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Katrina

DaveE

The golfer fka ST Champ
Aug 31, 2004
3,986
3
Kilted Arab said:
Just hearing that a police officer in New Orleans has been shot and injured while trying to stop looters...and looters have been stealing guns from local stores...


What a freaking world...

These events bring out the worst and best in people. The news showed another area where everyone was helping each other and sharing food and water. Good people stay good and the others will be who they are regardless of the circumstanes.
 

Bravo

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2004
5,822
15
Here is a bit of an update on information you will not see on TV...

I have family members all over this part of the country...a cousin in Slidell LA (which is a suburb of New Orleans on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain) and another cousin in Jackson Mississippi which is about 130 miles NW of where the storm hit and 240 miles west of here. I am 240 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and 350 miles NE of New Orleans.

In my county, at the peak of power outages yesterday 170,000 people were without electricity. My cousin - in Jackson, MS is still without power today. There were people 60 miles east of here who lost power also.

So what is the net of all this geography?

Imagine a storm so large (read Sling's original post at the top) and so powerful that it will knock out power in a 300 mile radius - two hundred miles AFTER it hits land.

Its just staggering how large it was. I talked to my cousin who lives in Slidell today. He is at my aunt's house in Memphis. He told me he has no way of knowing if he can even return to his house yet. The website for his parrish (county) says, "Don't Come Back"...

As we all know, the levees have completely failed now. An entire city - everyone - must go and be gone for months and months. Where do you go in this situation? We are 350 miles away and you cannot get a hotel room here...they are all completely overfilled as it is.

This was some wild storm...(my cable is out - of course - and I am on dial-up) but my good old DirecTV satellite dish on the top of my roof kept plugging along all through the storm...
 

DaveE

The golfer fka ST Champ
Aug 31, 2004
3,986
3
Thanks for the update Bravo. The hotels in Austin are full of people from there and you know how far away that is. They spoke with severar of them on the news and they had hoped to stay in Houston but it's full.

It looks like they're going to open up the Astrodome for people having to leave the Superdome. This is going to be the worst natural disaster in US history before it's over.
 

Bravo

Well-Known Member
Aug 27, 2004
5,822
15
DaveE said:
Thanks for the update Bravo. The hotels in Austin are full of people from there and you know how far away that is. They spoke with severar of them on the news and they had hoped to stay in Houston but it's full.

It looks like they're going to open up the Astrodome for people having to leave the Superdome. This is going to be the worst natural disaster in US history before it's over.

Dave:

Things brings up several interesting scenarios...

Say you run a hotel...and you have events coming up...conferences...sporting events etc - where your property is completely booked a year in advance. Example here is the NASCAR race in about a month from now. This race has attendance of 170,000 people and these people book the rooms a year in advance. You just can't find a room in town during that weekend and it happens twice a year...

What do you say to the evacuees who are living in your hotel?

"Sorry, everybody has to leave for the weekend...get out - all of you".

Where do these people go? Imagine a major convention in Austin or Houston or San Antonio (which is crammed with tourists every day).

Very strange things happening indeed on this one.
 

DaveE

The golfer fka ST Champ
Aug 31, 2004
3,986
3
The article I read said they cleared the calender for the Astrodome for the remainder of the year. This is the kind of thing that will have to happen after an event like this.

The governor of TX also cleared the way for any children stuck here long term to be able to enroll in public schools and they have ordered funding to provide extra text books and expand the free lunch program.

I just can't imagine a situation where you can't go home for 3 or 4 months like they're talking about. One woman they interviewed this morning said she packed 3 outfits for her and her daughter thinking it would be a short stay. She's now having to move to a shelter being opened here and said she would start looking for a job in order to get by.
 

Rockford35

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Aug 30, 2004
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We had people complaining this morning here at the office after we got 3" of rain overnight.

"It's so windy".

"Who needs this much rain?"

"Why can't it be nice for a change?"

Then I showed them some aerial images of Mississippi and New Orleans.

My addition? "Hey, how selfish do you feel now?"

People are just blown away with the destruction here. Just unfathomable. It's the talk of everyone, everywhere.

Tsunami, 9/11....now this....things of recent memory that have had everyone talking.

R35
 

DaveE

The golfer fka ST Champ
Aug 31, 2004
3,986
3
Rock, I just saw another story where the mayor of New Orleans thinks the death toll may be in the thousands.

My biggest problem today was that my 9 hole tourney was cancelled because they sanded our greens. Any other time and it might have seemed important.
 

Rockford35

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Aug 30, 2004
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DaveE said:
Rock, I just saw another story where the mayor of New Orleans thinks the death toll may be in the thousands.

My biggest problem today was that my 9 hole tourney was cancelled because they sanded our greens. Any other time and it might have seemed important.


Oh, exactly.

This morning on the way to work, the sewers were plugged down by where I park my car. There were a few cars parked on the street there, and one was floating there was so much water where it was parked.

That made me reflect on what things would be like down there, only 100 fold.

R35
 

Kilted Arab

Well-Known Member
Apr 30, 2005
1,202
4
I posted this on the other board yesterday and make no apologies for posting it here as well.


Giving Americans a hard time is a great sport, and God knows you deserve it a lot of the time. However, whenever there's a humanitarian disaster in the world, the Americans can be counted on to provide aid and assistance to those in need.

I think of the earthquake in Iran at the end of 2003. 15,000+ people died. Religious and political differences were set aside and American aid was there. Food, shelter, medicine all willingly given in the name of humanity. This is an aspect of Americanism of which you should all be justly proud.

Now, I ask myself, who will come to help New Orleans? Hundreds of thousands of displaced people, maybe thousands dead, food, shelter and medicine required, the possibility of cholera and typhoid, technical expertise required to protect, clean and rebuild the city - America cannot do this alone. The world has a duty to help.

The British Red Cross have started appeals already and I hope and pray that others will also do what they can.
 

mediaguru

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Feb 13, 2005
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If you were listening to local radio you'd be hearing this discussion right now.

We (Americans) seem to always be out in the world "helping" other countries that are "in need." Sometimes it bugs me that we're doing that and letting certain things go to hell here.

On the radio today they posed the question "who is helping us?" on air and there was silence...

It's a double edged sword being American. People from other countries love to slam us and hate us, unless they're in trouble and then they ask for our help and we're their best friend.
 

Kilted Arab

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Apr 30, 2005
1,202
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mediaguru said:
It's a double edged sword being American. People from other countries love to slam us and hate us, unless they're in trouble and then they ask for our help and we're their best friend.

The UK is in a similar position. Although we're not as hated as you guys!

The bloke who sits opposite me is from Bangladesh and he as fundamental a Muslim as I've come across. He's a nightmare. I swear I will punch him severely before I leave here.

Anyway, he's anti-western. Failing to appreciate the fact that his freaking country wouldn't survive without constant funding and grants from "The West". Western NGO's are what keeps his country going. And what does "The West" get in return? Nothing. There is nothing in Bangladesh of interest to anyone...no oil or mineral reserves, nothing. Assistance is given in the name of humanity - and rightly so. But a bit of gratitude wouldn't go amiss.
 
OP
Slingblade61

Slingblade61

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Aug 26, 2004
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Bangladesh has slave labor, a very important commodity to western clothing manufacturers.

Frankly, I think the "aid to the US" thing is overblown.

Yeah, this could turn out to be one of the worst natural disasters in US history, but we'll manage.

We really already have everything we need, money, insurance, medical care, gazillions of other resources. When you think about it we can take care of ourselves. Alot of the people we help, can't.

So, while greatly appreciated, I suspect that foreign aide will be largely symbolic.
 

Silver

I don't have a handicap.
Dec 5, 2004
1,863
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One of the things to consider when thinking "aid" is resources. Sling hit it on the head when he said the US has gazillions of resources. Aside from possibly some minerals, metals and maybe some exotic fruit and cheap (legal) labour, I have a hard time coming up with resources that the US is lacking in order to care for themselves.

There are certainly enough willing people within the country, the US is full of heroes (and I mean that, not in the slightest bit sarcastic) and benevolence. You guys will be okay.

Canada is always there to help as well and we are similarly self-sufficient. We can probably even get over the way the US is jacking us around over the $5 billion they owe us from softwood lumber tariffs to help.
 

Kilted Arab

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Apr 30, 2005
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I've no doubt the US could cope, but the logistics here are huge. What was the population of New Orleans? 500,000 people?

That's a huge number of immediate homeless. How many still in the city? The immediate and pressing demand for food, water, shelter, medicine and technical expertise is huge. I can't believe there are contingency plans in place for something on this scale - it's unprecedented.

There is a difference between having civilians willing to help and having experienced disaster relief experts in place.

This isn't about "managing", it's about getting as much expert help as quickly as possible. Cholera and typhoid are just around the corner.

I was seeing this morning that a breach in the defences is allowing water to continue to flow into the city, increasing water levels. Apparently the gap is two blocks wide and 100 feet deep. Despite all the television images, I have no comprehension of what it must be like to be involved in a disaster on this scale. It's horrifying.
 
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Slingblade61

Slingblade61

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The Navy is bringing in an aircraft carrier, they can hold and feed lots of people.

The government is trying to get some cruise ships in to do the same thing.

I had heard today that the water was close to level, meaning that the levees could now be fixed.

Marshall law has been declared and must be strictly enforced or things could get worse.

I have a friend who lives(ed) in Empire Louisiana. he retired there 2 years ago to become a charter fishing boat captain. He made it to Baton Rouge with his wife and 3 days worth of clothing, that's it.

The eye passed over Empire and he had gotten word that his house (what's left of it) is under 18 feet of water.....a lifetime or personal belongings, 2 trucks and 2 fishing boats.....gone.

He has money in the bank and insurance but he's 66 and has to start life from scratch.

I also have an internet friend who lives in Slidell, a life long loisianan, no word from him yet.

My sister in law, living in norther New Orleans, escaped to Florida to her parents house with hubby and kids but is essentially, wiped out.
 

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