INTERESTED IN DISASTER PREPAREDNESS? Check out Bill Quick’s discussion forum.

Related: Some recommended hurricane-prep supplies.

When Bill wrote to thank me for plugging his forum a while back, I explained that I want to make sure that any post-apocalyptic world contains a disproportionate number of InstaPundit readers. This is probably more sensible than my old plan involving bikini models.

HURRICANE KATRINA, Five Years Later.

And while we’re reminiscing, let’s remember Lou Dolinar’s expose of how the media blew it.

MORE ON THE HURRICANE IKE AFTERMATH: Here’s some USGS aerial photography. And here are some pics on hurricane damage at the Galveston Railroad Museum. Plus, here’s a photo slideshow of damage.

Houstonian Steven Selbe emails: “Not to pat ourselves on the back (I’m a Houstonian), but, unlike Katrina, we aren’t standing around asking ‘where’s the government to fix everything.’ I would say power is back to about 50% of the area, gas was short but is getting better. We all helped each other to clean up (there is a lot of big debris to be picked up but we are patient) and now having taken the punch Houston is getting back to work (I have been back at work for 3 days despite no power at home).”

And reader David Whidden writes:

I saw that you linked to an old Galveston Daily News article that a reader sent you, but unfortunately it is already out of date. As this article from yesterday indicates, that media blackout has already been rescinded. It turns out that the mayor was actually just really busy and decided that her time was better spent elsewhere. Compare her actions to Ray Nagin and his hour long interview on NPR – which one was really serving their city more effectively?

Since Monday they’ve already restored water to all of the areas behind the Seawall (an 11 mile stretch) and a phased return will be started next week.

Maybe the reason there isn’t much news out of Galveston is that there is a functional city government down there that is making responsible choices, albeit with an occasional mistake, and doing everything they can to get their city up and going again. Life is going to be rough there for a while, but in comparison to the clowns who were in charge in New Orleans, the people of Galveston have done a remarkable job so far. They aren’t whining about what their problems are, they are just solving the problems. And, if they can solve their problems on their own, why would the press write about that?

Yeah, that’s no fun. Reader Daniel Kauffmann writes:

Regarding the lesser coverage of Ike vs. Katrina:

First note that I am a former New Orleans resident. I left in 1991, in part because it was apparent that in the event of the eventual natural disaster, evacuation would not be possible on the short notice that hurricanes give; in part because of the glaring ineptness of the City of New Orleans to deal with routine crime, civic, and economic needs – much less a major problem; and in part because of the mindset of about half of the New Orleans populace, “I have a problem and you must help me.”

I currently reside in the countryside an hour north of Houston. Many of the folks that I work with commute from Houston or points in between. Most of us have been dealing without power (and water if on a well, such as I). One coworker had a large oak tree come through her roof, another had three large oaks that totally demolished her home. Of the hundred or more persons I’ve spoken to since Ike came through, one, ONLY one, has said anything about FEMA or the government having any responsibility to help.

The difference is that simple, Ike is not newsworthy because there are no clamoring masses demanding assistance (and blaming Bush because it wasn’t here yesterday). Folks hereabouts wear boots. Boots have bootstraps, and we know how to use them. Ike has been awful. We’ve simply chosen to deal with it. We are extremely grateful for any and all assistance, but recognize that it is our problem, not that of others.

And reader Anthony Dye offers a similar explanation for the low-key coverage:

My theory: It’s because the Republican Governor has handled the response fantastically. Yes there are shortages here and there, but he learned lessons from Rita and put them into practice. In other words, the disaster is bad news but the response has been a positive for the people affected, for a Red State, and for the Texas GOP. They’re showing what “compassionate conservatism” was supposed to look like, and nobody in the media wants to make a Republican look good right now.

The view from Austin, TX is that everyone is doing everything humanly possible to help, and largely succeeding in delivering that help – even to the thousands of imbeciles who stayed through the storm and had to be evacuated afterwards.

Imbeciles, indeed.

UPDATE: A pack, not a herd. Reader Brandon Haber writes:

More from a Houston resident – I work for Johnson Space Center. A few other NASA folks put together a list of volunteers and people in need, and down here, lots of people had a foot or more of water in their house. They’ve organized roving bands of 8-12 of us, going around to houses and tearing down walls, removing carpet, cutting down trees, you name it. We’ve probably done more for people than FEMA, all organized on the spur of the moment. My hats off to the rest of the volunteers, and many others like them. I’m new to Houston, and the amazing citizen’s response to Ike has just reaffirmed why I love living here. The damage is staggering, but then, so is the spirit of this great city.

That’s how it should work.

INSTA-POLL: In light of Hurricane Gustav.

IF YOU’RE IN GUSTAV’S PATH, IT’S TOO LATE for this stuff, but here’s a roundup on disaster preparedness. It’s not like Gustav will be the last hurricane.

PHOTO: Why you should do your disaster preparedness in advance.

ANOTHER BIG Disaster-Preparedness List. Lots of interesting stuff here. There’s more (a lot more) to disaster preparedness than just buying things, but it’s true that anything you’re going to want to buy needs to be bought before the disaster. Still, you need to acquire skills and knowledge, not just stuff, in advance of a tornado, hurricane, earthquake, or whatever. (Here’s a roundup of some books on that subject). And for less cataclysmic disasters, this book is good.

FORECAST FOR 2008: A 100% chance of alarmism.

I don’t know if disaster will come by flood or drought, hurricane or blizzard, fire or ice. Nor do I have any idea how much the planet will warm this year or what that means for your local forecast. Long-term climate models cannot explain short-term weather.

But there’s bound to be some weird weather somewhere, and we will react like the sailors in the Book of Jonah. When a storm hit their ship, they didn’t ascribe it to a seasonal weather pattern. They quickly identified the cause (Jonah’s sinfulness) and agreed to an appropriate policy response (throw Jonah overboard).

Today’s interpreters of the weather are what social scientists call availability entrepreneurs: the activists, journalists and publicity-savvy scientists who selectively monitor the globe looking for newsworthy evidence of a new form of sinfulness, burning fossil fuels. . . . When the Arctic sea ice last year hit the lowest level ever recorded by satellites, it was big news and heralded as a sign that the whole planet was warming. When the Antarctic sea ice last year reached the highest level ever recorded by satellites, it was pretty much ignored. A large part of Antarctica has been cooling recently, but most coverage of that continent has focused on one small part that has warmed.

This is why it’s fun to point to unusually cold weather — because it forces them to respond that weather isn’t the same as climate.

UPDATE: In that spirit: Record snowfall in New Hampshire. “Today’s snowstorm made this month the snowiest December in New Hampshire in more than a century.”

“WELCOME TO NON-NEW ORLEANS:” Bill Bradley reports from the SoCal fires. Hmm. Hurricane Charley in Florida went okay. Katrina response in Mississippi was a lot better than in New Orleans. Now California seems to be dealing with this disaster competently. What could explain these differences?

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS UPDATE:

Most people along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts haven’t made hurricane survival plans, despite pleas from emergency officials for residents to prepare before the season starts, according to a poll released Thursday. . . .

One forecaster said odds were high that a major hurricane would hit the U.S. this year.

Nevertheless, 53% of people surveyed in 18 Atlantic and Gulf Coast states say they don’t feel that they are vulnerable to a hurricane, or to related tornadoes and flooding, according to the Mason-Dixon poll. Eighty-eight percent said they had not taken any steps to fortify their homes.

Officials encourage a 3-day stock of food and water. That’s not really enough,”But 61% of poll respondents had no hurricane survival kit. Of those who did, 82% packed a fire hazard — candles or kerosene lamps. Missing from most of those kits were axes, which emergency officials recommended after many residents were trapped in their attics as they tried to escape the flooding following Hurricane Katrina.”

You should have at least a week’s worth of nonperishable food and medicine, and you should have a bag packed with essentials in case you have to evacuate. And that’s regardless of whether you live in a hurricane zone. More here. Also here.

And are candles bad? Judging by the picture, you need them for a proper hurricane meal presentation. Standards must be upheld!

A TRADITION OF COMPETENCE IN FLORIDA:

Gov. Charlie Crist handled the first natural disaster since taking office quickly and compassionately, and his concern and leadership in the wake of a deadly tornado earned him respect from other officials Saturday.

Crist took office Jan. 2, replacing Gov. Jeb Bush, who was universally praised in Florida for the way he guided the state through eight hurricanes in two years. Now Crist is responding to his first major weather-related test, a tornado that struck early Friday and killed at least 20 and destroyed or severely damaged about 1,500 homes.

Louisiana, not so much.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: My mention of Consumer Reports’ article on the subject led to an email from a staffer at the magazine, who noted that they have this online guide to disaster and emergency preparedness too. No subscription required.

NO, THERE AREN’T MANY HURRICANES. But that could change. They could rev up anytime. Yessirree, any old time at all. . . .

Yeah, they do seem a little bit desperate here (which is not to mock Alberto’s fierce wrath). But hey, you can only milk JonBenet so long.

And anyway, for some reason (fear of an Iranian apocalypse tomorrow?) people want my disaster preparedness post again. It’s right here.

UPDATE: Brendan Loy thinks that things may actually be about to heat up.

If that happens, I’ll blame James Wolcott. But will that help the Republicans again?

WITH BLACKOUTS IN ST. LOUIS AND NEW YORK, and hurricane season still looming, it’s time to talk disaster preparedness again. Here’s a blackout survival guide from Popular Mechanics, and here are some guidelines for safe home generator usage. Still more on disaster preparedness from the PM folks can be found here.

Here’s a disaster survival kit put together by Target and the American Red Cross, and here’s a somewhat more comprehensive one, though both lack sufficient food and water. I’ve got this emergency radio and it seems to be pretty good. You should have at least a week’s worth of those. There’s some good advice on other items — and be sure to keep a stash of cash in small bills — from Amy Langfield, too.

For general knowledge, you can’t do better than the U.S. Army Survival Manual, though it’s not really adapted to disaster recovery. There’s lots of good information here, though. I haven’t read this book, but it sounds pretty good. There are also a lot of useful recommendations from the American Red Cross. And here’s more from Winds of Change.

I will stress, though, that as important as having adequate supplies is, it’s not enough to buy stuff. You’ve got to think ahead, and acquire the basic skills to get along in times of trouble. The books help, of course, but there’s more to it than that. With luck, any effort you put into this will be entirely wasted. If you’re unlucky, you’ll get to use it. But that’s still a lot luckier than needing those supplies and skills, but never having bothered to acquire them.

Meanwhile, some earlier posts that you may find useful are here and here.

UPDATE: Here’s a worthwhile post from Les Jones, and here’s some useful information from the Mormons, who take this subject seriously.

NEW YEAR’S IN NEW ORLEANS: “This weekend, New Orleans got what it has been missing since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city four months ago: tourists.”

I’ve heard some people suggest that this sort of thing is inappropriate, and that we shouldn’t encourage crass capitalism at the scene of such a disaster (we heard similar sentiments after the Indian Ocean tsunami), but that seems like a terrible argument to me. You can’t do much without an economy, and staying away out of “respect” is the surest way to kill the place off.

The Association of American Law Schools had to move its conference (which is this week) from New Orleans to D.C., but to its credit the AALS only did so after making sure that there was just no way to hold it at its planned venue. Me, I’m glad the New Year’s celebrations went smoothly, and I wish ’em well for Mardi Gras.

UPDATE: New Orleans reader Beth Blankenship emails:

Thanks for your item on New Year’s in New Orleans. My partner and I, along with two other couples, spent the night in the Quarter, paid way too much for a very nice meal at a verrrrrry nice restaurant (Susan Spicer’s Bayona), and we’re locals. I can testify that there were indeed tourists in town, but lots of local accents filled the air as we crossed Bourbon Street after midnight.

Yes, we need tourists. It’s our main business. It’s important, too, that people see what has happened here, that we are resiliant and determined to endure, and that New Orleans is a place worth saving.

Mardi Gras will be strange, but I’m looking forward to it. I know of many expatriate New Orleanians planning to come for at least part of it. The good thing is we expect there’ll be less of the “Girls Gone Wild!” aspect and more of the old-fashioned family party.

And come Spring, be on the lookout for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. It’s much better than Mardi Gras.

Indeed. And Barry Dauphin emails:

Thanks for the comment about people visiting New Orleans. I was just in again at Christmas. Disaster tourism is good for the economy and a good way for people to see up close what happened. Of course, there
is something mildly creepy about it, but I think its advantages far outweigh the downsides. I think they should keep the disaster tours going until there’s no more disaster remnants left to see. If people want to help New Orleans, they should make a trip down there, stay in a hotel, take a disaster tour, eat, drink, shop, frolic, have fun and spend money. Ultimately that is what the area needs, i.e., more economic activity. Let the market work.

Free minds and free markets, that’s my motto. And, just to show that silliness knows no bounds, reader Alan Martin reaches into the past:

IIRC, during the peak of the famines in the Horn of Africa, the sensitives of Boston avoided the few local Ethopian/Eritrean restaurants, out of “respect”.

As the story goes, restaurateurs’ pocketbooks were not amused.

We can all do without that kind of respect.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader David Dayen points out that the Democrats are holding their spring meeting in New Orleans. Hardly an act of disinterested generosity, but praiseworthy nonetheless.

POPULAR MECHANICS has been doing an in-depth investigation of the Katrina disaster, and posting reports to its blog in advance of a big forthcoming article. Here’s one:

To understand the full impact of Katrina, you have to make a distinction between New Orleans and the rest of the region. New Orleans suffered devastating inundation due to the various levee breaks, but wind damage was moderate. When you fly over the city, you see a patchwork of blue FEMA-supplied tarps on roofs. But the real damage came from below as floodwaters from failed levees rose and quietly soaked homes through and through. Only in areas where the levee failures were particularly sudden and intense—like the Industrial Canal and the 17th Street Levee—were houses physically demolished.

Outside the city you see a different story. We drove east out of the city on I-10, crossing over the famous twin-span bridge across Lake Ponchartrain. (Today it is a crowded single span as cre