Safety, for a price?

In the past week, Americans have demonstrated their gift for translating natural human empathy for the victims of Hurricane Katrina to donations of money and elbow grease -- the thousands of volunteers working to assist Katrina victims hail from dozens of religious groups, philanthropic organizations and conscientious businesses. But Hurricane Katrina has exposed debilitating weaknesses in more than just the levees of New Orleans. \nCity officials' responses to Hurricane Katrina last week took for granted the safety of poor New Orleans inhabitants at a time when the poor were in the most potential danger from the storm.\nNeighborhoods of those living below the poverty line, most of which were black neighborhoods, were among those nearest the levees that ruptured. \nIronically, the inhabitants of these neighborhoods were those who also could not afford transportation out of the city. Both their dangerous position near the levees and inability to travel trapped many poor New Orleans residents in a struggle for their lives. Those who escaped their houses fled as refugees to the Superdome, where they were met with quickly diminishing supplies of food and water, along with unbearable sanitation conditions. Even in the last push to remove victims of Hurricane Katrina from the hell the Superdome had become, guests and staff members of hotels like the Hyatt were bused out first on Saturday. Those not lucky enough -- or affluent enough -- to gain affiliation with a hotel were kept at the back of the evacuation line. \nThe devastation to poor black communities in New Orleans could have been reduced if Mayor Ray Nagin had followed up his evacuation request by ensuring those without the means to secure transportation had a way out of what would become a death trap. Safety should not have been a condition of a citizen's monetary significance. \nPresident Bush has stated no one knew the levees would be breached, absolving city officials of blame. An Army Corps of Engineers District Report released in May, however, pointed out that lack of funding would prevent New Orleans from making necessary upgrades to deal with hurricanes above Category 3. Hurricane Katrina was a Category 4 when it hit New Orleans. \nThe safety of the levee system was questionable before Hurricane Katrina hit, and evacuation of the neighborhoods near the levees was necessary. While the total number of casualties in New Orleans is not yet known, poor victims of Hurricane Katrina had questionable odds when left to find strategies for survival with severely limited resources.\nThe consequences of this inexcusable neglect should dictate future efforts to place equal priority on protecting all citizens from the effects of natural disasters. The suffering of the poor of New Orleans has turned the spotlight once again on the separate nation of poverty the United States often ignores. Americans shocked by similarities between media images of Hurricane Katrina's effects and those often shuttered in developing countries will do well to remember that none of us are immune to the wrath of Mother Nature, and all of us are entitled to the respect due to human life -- free of charge.