Hurricane Katrina

[jamesj]

I pray I misunderstood! please watch it and tell me!

[jmrentis]

What we were talking about anyways was when the warnings came in, the warnings to get out of town, even if you didn't have a ride out any distance inland would increase your chances of getting a ride and staying above the storm surge. I know some situations people couldn't do that, but many of them could and should have. I know I would, and I promise that almost all the people stuck there right now would have done it differently had they had a second chance. People ALWAYS under estimate mother nature, you just can't it will get you killed. But again my thoughts go out to those down there, it's truly a terrible situation, I hope things improve a little soon! Good luck guys! Jason

[jamesj]

What we were talking about anyways was when the warnings came in, the warnings to get out of town, even if you didn't have a ride out any distance inland would increase your chances of getting a ride and staying above the storm surge.  I know some situations people couldn't do that, but many of them could and should have. I know I would, and I promise that almost all the people stuck there right now would have done it differently had they had a second chance. People ALWAYS under estimate mother nature, you just can't it will get you killed.  But again my thoughts go out to those down there, it's truly a terrible situation, I hope things improve a little soon! Good luck guys! Jason

←

Oh yea when they say go, you go!

I was just very disturbed when I seen that on fox news. I just want to "understand" why they cant walk out. It just dont seem right to me. Maybe I misunderstood, I want someone to confirm what I think I know I heard.

[stiggz]

People ALWAYS under estimate mother nature, you just can't it will get you killed. 

←

i know what u mean, my mum showed me som photos of darwin after cyclone tracy hit, she had the presence of mind to go out to katherine (thats a place 300k's south of darwin), there were only a couple of houses u could see standing, all of them had no roofs.

but i do feel for those trapped in the stadium, with all the rapes and murders etc. im sorry, this may sound insensitive, but only in america would this sort of thing happen, a HUGE natural disaster, and people are killing and looting and SHOOTING AT RESCUE HELICOPTERS. thats just not cricket, especially from citizens of one of the worlds super powers

Edited September 5, 2005 by where's the beef???

[thegarehanman]

You're right, that does sound insensitive. Oh, and you're a moron. Have you not noticed the tribal warfare in some african countries(that's civil war buddy...in 2005!)? Not to mention the slavery that still exists there. When you put everyone(including the hardened criminals) from any ghetto into one building, you're going to see crime. It's inevitable. To say something like this is unique to America is idiotic. America gets way more press than most other countries, so even if something like this happened in another country, depending on what country it is, you might never hear about it.

[stiggz]

well im not saying that every 1 in america is like that, im saying in a situation like this 1 people shouldnt be so downright stupid, this sort of thing didnt happen after the tsunamis hit banda arche in indonesia, or sri lanka. as for the tribal wars in africa, these sorts of things have been goin on for a long time, and some of these "tribal wars" are actually militant ruled dictatorships (take a look at zimbabwe with robert mugabe). And civil war is most definately different to shooting at a rescue helecopter, when there is no war

Maybe i was to harsh to say only in america, but for these things to happern in a civilised country, one of the worlds "super-powers" is disconcerting to say the least.

luke

[westhemann]

it can happen anywhere.when you take away civilization(electricity,food,and water)...some people tend to become uncivilized.

right now new orleans is more like a third world country than part of a superpower.hopefully it will be better soon.

[thegarehanman]

well im not saying that every 1 in america is like that, im saying in a situation like this 1 people shouldnt be so downright stupid, this sort of thing didnt happen after the tsunamis hit banda arche in indonesia, or sri lanka. as for the tribal wars in africa, these sorts of things have been goin on for a long time, and some of these "tribal wars" are actually militant ruled dictatorships (take a look at zimbabwe with robert mugabe). And civil war is most definately different to shooting at a rescue helecopter, when there is no war

Maybe i was to harsh to say only in america, but for these things to happern in a civilised country, one of the worlds "super-powers" is disconcerting to say the least.

luke

Seriously, you help no one by saying these things. It's just going to ignite a wildfire of argument among the board. That's completely unnecessary, especially when talking about a subject like this. Go throw some shrimp on the barbie or something.

EDIT: Here, I added a smilely so no one freaks out.

Edited September 5, 2005 by thegarehanman

[sepultura999]

well im not saying that every 1 in america is like that, im saying in a situation like this 1 people shouldnt be so downright stupid, this sort of thing didnt happen after the tsunamis hit banda arche in indonesia, or sri lanka. as for the tribal wars in africa, these sorts of things have been goin on for a long time, and some of these "tribal wars" are actually militant ruled dictatorships (take a look at zimbabwe with robert mugabe). And civil war is most definately different to shooting at a rescue helecopter, when there is no war

Maybe i was to harsh to say only in america, but for these things to happern in a civilised country, one of the worlds "super-powers" is disconcerting to say the least.

It took up to 6 weeks to get supplies, money, food and task forces to go down to indonesia and sri lanka, and ever government was criticized for either not doing enough, taking too long, or not donating enough. The first week was this constant bidding between countries wanting to donate money and it kept going higher almost like it was a contest to see who could outbid each other. I was actually glad to hear the Americans sent a ship down to Sri Lanka from its current post in Iraq. And last time I checked, no one has gotten ANY of the supplies or food in Sri Lanka. The even more dumb thing was the Sri Lankan government said they wanted to distribute it all themselves. Next time (if there is a next time) we should tell them that we are going to distribute it ourselves, since it's our resources we're donating.

How do you know there was no violence after the tsunami in those countries? It's fine to rely on the news, but the fact is, they can't report and tell you everything.

Maybe i was to harsh to say only in america, but for these things to happern in a civilised country, one of the worlds "super-powers" is disconcerting to say the least.

Being a superpower doesn't mean when disaster strikes you're going to be the most civilized nation. When the definition of superpower first came into play it referred to technology (i.e the atom bomb) Oh, and when the subway attacks happened, what's this crap about Brits seeking out Muslims and beating them, killing them and vandalizing their place of worship? That's definitly not cool. Think of it as the opposite; it's like all the people in a middle-eastern country seeking out and killing people who believe in catholiscism because some self-prophet kool-aid drinking nutcase caused some terrorist operation. See how ridiculous it sounds?

-Jamie

Edited September 5, 2005 by sepultura999

[westhemann]

no politics

[bluespresence]

How do you know there was no violence after the tsunami in those countries?

There WAS violence and looting and killing and pillaging (my what short memories some folks have) and that is the reason the Sri Lankan's did not want aid workers distributing the food and supplies. The danger was too high and they were afraid the aid would be cut off so they offered to distribute it with their own troops or with an army escort only.

Back on topic:

It's good to see that help is indeed there in force now with more on the way. This will take years to striaghten out and countless lives will never be the same. Donate what you can when you can for the next year. Make a point to give a few bucks a month for 12 months.....even if it's $20 a month it will help.

I was very low in my earlier estimate.....this morning they said 1,500,000 plus are homeless from this (I thought it was 250,000). That's a LOT of folks needing homes and jobs. I'm opening up my home to a couple and giving free room and board until they get back on their feet. If you have a spare room in your house I ask you consider doing the same. There are numerous web sites up now to list your opening just check the major news sites (Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc.) or do a google or Wikipedia search for them.

[jmrentis]

I'm opening up my home to a couple and giving free room and board until they get back on their feet. If you have a spare room in your house I ask you consider doing the same.

Thats freakin awsome Blues, I'm sure they will enjoy the llamas and other animals, your place sounds like a comforting environment for someone coming from the disaster area. I unfortunately do not have any room, we are pretty full, although I wish I could. My mom and I donated $100 which was matched by our bank, then my dad donated another $100 which was matched by his work Solar Turbines, so there's as much as we could do $400. It is a bad time for us, otherwise we could do more, I feel that I must help because I know how bad disasters can be, some of my friends and their families lost their homes in the fires and we did what we could, I was very lucky as I was within a 100-200 yards of the fires on 3 sides of my apartment, everything was burnt for miles and miles around me. And this disaster makes the fires seem so trivial, they were terrible but nothing the size of this storm. I feel terrible for all the people involved, I hope and pray for everyone to get through this soon, I know it will be a long time but we are doing what we can.

And as garehanman said we have more media coverage than any other country, these kinda things happen throughout the world and much more often and much worse in most contries, you hear about this stuff now because we are a country that can keep those things under control and minimized, and while in other countries it happens so much that people don't both to report it because they never do anything about it and it is so common that noone cares, so when you hear a few cases here it's a big deal because we do our best to keep it from happening, so thats why it might seem like it's bad right now because this stuff doesn't happen much, and as wes said when you have so many people in such a bad situation you can't expect things like that not to happen. At least it takes things like the worst disaster to cause these problems, unlike other countries where this stuff happens on a daily basis without cause, and they hardly ever get reported because they are so common and their police and government cannot do anything about it. I know because you don't hear things like this often it may seem crazy but seriously stuff like this goes on everywhere and much worse without there being a disaster, you just don't hear about it because nothing can be done about it and there is no or minimal media coverage in most countries. Jason

[TenderSurrender]

Blues, That is very cool what your doing!

For those who read my earlier post, the relatives i had out in Alabama have replied and explained there fine. They suffered some wind damage and a bit of flood damage but the important thing is they are fine!

~~ Slain Angel ~~

[thegarehanman]

My family is on their way to Baton Rouge from San Antonio. My Dad and 14 year old sister bought a generator and some provisions and will go back to Slidell on wednesday. They'll be taking some pics of the damage to my home w/ a digital camera. I'll try to get some up if I they can get them to me via email.

peace,

russ

[jmrentis]

Thats good to hear SlainAngel, it's good to hear a bit of good news among all this bad. I hope for many other people when they go to check out their houses, that they are still there, even if there is some damage. Losing everything have is terrible, but is still much better than losing your life. Well best wishes everyone and I'm hopeful for all of you. Jason

Edit: Russ have they fixed any of the cell phone coverage? So that people can use there cell phones again, or will that be a while yet? I suppose they have to put up new antennas for that but I'm not sure of how it works and what needs to be fixed. Let us know how it goes, does he have a way to contact you other than email, like a satellite phone?

Edited September 5, 2005 by jmrentis

[mledbetter]

chaos is a natural sociological outcome to lawlessness.. that's just human nature. no need to blame it on politics or any country's influence. You take any group of people, take away rules and isolate them and you will have chaos. ever read lord of the flies?

The mayor of NO (i'm increasingly less and less impressed with his mayor skills) did have a good point.. that NO is one of the most drug ridden cities in the nation and you have to remember a lot of the folks on the street are strung out and desparate for a fix.. that added to the already expected downward spiral makes for a bad scene.

I still feel like too many folks have a "it serves em right for not leaving" kind of attitude. that's unfortunate. People are finally getting help but none of the blame, speculation, political or theological arguments have any bearing on helping the hundreds of thousands of homeless and the 10s of thousands that are still stranded with their lives at risk.

[thegarehanman]

I don't know exactly how the cell phones are working. I know they don't work in slidell. I have a cell with a Slidell area code and it works in Baton Rouge. People in Baton Rouge have no trouble calling me either. Some people that are in other states have some trouble calling me though. I don't know.

[mledbetter]

well, cells work wherever there is a cell tower.. where you are there are still towers. doesn't matter where your phone originates from, just that you're near an active tower.