When disaster management goes political

[NJMaverick]

This is about Bloomberg but it just as easily could have been about Gov Christie

Mayor Bloomberg's sky-is-falling act makes him hero of Hurricane Irene


Note to pols: Too much is better than not enough.

Or as mom always said, better safe than sorry.

Those words of wisdom are political winners.

Sure, Irene wasn't quite as advertised. Plenty of New Yorkers grumbled that mandatory evacuations and constant warnings were an extreme overreaction, but history will remember Hurricane Irene as a victory for Mayor Bloomberg.

He was the one who evacuated low-lying parts of the city, who was on TV seemingly at every moment warning, cautioning and coaching New Yorkers on how to deal with what was touted as a killer hurricane.

The foresight and hustle won kudos - some begrudgingly.

In sharp contrast to the bruising Bloomberg took as the city struggled to dig out from the debilitating post-Christmas blizzard, Hizzoner was lavished with praise yesterday from even his toughest critics.

"I'm not a critic today. I'm a fan," said City Councilwoman Letitia James (D-Brooklyn), who last spring conducted what some called the "Mother of all Hearings" into the city's disastrous blizzard response.

"I'm sorta disappointed. I emailed some of my colleagues today and said, 'Damn! I missed my opportunity to have the Mother of All Hearings, Part II.'"



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011...z1WRpAKBT7

[jaxx]

It seems they learned their lesson in the snowstorm. They were wise to be proactive in getting people to safety and to keep the communication going throughout Irene. Now if they could just shut Cantor up, they'd have a win.