Re: My Local Newspaper

Jpinny wrote:
>
> And where the hell are the National Guard?

On their way back from Iraq.

> Where's the American Red Cross?

Most of them are in Houston unable to move to New Orleans until the locals
give the go ahead. Both airports are still under water. As of 7 am Wed
there were 5000 Red Cross workers assembled in Houston. A problem is I10
has been damaged in a major way through the swamps as has the causeway
across Lake Ponchatrain so that would mean leave the major route into NO as
US90 through the south which is where a lot of strom damage occured. Rail
links are also damaged and can't be inspected or repaired until the water
subsides.


> Bush is out there telling ordinary folks to
> donate to a charity. Excuse me! Where is huge corporate donation? I
> cannot believe that the federal government of the United States of
> America can do so very little, so very late to help New Orleans!

Bush senior go a major ass kicking after hurricane Andrew levelled
Homestead, Florida because the feds were so ill prepared and didn't react to
the crisis.

Ford or GM donated 1/2 million yesterday or earlier today. After lambasting
shrub, as only a leftist Latin American dictator can, Chavez of Venezuela
ordered the state owned oil company (Citgo in US) to donate $1million to
disaster relief and offered to send food, cheap gas and aid workers to New
Orleans. The silence from Exxon Mobil is deafening, well except for the
sound of cash registers.


> It does give one pause for thought about how these levees could have
> been strengthened, in much the same way as the amazing flood surge
> defence system that the Dutch built after their catastrophic floods of
> the 1950's. London has done it, too. The inhabitants of the Gulf area
> know they get hurricanes.

yup and I for one am pissed off that people are allowed to build homes 10
feet from the beach, shutting off access to the great unwashed who have to
pay inflated insurance premiums when these 1/2 million $$$$ follies are
destroyed in a storm. After the last major storm in 2003 my premiums
doubled to pay for their mistakes. I chose to live in this location because
its far enough away from the coast that I'm immune to tidal surge and the
winds from one hurricane we had dissipated to the point that damage to the
house was zero.

> We're talking about one of the most charming
> cities in the richest country in the world outside China.Presumably it
> wasn't a profitable enough venture to improve surge defences. That's
> what happens with "Small" government.

in Louisiana nothing gets done without a permit and no permits get issued
without every open palm being greased extensively on several occasions.
When every palm has been greased there are usually insufficient funds left
to complete the job or its so far overbudget that completion takes years or
decades longer than any other place in the country. The looting gives you
some idea of how things get done. The levees were only designed for a
category 3 storm.

In the time I've lived here I've seen one hurricane and two severe tropical
storms nothing like Katrina which can only be compared to the Galveston
Storm of 1900 which killed 9000 or Camille in the early '60s. After the
storms the locals had the world running again in a few days. I somehow get
the impression that if it was left to the Louisiana local govt they'd be
issueing permits to leave. OTOH our locals and or the Feds have got two air
conditioned arenas set up with camp beds and 475 buses lined up to shuttle
the refugees the 400+ miles. We even gave their footbal team a temporary
home and the local schools are enrolling refugee children for the duration.

Al




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