Force Majeure

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina seems to be getting exponentially worse. It seems strange that when you consider each piece of it - the flooding, the destruction, the desperation, the chaos - it seems predictable. Unlike the tsunami earlier this year, the events of the past few days don't come as a shock. That's probably the most heartbreaking part of this tragedy - it's all man-made. New Orleans was poorly planned (The Big Easy=The Big Bowl). The government put off correcting it like we procrastinate chores (see 2002 PBS special). And the fact that so many people stayed and survived is understandable, but arguably worse than a swift end.

At work, I sit right in front of the Sr. Director of Operations for the South. He has a fondness for conducting all of his business on speaker phone with his office door open. That means I get a first hand account of everything that is happening to the people in that region. I find a lot of things mind boggling, but the logistics behind helping people in Louisiana and Mississippi is ridiculous. Top priority was trying to contact all of the employees in that region. As of today, a few are still unaccounted for. Most of the rest of them have reported that their homes are gone - not "my carpet is ruined"... gone. Even though they have nothing left, they have been calling in and asking how they can help. Those who have access to a car or can get on a flight are going back into the region to work.

My company also organized a flight immediately into the area to deliver supplies. The most senior directors of our company loaded the plane and flew on the first flight. It took a while for them to calculate how to balance a jet loaded with cases of food and water instead of people and how much fuel they needed to carry to make stops in places like Gulfport and Mobile, but it was impossible to coordinate the actual flight path since the air traffic control towers in that area had been demolished. At one point, they finally got ahold of one of the airport directors. When asked what equipment they had left at the airport to help direct traffic, he said, "Well, we have a wind sock." Our Operations director responded, "Yeah, well I have a piece of paper too, but that's not going to help us avoid hitting a news chopper."


First Flight

Each flight in also meant they could ferry people out on the return flight. Since computers and phones don't work, they are actually handwriting boarding passes and trying to coordinate connecting flights in other cities by text messaging and calling on any employee's cellphone that can pick up a signal at that moment. They have a $4,000 satellite phone with them, but it is useless since it only works if you stand somewhere in the middle of the runway when the clouds part for a few minutes (which is apparently standard for satellite phones).

Needless to say, we will be feeling the effects of this disaster for many years to come, especially in Houston. I have never been a big fan of New Orleans, but it is hard to comprehend the fact that the city is not only gone, but it will never return. People are resilient though, if they choose to be. With every story of loss, there is a story of triumph over adversity and examples of incredible generosity.

Perhaps this sums it up. After the hurricane hit, no one was able to contact the Gulfport, Mississippi airport. A Continєntal jet flying over the area on its way to Newark sent out the following message, "Gulfport, are you there? Do you need help?" When the station finally responded that they were okay, the pilots radioed back, "We're thinking about you."