Incompetence or Culpable Negligence?
Be Prepared for Both
Many people continue to believe that the government would never harm the citizens it is meant to serve, that the media doesn’t spread propaganda, & that those in positions of authority are genuinely qualified for their roles. However, if you’ve been paying attention, it’s clear these assumptions are far from true. When it comes to so-called "natural disasters," even a little research reveals a troubling reality: not only were these events allowed to happen, but the pre-existing conditions that enabled them were cultivated & warned about long before the crisis unfolded.
Culpable Negligence: Culpable negligence a type of negligence that involves a reckless disregard for the safety of others and the consequences of one's actions. It's also known as criminal negligence, gross negligence, or reckless negligence.
Disaster: Hurricane Katrina
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided warnings about the vulnerability of New Orleans' levee system before Hurricane Katrina to include the following:
Levee System Design Flaws: The Corps acknowledged that the levee system was not designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. There were known weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the system, including areas where the levees could be overtopped or breached by storm surge.
Subsidence and Sea Level Rise: The Corps was aware of the ongoing subsidence (sinking of land) in the New Orleans area, which increased the risk of flooding. They also recognized the potential impact of sea level rise on the levee system's effectiveness.
Inadequate Funding: The Corps had expressed concerns about insufficient funding for levee maintenance and improvements. This lack of funding contributed to delays in critical projects and left the system more vulnerable.
Budget Misallocations by Mayor Nagin:
While the Army Corps of Engineers warned about the levee system's limitations, budget misallocations by then-Mayor Ray Nagin's administration further exacerbated the situation:
Prioritizing Other Projects: The city diverted funds away from essential levee maintenance and drainage projects to focus on other initiatives, such as tourism and economic development. This neglect of critical infrastructure left the city more exposed to flooding.
Mismanagement of Funds: There were allegations of mismanagement and inefficiency in the allocation of funds for infrastructure projects. This resulted in delays, cost overruns, and incomplete work, further compromising the city's flood defenses.
Consequences:
The combination of the known vulnerabilities in the levee system and the budget misallocations contributed significantly to the devastating flooding that occurred during Hurricane Katrina. The levee failures led to widespread inundation, causing immense property damage, displacement of residents, and loss of life.
Disaster: Maui/Lahaina Fires
From my previous Substack article regarding the Maui/Lahaina Fires:
From reading this resident’s testimony, we can scrutinize the highlighted information regarding the fire/electrical grid:
Local Government/Utility Services -
Failed to upgrade the electrical infrastructure despite prior knowledge & commonplace of electrical fires.
Placed the blame on “lack of funding” & needing a “disaster” to bring funding awareness to the issue.
Failed to shut off power supply to antiquated “nest of wires” power lines.
Shut off water supply to residences - this decision should have been left to individual households & most certainly firefighters
Unreliable cellular coverage in disaster situations
Local & Federal Government/Emergency Services -
Intentional failure to alert the residents of life-threatening hazards.
Poorly handled road closure & traffic congestion situations
Disaster: Western North Carolina - Hurricane Helene
There were reports of significant issues in the disaster response following Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. Here's a breakdown of the levels of incompetence:
Inadequate Initial Response: There were concerns about the speed and scale of the initial response from both state and federal agencies. Some residents felt that aid was slow to arrive, leaving communities to rely on themselves in the immediate aftermath. President Biden did not visit the area until five days after the storm wreaked havoc on the area. The United Cajun Navy, Samaritan’s Purse, the Amish community, & other volunteer organizations were the real first responders to get any aid to the people of Western North Carolina. They went to places FEMA deemed ‘inaccessible’.
Communication Breakdown: Reports indicate a lack of clear and consistent communication between different levels of government, as well as with the public. This led to confusion about available resources, evacuation orders, and the overall recovery plan.
Resource Allocation Issues: There were allegations of mismanaged distribution of resources, with some areas reportedly receiving insufficient supplies while others had surpluses. This inefficiency hampered relief efforts and caused frustration among affected communities.
FEMA Shortcomings: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) faced criticism for its handling of the disaster. Some residents accused FEMA of bureaucratic delays, confusing application processes, and inadequate housing assistance.
From Heritage.org: Three months ago, the impeached Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas promised reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was “tremendously prepared for hurricane season.” Now, he’s changing his tune. On October 2, he claimed that FEMA does not “have the funds” to make it through hurricane season, which means that people suffering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene must fend for themselves, not to mention the destruction Hurricane Milton is now bringing to the people of Florida. In response to this crisis, Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Sunday $157 million in additional aid for displaced people, not in our own country, but in the nation of Lebanon. Meanwhile the people of Lebanon, Tennessee are volunteering and sending aid to their fellow citizens across the state.
FEMA’s incompetent management is an age-old problem. In 1992, when Hurricane Andrew swept through Southern Florida and into the bayous near Lafayette, Louisiana, where I grew up, it left a long trail of death and destruction. My community couldn’t wait for FEMA to get its act together, so, as an 18-year-old Eagle Scout, I helped clear the wreckage. I know many young people across the Southeast are doing the same today.
But what makes this Biden-Harris botched response unique—and particularly outrageous—is that the same administration claiming it doesn’t have enough money to support suffering Americans appropriated $1.6 billion dollars in FEMA funds to assist illegal aliens since October 2021.
The die was cast in the Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations bill, when Congress added $150 million for FEMA to provide “shelter and other services to families and individuals encountered by” DHS.
This error was then compounded in appropriations for FY 2023 and 2024 when Congress ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection to hand over $800 million and $650 million, respectively, to FEMA’s newly branded “Shelter and Services Program.”
Biden and Border Czar Harris didn't prioritize these funds for Americans suffering from natural disasters. Rather, they distributed them to organizations assisting illegal aliens encountered by DHS, by, for example, purchasing nearly 14,000 hotel rooms for illegal aliens in New York City over the past two years.
Recovery Disparities: Concerns arose about unequal recovery progress across different communities. Some areas felt neglected compared to others, leading to accusations of favoritism or a lack of understanding of the diverse needs of the affected regions. Discrimination by FEMA was proven in Florida:
FEMA is facing a firestorm after it confirmed that a manager in Florida advised 11 employees under her supervision to, when conducting a home-to-home canvass of damage and needs, advised staff to skip homes “advertising Trump.”
Disaster: Los Angeles/Malibu Fires
Although the leading cause for the Los Angeles/Malibu fires has been attributed to arson combined with unusually high Santa Ana winds, there were plenty of pre-existing conditions & unheeded warnings which allowed the fires to spread the way they did:
Poor Forestry Management - California has stopped clearing forests, leaving tons of dry material. In a NBC News article published in 2020:
Prescribed and controlled burns were integral to the American landscape for generations. In 1910, focus started to shift away from forest management and steer toward fire suppression after “The Big Burn” ravaged 3 million acres across Washington, Idaho and Montana, killing at least 85 people and reshaping U.S. fire policy for years to come. The U.S. Forest Service ordered that all wildland fires be extinguished as soon as possible, eventually settling on the so-called 10 a.m. policy, which emphasized suppressing fires by the morning after they started.
The state’s policy to stop fires as soon as they ignite resulted in a backlog of trees in forests now choked with brush and other dry fuels. According to the U.S. Forest Service, one researcher studying the Stanislaus National Forest in Northern California found records from 1911 showing just 19 trees per acre in one section of the forest. More than a century later, the researcher and his team counted 260 trees per acre.
With denser tree cover comes the danger of bigger fires, Rogers said.
“We have more large trees per acre than we’ve ever had because they have continued to grow, and underneath these large trees are young shrubs that fuel fires in the crown of the trees,” he said. “When a fire starts in there, it’s unstoppable.”
Budget Cuts: the Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, cut $17.6 million from the fire department budget months before the most recent fires & redirected it to other programs. According to the NY Post:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass faced scorching criticism Wednesday as it was revealed she cut the city’s fire department budget by $17.6 million ahead of this week’s devastating fires — as she prioritized funds for its massive homeless population that largely went unspent, according to a report.
The cut was the second-largest in Bass’ 2024-25 fiscal budget, city figures show — and it wasn’t even the gutting she wanted.
If she’d had it her way, the LAFD budget would have been slashed by $23 million.
LA budgeted $837 million for the Bravest in fiscal year 2023-2024 — which was shockingly 65% of the $1.3 billion slated for the homeless, according to Fox News.
A city comptroller study found that nearly half of that funding went unused, according to the outlet.
Water System Mismanagement - according to the NY Post:
Fire crews were forced to watch as entire blocks of the Pacific Palisades — one of the most scenic and celeb-packed neighborhoods in LA — were incinerated in a matter of hours late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
“There’s no water in the fire hydrants,” Rick Caruso, who owns the Palisades Village mall in the heart of the devastated area, fumed to local media. “The firefighters are there, and there’s nothing they can do — we’ve got neighborhoods burning, homes burning, and businesses burning. … It should never happen.” The water shortage was the result of years of mismanagement of LA’s water system — including a federal indictment of a leader and high-profile resignations — as well as major operational problems that drained reserves too quickly. LA’s water system simply could not handle the demands of the multiple blazes — which was four times normal and lasted for 15 hours, Janisse Quiñones, head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told the LA Times.
The city has 114 massive tanks that store water and help ensure consistent flow. All were full when the fire started Tuesday. Three 1 million-gallon tanks supply the hydrants in the Pacific Palisades.
The first was empty before 5 p.m. The last was drained by 3 a.m. Wednesday, Quiñones said.
Without the water tanks, the city’s system was simply not able to maintain pressure to the hydrants. Trump pinned blame for the water shortage on Democratic Gov. Newsom — who derailed a 2020 Trump admin order redirecting water from the verdant north of the state to parched SoCal.
Two out of the last three general managers of the utility have resigned in disgrace: One allegedly mismanaged $40 million in funding. Another, David Wright, was sentenced to six years in prison for taking bribes.
In a 2019 article posted on The Guardian: In most years between 2011 and 2018 – at peak drought – maintenance issues, and a lack of storage capacity limited pumping more than the smelt did, as did protections for other threatened and endangered fish. “The smelt are just a scapegoat,” Rosenfield says.
Incompetence & culpable negligence played a significant role on all levels.
There are countless disasters where the deliberate actions of those in power have led to the loss of thousands of lives & caused billions of dollars in destruction. Decisions are often made based on demographics rather than merit, budgets are reallocated to align with global agendas, & policies are crafted to chase impractical "Net-Zero" goals. These actions aren’t accidental—they’re intentional & calculated. The government has manipulated the weather & systematically undermined the economy. Its disregard knows no bounds, allowing multimillion-dollar homes to burn to the ground while denying occupancy of new, Amish-built tiny homes intended for homeless residents in North Carolina.
What can my Fellow Warriors do About it?
Check out my Home & Personal Fire Safety Mitigation Tips from my aforementioned article here:
Check out my Bug Out Bag, Long Term Food Storage, & Water Storage tips from this article:
You can Control Where You Live -
Nobody really loves politics but it is important to be familiar with local & state statutes, regulations, & codes as well as their changes.
Watch for the alignment of state & local officials with global agendas of Net-Zero, C40/15-minute cities, DEI hires, & special interest groups. You can see who donates/donated to your elected official’s campaign to determine where they might be pushed by visiting: opensecrets.org
Observe your area & determine if ‘others’ are receiving free handouts or government benefits that a life-long citizen would have to jump through hoops to get. A sanctuary city &/or state’s budget will likely be too depleted to take care of critical budget requirements such as infrastructure or emergency services personnel.
You may consider relocating to a state, county, or even country more conducive to a freedom-centered lifestyle.
If you choose to live in a disaster-prone area, research what it will take to be prepared for that disaster. This may range from extra batteries & water to a designated fallout shelter or bunker. Also have an evacuation plan which includes different modes of transportation such as eBikes, motorcycles, or scooters to get around in case roads are blocked with traffic.
Check out This Important Documents List - this is a great start for backing up your important documents:
As a bonus, I will share with you a fantastic clip regarding the WHO & its role in Criminal Racketeering shared with me by fellow Maverick, Ivor Cummins:
Until next time my fellow Warriors, stay informed, stay vigilant, Ever Forward!