merrigold
03.09.05, 01:04
By Lesley Wroughton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Images of desperate people clamoring for food dropped
from military helicopters, armed soldiers in the streets and bodies floating
in fetid water are usually associated with the world's poorest countries.
But this time, the scenes of death and despair are coming from a major city
in the world's richest economy.
The suffering of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has shaken even
hardened development experts at the World Bank, who deal with extreme poverty
and disaster daily.
"In many ways this is turned into a developing country," said Margaret
Arnold, the World Bank's natural disaster expert, who has dealt with some of
the world's biggest natural disasters, including the Asian tsunami.
"I am shocked that this is happening in the U.S."
Arnold said Americans must take a hard look at how events have unfolded in
the past few days.
"When all of this has calmed down, a lot of U.S. cities will have to do some
real soul-searching," she said.
Arnold, whose sister lost her home in the hurricane, said it was clear the
city was unprepared to weather the storm, although officials had long warned
such a disaster was inevitable.
She believes that even in some of the world's poorest nations, where
disasters are commonplace, government officials would have moved more quickly
to evacuate people.
"One thing we tell our client countries is to have clear institutional
arrangements in place for having rapid response and effective coordination,"
Arnold said.
"This has been the first real test since FEMA (U.S. Federal Emergency
Management Agency) was put under Homeland Security and obviously it didn't
work and I think they will want to reexamine how they respond to disasters."
