Disaster Management Showdown: How Did India and the US Handle Their Crises Differently?

Status of Disaster Management: Who's better, India or the US?

Inches of rain in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina: 18

Inches of rain in Mumbai (July 27th): 37.1

Population of New Orleans: 484,674

Population of Mumbai: 12,622,500

Deaths in New Orleans within 48 hours of Katrina: 100

Deaths in Mumbai within 48 hours of rain: 37

Number of people to be evacuated in New Orleans: Entire city

Number of people evacuated in Mumbai: 10,000

Cases of shooting and violence in New Orleans: Countless

Cases of shooting and violence in Mumbai: NONE

Time taken for US army to reach New Orleans: 48 hours

Time taken for Indian army and navy to reach Mumbai: 12 hours

Status 48 hours later in New Orleans: Still waiting for relief, army, and electricity

Status 48 hours later in Mumbai: Back on its feet, and business is as usual

USA: World's most developed nation

India: Third world country

Oops...did I get the last fact wrong?

Well done, Indians! Your comments are welcome!

I watched Oprah's TV special on Katrina last night. The biggest impact it made on me was that there was not even one incident which even suggested that those in distress helped each other - which was incredible in a country as 'developed' as the US.

I personally was caught in the floods. I left home at 2 p.m. on one day and reached back at 6 p.m. the next day. I spent the night in a hospital in Andheri which allowed almost 200-300 stragglers to spend the night in the corridors where chairs were brought in and free tea provided to each transient at midnight. The hospital had its own generator and was on an elevation so we were all dry. All of us stranded there shared biscuits, cell phones (whichever worked), and bonded. We were all equals and all in trouble - but there was courage, endurance, and fortitude displayed. We talked without barriers of status or caste or creed or occupation.

I left Andheri (a north Mumbai suburb) for Marine Lines (a south Mumbai location) at 6 a.m., accompanied by a college friend of my daughter (she had also been trapped in the hospital, recognized me and spoke to me).

We hitched rides, walked, waded through water up to our chests, and finally got a lift from a carrier with an elevated cab who dropped us off in south Mumbai.

But what I remembered was how the average Mumbaikar responded to those in need. Municipal authorities, the police, and other official units were non-existent. But people helped each other. Support from strangers who were better off was fantastic. When our vehicle was marooned in thigh-high water for almost two hours, two boys waded through the water, tossing packets of biscuits into each car; local boys swam in the water and helped those who needed assistance; cars were shoved off the main lane if they were stranded so that those behind could inch their way through; at parts, where water was waist-deep, locals made a ring around open manholes so that strangers wading through were prevented from being dragged in and drowned.

More, residents of buildings took school children stranded in school buses into their homes, fed them, and contacted their parents wherever possible (mobiles and even landlines were dead as the night wore on); schools which were marooned kept the children in the classrooms and provided whatever they could; restaurants sold rice and dal at nominal rates to waders; a 3-star hotel in Juhu took in stranded passersby and when food ran out, ransacked the hotel guestrooms for peanuts and wafers and bottles of water which were distributed free.

People died from accidents, falling into open manholes in the dark, for instance, but not from the apathy or the refusal to help of others - residents or fellow waders... yes, there were isolated instances of breaking into stalled cars, but so few that they were hardly noticed...

The Mumbaikar (Mumbai resident) rose to the occasion - nobly...

and we are an underdeveloped nation? Excuse me?

Jeroo Chandiok