The effects of hurricane Katrina on New Orleans will clearly last for many years. However, the response by the authorities there is sure to make the human side of the disaster last even longer. When people are hit by such tragic events they want to feel cared for. There is a huge psychological requirement for attention in such circumstances. But here we are three days after the event - which had been predicted a week before hand - and the authorities are focusing on law and order. What this means is that the people affected by the hurricane will perceive the very people who could help them - Government and local authorities - as uncaring and uninterested in their real plight. Indeed, the perceived lack of care started well before the hurricane hit. Little appears to have been done in terms of planning to cope with the effects of Katrina. A last minute plea to evacuate the City was all that appears to have been done. To the people of New Orleans that seems like too little, too late. In a part of the USA which has a large population of relatively poor people, that could seem to them even worse - the rest of the USA not really bothering with them. Clearly the public does care - they are arranging help, accepting people into their homes and so on. But it's the reaction of the authorities which could have a lasting impact. The fact that they seem uncaring and that it feels like little attention is being paid to the victims, means that trust will be eroded in the long term. Caring for others and showing you care for them is one of the main ways to build trust. Responding by a 'shoot to kill' policy is hardly likely to be seen as caring by the people of New Orleans. Neither is the Federal Government's tardy response. |
