Katrina Visits "big Easy"

[cheesemonster2005]

From today's Independent:

 

Experts on the Mississippi Delta pointed out that a plan to shore up the levees around New Orleans was abandoned last year for lack of government funding. They noted that flood-control spending for south-eastern Louisiana had been chopped every year that Mr Bush has been in office, that hurricane protection funds have also fallen, and that the local army corps of engineers has also had its budget cut.

 

and

 

As when the Asian tsunami hit last year, Mr Bush found himself on holiday at his Texas ranch when disaster struck. As with the tsunami, he was soon in the firing line for reacting slowly - he spent Monday on a fundraising tour of the American West - and failing to provide adequate leadership.

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Yes, according to CNN it was planned that the army, National Guard and companies would help to restore these levees but it was Bush's administration who ordered the cuts. Finally people have some cannon fodder against the Bush administration but it's sad that it had to cost so many lives (Euronews estimated 1,000)

[Amadeus]

And while this catastrophe happens in the US no one gives two xxxxs about the goings on in Iraq or the result of the stampede which cost over 1000 lives north of Bagdad.  I love how the media are so quick to clasify anything as a catastrophe or a disaster regardless of it's size but dependent on its whereabouts.

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I disagree - the stampede story was number two on BBC news and well covered. And an incident like this will always be the nr 1 headline around the world, simply for it's sheer size...

 

USA Today still makes for grim reading:

 

Across the city, law and order broke down. Police officers turned in their badges. Rescuers, law officers and helicopter were shot at by storm victims. Fistfights and fires broke out Thursday at the hot and stinking Superdome as thousands of people waited in misery to board buses for the Houston Astrodome. Corpses lay out in the open in wheelchairs and in bedsheets. The looting continued.

 

If it wouldn't mention the Superdome, you could actually think they were writing about Baghdad..

 

At least the Interweb is being put to good use again, as the following article mentions:

 

Until Monday, a visit to Katrina Blankenship's home on the Web introduced visitors to a small Powhatan, Va.-based business, known for its "Web sites with personality."

 

Today, in the wake of one of the worst natural disasters in American history, www.katrina.com has become a place to look for family or loved ones still missing from Hurricane Katrina. It's also full of helpful information such as how to make a donation or how to reach Louisiana hotels.

[SugarBee]

What on earth does the Blame Game accomplish? This is a horrible event for the US, and if it happened elsewhere, I'd feel the same sympathy for so many who have lost their lives or their homes or family or friends.

[Lonan3]

What on earth does the Blame Game accomplish?  This is a horrible event for the US, and if it happened elsewhere, I'd feel the same sympathy for so many who have lost their lives or their homes or family or friends.

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Please don't take it wrong, SugarBee - there is no lack of sympathy for those poor people who are suffering so horrendously! They are not only on our TV screens, they are very much in our thoughts as well.

But when we listen to the anguish expressed by the mayor of New Orleans - and his condemnation of the efforts being made so far - I think it's natural to ask the questions about whether it could have been prevented.

[cheesemonster2005]

I disagree - the stampede story was number two on BBC news and well covered. And an incident like this will always be the nr 1 headline around the world, simply for it's sheer size...

 

USA Today still makes for grim reading:

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I will stand corrected. Whilst I thought the coverager of the hurricane compared with the stampede was too great I can see why the continued coverage is as in depth as it is because of the sheer lawlessness, health crisis and what can almost be described as a catastrophe of humanity. The pictures I've been watching today on CNN show a war zone and a third world country in the USA.

[SugarBee]

I do not think that hurricanes can be predicted easily, or any type of weather for that matter. On the Weather Channel some weather scientist said that weather goes in cycles per the warmth of the oceans and the coolness of the oceans. There is no doubt that there is global warming, but I do not believe that signing the treaty would make any difference whatsoever. If the Prez had reasons not to sign it, I am sure there many more that will not be revealed. How can anyone debate the politics anyhow when the news/media slants every damn thing you hear or read is never the entire story. And Monday Morning Quarterbacks are bores.

 

Fact is a Category 5 hurricane has occurred before global warming and it will occur again.

 

I do not understand why help was not immediate. And, the blame lays on GWB, but not only him, the REST of the aid organizations.

 

And, btw, I just spoke to my friend IN the French Quarter. He stayed for storm. He is without power, but has phone service. Says Quarter is NOT flooded, but all around the Quarter is a deep moat. Once again, the news has not reported that at all. And true to form, one bar is open and dispensing warm beer......

[Lonan3]

From BBC News, New Orleans, LA, 02:51 GMT

 

"The squalid circumstances of the tens of thousands of people stranded in New Orleans were alleviated slightly as military convoys bringing food and water began to arrive. At the Convention Centre, where about 2,000 people have spent six days in atrocious conditions waiting to be evacuated, vast stockpiles of relief supplies appeared.

Troops guarded and distributed bottled water and ration packs. There were other small bright spots in a dismal picture. A hospital, the Medical Centre of Louisiana, was evacuated quickly and efficiently. Thirteen-hundred patients had spent five days without power and with flood water coursing through the corridors.

The federal government and President Bush himself have been on the end of biting public criticism over the tentative early response to Hurricane Katrina. But the new sense of purpose in the air has not defused the anger and frustration on the filthy streets of New Orleans, nor will it dispel a gathering political storm."

 

It's good to see that the relief efforts finally appear to be getting into gear, but that 'tentative early response' may have cost a lot of avoidable misery.

[cheesemonster2005]

Death toll in Louisiana alone is expected to exceed 10,000

 

Independent Online

[alriteyessir]

http://www.focusmag.co.uk/newsread.asp?ID=12653

 

remember reading this a few weeks ago, interestingly prophetic stuff.

[The Old Git]

This thread pans out to be worth a read:

 

http://invisionfree.com/forums/worldofstua...?showtopic=1562

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Interesting link, thanks.

[GD4ELI]

Seems like the White House has this solved with same same professionalism seen in Iraq .

[Declan]

Candian Help Declined

 

Chicago assistance left waiting

 

I think Bush's government's place in history is being written at the moment.

[The Old Git]

A blog from the city

 

http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

[Declan]

At least there's one American his country can be proud of! (although they'll probably lock him up).

[cheesemonster2005]

At least there's one American his country can be proud of! (although they'll probably lock him up).

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Let's hope he doesn't get into trouble but knowing the USA it's a big hope.

 

New Orlean's mayor has also been in the media quite a bit. His language may be very colourful (very rare yet welcome for an official) but his outspoken comments about the lack of assistance and about Bush have finally led to more action, money and troops.