Lessons From Katrina
New Orleans and surrounding areas were a complete mess in so many ways after Katrina; but they did have a lot of lessons preppers can learn from. My friend Doc was called into the disaster response early on and spent several weeks working in the worst areas. I asked her what she’d learned from the experience that was prepper-relevant, and here were the main ideas she wanted to share.
Many of the dead perished because they wouldn’t leave their pets
A surprising number of the fatalities of Katrina were found in their attics. They lived below the ocean level but would not evacuate because the evacuation buses and centers would not let them bring their pets. They stayed until the levees broke, climbed to the highest point in their houses, and were drowned when the water came up that high. In an ironic twist, most of the pets were not with their owners in the attics.
Some people would literally rather risk death than leave their pets. How about planning so that choice isn’t necessary?
That problem has been lessoned, as many of the disaster responders noticed this and encouraged change. Relief organizations for both animals and people now have some plans for helping people with pets evacuate safely. The point here is, do You have plans that accommodate your pets? There’s a post here with some ideas on the subject.
Don’t think you’re immune to disaster
Doc’s team needed to travel a ways through the trashed area to get to their assignment. Other team members laughed at her for grabbing a case of bottled water and some ration packs. It was the victims that needed such things; they were the medical responders! … They still ate the food and drank the water when road conditions kept them from returning to base.
That’s one danger I suspect preppers are at risk for. Hey, we’re *prepared* for disasters, right? We can’t forget that some disasters are better left behind, and that some problems can’t be solved by stored food and and some skills.
Group Think is a disaster in itself
Most people tend to normalcy bias anyway, but there are two conditions, more than any others, that people reported to Doc as reasons why they didn’t think it was a big enough deal to bother evacuating.
One big factor was how many of their neighbors were leaving. Some stayed just because their neighbors stayed, even though they were in sight of the levee and could see it wasn’t the safest neighborhood in the city just then. They’d have saved themselves a bad time if they’d followed their own good sense.
The other factor Doc noticed — sorry guys; it’s her observation; I’m just calling it like she saw it — was the testosterone effect. In a group of guys, none of them wanted to be the voice of caution. I suspect they were less afraid of the disaster than of looking afraid to the other guys. Well enough, until it got in the way of a reasonable response. In her own response group, it did end up being the only woman who bothered to bring supplies or suggest that it might be wise to check the tire that had been flat at the beginning of the day.
Don’t let the group think for you.
Disasters brought out the worst in people
This one surprised me; I’ve always considered the ‘wild west lawlessness’ aspect overdone in prepper thoughts and literature. Nevertheless, Doc saw a lot of aggression and threatened violence. This wasn’t only true in the areas that were still in very bad shape with people in great need; it was also happening in back areas that were upset but not devastated or flooded.
She even had a gun pulled on her for no apparent reason – the kid (and it was a kid) wasn’t trying to rob her or make a sexual attack either; apparently he just wanted to instill fear. It takes a pretty strong breakdown of normal controls to have this happen on an open street in broad daylight *with her security team less than fifty feet away, also in plain sight*. Yep, it was so bad the medical response teams had to have private bodyguards from Blackwater accompany the teams.
Two weeks and two guns for regional disasters
A flood of donated goods followed hard on the flood of lower New Orleans, but it did take some time to get it distributed. Doc’s recommendation for this sort of regional disaster was a couple of weeks worth of supplies and a couple of guns to deal with the increased aggression.
Isolation gear takes a lot of practice to be dependable
Some of you may have those Tyvek isolation suits. Salty and I have a few ourselves, and have watched the YouTube videos on doff and don. Well, Doc was considerably better trained than that, but still found it difficult to do it properly, every time, when real risks were on the line. That was common on her team; there were potential exposures until everyone had a lot of practice in.
Don’t imagine a YouTube video is going to make you able to doff and don one of these reliably.
Minor things you might not think of in disaster preparedness
Here are some items both the victims and the responders wished they had more of on hand that wouldn’t be obvious to every prepper:
- Laxatives. Stress makes people constipated.
- Beano. Seriously. That whole ‘beans and rice’ stereotype was What’s For Dinner for the first three weeks.
- Birth control. Danger and awareness of death spikes people’s sex drives.
Bonus tip: High-rise disasters
Since she was providing me ideas on preparedness, Doc wanted to put out one that’s not from her Katrina experiences. Instead, it’s based on a fire that happened when she lived in a high-rise building. The place caught on fire and the top floors filled with smoke. Doc herself was about the last person to successfully escape…but she wasn’t the last person in the building.
She was able to make it out because she happened to be very familiar with the fire exits, as she’d used them for exercise when time was tight. That was important when the smoke got too think to see and the power was out. Still, it was a near thing, lungs not being all that fond of smoke.
If she ever lives in such a place again, she’s going to have an emergency air supply. I told her about a diver favorite called Spare Air. Ok, it’s not really a diver favorite; a lot of us make fun of it because it’s too little when you’re at depth taking in five times as much air with each breath. On the surface though, it’s a useful amount with its own regulator. An airtight mask (such as a scuba mask) to keep you seeing the light would be a good accompaniment.
Doc recommends an air supply if you live in a high-rise.
Note: We have no financial interest in any product mentioned. Additionally, some of this information was previously published on 3BY in a different form.
Thank you Doc for sharing your Katrina experience. I am wondering how briefly you mentioned the gun being pulled on you. Did you talk him down or did the kid simply lose interest noticing your security team or what? De-escalation is a skill I’ve found very useful in 3rd world countries I’ve done medical missions in.
Spare Air webpage I notice has Rescue Air package for a fire situation. Looks very interesting.
Thanks again
Since Doc checks in on us only periodically (and definitely didn’t while this was posted; we were off hiking together), allow me to pass along a bit more of the story.
The person who pulled a gun on her was a young guy, maybe fifteen. She didn’t think he’d shoot her if she just left. So she just left. Her security team was not in sight at the time.
She just left? Sometimes it’s good to be lucky. I’ve been blessed with more than my fair share of luck as a medic in dangerous situations. But then again I have several injuries that every weather change reminds me of my luck.
I wonder if Doc has any more to add to this situation as lessons learned maybe for the rest of us?
I have invited her to write for us … and in case you’re reading today, Doc, the invitation definitely stands. Until then, I’m happy to relay what I can.
I suspect that political correctness is at work here. Either that or there is a failure to recognize an issue. Given the nature of the neighborhood populations that were hit the hardest in New Orleans, I suspect that much of the unwillingness to evacuate was based on the fact that many people realized that leaving their worldly possessions behind would leave their property vulnerable to theft and looting. Those who did remain behind could then engage in such behavior with impunity. Pre-Katrina, the Ninth Ward was one important reason that New Orleans never scored well on the list of “America’s Safest Cities.”
The massive wildfires that struck Southern California perhaps nine years ago resulted in an evacuation order for large portions of San Diego County. My friend refused to evacuate. (He correctly calculated that his area was not nearly as vulnerable to wildfire as many others were, and he rejected the “one size fits all” indiscriminate order that is issued so often in disasters.)
He had a very long driveway that went to his property. He was outside walking around in the smoke at some point for some reason and looked down the driveway only to see a vehicle coming up the driveway. When he turned to see who was approaching, he exposed the semi-automatic pistol he was wearing on his side. The car stopped, and then began to back down the long driveway through the smoke. It was his belief that only because the vehicle occupants saw him, and particularly saw his pistol, that the occupants did not visit his property.
The “Normalcy Bias” is always a huge issue in reactions to pending disasters. Perhaps the “testosterone” issue that “Doc” noticed was simple common sense based on a more keen assessment of the risk of leaving worldly possessions behind to be plundered.
Men are more likely to have the physical abilities to survive physical threats than women, something that may be another politically incorrect view. It is an unarguable fact of human nature that men do not view threats to themselves nearly as seriously as women do (for young males this is doubly so), and, while they often pay the price for their decision, they will often engage in more risky behavior and get away with it.
Doc’s assessments may not be correct but you can count on them to be honest. They were based on her talking to residents. Were they being straight with a stranger from up north? Who knows.
Y-all want a Lessons From Katrina???
Think on the rules of Threes
3 seconds without reacting
3 minutes without breathing
3 hours without shelter
3 days without clean drinking water
3 weeks without food
So-on and so-on
It took 5 DAYS for the .gov and FEMA to get clean drinking water to the Super Dome for thousands of people after Kat hit and people were instructed to go to the Super Dome for their “safety”; All along .gov agency pointing the finger at each other.
Look up the stats and events, a complete disaster, an embarrassment to the FEMA community, yet they still believe they are the “authority”.
Question is, who are you going to trust? And depend on when Katrina type event returns?
Honestly we as a country are GREALY un-prepared for a large scaled event.
The article touches on normalcy bias, and “the testosterone effect”, do NOT allow others to ‘think’ for you.
You MUST be responsible for yourself; welcome others input, realize the consequences of your OWN actions, don’t become a shepple and just “go along”.
Thank you “Doc” for the insight, hopefully others will heed your words.
No, Spare Air is not good for emergencies in a fire. A compressed, pressurized tank in a high heat environment? Are you crazy? I don’t need to be graphic in what can happen, you should be able to connect the dots. Before you say “well fire fighters wear SCBA tanks” you’re right, they do. And there is a huge difference between SCBA tanks that fire fighters wear and the SCUBA tanks that divers wear. Most importantly, SCBA tanks that are certified by the NFPA are designed for high heat environments. There is a reason that fire fighters wear full masks and not just a mouthpiece. If you are concerned for fire, there are plenty of emergency filters on the market which will allow you to escape a fire. Far cheaper and safer than Spare Air.
You make a good point. I don’t think it’d be that dangerous — the SCUBA tanks all have ‘burst disks’ that are like breakers, designed to fail when the pressure gets too high to forestall a more catastrophic fail, and the temps a human body could take are probably within the pressure tolerances of the tank. But I had to use those ‘don’t think’ and ‘probably’ terms in there, and it would stink on ice to be wrong. I’d use it if I kept a Spare Air around for SCUBA (they’re not a great answer for that either so I don’t); but you’re right about it not being the best answer.
Spice I am still hoping for more of Doc’s information about walking away from that armed young man during Katrina.
I think Doc’s insight in many areas would be valuable.
Also Spice while it’s been far too long since I was certified by SSI to remember the SCUBA air calculations I suspect the Escape air bottle would last a lot longer at sea level than 120 feet under water. I remember when I snorkel dived just using the tank when something interesting was spotted a single standard tank could keep me all day. Important when your sailing in the US Virgin Islands as I did not have easy tank refill available and the SCUBA gear could pay for a lot of my sailing expenses between fresh fish and recovering lost anchors and such.
Man I miss that beach bumming….