At the end of August, the U.S. suffered hurricane Katrina, the most destructive natural disaster in American history, which caused over 200 billion dollars damage and at least a million people displaced - a humanitarian crisis on a scale unseen in the U.S. since the Great Depression. The official death toll now reaches to 1080. To a Chinese, what shocked us most, I think, was not the hurricane's terrible destroy but the local effects, aftermath and response from the public and the government. Some people said New Orleans had become the hell full of looting and violence. As soon as Katrina left, some residents of New Orleans, including police officers, who remained in the city began looting stores, in search of food, water, drug, convenience, clothes, and jewelry etc. Some of them even shot at the relief organizations.
Tsunami is a natural phenomenon consisting of a series of waves generated when water in a lake or the sea is rapidly displaced on a massive scale. Earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and large meteorite impacts all have the potential to generate a tsunami. It gave us a great impression when it occurred in India Ocean, killed over 230,000 people and became the deadliest tsunami in recorded history.
What if we, that is Chinese people, are confronted with Katrina or Tsunami? In my opinion, we need to discuss the issue from two aspects, individuals and the nation.
As far as individuals are concerned, the most important thing is to make sure our own security. Then we could help others if we could. First of all, we need to be brave enough to avoid palpitating with fear and controlling nothing. Whatever the case may be, we should not lose hope for survival. According to researchers, in most time, despair is the main reason for death. Therefore if we have to face such catastrophes, do not fear, but exert our utmost skill to survive. Just remember not to hurt other people for our own security like animals.
We should obey the government’s orders, and pay a great attention to the forecasts and notices. Something which is not essential for living could be abandoned. The life is much more valuable than anything else, anyway.
Furthermore, if we want to do that well, some corresponding skills and first-aid trainings are necessary, which can tell us how to deal with emergencies, that is, bleeding, fracture, exanimation and so on. Do not despise these little tricks, which could save us sometimes.
All we talk about above only concerned about the behaviors of individuals evolved in the natural disasters. And now the question is what role the whole nation should play in them. Firstly, the government should attach enough importance to the catastrophes. We should believe in science. In normal times, sufficient human resources and financing should be invested on forecasting more accurately and reducing damage to lower level, which are due to our government with no surprise.
Then some indispensable preparations for them should be done in time, such as forecasts, relief materials, and executives etc. The effect of the government’s operations on residents’ psychology should not be ignored, which would give a great signal that you are never alone, and we are fighting the disaster with you, never give up.
As to China，I have confidence in her government’s conducting. As we well know, China often needs to face such emergencies, earthquakes, floods and typhoons and so on. Wherefore China can behave much better than the U.S did in Katrina, I suppose, because of our abundant experiences. Take 1998 flood of the Changjiang River for example. Though we have suffered the severest flood since one hundred years ago, the looting and violence seldom happened.
In a nutshell, if we are confronted with some catastrophes like Katrina or Tsunami, individuals and the government should trust each other and cooperate well to conquer them.