The highest-quality relief work down here - for both Katrina and Rita - is being done by private citizens. This must be a universal rule of disaster response.
No matter FEMA; no matter the Coast Guard; no matter the National Guard or the US Armed Forces; no matter the State of Louisiana; no matter The Red Cross; no matter the Salvation Army; no matter the Sheriff, or Mayor, or Parish President, or United Way, or newspapers or TV stations or radio stations or churches - although each of these institutions provide valuable, life-saving help at times.
From my perspective as someone who has lived through plenty of these disasters, and who has worked on the front lines of disasters as a volunteer relief worker, a television reporter/anchor, a print journalist, a school teacher, and a member of local government,
I want to first praise - before any of the aforementioned sources of help - the remarkable resilience, patience, resourcefulness, tirelessness, and all-around loving concern that everyday people bring to a disaster.
Lesson? Get to know your neighbors better than you know them now.
They are your best insurance policy, period.
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