Velociworld

PROS AND CONS

The contrast between the evacuation of Houston and the evacuation of New Orleans reminds me of the great contrast between the Antarctic teams led by British naval officer Robert Falcon ("Con") Scott, and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen.

Deciding to be the first person to reach the South Pole, Scott led an expedition in 1911. While supplying in Australia he was informed by Amundsen in a telegraph that Amundsen had already set out for the Pole. Knowing he raced against time, and an adversary, the courageous but inexperienced Scott set out with Siberian ponies to pull the sledges. He disapproved of the normal tactic of killing sled dogs for food as they weakened, but had no problem eating horseflesh. (Hell, Amundsen killed three dozen dogs in preparation for his return trip from the Pole. No sensitivity issues there).

The ponies were a bust, dying off to one mishap after another, and Scott's team ended up having to drag their own sledges most of the way. Poor preparation led to frostbite and scurvy, and by the time he reached the South Pole in January 1912 he found a tent, a Norwegian flag, and a note from Amundsen informing him he'd beaten Scott by a month.

The Scott expedition set out to return to home base, but blizzards hindered their return. Frostbite and scurvy had them so weakened they could barely pull the sledges. They had cached scant supplies in depots on the way, and were forced to dig up pony corpses to make blood stew. They desperately needed to reach a major depot, called One Ton, but a blizzard stopped them for a week 11 miles short of it. They ultimately perished there, and were discovered the following spring.

Amundsen, on the other hand ran an incredibly tight and efficient expedition. It was almost boring in its lack of adversity. His remaining dogs actually gained weight on the return trip.

Little known fact: Amundsen was incredibly frustrated by the fact Peary had barely beaten him to the North Pole, hence his ambition to be first to the South Pole. Some years later, in 1929, he wanted to be the first person to fly over the North Pole, in a dirigible, but Byrd beat him to that by a few days.

Planning. Execution. What it's all about. Sure, Houston had hiccups with the traffic. You'll always have that trying to evacuate 5 million people (5 times what Louisiana attempted). But hell, these two events weren't even close. Poor Con. Poor Blanco. Poor Nagin. It's a helluva thing, being a screwhead.