into flooded streets. Fortunately, thousands of these
people were saved by a massive and heroic search and rescue effort.

The onslaught of Gulf Coast hurricanes, notably Katrina and the deadly flooding which devastated New Orleans, was overwhelmingly picked by U.S. editors and news directors as the top story of 2005 in The Associated Press' annual vote.


But many were not as fortunate, and hundreds of people died in their homes or other locations, presumably from drowning. Those who were in the Superdome, or those that found shelter and high ground at other locations, suffered horrible conditions. The floodwaters, which had been anticipated and even predicted from a large hurricane such as Katrina, furthered the misery and delayed the immediate relief of the remaining population.







Like food and water, shelter is a basic human need. Hurricane Katrina transformed thousands of people’s lives into a battle for survival — and, for some, finding
adequate shelter proved at least as diffi cult as fi nding
something to eat or drink. Katrina, of course, was a powerful storm that hit
vulnerable areas, requiring more than traditional solutions for immediate shelter.





The Faces of Katrina.
We are left scratching our heads at the range of inefficiency and ineffectivness that characterized government behavior right before and after this storm. But
passivity did the most damage. The failure of initiative cost lives, prolonged suffering, and left all Americans justifi ably concerned our government is no better prepared to protect its people than it was before 9/11, even if we are.


Initially, Hurricane Katrina displaced more than a million Gulf coast residents. As in most natural disasters, some evacuees only needed short-term shelter and were able to return home after the immediate crisis passed. However, because of the magnitude of the storm, hundreds of thousands remained displaced — for days, weeks, evenmonths. Many are homeless today!


























I urge public officials confronting the next Katrina to remember disaster response must be based on knowledge, not rumors. Government at all levels lost credibility due to inaccurate or unsubstantiated public statements made by offi cials regarding law and order, levee breaches, and overall response efforts.




The media must share some of the blame here. The Select Committee agrees the media can and should help serve as the public’s “first informer” after disasters.
In the 21st century, Americans depend on timely and accurate reporting, especially during times of crisis. But it’s clear accurate reporting was among Katrina’s many
victims. If anyone rioted, it was the media. Many stories of rape, murder, and general lawlessness were at best unsubstantiated, at worst simply false. And that’s too bad, because this storm needed no exaggeration. widely-distributed uncorroborated rumors caused resources to be deployed,
and important time and energy wasted, chasing down the imaginary. Already traumatized people in the Superdome and elsewhere, listening to their transistor radios, werefurther panicked. “The sensational accounts delayed rescue and
evacuation efforts already hampered by poor planning
and a lack of coordination among local, state, and federal agencies.




















The whereabouts of 6,644 people, reported missing after Hurricane Katrina hit the US Gulf Coast in late August, have not been determined, raising the prospect that the death toll from the disaster could be higher than the 1,306 recorded so far in Louisiana and Mississippi.


The Faces of Hurricane Katrina 2005.

NEW ORLEANS, March 20 — Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana, politically battered by a shaky post-Hurricane Katrina performance, announced today that she would not seek re-election to a second term.
Ms. Blanco said: “While so many still suffer, I am choosing to do what I believe is best for my state. I will focus my time and my energy for the next nine months on the people’s work, not on politics. After much thought and prayer I have decided I will not seek re-election as your governor.”
The hurricane hardly enhanced the reputation any of the state’s politicians, but with Ms. Blanco the damage appeared to be most severe. Katrina undid her.

Tennessee Homes from 1947.