The Cajun Navy is on its way to Texas, hauling bass boats behind pickup trucks to help people in real need in response to the help given them by Texans after Katrina in spite of Government incompetence if not outright hostility.
It is stories like this that remind me that no matter how bad things get politically in this country, people are still people. That there are some things that simply transcend ideologies, politics and all the rest.
The Cajun Navy, famous for its response to last year’s flooding in Baton Rouge, is on its way to Texas to repay Texans for their hospitality in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
These guys, without a second thought are on their way to Texas simply because this is the right thing to do.
The Cajun Navy, a band of Louisiana residents who used their boats and resources to rescue people during Hurricane Katrina, have been authorized to come to Texas and help rescue Hurricane Harvey victims.
“We are a well oiled machine but we need your help also,” Cajun Navy member Gary Davis posted to to a Hurricane Harvey Facebook page. “We try to avoid going on blind missions so point of contacts and names are a must if you can. Please be patient with us we are here for you all. GOD BLESS TEXAS. We got your backs.”
And, let’s not forget just how completely horrible FEMA’s response to Katrina was. In short, it was despicable.
No communications, hostile enforcement of command and control that left people stranded while volunteers were turned away under penalty of jail, relief supplies wasted and the untold suffering of hundreds of thousands.
When I have to sit and listen to the self-satisfied preening and posturing of people who hate Wal-Mart for ‘predatory behavior’and excuse the state for the incompetence with a tenacity bordering on psychopathology, I just remind them of FEMA’s response to Katrina.
And that Wal-Mart was better prepared to help victims than the government was.
This article from The Cato Institute talks about it:
For-profit businesses were also very important in the Katrina response. Insurance companies sent teams to affected areas to accelerate pay-outs to covered homeowners and to offer loans. Electric utilities rushed extra crews to disaster areas. During disasters, utilities have standing agreements with nearby utilities for mutual aid. Southern Company was well-prepared for Katrina based on its disaster plans and a large-scale prepositioning of people and assets.
Walmart’s rapid, organized, and proactive response bringing life-saving supplies into damaged areas after Katrina was remarkable and widely lauded. Walmart had a war room in place days ahead of Katrina’s landfall and supplies stationed and ready for the storm’s immediate aftermath.
Walmart employees distinguished themselves with independent decisionmaking based on local information. Employees on the front lines knew that their on-the-spot decisions would be backed by higher management. The Washington Postreported that within days, Walmart delivered “an unrivaled $20 million in cash donations, 1,500 truckloads of free merchandise, food for 100,000 meals and the promise of a job for every one of its displaced workers.”’
I could go on about this for days. At the time I still had contacts within the Libertarian Party of Florida who told me that they were smuggling in supplies by boat while avoiding police who expressly did not want outside help coming in.
What happened at New Orleans was beyond a tragedy. It was the horror of mismanagement endemic to governments. Those with a pretense of knowledge and the illusion of being in control will enforce those positions with every gun they can muster.