MSNBC seems to care less

ok..I was not trying to go anywhere.
 
Things ARE getting done.

New Orleans is a bowl pretty much. They sit 10 feet below sea level, with raised sides (dikes) to prevent water from ever getting in.

This hurricane was predicted over a month ahead of time. The official warning went out 3 days ahead of time. The New Orleans government could have managed to evacuate most of the city in that amount of time, if everyone were to work together.

Most of the problem can be blamed on the New Orleans government.
And that New Orleans mayor who I dislike very much (Did anyone hear his radio broadcast? They bleeped out every third word he was cussing so much. Not a person I want to keep in office, that is for sure).
The New Orleans government KNEW the dikes could only withstand Category 3 hurricanes. They also KNEW there would be a hurricane come that would be a Category 5. Why did they not rebuild the dikes to withstand Cat 5 hurricanes instead of sitting on their hands doing nothing? You tell me.

The federal government IS doing and WAS doing the best that they can do. They prepared the best that they could. They had to wait until the hurricane passed to determine where the worst-hit areas would be, and what needed attention first. They also depend on the local government (Yep... The same New Orleans government that could have prevented the majority of this) to have plans in place (Evacuation procedures, action plans, food plans, etc). The government is STILL doing the best they can.

The New Orleans government is also substandard to other governments. They could have learned from previous disasters. They could have learned to have fuel reserves for their police cars; they could have switched over to battery-operated radios so that they could communicate- as of right now they cannot even be recharged because there is no electricity; they could have also adopted a national standard Incident Command System, which recommends several things, including keeping all radio frequencies the same- right now they are having trouble communicating.

As far as the looting... It began immediately. Statistically, criminals, thugs, druggies, tend to be poorer people (Poorer people is the majority of who is there). They are opportunists, and struck the first chance they had. They go into an individual state, and not focus on getting rescued. Instead of pulling together, and working with the government they would rather be pains in the butts and hinder rescue efforts.

And again I will say... The main problem there lies there. With the city government, and the people themselves. The city government because of the previous reasons, and the people for not pulling together.
 
The link about the oil spill is disturbing. I wondered what kind of environmental damage would be done, but am more concerned about the people in immediate need right now. They keep talking about the raw sewage and bodies contaminating the water that has flooded the area. I predict an outbreak of at least impetigo. (It's a nasty skin infection you can get from being exposed to waters contaminated by sewage) I'm sure the animals in the area have similar problems when exposed. And - is fishing a major thing there? I know trade was the biggest economical thing, but I wonder if they also have a fishing industry. That will be really hard hit too.
 
The fed gov couldn't immediately step in.....they have to give the local gov the chance to take care of it....as it is the feds had thier people right there before the storm even hit...FEMA was all set up...the national guard...ready and waiting...the Feds didn't drop the ball.....as Zac said...it was the local gov and those silly folks who didn't hightail it out of there when they had the chance. As to the answer..."some couldn't, they didn't have cars"...well....certain parties have no problem getting those folks to the voting booth on election day.....where where they to help them get out before the storm ???

This is a disaster of monumental proportion.......I believe everything is being done that can be done...now that the feds have stepped in. I realize not everyone shares my view of the present administration..and that's ok...so comments about that aren't necessary.

I'm sure there will be those who will go over the issues afterwards and evaluate what worked and what didn't....and hopefully put things in place for the next time something like this happens.

And...I still think they aught to let it stay a part of the gulf and not rebuild there....foolishness to try and put that place back on the map, I don't care what the history is.....read about it in the history books, I'm sure they'll have pics.
 
sumthin fishy said:
I saw an interview with a lady who was upset that we can send thousands of troops overseas to fight a war to "help" other countries, but can't even take care of our own. I bet if all the soldiers in Iraq came to N.O. to help out, things would be a bit better. And where is all the foriegn aid? How many of those countries we help when they have it bad have given US a helping hand?
Click to expand...


About 50 countries have offered to help so far. Including Pat Robertson's favorite, Venezuela.

Unfortunately, we haven't been accepting it. Pride, I guess.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/02/us_sends_mixed_signals_on_accepting_aid_from_abroad/

********Earlier, President George W. Bush said in a television interview that the United States could take care of itself.

"I'm not expecting much from foreign nations because we hadn't asked for it. I do expect a lot of sympathy and perhaps some will send cash dollars. But this country's going to rise up and take care of it," Bush told ABC's "Good Morning America."*****************

Condi has recently said that we haven't turned down any aid, though....

We are not going through this without help. If we do, it's by choice.
 
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I agree with what you said zacdl!
 
zacdl said:
The New Orleans government KNEW the dikes could only withstand Category 3 hurricanes. They also KNEW there would be a hurricane come that would be a Category 5. Why did they not rebuild the dikes to withstand Cat 5 hurricanes instead of sitting on their hands doing nothing? You tell me.

The federal government IS doing and WAS doing the best that they can do.
Click to expand...

They knew, and the federal government knew, and still "Federal" funding for the Army Corps of Engineers was cut.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050901/pl_nm/weather_katrina_funding_dc
*******WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bush administration funding cuts forced federal engineers to delay improvements on the levees, floodgates and pumping stations that failed to protect New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters, agency documents showed on Thursday. *******

Not that the flooding could have been avoided had the funding not been cut, but let's be careful where we point fingers.
 
tyella said:
They knew, and the federal government knew, and still "Federal" funding for the Army Corps of Engineers was cut.
Click to expand...

Notice that their budget was cut in 2005. As the corp said, they wouldnt have had time to strengthen the levee's regardless of the budget.

In any case, building bigger levees would have meant they would have to had destroyed hundreds of people's homes, as many had homes built right up next to the levees. Perhaps in hindsight that may have been a good decision to destroy these homes, had they not been hit by a large hurricane, it may have proven to be a bad decision.

I dont see why it was the federal goverments responsibility to look after a city anyway. Surely if the city was that much at risk, they would have improved it themselves.

Likewise, I think a bigger issue is goverment spending, in this case, subsidizing flood insurance. Had they not subsidized it, nobody in new orleans would have been able to get flood insurance. And that would have prevented many, if not all, from building homes and other structures in a flood prone area.
 
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