Actually , it seems rather more that some ppl didn't have the means to leave. Without a car you were basically stuffed for example. Last train was on Saturday IIRC for example. And if you have nowhere to go.......
After the Asian tsunami - relief was in the spot *very* fast. And we're talking 'developing world' here !
It was agonsing to see the supposedly most developed country in the world disappear into a hopeless swagmire of bureacracy, gross incompetence at all levels, simple bloody-mindedness ( like the cops who turned back some who wanted to leave - but who later let some whites out ) and the 'I'm alright Jack' attitude.
Yes, I've heard that. And it may be worse still....
Now I know you're a 'global warming' or 'climate change' naysayer but I understand that increased water temperature in the Gulf was one big factor why Katrina was so *large* and that was a big part of the reason for its destructiveness. Higher sea temps mean more water vapour means the possibility of bigger storms.
The coming years will perhaps indicate whether there's anything real about climate change. A bugger of a way to find out though.
For the UK, the loss of the Gulf Stream would mean near arctic winters. Not a prospect I relish. Nothing warm about that at all.
Foundations?? They're primarily dirt dykes with some pilings. The dirt bases were cut away by the ships, weakening the dyke.
...Jim Thompson
-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |
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| 1962 | "Winners never quit, quitters never win", Jack Bradley Budnik ~1956
I'm not sure about the old river levees, but the 17th street canal (which failed, and took out the house of my friend Judy) had a steel-plate and concrete subsurface structure. Unfortunately, it was only something like 16 feet below surface level, not deep enough to penetrate the ooze layer and hit "solid" sand. So the levee both shifted and was undercut. Civil engineers who have lately reviewed the design say it was truly stupid, given what everybody knows about the soil structure there.
There were no ships in that canal, nothing bigger than a kayak. The Industrial Canal is a different story.
Interestingly, the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain levees did fine. It was the idiotic manmade canals that broke.
Most Americans (except the ones whose thinking is supressed by Bush hatred) feel that local problems are usually local responsibilities. The locals *did* take Federal flood-control money and spend it on casinos.
Though one can go to a private doctor and pay, flu shots are free in the U.S. too. Community clinics have big roundups each season, drivin' them doggies (foggies?) through.
The last couple of days here in So. Cal, the weather has been just dreamy - like 72F, sunshiny, light breezes, but there have been 15-20' swells at the beaches. There were clips on the TeeVee Nooz of surfers standing on the beach, looking at these 15 - 20 foot breakers, drooling and wishing they were out there but the lifeguards weren't letting anybody go into the water because it's too dangerous. I imagine a 20-foot tall wall of water falling on you could kinda knock the wind out of you. ;-)
And yesterday morning the top story on the TeeVee Nooz was the LAFD torching a storage unit in Van Nuys (which everybody seems to pronounce, "Van eyes") that had 50 pounds of old dynamite in it that everybody was afraid to touch, and the robot wouldn't fit. That was marginally cool to watch. :-)
I was under the impression that they had recently cut the funding for the Engineering Corps. Either way, I agree that these are long-term effects, not something that would have had an immediate effect when Katrina struck. But we are also talking here about how this is viewed from outside (and within) the USA - people have a lot more sympathy for you ("you" being the administration - we all have plenty of sympathy for the residents of NO) when you are making an effort, even if it is not completed. Thus it is reflects badly the funds for a study were cut - even if the results of that study would not have made a physical difference for a decade.
A substantial proportion of the National Guard were on duty in Iraq, rather than being able to help with the local disaster, which is one of the main purposes of having a National Guard in the first place.
You plan according to realistic chances - it would not have made sense to spend the time and money making NO completely secure from a category
5 storm. But they could have done a lot better preparing for damage limitation. For example, there could have been someone with the slightest clue as to how to evacuate the city. I'm not denying that it would be hard, or that it would be incomplete - but it could have been better than just telling everyone to drive out of town.
Again, this is partly a case of what it looks like from the outside rather than the economic details - image is important. When Bush told "Brownie" that he was doing a great job, it neither helped nor hindered the people of NO, but made a huge difference to how people viewed Bush's handling of the crisis.
That's true, after time. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, practical help and emergency items are needed - things like pre-packed meals, bottles of waters, shelters, blankets (for the night if not for the day), generators with fuel, air conditioners, medicines, water purifiers, etc. That was the sort of thing countries around the world were ready to donate, but could not because of ridiculous red tape, and because the emergency response people were unable to properly distribute what they got. After the initial crisis is over, then money is by far the most practical and useful when it comes to rebuilding the area or long-term help for the victims.
Yes it would have helped, because they were not late - these were dedicated, trained emergency medical staff who are used to helping in crisis areas, with storm damaged towns as a speciality. The problem was that while you may have appreciated the gesture, and the people of NO would certainly have appreciated the help, the US politicians certainly did not appreciate the idea that Cuba could help.
I don't blame Bush for the hurricane, or the levies. All I blame him for is for making a poor system worse (FEMA, in particular the relationship with the Department of Home Security, along with "Brownie", is *his* responsibility). I also blame him for failing to take the problem seriously until too late, showing a typical lack of leadership when his handlers have not had time to tell him his opinions and decisions, and for making the USA look ridiculous in the eyes of the world.
That was a very different situation, and is hardly comparable. I'm also sure there were plenty of things the French authorities could have done better, but it certainly did not lead to the sort of criticism inspired by the Katrina episode.
He's just such an irresistibly big target :-) Actually, I don't give Bush *all* the blame here. He certainly made a bad situation worse, and made it *look* even worse than that, but many of the problems shown up by Katrina were clearly there from before Bush took office. On the other hand, he could have been a lot more decisive - a bit of leadership would have sped up responses enormously. After all, since he is above the law, he cut have cut through red tape regarding emergency supplies as easily as the red tape regarding illegal wiretaping. He could have been a lot more responsive to the rest of the world. And he could have said afterwards that the disaster handling should have been better. He could have accepted responsibility ("the buck stops here"), and made moves to improve FEMA. Instead, he congratulated the most incompetent person involved, and started looking for other people to blame (such as environmentalists who might have protested against the levies).
I was followed about 30 miles one sunday night by a helicopter with its search lights trained on me, but they had to drop back when I stopped and unlocked the gates at a TV transmitter site in Orange City, Fl. and parked near the 1749 foot tower. I guess that they didn't want to get too close to the Phillystran guy wires.;-)
--
Been there, Done that, I\'ve got my DD214 to prove it.
Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
That's something I didn't mention, but really should have - the corruption and incompetence at the state/local levels, which (according to what I have heard) was impressively bad. I was concentrating on Bush and his direct influences and reactions, because the original topic (in this branch) was about how the USA is viewed from abroad - and for that, we must look at Bush more than anyone or anything else.
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