Hurricane Katrina

[Shining Star]

Sad thing about New Orleans/LA is that it is mainly the poor and "lower rungs" of society that are being hit hard by this disaster. Wealthier parts of New Orleans are away from the levies further uptown. Also many of those in New Orleans (besides the tourists), did not have the means to evacuate on their own. If one does not own a car/truck, no credit cards or much else you have to rely on whatever the city/state provides.

Many people think of all of LA as the "Big Easy", and nothing could be further from the truth. LA is one of the poorest states in the United States and New Orleans one of the poorest cities. While this in now way excues, it does explain some of the looting going on. Much of what was taken was food and diapers. People simply are stuck in a hot, humid situation with no power or the meger comforts.

Yes, it is going to be years before New Orleans/Gulf Coast is back to normal, whatever "normal" is, but New Orleans in general faces a huge challenge.

As anyone with a television knows by now the city sits below sea level, the buildings that are flooded are probably going to be contaminated by sewage,oil and chemicals, so therefore probably torn down. Businesses may or may not reopen and there probably will be a push to diversify some of the oil business concentrated there so not to be subject to huge problems like this. Take away oil, chemicals and tourists, and New Orleans/LA is pretty much "screwed" Ok, there is Tulane, that will only get them so far.

S.Star

[LG]

Too right, Shining Star, the poorer residents were the hardest hit. Many of them must have sought refuge the best they could but with a feeling of impending doom, since there was nothing they could do about it.

Just goes to show, for all man's progress and power, nature still holds all the aces. The creative and destructive force of nature is beyond anything we mere mortals can imagine.

I was very saddened watching the news on TV.

[Fire231us]

New Orleans was lucky for the longest time.

Now I have to wonder it would be the first major city in the US to become unliveable. It will break this country into two sadly, and not because of the people or the culture there, but the Oil. If that leeve breakes near that lake (I forget the name) that place is sunk for a long time. And even if they did get the water out- the majority of the cities infostructure is basicly 3rd world capable. Then we have the diseases that could lead into a quarrentine of not only the state of LA, but it could extend up to part of Texas and parts of Florida.

Its a sad time, and this on top of a war and the oil crunch which both will get worse...

[Quinn]

Shining Star brings up a good point about the poor in New Orleans and the surrounding area. New Orleans is consistently rated as one of the poorest big cities in America. You know the poor are definitely going to suffer disproportionately, particularly since most of them couldn’t afford to leave the area. Disease will definitely be an issue in the coming weeks.

-Quinn

[geekmeat]

I am sad for the victims of this natural disaster.
The looting and lawlessness going on right now is uncalled for.
I am sure the response of americans will be an outpouring of sympathy.
But........
I must bring to the fore some disturbing thoughts I am having.
I lived in miami from 74-81 and we never had a hurricane that caused us to evacuate.
It seems the storms are getting worse and worse.
WHY?
Some people say global warming WHICH......the bush administration is ignoring because producing cleaner energy would cost more money and cut into the profit margins of the gas companies are refineries.
Now would I be so evil to say......oh....this is the doing of the bush administration for IGNORING scientific facts?
Not yet because there is not conclusive evidence.
But the religous fantics such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson wouldnt hesistate for a second.
Remember what they said after 9/11?
Did president bush seek and apology from these men who are his friends?
NO!
And another thing.
I live in the bay area......and my area is CONSTANTLY demonized by the christians and the right wing wackos about everything.
When we had our power crisis out here Vice president Cheney blamed US!
God forbid if another great quake hits San Francisco will the southern states give generously to us?
Will the right wingers laugh and mock us and say god is "punishing us"?
The evil fanatical fascist policies of the Bush regime in my opinion is the cause of these storms via there ignoring the global warming phenomenon.

[GroobySteven]

Don't they have alligators down there?
seanchai

[Shining Star]

Storms aren't getting worse per se, bad hurricanes do run in cycles though; the problem is more and more Americans live long the coast. Look at what is happening to Florida, especially SoBe,Dade County and now even the Pan Handle. As more people choose to live along the coast, the greater potential risk for damage and loss of life coming from violent storms.

New Orleans would'nt be my first choice to establish a city, but it sits at the mouth of the Mississippi river and thus makes a great port. While this location has bought "some" wealth to the area, the city has always been a "risky" place to live. Basically most of the New Orleans area is swamp/bog land, with all that comes with it; gators, mo's, yellow fever, disease, rats (ok, nutria) and a host of other problems. This is why again you see the wealthier parts of town are well away from the low lying areas/built on high ground. Over the years thems that gots have learned to stay away from the low lying areas for the very above mentioned reasons.

To me it does show some type of bad planning as no one seemed to consider all these poor folks with no way to leave town couldn't evacuate and would be "stuck" there. Imagine what would have happened if Katrina really was the "storm of the century"and hit New Orleans head on?

[Nowhereboy]

Shining Star wrote "Storms aren't getting worse per se, bad hurricanes do run in cycles though." While this is true, one of the reasons Katrina blew up so quickly to Category 5 is that the water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico is at or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Warm water is the energy source for Hurricanes and the Gulf of Mexico is apparently much warmer than it has been. This can certainly be attributed to changes in the global climate

[Nowhereboy]

Much of the damage to New Orleans might have been alleviated but for the War in Iraq. Right now you are probably thinking I am just a shrieking lunatic who blames everything on the War. Perhaps, but the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, a project run by the Army Corps of Engineers, had to divert money from the project starting in 2003 because of the twin pressures of the expense of the War and the expenses of the Bush Tax Cut. If that work had been allowed to continue for the past two years at full speed, the situation in NO would be very different today. They would still have suffered damage no doubt, but the levees on Lake Pontchartrain would have been in much stronger condition.

How's that for Homeland Security?

[geekmeat]

Where is the National Guard?
They are over in Iraq dying needlessly instead of being home so that they could attend to matters such as this.
Allegedy there were NO amphbius vehicles because there were ALL SENT TO IRAQ!
The situation in Louisiana and others areas are a HORRIFIC disaster.
But what is an even WORSE disaster is the beedy-eyed blue blooded bastard that currently occupies the white house!