Yup, just when you think us American's couldn't be any stupider or unprepared......we build a city on marshes and build it up into a bowl....at below sea level.....RIGHT NEXT TO THE SEA!. 🙄

Was watching Nightline last night and it was amazing how the reporter was pratically blamming the main FEMA guy on why things were not being done any faster or better when we all know that they are doing the best they can. The people being saved aren't helping things by murdering, beating up, stealing things (I'm not talking about supplies).

What's really interesting about all this is (although not unexpected):

1. The victim's reactions when faced with such a situation. Sure alot of people are helping each other out but alot of people are performing criminal behavior.

2. Gas prices have risen incredibly high.

It makes you wonder what's going to happen when the ice caps melt completely and the world is still relying mostly on gasoline to power their machinery........it ain't gonna be pretty.

DosFreak wrote:

It makes you wonder what's going to happen when the ice caps melt completely and the world is still relying mostly on gasoline to power their machinery........it ain't gonna be pretty.

Or when fossil fuels run out, whichever happens first.

Yup, just when you think us American's couldn't be any stupider or unprepared......we build a city on marshes and build it up into a bowl....at below sea level.....RIGHT NEXT TO THE SEA!

Except it has been sinking, like Venice.

http://www.waterconserve.info/articles/reader … sp?linkid=14106

Also, funding for FEMA has been cut (got to pay for the tax cuts somrehow) and alot of Louisiana's National Guard is in Iraq.

Well, I guess everything was concentrated on fighting terrorism (though with rather questionable success) and possibility of nature disasters was ignored (or more precisely - it was seen as far smaller danger in comparison)...
It is also striking how the speed of reaction varied between New York and New Orleans... I guess there are more government officies in New York... Or maybe the problem was in the lack of targetable enemy in the second case....
Saying that, having the city under the sea level is not healthy. Maybe it would be good to think about moving it a bit (of course it is impossible in one go, but let's say by allowing to build new houses only on higher areas and supporting the development of parks etc in lower areas (instead of new housing).

I admit I was never in New Orleans, so please people who know it there: do not flame me... This is just my personal opinion.

Mirek

I see constant comparisons between New Orleans and the Towers. The situations are totally different.

1. The Towers were in the middle of NYC.
The Hurrican hit New Orleans.

While New Orleans is hardly the middle of nowhere...compared to NYC it is in the middle of nowhere.

2. The Towers were just that. TOWERS. Yes, there was collateral damage to the surrounding area but mostly it was contained to the towers.

The Hurricane covered a HUGE amount of area with damaging winds/debris and the flooding accomplished the rest.

I really don't think people understand the scope of this. It's estimated that 100,000 people were left behind. 100,000 people. While most people made it to the 2 gathering points (Stadium and convention center) the rest remained at home. How the hell are you supposed to get all the people off of their houses in a quick amount of time? A Blackhawk can only carry so many people and they have to do it one at a time...plus they have to worry about power lines and debris.

All these people complaining about response time must think we have Transporters or something...

DosFreak wrote:

All these people complaining about response time must think we have Transporters or something...

Well, I would expect strong military presence (tens of thousands soldiers) starting to arrive shortly (second day) after the hurricane... That would be possible. The US Army has certainly means to do it quickly. It would curb the following chaos and looting... (though I know it is impossible to avoid it completely in such cases).
When such a big city is nearly empty and flooded it can be expected that a lot of people try to use opportunity... Unfortunately humans are like that (not just in USA, but everywhere).

Mirek

One thing I have heard several times is why didn't the people evacuate when they were told to? I talked to a friend there on the Saturday before the hurricane struck and he said that the gas stations around him had ran out of gas, even before the mandatory evacuation was issued. He said as of Friday that all that was left was premium gas and there were 20 car long lines for it. I have lived in a couple hurricane prone areas, New Orleans being one of them, and when there is even a warning of a hurricane supplies fly off the shelves and there are shortages of everything. I think many of the people that remained behind couldn't leave because of poverty or even if they wanted to there was no gas available. My friend decided to ride it out since he had been through Betsy and Camille in the 60s. It turns out most of the mess was caused by the levee failing. I remember driving down River Road and seeing ships passing above you - the levees were built up that much.