Good Luck to those in the Gulf Coast!

[Guest nickcornaglia]

Hope any American Members living in the Gulf Coast area of the US, hit by a mega Hurricane, all made it out okay and are safe.

[Guest Pondrew]

Best wishes from us here in the UK as well.

[Guest Disco Stu]

Those of us on this side of the Atlantic perhaps assume that this kind of thing is fairly routine for that area of the States. The weather here is sticky and I'm watching lightning flicker across the sky but the TV pictures from New Orleans and Biloxi are horrific.

From Channel 4's "Snowmail" alert :

The hurricane aftermath scenes from America are unbelievable. Hundreds appear to have died, the mayor of New Orleans is saying the city will not be habitable for at least four months while some insurers are saying the city may have to be abandoned altogether and built somewhere else. It's massive and because it hit such a developed place, the damage is even worse.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

Best wishes to all concerned and a speedy revocery\rebuild.

[Guest cold_fire]

Best wishes from us here in the UK as well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

From Romania the same best wishes !!!

[Guest nickcornaglia]

I dont know what kind of coverage your getting on this out there. But this is CRAZY!

The city is destroyed. People are dieing without Shelter, Food, Water, Electricity, Everything that they own. Dead bodies are laying in the streets.

Too poor, old or dumb to have evacuated before the storm. They're looting like crazy....some for essentials like food, water, diapers, etc. Other idiots are looting anything that's not nailed down. Stealing TVs and Electronics with nowhere to plug them in! Then dragging their loot thru the water.

They even dhowed two female police officers "shopping" in a WalMart that they were supposed to be protecting...in full uniform!

I can understand that you can't arrest anyone...where would you put them? In jail. Authorities have other things to worry about. And the majority of Police and Emergency services personell are homeless as well, going without food and water.

Seems the National Guard are just coming in and the food and water arent getting there fast enough.

I cant believe it could get this bad. You cant control the weather or prevent disasters. But of all countries...the US should be better prepared for this type of event and help should be ready at a moments notice.

I can understand the people's frustration. I dont understand the stealing of ANYTHING non-essential. I dont understand why people are getting shot or why a woman was raped. I dont understand why they are shooting at military craft who are there to help.

But I can predict that there will be accusations that race is the reason why help wasnt there quicker. 80% of New Orleans and the majority of people there now are black. I can also predict that tempers will rise when evacuations arent moving fast enough and there will be shootings if things get too out of hand.

I cant imagine being in that situation and what I would to for my family to survive. (I'm sure I wouldn't rob a 36" TV from the store though!)

My heart goes out at the thought that there are little kids there not eating and without clean water. That babies will die. That the elderly are dying. That that part of the US is like a third world country.

These things happen in the world all of the time. It's different when it's in your country, a country where these things don't happen.

I also wonder what offerings are made by other countries to help?

I can't stop asking questions....can't stop watching the news.

[Guest Disco Stu]

We're getting the same reports here, Encece.

What we're seeing just doesn't make sense, as you've described the situation.

National ledaers are expected to visit disaster zones but I can't think Bush will do anything but spark all-out riotting today.

Where is the food and water ?

[Guest Pondrew]

We're getting the same reports here, Encece...

...Where is the food and water ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Have just seen the BBCs special news report. Too disturbing for words :)

[Guest nickcornaglia]

I'm not sure of the logistics of everything. I'm sure the whole operation is difficult. But I'm also sure that more could have been done faster.

The head of FEMA should be fired and replaced by his second immediately. I was watching an interview on CNN with him this morning and he stated that they didnt know about thousands in the Convention Center until yesterday!!! Seems like they didnt even talk to the Mayor at all who was the one who told everyone to go there for relief. Or didnt even watch the news who in this day and age are the eyes into what's going on and any similar situation.

The mayor is screaming on the news and asking for help. The people at CNN and other news agencies, on the face seem to know more than the federal agencies.

Everything will be sorted in the end. The government should have acted quicker with more resources and relief aid. The poeple there should have acted better and not like those of the middle ages. The private sector should have provided more help. Sending in Buses, trucks, anything to get those people out of there.

Heads will roll after this.

[Guest nickcornaglia]

And if I hear one more thing about funds to rubuild the city I'm going to scream. Worry about getting them out of there, then worry about rebuilding.

If I were in charge. I'd set up a Tent City outside of the city. So people could get relocated and immediately relief QUICKLY.

Then I set up agreements with the closest cities to relocate those people in public housing, and jobs as best as they can.

Edited September 2, 2005 by nickcornaglia

[Guest Pondrew]

I was going to say in my earlier posts that lessons must be learned from this but didn't. Mainly because there are still so many people suffering there and there will be time for discussion and recrimination later.

[Guest nickcornaglia]

I'm not as reserved.

I can't stop watching it on the news....it's on all day after all.

On the tech Side of things....my Slingbox at home is ruining my productivity here at work....I'm watching CNN & MSNBC all day.

Edited September 2, 2005 by nickcornaglia

[Guest mike-oh]

Ubery high res satellite pics of disaster here http://alt.ngs.noaa.gov/katrina/KATRINA0000.HTM

(strictly broadband only!!)

Man that place is a mess :o

Edited September 6, 2005 by mike-oh

[Guest bretto]

Seen some pretty disturbing images and interview here as well.

Channel 7 helped 6 Aussies get out. Everyone had to be armed to the back teeth and surrounded by a police escort! Whats with the violence? The cameras filmed as they were driving out and the small convoy practically had to force its way out through gangs of armed idiots.

From what I can gather the aid and relief effort was handled very poorly but since when did (storm hits and relief effort shabby) turn into (full breakdown of society and racist slants)

Just saw an interview with some bloke saying the owner of his building had a mother in a nursing home. She rang the son every day to ask when was someone coming. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...She drowned on Friday night! Unacceptable in modern society.

What about the 7 year old boy found dead in a freezer, raped and murdered.

Its all too insane that this has come out of a hurracane. A natural disaster. In Australia I can say without hesitation that we would pull together even without the authorities and help our country men out, black white or yellow.

My thoughts are with the "normal" people over there and hope that they get through this.

[Guest nickcornaglia]

Wow. Looking the those pictures.....seems like MOST of that area was uninhabitable anyway. Notice all of the open area with absolutly no construction at with the exception of a highway or access road.

Must be 90% swamp and or forrest area down there. My unknowledgabe guess would be that those are the areas that are absolutely impossible to build on.

New Orleans must have been one of the few areas with hard land to build on....except it's considerably below sea level.

[Guest fraser]

Google maps has a "katrina" button now, to switch to recent sat photos. Pretty wild stuff. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=new+orleans&t=e

The USA is a violent agressive country. Some of the first places looted were the gun shops; they were the first ones that the authorities sealed up when they got back. Just 10 minutes watching American movies and TV shows the mentaility over there. Got a problem? Get a gun!

It's tragic that it's the "have nots" that are being hurt here. No one cared about them in government, the USA is an inherently racist country. Some of the people who have lost their lives were around in the days when they had separate seating at the backs of busses; this is only 40 years ago. If you take that tension and desparation of an oppressed people, drag them through poverty and then leave them out to dry like they have just done...well, the results are on the news right now.

This picture, a montage of two shots taken at approximately the same time, sums it all up:

[Guest nickcornaglia]

Please dont use this tragic event to post you political views on the US. Americans in general are not violent and agressive. The people who stole the guns (and many other high/low priced items) are not representative of the typical American.

They are represenative of the typical low-life scum you find here and there around the world. They are the same people terrorizing their own people during this tragedy. The same people killing police who are trying to help them. The same people who are raping little 7 year old girls and boys and killing them while in the dark in the convention center in New Orleans. They are the same people who WONT leave new Orleans so the can continue to steal and pillage(sp?) taking advantage of the disaster. They are the same people who are crying RACE and blaming President Bush and the government for the disaster happening at all.

The US didn't react quickly enough. That I agree with. We never had a disaster like that. The city was expecting the state to act. The state was expecting the feds to act. The expected confusion is over and things are now being handled brilliantly despite the initial shortcommings.

The US didnt invent slavery but it has ended here long long time ago. Some like to continue to blame it for their poverty, and blown opportunities. They like to take handouts and continue to ask for more though the intention is to help get people out of poverty, not give them an excuse to stay in it for the free perks.

There are poor blacks and poor whites all over including in your country. There is racism everywhere, including in your country. The small minds who prolong it are on both sides of the fence.

I blame rap music! :o

[Guest fraser]

I'd say they were representative and your crime rates back me up. America is the most violent first-world country on the planet. Humans learn by imitation, and US TV creates an exceptionally bad example, as do the leadership. Got a problem? Why not do a "regime change" or have the CIA topple the government? This is a result of these attitudes, along with the "screw the other guy to get ahead" one. I've have never seen people in a disaster zone behave like that. It's almost as if the moment the police leave, any incentive to obey the law goes out the window.

I disagree that many stayed behind with the intention of crime. That's just racist bull, perpetuating the myth that most blacks are criminal. The vast majority of those who stayed had no option. They have no cars, no bus fares, nothing. They struggle to feed their children every day. They didn't have the choice. New Orleans has allegedly 20% "more poverty" than elsewhere, and's that's saying a lot for the South. Blaming those who are still there for doing so by choice is sick IMHO. None of the folk I've seen on the news looked as though they choose to be there.

Something did cross my mind as the reports of the nastyness filtered through. How many rapes/murders are there in any given city on a normal week? Something to ponder.

Yes, there is racism in my country, but on a completely different level. Our prisons are representive of our populations (there is an old saying about judging a society by observing it's prisons), and people of different races attend the same schools and universites. We don't have "black areas" etc, except maybe Northern Ireland with it's own petty & stupid religious issues. Poverty has a lot to do with the problem and it's a vicious circle; getting out of it is impossible when you have to pay extortionate school fees. Unfortunately, the UK is now following the US model of charging for higher-education. Not that it'll matter, those responsible for this short sighted decission will be long gone by the time the impact is felt. But class-divides aren't a problem when you are in the upper classes anyway.

Black people in N.O. don't take handouts because they want to. They take them because they can't get decent jobs because of predisposed indoctinated beliefs that they are criminals. You even (unintentionally) alluded to that yourself, remarking on people choosing to stay for the crime opertunities. No one specific is to blame for this attitude, it's a cultural thing. We do the same to Gypsies here and as a result there aren't many left, or those who are left work casual labour within their own circles. However, in their case they don't want to integrate with regular society either and that's their choice.

Most of our imigrants are Indian and Pakistani. You'd be surprised how many highly skilled professionals come from that background, seems like every other doctor is from there or thereabouts.

[Guest Pondrew]

Folks, I'm going to close this thread, reason being it was opened to express goodwill towards those affected by the hurricane and it's gone off topic. This (particular thread) is not the place to have this 'discussion'