Katrina was not an anti-9/11, as some say. In this view, the chaos in New Orleans was the evil twin of the rescue work and civic order seen in New York four years ago. Americans emerged from 9/11 heartbroken, but proud. Scenes of prolonged hurt and mayhem in New Orleans left them angry and embarrassed. This tale of two cities was a story of competent government versus the other kind.
I hold little affection for the crowd now running Washington. And like many, I regard the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s late and disorganized response to the crisis in New Orleans as a disgrace. But the disasters themselves were very different. Honesty requires recognizing that fact.
In New Orleans, Mother Nature proved she could be as vicious as any terrorist. But Mother Nature does not hide in sleeper cells. Everyone knew that Katrina was coming. Evacuating people is chiefly the job of local government. In this duty, New Orleans and Louisiana failed miserably. New York was never put to that test. It is hard to move out of New York on an ordinary business day. One can’t imagine what a real evacuation would have looked like.
9/11 came out of the clear blue. I was in Manhattan on that day. The event, though immensely traumatizing, was fast and contained. New York’s police, fire and medical personnel worked tirelessly, with unforgettable valor. But after the towers collapsed, there were, sadly, few people to save.
With airports, buses and trains out of service, and traffic out of Manhattan limited, there was definitely an eerie feeling of being trapped. But New Yorkers had no sense of social isolation.
Few residents lost telephone service or electricity. People could watch television. They learned that America was with them and that Mayor Giuliani was in charge. Even his dry listing of subways still running served as a comforting message: Life was going on.
All communications collapsed in New Orleans. That left Mayor Ray Nagin, a newcomer with a promising future, little opportunity to lead. And the people stuck in town had no idea that the world was following their travails.
On the night of 9/11, New Yorkers could go out to restaurants, had they the stomach to eat anything. Bloomingdale’s was open the day after. Shoppers were depressed, but the few who ventured forth were free to buy their fall wardrobes. The curtains rose on Broadway. Some hardened theatergoers actually used the 9/11 pall as an opportunity to snare hard-to-get tickets.
The race aspect of the two disasters was utterly different. 9/11 was a time of racial unity. The victims in New Orleans were mostly poor and black. In New York, bond traders making seven figures perished alongside kitchen workers earning in the low fives. And they were joined in sacrifice by fire, police and medical personnel bravely trying to save others. Suspicion fell on people of Mideast origins. For once, many blacks said, the dragnet swept past African-Americans.
Crime fell on 9/11, which some said reflected New York’s strong civic culture. But one wonders what might have happened in New York, even in the better neighborhoods, had people been cut off from the world – had they felt forgotten and abandoned, and left to rot in a putrid sports stadium.
There was little support from Washington, moral or otherwise, on that disastrous day, even on television. Giuliani’s was the voice of authority. The only significant federal presence was the Air Force fighters buzzing over the city. That sound was welcome, to be sure. But the on-the-ground work was almost entirely shouldered by the city workers.
On 9/11, the great failing of the federal government was not one of rescue, but of prevention. To this day, reports of pre-9/11 incompetence and laziness in the intelligence community continue to pile up. Not entirely trusting the federal government to protect the city against terrorism, the New York Police Department now runs its own little CIA, with detectives posted in foreign countries.
Here is the truly big difference between the disasters in New Orleans and New York: The mistakes made in New Orleans are unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. Another 9/11 can happen tomorrow. The dread felt in New Orleans will fade into history. That of New York never ends.
Froma Harrop is a Providence Journal columnist. Contact her by writing to fharrop@projo.com.
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