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Hurricane Katrina


neriana

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Guest Guest_Littiz_*
Thank you Littiz.  Right now, about 5,000 people are living on the interstate roads above the floodwaters. There is no food, no water, no shelter and a lot of desperation. I feel lucky to be in a nice home with running water right now and thank God for this small respite. If I do not have a home, I will rebuild. If I have one, then I will help others rebuild.

I hope I don't sound just rethoric.

Always such a risk in these circumstances.

Keep the good spirit even for the heavy moments that might follow: you have your life for sure after all!

I fear there will be many deaths, and many kids involved, alas :)

Those who remain need people like you to rebuild and to live in safety.

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It sounds a lot worse than I thought it would be, before the event. :)

 

The destruction sounds terrible. At least you yourselves are still in one piece.

This is what happens when you live in a bowl, the Army Corp of Engineers fucks up your river, construction fucks up your only line of defense and a Category 5 blindsides you with a sucker punch.

 

It could have been worse guys. And it is far from over.

 

 

Sorry 'bout the language Cam. I'm not feeling my best today.

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Jolyth, you should get a free pass on swearing whenever you want, wherever you want, for the next year at least.

 

This is an entire large city displaced, not to mention all the small towns that are simply gone now, and the damage to other large towns on the Gulf Coast. The whole country is going to change. This is the kind of thing that can cause a Depression if everything else isn't going perfectly, and we know everything else in this country is most definitely not going perfectly.

 

I wish I could think of something comforting, but I just can't. We've all been hit hard by this, and it's going to get worse before it gets better. Losing New Orleans is losing the jazz in our country's soul. Love it or hate it, it's New Orleans. I just feel numb when I think about anything beyond the practicalities of saving people right now, at this moment. The city will never be the same -- I don't think the country will be, either.

 

Hopefully some good will come out of this, we'll institute plans for disasters before they actually hit us. But I just don't know. Our national memory is so horribly short.

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...the vast majority of people who are stranded, and, I fear, dead in the flooded parts of NO in numbers we have not yet begun to discover and comprehend, did not ‘choose’ to ‘ignore’ the warnings.

 

They simply had no place to go, no way to get there, no way to afford living in a motel/hotel somewhere else, no relatives outside the region, no automobile.

 

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=5444

 

That is a worrying truth and a sign for the abyssmal failure of all levels of the administration to comprehend what should have been done BEFORE the storm arrived.

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Let's concentrate on helping the folks there before we start worrying about blame, everyone. If you haven't already donated to the relief effort, please do so. If you have, thank you.

 

I'm not a blog reader, but I did find an absolutely fascinating personal blog of a guy who works for an ISP in downtown New Orleans. He's been posting updates, pics, and live ###### feeds throughout the crisis. It's becoming a nexus for others to post first-hand accounts from NO. Definitely worth a browse, and a brings out the personal aspects of the disaster into a lot sharper focus.

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Cam, the thing is, there were huge failures on many levels in this situation. People are furious, and rightly so. Figuring out what went wrong and helping the relief effort are not mutually exclusive; imo, they're quite the opposite. We have every right to be angry, and those who live or lived in Katrina's path have even more right to be utterly outraged, and to tell the world why they're outraged.

 

We're getting the personal aspects of the disaster here in Florida with the actual people who are coming here. Not to mention all the news reports.

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After I heard about people dieing in the hospital, I tend to agree with Neriana - things that could have been prevented were not. While we, humans, cannot yet prevent natural disasters, we can and must respond, not hope that 'they'd cope somehow'. I am sorry if it sounds unfair toward people who *did and do* what they can, but I'm still in shock at what was reported.

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That was addressed more to the folks here. I'd rather share ways to help those in need than assign fault. Mainly because one is needed immediately and is productive, whereas the other can wait and is not productive. There will be plenty of time to discuss blame--of which there is plenty, to be sure--once the remaining survivors are fed, healthy, and evacuated.

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...the vast majority of people who are stranded, and, I fear, dead in the flooded parts of NO in numbers we have not yet begun to discover and comprehend, did not ‘choose’ to ‘ignore’ the warnings.

 

They simply had no place to go, no way to get there, no way to afford living in a motel/hotel somewhere else, no relatives outside the region, no automobile.

Unfortunately my friend this is the one time I will have to disagree with you. People admitted that they waited because they figured the city would open the Superdome as a shelter. This is what they do when there is a large hurricane coming at them They showed up in their cars, parked their vehicles on the street and went into the Dome, hoping to be the first ones back when the danger had passed.

 

Cam, the thing is, there were huge failures on many levels in this situation. People are furious, and rightly so. Figuring out what went wrong and helping the relief effort are not mutually exclusive; imo, they're quite the opposite. We have every right to be angry, and those who live or lived in Katrina's path have even more right to be utterly outraged, and to tell the world why they're outraged.

 

We're getting the personal aspects of the disaster here in Florida with the actual people who are coming here. Not to mention all the news reports.

The news is getting a lot of stuff wrong, but you are right, there were failures on SEVERAL levels here. I could tell you exactly where the 17th street canal broke because I pass it at least a few times a week. It was undermined by construction in the area. Poor engineering caused a catastrophe that could have been prevented, but that is no longer the issue. Fixing the problem is. Bitching at the engineers is not going to move all that water.

 

After I heard about people dieing in the hospital, I tend to agree with Neriana - things that could have been prevented were not. While we, humans, cannot yet prevent natural disasters, we can and must respond, not hope that 'they'd cope somehow'. I am sorry if it sounds unfair toward people who *did and do* what they can, but I'm still in shock at what was reported.

I feel even sicker when I see that Domi. And you are right. We cannot fight Mother Nature, but we can try to respect and live along side her. God I sound like Jaheira. Point is, help was thwarted by hooligans and poor leadership.

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Actually I disagree as it is not about random blame, it is about taking responsibility and -you can quote me on this- once it is all over try bringing it up in a discussion will only bring out people saying that there is no point arguing about this after it is all said and done. And some heartfelt 'fudge you very much' in the direction of those who should be in charge is not hindering anybody in the relief efforts IMHO. This is not partisan or anything btw. It is simply the truth.

 

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Nightline-Fema.mov

 

Scenario planning anyone?

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Actually I disagree as it is not about random blame, it is about taking responsibility and -you can quote me on this- once it is all over try bringing it up in a discussion will only bring out people saying that there is no point arguing about this after it is all said and done. And some heartfelt 'fudge you very much' in the direction of those who should be in charge is not hindering anybody in the relief efforts IMHO. This is not partisan or anything btw. It is simply the truth.

 

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Nightline-Fema.mov

 

Scenario planning anyone?

This thing has been a cluster f*** from the start. I just wish they would get on with fixing it before my entire city burns to the ground

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