All those in the south-east US, please stay safe and let us know when you can.
__________________
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
This storm is indeedy stronger than the last 3. I can tell already, though it hasn't made it to us with more than a couple of tornadoes, wind gusts, and rain so far.
New Orleans may not have /dodged/ the bullet this time, but it still is only a flesh wound. The nudge to the east by 30 miles and reduction from category 5 to 4 (and now 3) at the last minute means I have high hopes that the city will still be standing at the end of the day for the most part. I've heard of a few casualties off and on, but so far, nothing like I was expecting.
This far north, I'm getting pretty bla bla about hurricanes. This has been the most active 2 years I've seen in my entire life. Up until I was 30 I can name perhaps 5 or so hurricanes in my lifetime that were a serious threat to the gulf and Florida. In the last 4 years, I can already name at least 5. I don't have to go plundering the grocery store any more for survival supplies because we still have everything in stock from the LAST storm! LOL
My sister has some friends who are stuck in Biloxi, Mississippi. They apparently live a few blocks from the coast and couldn't get out of town before the bridges were raised. The nudge put them right in the blast of the storm. Hopefully they'll be all right.
But as far as hurricanes go, the only place people hope they go is out to sea. The way the Gulf Streams are moving, though, it looks like the northern end of the Gulf of Mexico is going to be blasted for a while yet. They'll shift again, sending the storms to Texas, the eastern flank of the US, or out towards nowhere. Just have to wait for the streams to shift again.
It will most likely be declared a state or national emergency, meaning that the government will help cover costs (not all the way, mind you, but it will help with what insurance doesn't cover). Overall, though, most people aren't going to get near what they should.
My sister's friends there are ok (relatively speaking). They found a safe place to wait out the storm. They've lost everything, but they're ok. Which, in the end, is what matters most.
That was a hell of a storm! Poor Mississippi! I'm glad your sis's friends are okay. I still haven't heard from a friend of mine in Houma La. I imagine he's okay though.
My thoughts are with the people in that area. Just when the storm seemed to let up, the levies broke in New Orleans and in flooded the water
__________________
ThornGenX
Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.
The latest I've heard is that they can't block the levees and are talking about ABANDONING the city. Between that, looting, guns, snakes, alligators, floating bodies, and people STILL trapped on broiling rooftops without food or fresh water..... Worst Case Scenario. God. Oh my God. And that's just New Orleans...it isn't even addressing the devistation in surrounding communities, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Well, people are being flown out of the Superdome in New Orleans to the Astrodome in Texas. I know several of the churches here where I am are also taking in refugees. The churches in my hometown have built facilities for refugees because hurricanes in Texas used to be pretty bad. Cities that were hit that are no longer flooded by the rains or broken levees have found immense destruction from flash floods/hurricane winds/tornados.
But I honestly don't know if New Orleans will be rebuilt. Much of the city was on old wetlands that were drained. The ground there is below sea level. Seeing as how the levees are in such poor condition (who knows how long the structure itself will even last, with all this pressure), it's all returned to being wetlands. After this, I don't think the risk of losing it all again in a similar scenario is worth all the money it would take to (1 repair the levees, (2, drain the land again, and (3 rebuild the city. It's possible that the city will simply shift in the other direction. Who knows?
I suspect that many people will try to rebuild, but the insurance companies and the larger employers will look at what happened and not do it again. The land was borrowed from the sea and the marsh, and Mother Nature wanted it back. She will want it back again.
My worry now is that the people will expect it to be rebuilt. They'll keep holding on to the hope that it will come back, and spend years in refugee camps waiting for the "promised land", rather than building new lives elsewhere. Building new lives elsewhere isn't easy, but it's better than the alternatives.
But for now, I wish them peace and dignity and reassurance that loved ones are safe.
__________________
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Check out the list of headlines on CNN.com. Apparently, one of the hospitals that was being evacuated had to stop due to some nutjob taking potshots at the injured/sick/dying and those trying to help them.
Bastard. A whole city has been literally wiped off the face of the earth; people are homeless, packed into every place possible, living without any sanitation whatsoever; people who need hospital care aren't getting it BECAUSE YOU'RE TAKING STINKING POTSHOTS at them! The hell?!
Looting? Semi-understandable. Loss like they've faced makes the temptation to take stuff from abandoned houses very strong. The only excuse he could use is that he's gone so far down that he's completely snapped. But it's still no excuse. HOSPITAL. PATIENTS. Stuck in a hospital that obviously isn't serving the patients' needs because of one homicidal maniac.
New Orleans has always been a stewpot of nutters and a volitile mix of haves and have nots, usually divided along a racial line. I know even the regugees right now are screaming about how 'they' are treating us like animals and such. It's sad, depressing, and deplorable. I know I'm generalizing here, but if those in authority hadn't been such corrupt racist bastards for so many generations, would we have so many poor folks with such a blind hatred for anything that represents power?
That said, someone should ride shotgun on all helecoptor rides and pick off those nutjobs.
What disgusts me is that they had a few days warning, but did anyone think that maybe helping the have-nots evacuate would be good? No. If you don't have a car or money, you get to go to the stadium or stay put.
No, it's cheaper to stuff them in the stadium or rescue them later. Or not.
__________________
Between stimulus and response there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
I won't even BEGIN my rant because I'll be here for days. Words can't express all that I'm feeling. But the following antecdote probably sums up the entire situation.
After the hurricane hit--after it was known how terrible everything was--Bush went to a party for John McCain in Arizona, where he ate cake and played the guitar.
He ate cake. Echoes of Marie Antoinette.
Is it fair to say Bush really isn't terribly concerned with what's happening in a city full of poor people? That those who mattered--those with cash and cars that pay taxes and aren't a drag on the system--were the ones who evacuated and those that are left aren't really a concern.
Survival of the richest--isn't that what Darwin said?
Katse
02-09-2005 00:16
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