There really are flaws

[Yaps]

in the evacuation sysrems... as hurricane Dennis approached, we received at least 5 evac calls.. . we never even lost power thru Dennis.. with Katrina not even 1 evac call.. ? , I'm sitting here thinking..remembering, where is the logic? For all I know it may have been the same in NO.. for some, they may not leave until call, who knows?Just bringing this scenario, as it is the truth.. my phone never did quit and no-one called.

 

[geebee]

Well, gosh, I knew in Ohio that everyone was told to evacuate so I am not sure the word was not out.

Unless all the people who stayed did not have phones or TVs or other means of communication which I really have a hard time to believe.

Also, you mentioned that you got 5 evacuation calls yet you stayed, right? If I am correct about you staying, doesn't that say something for the evacuation call successes? Obviously people do not pay attention to the calls.

Not trying to pick on you - just pointing out a possible scenario. People just simply do not believe things are going to be as bad as they are told.

 

[Yaps]

As many in NO , I was in no position to evacuate, it really does put you in a horrifying position. What I am saying though is, they did call during Dennis, but not during Katrina, why the difference? Thats all...

 

[Karlynn]

I'm hearing lots of blame on FEMA today. Maybe some is rightfully placed. Frmr. Pres. Clinton said in the news conference today that at some point in time, things need to be looked at, but now is not the time to blame.

I just hope that when "things" are looked at, that evacuation pre-storm is given as much of a look as post-storm relief. As I mentioned previously, the more people you evacuate, the less rescue needs to occur.

Hind sight is 20/20, so I'm not saying that people should be pillaried. Just that new procedures need to be put in placed based on this experience.

 

[Nancy]

Just heard a long interview with a military officer, didn't get his name because I came in on it in the middle. But he was describing the preparedness that was done even prior to the hurricane making landfall. He said that people were deployed before the hurricane hit land on Sat. and Sun. He also said that they couldn't put troops in ahead of the storm, it had to be just after it hit, for their safety.

He further said that the logistics of getting supplies to where they needed to get to was difficult. He said that although there are canals, they are not navigational canals, and there are overhead bridges which prohibited the movement of many of the larger vehicles and vessels. He said they actually had to build a highway to get things delivered.

He was VERY emphatic that things were at the ready or close to it as soon as the hurricane turned to its final destination.

So I guess we'd better reserve a lot of criticism until the ones who were on the frontline tell their story.

The evacuation was the secret to all this, and better built levees, in my own opinion. And perhaps the disaster plan at the local level should have included taking ALL large buses and vehicles that could carry people, gassing them up and moving them to higher ground.

 

[Christina L]

I agree

I agree

about not passing blame. However if I WERE to pass blame, I do believe that the Mayor of New Orleans and the government of New Orleans are the most responsible for what has happened. Yes, as Nancy said, the levees should have been looked at a LONG time ago and built stronger. I also think that the Mayor should have had buses going around the city - door-to-door asking people to get in and to be taken out of the city, to safety, before the hurricane ever occurred.

A lady in our town of Estes Park who has a column in our local paper, who used to live in New Orleans for many years - told in her column before the hurricane hit of two dear friends who were still in N.O. who were going to "ride the storm out" and she was fearful for them. She did not write a column for last week - that is telling to me. I gather she is down in New Orleans helping out family and friends.

Many people made the choice to stay. It was obviously a very bad choice. Do I blame them - no. I do not blame anybody. What has happened has happened and now we need to deal with it the best we know how as a country. What good does it do to blame??? Learn from it and move on to rebuilding.

Christina L.

 

[McCln]

There is plenty of blame to go around. As far as the poorest of the poor, they had no way to get out, no car. It takes money to run a vehicle, for gas to repairs. When you have no money, no vehicle. There was no plan in place to evacute these people. There is blame in all three levels of government. And also Homeland Security who says that there way plans in place when there was not really. At least, someone is doing something. Perhaps this is a wakeup call for all who look down on people to make them human to their fellow man. Just had to have a say. Glad that there is seomthing being done.

 

[Yaps]

Just something I noticed.. I am sorry, didnt mean to bring up a firestorm, just noticed thats all...please forgive me..love Yaps

 

[Christina L]

Yaps -

Yaps -

It is not a firestorm that we are having right now on this thread, we are just all very sad and concerned for New Orleans, Missisippi and Alabama. You were just stating your opinion and you live in the affected area - who can blame you for feeling frustrated.

I visited New Orleans four years ago with Wayne and had two chances to go with him for his work to New Orleans this past year. I passed up the chances because of my fear of flying. Now I wish I would have gone with Wayne to the Big Easy. I LOVE New Orleans and pray that it will be rebuilt back to its glory and then some, but with stronger levees and more preparation for the next hurricane. The food, Cafe DuMonde, Preservation Hall, decadent Bourbon Street , the plantations, cemetary tours and voodoo stories, the French Quarter - wow what an eclectic, fascinating city!!

Christina L.

 

[geebee]

Just something I noticed.. I am sorry, didnt mean to bring up a firestorm, just noticed thats all...please forgive me..love Yaps

Please don't apologize - you merely expressed your opinion on something you noticed as are we. This whole thing is so traumatic, sad, frustrating, anger promoting, etc., etc. etc. We NEED to keep talking about it so these things get resolved in the future.

We MUST learn from our mistakes even if they were ones we personally would not have chosen. As a society, we are all responsible for correcting blatant errors.

 

[Mary]

Money that had been appropriated to strengthen the levees has been cut from the Federal budget as far back as Clinton's administration. 10.5 billion is the figure I read. They knew the probability of disaster if a hurricane above level 3 hit New Orleans, but still the money was cut.

If blame is cast on the people who couldn't or wouldn't evacuate, I would venture to say that they undoubtedly regret the decision they made, and they will long suffer the consequences. They don't need to be reproached; they need as much help and compassion as the nation can muster.

 

[Karlynn]

My husband and I sat in front of the TV most of the morning watching the goings on on the Gulf Coast. It's not that we wanted to, we just continually are amazed at the magnitude.

 

[Gnusgal]

My husband and I have also sat and watched the news in amazement of all that has happened this past week. I cannot imagine going through the hell these people have had to endure. The thing I think of most is, what if I had to go that long without my medications? Would I survive?

Anyway, hubby and I finally decided we had been watching enough and wanted to help. We don't have money to be able to donate, but we do have ourselves. Yesterday we worked from 9am-4pm helping to renovate an abandoned Walmart into a shelter for those coming from the Louisianna area. The evacuees arrived this morning. They will continue to need help. We've signed up to volunteer as they need us for child care or medical treatment (my husband is a nursing student), or anything else they might need. It absolutely amazed us how many people had shown up to help. They actually had to turn away volunteers because there were so many. People really do care and are doing their best to help where they can. Shelters all over the metroplex are poping up and taking people in. There's an apartment complex that has allowed evacuees to move in rent free until they can get a job and get settled. The show of love is simply amazing. I just wish that the finger pointing would stop and that everyone who thinks it's someone else's fault would do something to help. We won't solve the current problems by pointing out what already went wrong. We need to deal with the problems that are happening right now.

(No offense is meant to anyone on this board. I am simply sick of seeing the media or certain celebrities point fingers and stir up trouble, but they do nothing themselves. I've heard stories of what happened in the Superdome that did not get reported on TV, and it is sickening what these people had to go through. Let's concentrate on getting them through this ordeal before we worry about who is to blame.)

 

[Cris N]

We've all watched in horror at some of the atrocities committed against the very people who are in such desperate straits. But I also watch in wonder at the outpouring of selflessness and love shown by the majority of our citizenry.

If you look at the site: http://www.hurricanehousing.org there are (as of Monday night) 146,963 beds volunteered so far! These are just the ones posted on that site - just ordinary people with a little bit of extra space in their homes. Refugees are being transported to locations all over the country. I heard on the radio this afternoon that the Salvation Army was opening Camp Wonderland to upwards of 800 people. There have been countless offers of jobs & 'getting re-started' assistance. Obviously there's no place like home - having to start over in a strange city, where you don't know anyone has to be incredibly difficult. But, one of the truly great things about this country is the way we welcome refugees... from anywhere. We may complain about an influx from time to time but in the end, we volunteer to help in so many different ways and donate precious resources - money or goods & services. We open our hearts to people who need our love.

Yaps, I agree, this thing was not handled properly... from so many different directions. Thankfully you lived to tell the story.

But the real question we all need to ask ourselves, are we part of the solution or part of the problem? I think if I were in your situation I would be making plans to become part of the 'early warning system' - perhaps by getting involved in the local emergency management organization. I have lived the previous 14 years in a very small town... it depends on citizen help.

Please don't think I'm criticizing... I've done my share of waiting for someone to take action. I depend all too often on "them" whoever "they" are. It's so easy to be complacent & assume that "someone" knows what's going on. From time to time, though, I realize that the "someone" needs to be me.

Well, I guess I can get off my soapbox now, roll up my sleeves, and get to work trying to help.

Cris

 

[catwoman]

(No offense is meant to anyone on this board. I am simply sick of seeing the media or certain celebrities point fingers and stir up trouble, but they do nothing themselves. I've heard stories of what happened in the Superdome that did not get reported on TV, and it is sickening what these people had to go through. Let's concentrate on getting them through this ordeal before we worry about who is to blame.)

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My dad was glued to FOX national news this weekend while at my sister's lake house. Longtime journalist that I am, I watched from time to time.
However, since we have networks that specialize in 24HR news and we now have blogs and whatever else, there's a need for journalists, newscasters, etc., to fill that airtime, to fill internet space. The networks compete for viewers & ratings, which determine ad rates. So networks get newscasters & reporters like Geraldo Rivera to, as my dad says, create the news.

It's far too early to place blame for what has taken place. I doubt there's any one person who is to blame. This was a tragedy of such immense proportions that there was probably no way to create a "perfect" disaster plan.
Airports frequently stage "disasters" in order to prepare for such, and when those disasters do strike, officials credit the rehearsals for the smoothness of the response.
This would have been impossible in the case of New Orleans.
However, this is the time for the federal, state, city & county/parish governments to begin formulating a blueprint for future disasters. Hurricane season has not ended!

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Regarding the Levees, technically, the LEVEES did NOT fail. It was the Flood Walls that gave way (as predicted by models for anything over a category 3 hurricane). My understanding is that the Levees and Flood Walls are maintained by the Army Corp of Engineers (i.e. Federal Govt) and that requests for funding to 'beef them up' have been denied for (many) years.

An interesting article compared dam and other structure 'design objectives' in different countries. One European country designed for a '500 year' storm scenario, while Norway designs for a "10,000 year" storm (did they get the right number of 0's?.... 1000 would seem more in line...).

Obviously designing for a category 3 hurricane was NOT enough for New Orleans. One 'expert' talked about the 'settling rate' for "sediment land fills" being 1 to 3 ft per year and added a comment about rising world water levels due in part to burning fossil fuels. He cautioned that ALL coastal cities could be at risk in coming years. It will be interesting to see how the "Global Warming debate" goes in coming years!

'AL Capshaw'