The hurricane which struck the New Orleans region last weekend was a natural disaster which has rapidly become a social, economic and political one as well.
Reports that 10,000 people may have died in Louisiana alone underline the gravity of what President Bush admitted yesterday has been an unacceptable relief operation.
The rest of the world has looked on incredulously as the drama of such a catastrophe in the most developed country unfolded this week. This is a defining moment for Mr Bush, just as much as 9/11 was. So far his reputation for prompt and firm crisis management has fallen far short of what is required.
That it is quite artificial to separate nature from humanity in such events is readily illustrated by the fact that the better-off people in New Orleans managed for the most part to evacuate the city before the hurricane struck, whereas the poorer citizens were mostly unable to do so because they had no cars, lacked money for other transport and hotels. The social division echoes the racial one, since those who remained in the city were mainly African-Americans. One newspaper reported seeing four white people among the thousands in the city's Superdome stadium.
Blaming this crisis on nature shifts the blame for poor preparedness and delayed and ineffective relief on to forces over which we are assumed to have little or no control. But New Orleans is built on a swamp, much of it is below sea level and sinking and it is surrounded by water, from which it has been protected by an elaborate system of levees and pumps. These have been starved of investment over recent years, despite repeated reports that the city was increasingly vulnerable to severe hurricane damage. Funding to upgrade them was cut over the last four years and development was permitted on the surrounding wetlands which absorb flooding. The admittedly steep cost of doing this work will now be dwarfed by those for relief and reconstruction.
The angry denunciations of the relief effort as a disgrace heard from the mayor of New Orleans, members of the congressional black caucus and ordinary victims of the catastrophe have enhanced validity in the light of such facts. So do their criticisms that emergency aid was diverted by the Iraq war effort and the contrast between the determination shown by the Bush administration there and in this disaster. The elementary facilities for disaster relief, such as helicopters, small boats, medical teams, emergency supplies of food, water and medicines, have been in short supply.
Such observations will resonate over coming weeks, posing a huge political challenge for President Bush and his administration. Yesterday he began to respond to them, by emphasising that this is one of the greatest storms in the nation's history and pledging a fully co-ordinated relief and rehabilitation programme. But the initial impressions of inept and belated action will be hard to dispel, especially if such a high death toll is confirmed.