HURRICANE KATRINA

[knowlsey]

Deepest sympathies to those lost in that tragedy, and i can not help but feel sorry for the people that have lost there homes, what gets me peed off is as soon as there is a disaster abroad, bush is there, have one close to home and he is on his holidays, whats that man thinking. New orleans looks like a war zone, people without water and food and shelter, bush seriously wants to get his finger out of his arse

[71buickfreak]

I voted for bush, but right now, I am almost ashamed to be an american. this is ridiculous. Martial law should have been declared 4 days ago!

[jake42]

NObody had any idea of the chaos that would consume NO. The director of FEMA was talking about how it was just disaster after disaster, with the hurricane, the levees and then the floods.  People are complaining that there is no coordination of effort. I just don't think we can understand the scope.  Most of these agencies don't even have the ability to communicate to each other when they are on the ground.  I was watching Paula Zahn on CNN lastnight and she was trying to blast the director of FEMA because he said they didn't even know until yesterday that people were gathered at the convention center. IF there's no communication how are people supposed to know? Look up FEMA, they only have like 2500 employees and another 4000 reservists basically.  So let people criticize all they want, you try to evacuate 75,000 people using 2000.  By the way, I hate the news but can quit watching it.

[callmelenny]

NObody had any idea of the chaos that would consume NO.

That is simply untrue and I can't believe Bush said that in his interview. There are numerous studies and publications that have looked at NO and did a very good job of predicting what would happen. They even did a good job of predicting how many poor or invalid people would be left behind.

The thing that should scare everyone is this is exactly the kind of response we will get after a large terrorist attack.

[dyran]

Psst bush pull you're army out of where they're doing nothing except wasting good peoples lives and have them help out their fellow man, if you can't take care of your own how on earth can you help others? Just my two cents.

[porsche4786]

Psst bush pull you're army out of where they're doing nothing except wasting good peoples lives and have them help out their fellow man, if you can't take care of your own how on earth can you help others? Just my two cents.

If you were to just up and go from iraq, THEN it would have been a waste of time. That would be a big mistake.

[Stephen072774]

Don't use a storm to promote a politcal agenda.  people are suffering.  people are trying to get to them to help.

[71buickfreak]

I am not blasting FEMA or the Red Cross for doing what they are supposed to do. the problem is they AREN"T DOING IT! The people at the convention center were told to go there when the Superdome was filled. The FEMA people said there were people there to help and when they got their, no one was there to help. This chaos on all sides. You have FEMA and the Red Cross messing up big time, you have groups of bad people who are going on killing and raping sprees because they can and they stayed for that reason alone and then you have the 15,000 people at the convention center who have relied on the US governement their entire lives and for some reason are waiting to be saved when most (not all, there are a bunch of old and sick people too) could start walking. 50 miles away is a regular life. 50 miles to food, shelter, water the beginnings of a new life. But do they walk? no they wait to be rescued or slaughtered by a bunch of stupid criminals who like killing people and have a chance at a free for all cause whose gonna stop em? send in the marines already!

Everyone dropped the ball on this one, not just 1 person or group, all people involved have screwed this up. There is no leadershipdown there. FEMA is supposed to be organized, they have not coordinated the efforts. you can't tell me that the director of FEMA didn't know there were people at the convention center, when everyone else in the country knows. somebody told him days ago. they are scared of being shot because of a small group of idiots. 11-man teams tried to get in the convention center area yesterday and were beaten back by mobs. They are trying to help but these people have been so riled up by themselves that they are attacking the very people who came to save them! that is stupidity.

ambulances stopped drivin in because people were shooting at them because they wouldn't stop to load up non-sick people. rescue helicopter are being shot at becuase they were rescuing other people and not them. how ignorant is that? efforts are being made, mistalkes are being made but everything is being compounded by a massive amount of people who, I'm sorry to say, are prone to being hostile towards the government. Not all of them are like that, most aren't but mob mentality has a way of creeping up on your and next thing you know, you killing each other and the very people who are trying to save eithr stop trying or have to shoot you back.

[dgyver]

It is easy to critize the actions of other. What are you doing to help?

[The Buddha]

It is easy to critize the actions of other. What are you doing to help?

I have an answer to this - Living in a dull and boring place instead of New orleans.
Cool.
Srinath.

[Phaedrus]

It is easy to critize the actions of other. What are you doing to help?

After the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks, I am very, very reluctant to donate money of any denomination to anything. There were many seemingly "credible" organizations soliciting donations to help the victims of 9/11 and plenty of them ended up being nothing but scams. Yes, the Red Cross is an EXCELLENT organization but many of the imposters posed as them anyway.  :dunno: The whole media-scam-political agenda thing has got me kind of jaded.  

[jimbo1]

It is easy to critize the actions of other. What are you doing to help?

Well said!!  

I personally wouldn't want to lead a life expecting the government to come help me or tell me what to do.  We are  a democracy not socialist.  Helping people when something happens is what neighbors are for.  And I would rather depend on my friends, neighbors, and family before I would trust the government to do anything.  But I also make sure my family has food, water, and shelter any time something happens.  That is my responibilty, not the governments.

[71buickfreak]

as far what I am doing, I went to my cabinets the night Katrina hit and pulled as much food as I could spare and filled 2 good sized boxes. I then took those to the local red cross who told me to take the food back home because all the were accepting was money and blood. I would have to drive 75 miles to Oklahoma city to drop off the food at a "feed the children" center. So yeah, I am helping. I have also doanted some money to a few different organizations that will be delivering it to the people who need it. The Red Cross can kiss my ass, they have helped screw this up too.

[Phaedrus]

Why wouldn't they accept staple food?  :dunno:

[Chuck]

They have no way of delivering it, would be my guess.  With money, they can buy the things that are needed, instead of trying to figure out how to use whatever you give them.  Once again, I don't know the situation, but that would be my guess.

[The Buddha]

Yea, probably now they will take it though, there seem to be a fair bit (in the 1000's ) that have landed in OK. BTW I love donating non perishable food and non $$ items. The charitable organisations are so poorly managed and spend so much of their intake on advertising and soliciting new donations, yea there is like 1000's tripping over each other and they all need to advertise and that is where the $$$ goes. I heard its as high as 92-98%.
Cool.
Srinath.

[knowlsey]

It is easy to critize the actions of other. What are you doing to help?

Well said!!  

I personally wouldn't want to lead a life expecting the government to come help me or tell me what to do.  We are  a democracy not socialist.  Helping people when something happens is what neighbors are for.  And I would rather depend on my friends, neighbors, and family before I would trust the government to do anything.  But I also make sure my family has food, water, and shelter any time something happens.  That is my responibilty, not the governments.

beleive me, if i was a neighbour, i would be the first to help anyone, when everything is lost, including food water and very basic essentials you need the help of the government, apparantly from what i have heard on the news here, the emergency services have all but gave up as they are overwhelmed, especially with the lawlessness that is going on, for gods sake do not take my post the wrong way, i would give my last penny away if it would benefit someone else more than me

[Cal Price]

Those people caught in chaos have my deepest sympathy, the news channels probably don't tell the exact truth, they all seem to have an agenda these days.

I was astounded when I heard the call to evacuate New Orleans, the logistics of evacuating half a million (?) people are just astounding, where do you evacuate them to? Can you have a contingency for that ? It looks like it was the right thing to do given the loss of life and damage in the "evacuated" city.

Tonight's news here sounded as though there was serious consideration being given to abandoning large parts of the city. As far as I know in modern times only one city has ever been abandoned, in the Ukrain ofter the Chernobyl "accident". The closest paralell is probably Kobe in Japan, a city in a wealthy society, a large port, very similar to New Orleans in many ways. I think about 6500 were killed in the Earthquake and a huge number made homeless. Kobe has not recovered to anything like its previous position but is recovering very slowly after, what, about six years? The biggest similarity is that the poorest suffered the most, aint that always the way. Business has not come back, the port has contracted, less jobs, less money, less incentive and ability to recover.

The US is, of course, the worlds biggest and most dynamic economy and half a million people being relocated (in the extreme case) is a very small percentage of population. The logistics are well within the capability of the US government. The problem is people, they wont just go here and there if they are told to. If you were born in New Orleans and have invested a lifetime living and working there is it realistic to just walk away ? I think it would be a very hard decision to make.

I hope those people affected are assisted or helped to help themselves and eventually get on with their lives but what is the future for the city itself? As citizens of the planet what can we do??

[jbeaber]

The reason they only want money is definitely because they have no way of getting donated supplies to NO.  The other reason is that they want the money to go to local businesses in order to maintain a flow of money into the region.  It's a horrible tragedy.  I just hope that this serves as a wake-up call to ensure that problem areas within the country are taken care of, shored up, and protected.

[jimbo1]

beleive me, if i was a neighbour, i would be the first to help anyone, when everything is lost, including food water and very basic essentials you need the help of the government, apparantly from what i have heard on the news here, the emergency services have all but gave up as they are overwhelmed, especially with the lawlessness that is going on, for gods sake do not take my post the wrong way, i would give my last penny away if it would benefit someone else more than me

That is the point, no government or agency can get that many people taken care of.  And who in the government or in N.O. thought things would have been this bad.  And lets just say, the government starts to stage supplies and relief every time a hurricane starts to track to the US.  How much is that going to cost?  Then, constant complaints by the media about the waste of the government.  

My point is not that the government shouldn't do anything, but that able bodied people have a responibilty to take care of themselves.  But I see an awful lot of able bodied people standing around complaining, when there is alot they could do to help relief come in.  Instead they act like thugs and predators.  Government relief is for those that CAN'T help themselves, they are who I want helped.  I am just getting sick of hearing Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton blame everything on racism and telling these people the government OWES them something.  We have created a society of people unable to care for themselves, and in doing so have lost alot of the freedom that America was founded on.

But what is needed now, is not a bunch of people compaining that the government isn't doing enough.  But some people that will use their resourses and abilities to help our brothers and sisters in need.