New Orleans Flooding

[TeeWJay426]

A couple of good photo sets of the damage attached.

http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/breakingnews/slideshow/083005_dmnkatrina/1.html

http://www.weather.com/newscenter/slideshow/katrina2.html

I've heard bits and pieces of some other interesting reports on the radio & TV, but didn't find any links to them. One dealt with a mid-2001 report that there were 3 major disaster scenarios that could be devastating to the US. One was a terrorist attack in NYC (this was pre-9/11), the second was a major hurricane hitting the Gulf of Mexico in the NO area, and the third was a major earthquake along the San Andreas fault in CA.
Another dealt with an LSU (? I think) computer study that simulated a cat 5 hurricane last year... a computer simulated an actual hurricane named Pamela to demonstrate to FEMA the effects on NO, which they were 'going to take under advisement to improve disaster preparations'.... and another showed a study over several years that showed the actual coastline in the NO area shrinking, due to the area literally sinking into the sea. Anybody else have any additional info on any of these? If nothing else, these show that Katrina and the devastation that followed shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone.

[Brock Samson]

finally online...
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/09/BAGL1EL1KH1.DTL&hw=chip+johnson&sn=001&sc=1000

[bull]

Posted by: Jon Smith 
Insert Quote
The city wasn't below sea level when it was built, how many people would move away from somewhere they've lived all their lives because of a disaster that "might happen" there still loads of people living on fault lines on the west coast, there a huge volcano in yellowstone park, you dont see a mass exodus from those places
on the other hand they shouldn't rebulid "as is" below sea level

Actually I was reading a story about that in the Oregonian newspaper that said the man who founded New Orleans ignored warnings about potential flooding. Yes the city has dropped in elevation by as much as 20' but the founder knew the dangers of sinking and flooding from the get-go.

[bull]

For a change, Let's show the world who we really are, and show each other that we care.

I really doubt we're going to be able to save face after all that went on in New Orleans after the hurricane went through. The mayor of the city is a major embarrassment by himself with all his whining and cussing on TV rather than taking a leadership role and helping his citizens. He certainly makes Rudy Juliani look like more of a hero. And what's with the governess of Louisiana? Don't governors have the power to activate the Nation Guard in their own state? Still, I would imagine $51+ billion worth of tax dollars is a pretty good start, plus all the donations to the Red Cross and the fundraisers. John Grisham alone donated $5 million for relief in Mississippi.

It's not very politically correct of me to say this but I have to wonder how many tax dollars have already been spent through welfare on "arms, or trinkets, or whatever," by able-bodied citizens of New Orleans while other truly needy people suffer.

[jmanscharger]

The damage is massive. I'm beginning to wonder though if the city has been actually spared the deaths expected. Numbers were thrown around of 10,000. The 118 currently known is too high but things are causing me to wonder about the whole mess.
The school bus fleet not used to evacuate.
The red cross aid kept out of the superdome because local officials didn't want more people rushing there.
The governor refusing the national guard.
The $2000 debit card debacle, currently can't be handed out fast enough.
We have 500,000 people needing help, many of whom needed help before the hurricane, reality is that it was a mess before and it's going to get messier. Guys I'm not into conspiracy theories and don't doubt the damage and despair but managing this number of people in a disaster has not gone well. I talked with a law enforcement friend who railed about the corruption of law enforcement and government in New Orleans being one of the worst in the nation. Personally I'm giving to the Salvation Army because I know it goes for direct aid and not through as many levels of administration. I think we need to think critically not only about the poor first response but also how things are rebuilt because we're talking about a place that had massive problems already (corruption, 27% poverty, 25% literacy rate among high school graduates.

My church supports a inner city ministry in New Orleans and this is an article from before the hurricane.
http://sites.silaspartners.com/cc_article_email/1,,UFRJRDMyMzQyMnxDSElENjY0MDE0fENJSUQxNzcyNDE0,00.html

[andy74]

i gave blood and so sis my wife over the weekend,not having a lot of extra cash to donate-i guess it could be summed up in the immortal words of sam kinison"we have deserts in america,we just dont live in em,assholes!"why would you place your self in that type of an enviroment?i feel for all the people that were injured or killed,but what the hell,if your poor,move,youll be poor somewhere else,and still be alive-and i have also heard of the corruption in the new orleans police dept,been that way for years,but that doesnt have much to do with it,this has been prdeicted for years,and the GOVERNMENT should have heeded the warnings, sorry about the rant,but its on my mind

[SirNik73]

i've heard that all the professionals, the engineers and the poeple dealing with the levees said they wouldn't with stand a Catagory 3 storm. and then the weather service talked to the Govener and the mayor and nether one of them wanted to force the evacuation of  the city.  then when the federal goverment wanted to come in the Governer was tellign the troops where the could and couldn't go, keeping them from places like the super dome and other places that were filled with people to encurage the people to leave. yet the mayor had not called on the evacuation plan so those people were stuck there. it just seems stupid that the reason the poeple who got into trouble in New Orleans is because of the state and local goverment... the people who should know best how to deal with a local disaster.... why should the people have to wait til the federal goverment to come in to get any support. what the heck is the local goverment good for if they can't get people on a bus and get them out... isn't it the local goverments job to run the busses??

[jmanscharger]

We're hearing stories in the news now about 9-11 money that went as loans to folks that it shouldn't have... As I give money to help the victims directly , I really don't trust the local officials to use our national tax dollars efficiently to fix problems. The New orleans school system literally lost 25 million way before the hurricane , they still don't know where it went. We don't know the depth of New Orleans problems, we will have a chance to fix something that was very messed up OR a lot of money will be wasted. I am hoping for some accountability when we spend 50 billion, these people need help, and MUCH CHANGE.