Elephant In Exile

As if 9/11 didn't teach us anything....

I, like most folks, remember the morning of 9/11/01 quite well. I was downtown for a job interview when someone ran into the office, tears streaming down their face to tell us that the building/city were being evacuated, a plane had hit the Pentagon, the World Trade Centers had collasped, and the various rumors of the day that a bomb had exploded at the State Depatment, the Washington Monument was on fire and the (former) U.S.A. Today building had been hit aswell.

What struck me when I got out to the street was both the frenzy of people trying to get home to their loved ones and the realitivly quiet manner in which it was proceeding. But one factor stood out above all others...that day I saw no DC police, or federal police, in fact average citizens and even some homeless folks had taken to directing traffic. The authorities, it seems were all engaged in helping protect and evacuate members of Congress. Helicopters were everywhere as were loud and low flying f-16s. But us residents and worker bees were pretty much on our own.

Seems that Katrina, and the failures associated with it, have caused DC to re-examine its evacuation policy. Probably a good exercise, but most likely futile....