New Orleans - Before and After...

[Hagar]

I've kept out of this so far as I don't think it's my place to comment. I don't think my comments will be appreciated in some quarters but I'll take that chance. Leaving politics & recriminations aside, what I find almost impossible to understand is this. That in what I always assumed was a highly organised country with huge resources for transport of both people & supplies - there seem to have been no contingency plans (either nationally or locally) in place for such a disaster. It wasn't exactly unexpected & almost certain to happen at some time or other.There were also several days warning. It also seems to me that many thousands of people who somehow survived have lost everything they had. No home, no job, no money, nothing. Has anyone even considered what's going to happen to them? No wonder they're desperate.

If this terrible tragedy achieved anything it might prevent something similar ever happening again.

PS. It's not my place to criticise either. I can't see things being any better if a similar disaster happened in my country. In fact they would probably be a lot worse.

[beaky]

Very well-put... I should've kept quiet, because I meant to express the same simple thought.

Some good news: still haven't spoken to my good friend Steve, who calls New Orleans home these days, but word came through from a mutual friend that he has been travelling and camping with a group of friends (I think); they are in Baton Rouge but are planning to return to New Orleans soon- he'll be staying at a house on the West Bank until he can get back to his rented digs near the French Quarter. Apparently, his apartment and the place he works at are still more or less intact... as difficult as the days ahead will be, at least he'll have a few threads of his life remaining.
Very happy to hear also that this excellent chef spent some time cooking for refugees somewhere in the area; makes me laugh, because when we were roommates, I would often announce that there was nothing to eat, and he'd go in the kitchen and produce extraordinary meals out of almost nothing. Those refugees were probably ready to eat a dead cat without complaining, but how lucky they were to line up for some of Stevie Z's cooking!!
Anyway, I wish him luck- not too worried about his safety, as his travelling companions are reportedly armed (and competent, I hope).  But everyone down there  (and in the other Gulf Coast areas laid waste by this storm) has a long hard road ahead...

[Paz]

That in what I always assumed was a highly organised country with huge resources for transport of both people & supplies - there seem to have been no contingency plans (either nationally or locally) in place for such a disaster. It wasn't exactly unexpected & almost certain to happen at some time or other.There were also several days warning.

[Wing Nut]

I've kept out of this so far as I don't think it's my place to comment. I don't think my comments will be appreciated in some quarters but I'll take that chance. Leaving politics & recriminations aside, what I find almost impossible to understand is this. That in what I always assumed was a highly organised country with huge resources for transport of both people & supplies - there seem to have been no contingency plans (either nationally or locally) in place for such a disaster. It wasn't exactly unexpected & almost certain to happen at some time or other.There were also several days warning. It also seems to me that many thousands of people who somehow survived have lost everything they had. No home, no job, no money, nothing. Has anyone even considered what's going to happen to them? No wonder they're desperate.

If this terrible tragedy achieved anything it might prevent something similar ever happening again.

PS. It's not my place to criticise either. I can't see things being any better if a similar disaster happened in my country. In fact they would probably be a lot worse.

It's a case of "Can't Happen Here" syndrome.  We see this happening everywhere else, and think 'Those poor people' then turn on Survivor and forget about it.  We've had it good for so long, perhaps this is what we need to wake us up and give us a good kick in our complacency...

[Fozzer]

The next one which frightens me, and is due any time soon...
The San Andreas Fault devastating San Francisco as it did in 1906...>>>

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/info/1906/

At least 'Frisco is built well above sea level which accounts for it's successful re-building... 8)...!

Cheers all...!

Paul.

More info...>>>
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/

[H]

I'm sure you've noted that I've stayed out of this commentary until now. Many of us are upset about the lack of preparation; we well knew that this thing was gaining more momentum than when it had hit Florida. It wasn't like there was no warning. And, why would you think us so uniformly 'organised' or lacking complacency -- Pearl Harbor or September 11, 2001?
As for the loss of homes, jobs, money, etc., that was simply going to happen whether people stayed or left -- the difference being whether or not those very people might be lost, as well. This is a democracy, or a facsimile thereof, so people have the choice to make bad decisions: finding out first hand if their home is submarine quality in an Atlantis Revisited scenario is one of them. Not having supplies, equipment and suitable evacuation refuges at the ready is another matter. Unfortunately, complaining and arguing about it affords us little unless, as you've indicated, it's a lesson learned. All we can do for the time at hand is pick up the pieces and put as much as we can together -- and maybe select a better place to do so.