Katrina
POSTED BY: SevenPercent
UPDATED: Friday, August 29, 2025 14:39
VIEWED: 7944
PAGE 2 of 7
Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
They need every friggin' National Guardsman, every Coast Guard boat, and the entire Army Corps of Engineers down there... and the Red Cross to take care of the survivors.
Don't forget- donations of blood and money to the Red Cross are welcome.
Nice. I was trying to think of some way to help. Since I work for the govt I don't have money to donate and since I'm a lawyer I can't spare any blood.
So a few months back we had a weird DUI case. Man was caught driving his industrial dump truck. He had multiple priors so we confiscated the vehicle. Sure enough, its still sitting over in the impound lot since we don't really have any use for such a large construction vehicle. So I got the bright idea to donate the truck to the relief effort, get local churches to fill it with supplies (shovels, toilet paper, Cleveland Browns Media Guides, etc) and get a couple of our firement (who were planning to go anyway for the Red Cross) to drive that baby down to New Orleans or Mississippi and give the truck and supplies to some little City down that'aways to haul debris and such.
This relatively good idea (since aside from my time its cost the City next to nothing) has a tremendous amount of red tape and so far has involved one trip to court. Hopefully though I can have it on the road by tomorrow afternoon.
H
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
This banner just popped up on cnn.com:
"New Orleans mayor says Katrina killed hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of people in city, Associated Press reports. More soon."
I'm so thankful my family members got out of there before it hit, and so sorry for the people who didn't. 
----
I can see you.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
[Tune of the day?]
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break,
If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break,
When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Lord, mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.
Don't it make you feel bad
When you're tryin' to find your way home,
You don't know which way to go?
If you're goin' down South
They go no work to do,
If you don't know about Chicago.
Cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
Now, cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
Thinkin' 'bout me baby and my happy home.
Going, go'n' to Chicago,
Go'n' to Chicago,
Sorry but I can't take you.
Going down, going down now, going down.
[Led Zep]
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I just listened to the Prezdent... three days after the fact... and I have to say I sure hope we don't have any other disasters on his watch. He's going to send one hosptial ship to the area. ONE???? Katrina devastated three states! "Dozens" of helicopters??? They're saying it's going to take two weeks- or more- to get into some areas. I can tell you, if there are any survivors now, there sure won't be THEN.
I have a few ideas....
How about that we ALL share in the pain... say... the oil companies stop profiteering? Maybe even donate to the cause? What happens to all those people who just went bankrupt? Maybe we should give them exemptions from our newly-minted "you're screwed" personal bankruptcy laws? What about the healtcare indsutry? Do ya think maybe they could spare a little from their billions of profits and provide some health care?
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
I just listened to the Prezdent... three days after the fact... and I have to say I sure hope we don't have any other disasters on his watch. He's going to send one hosptial ship to the area. ONE???? Katrina devastated three states! "Dozens" of helicopters??? They're saying it's going to take two weeks- or more- to get into some areas. I can tell you, if there are any survivors now, there sure won't be THEN.
Yep. It's all Dubya's fault, once again. Please get over it.
We got two hospital ships total. Comfort and Mercy. Comfort is closer (Baltimore vs. Oakland) and Mercy can be deployed if needed. Assessment needs to be made.
Dozens of helicopters are being deployed from amphibious assault ships(which also have medical facilities, BTW), in addition to the Coast Guard, Police, and National Guard choppers already on the scene. How many you think we got just sitting around? Choppers without specialized rescue equipment (hoists and crew trained to use them) aren't much use. Military resources trained in littoral action (small boats, useful in flooded areas)are also being committed. Give things a chance to work out before you start condemnation.
Quote:
I have a few ideas....
How about that we ALL share in the pain... say... the oil companies stop profiteering? Maybe even donate to the cause? What happens to all those people who just went bankrupt? Maybe we should give them exemptions from our newly-minted "you're screwed" personal bankruptcy laws? What about the healtcare indsutry? Do ya think maybe they could spare a little from their billions of profits and provide some health care?
I got no problem with this, although this is follow-on stuff. I don't doubt that disaster relief will help with some of this. Right now basic services are what's needed. So drop a few bucks on the Red Cross and ask your deity of choice to get involved.
"Keep the Shiny side up"
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Bush didn't create Katrina, of course, but he DID deeply cut work on completing the levee between lake Pontchartrian and NOLA in favor of the War in Iraq and the tax cut.
Quote:www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1473789/posts Even in the current Federal budget
The Army Corps of Engineers... spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained (to be completed) even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside. Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq...as well the tax cuts... was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.
Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't see it coming...." In early 2004... President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness.
On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; told the Times-Picayune: “It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.” Also that June, with the 2004 hurricane season starting, the Corps' project manager Al Naomi went before a local agency, the East Jefferson Levee Authority, and essentially begged for $2 million for urgent work that Washington was now unable to pay for. From the June 18, 2004 Times-Picayune:
"The system is in great shape, but the levees are sinking. Everything is sinking, and if we don’t get the money fast enough to raise them, then we can’t stay ahead of the settlement," he said. "The problem that we have isn’t that the levee is low, but that the federal funds have dried up so that we can’t raise them."
Quote:
In fiscal year 2006, the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is bracing for a record $71.2 million reduction in federal funding. It would be the largest single-year funding loss ever for the New Orleans district, Corps officials said.
Aside from the overall lack of preparation, one of the things I wondered about was why the resources were not put on alert BEFORE Katrina made landfall? I mean, you see a Category 5 storm heading for a major city that is below sea level, people are predicting EXACTLY what happened... why not put the National Guard on alert? Why not start moving equipment to the area ahead of time to evacuate people? Why wait until three days after the fact to form a "task force" to "plan" how to "coordinate" effort??? When 55% of the National Guard and most of the helicopters and amphibious vehicles are in Iraq and everyone else is at least a state away doesn't it make sense to start moving into postion EARLY? So that you can resuce people BEFORE they start dying of lack of meds and drowning and starvation and cholera and typhus??? This isn't a joke. People ARE dying. And I kept asking myself- What are they waiting for????
So, does acting ahead of time make sense? Nahh... I suppose not.
Also, in a more proactive sense, the whole "just in time" corporate philosphy works GREAT- as long as nothing goes wrong. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to the pharmacy to get meds for my daughter or SO and they were out of stock. In case of an earthquake (in our case) pharmacies, hospitals, even grocery stores have NO stock. I can't even build up our own personal supply of meds
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
SignyM,
Nice one. I was about to come to your rescue, but you handled it well. Yes, the MSM doesn't want to touch the facts you pointed out. Another bad joke is the numbers of Guard and other troops going to New Orleans. There should be 100,000 Guard ordered there IMMEDIATELY, and all the helicopters in the world to get people out of there before they die from lack of water. A person can go a long time without food, but not without water.
And the fool on the hill sat on his arse in Texas, knowing this was coming, until AFTER it happened. He shows piss-poor leadership by any standards.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Sorry, SignyM. I forgot for a moment that the real importance of a disaster is to provide you with another platform to bash the government, private industry, etc. Rock on.
"Keep the Shiny side up"
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Now, now. Bush has taken time out of his busy schedule to order Air Force One to dive bomb the area a few times. Just because he swiped all the money for preparing the defences against this eventuality and also pushed incredibly hard against anything that might slow down climate change, just what makes you think he should be criticised?
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
I just listened to the Prezdent... three days after the fact... and I have to say I sure hope we don't have any other disasters on his watch. He's going to send one hosptial ship to the area. ONE????
I think your being a bit hard on the Federal Govt and President Bush.
He deploys a hospital ship on less then 24 hours notice and several Amphibious troop ships one of which was on station by Tuesday evening. He is sending hundreds of truckloads of pre-positioned relief supplies over road clogged with refugees, despite limited fuel supplies, and into a region whose transportation infrastructure is severely damaged. And all that is what was happening Tuesday. He pointed out the more is coming.
What I'm saying is that these things take time. Sure, we could have prepositioned all the stuff in the affected region in the days before the storm hit. But then it would have likely been destroyed along with everything else. That means everything had to be staged hundreds of miles away. Then it needs to be moved. That means planes (airports are flooded, damaged, destroyed), trains (railroad service is limited), and trucks (bridges, roads, gas supplies).
I can understand your anger with Bush. After all he won the election in 2000 and again in 2004 and for that you cannot forgive him. But the largest disaster in American history, I think you can give him more then 24 hours to get it sorted out. Perhaps President Kerry could have stood atop the levy and commanded the waters to recede. But Bush is limited by mere mortal ability to bring all the resources of the United States into action for the relief and recovery efforts to come.
H
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME