Mayor: hundreds, maybe thousands, dead in New Orleans

AP ^ | Aug 31 2005

[george wythe]

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people have died in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina slammed into the city, Mayor C. Ray Nagin said Wednesday.

It will at least two or three months before the city has electricity. Restaurants won't be able to open; there won't be any commerce, he said during an impromptu news conference at the Hyatt Hotel.

"This is the real deal. It's not living conditions," he said.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

OK, you have given all the reasons why it won't work. So, what are your recommendations for immediate rescue work?

All I have heard is they will have adequate resources on hand in a few days. The difference between life and death for many of the victims is not to be counted in days, but in minutes or hours.

[Aznar5]

"Probably due to the Jim Crow laws. Even in the north, blacks weren't allowed in public pools in some cities."

How did Jim Crow laws in the 1950's affect black children's swimming abilities in the 1990's?

[yooper]

"Perhaps New Orleans can consider filling out the bowl where it is located and rebuilding at a higher elevation."

So we're talking about the mother of all landfills?

There's good money in landfills.....

Also, it was at about the same stage in the game during the tsunami that every lib crackpot, UN official, and general communist were screaming for US dollars for the relief of Indonesia. Where are those voices now? Are US flood victims less worthy of support from the international community?

[freebilly]

So you expect the Federal government to buy all the jet boats in showrooms and ship them to NOLA?

You're mad.

[AnAmericanMother]

How did Jim Crow laws in the 1950's affect black children's swimming abilities in the 1990's?

Because you learn from your parents and older relatives.

If your parents don't know how to swim, chances are you don't either (unless you join the Boy Scouts and want that merit badge!)

A high school friend of mine who was the daughter of a Czech lady couldn't swim - neither could her mother or her grandmother (why her dad didn't drive them ALL to the YMCA is a mystery).

And just a note . . . some folks are natural "sinkers" (a term coined by Fred Lanoue, the "drownproofing" man) and it's harder for them to learn to swim. Has to do with the proportion of muscle mass and bone to surface area, or something. I am a natural sinker myself (or used to be, before 2 kids and a desk job), but both my parents are avid swimmers (my dad was on his college swim team and my mom, believe it or not, did synchronized swimming for her college!) But I have read that, on the average, more persons of African descent tend to be "sinkers" . . . so that's another difficulty to overcome.

Purely anecdotal evidence, but when I was a lifeguard and swimming instructor, it did seem to me that the black kids had a harder time learning to swim. Could have been social, could have been physical difficulty, hard to say. If they stuck with it, though, they all did learn!

[30 something american]

Well said Thrusher....

TS

[30 something american]

Actually, I think it translates into- 'Let the good times roll'....

TS

[knittnmom]

Really! Though I was born in East Peoria, IL, I had the good fortune to grow up in Richland Center!

[30 something american]

Commonly used in these parts is a normal four stroke angine like a Briggs and Stratton with a long driveshaft inside of a tube with a small prop on the end- called a 'go-devil'....

They're called 'surface drive'....
These are currently being used in NO right now...

http://www.go-devil.com/GO-DEVIL_Engines.html

TS

[FBD]

I've got a feeling many businesses won't return. The refineries will probably stay, but I'll bet many businesses will move. What is their choice? They can't go back for several months.
N.O. should become just a tourism area, no residences...move the people out.

It makes no sense to spend billions to rebuild a city that has sunk to over 6 ft below sea level, surrounded by levees like a soup bowl composed of 200 ft of river silt and muck.

[af_vet_1981]

N.O. should become just a tourism area, no residences...move the people out.

But if you do that, who will rob, rape, and murder the tourists ?

[FBD]

HA! ;^D
good question...

I'm sure there could be "guest workers" willing to step up to the plate...[/sarcasm}

[randog]

Who/what are New Orleans' major employers?

I can't say with any expertise, but you have to consider that it is (was) the main seaport at the mouth of the largest river in America. The devastation will affect every business that relies on the Mississippi for commerce.

[rdl6989]

To me the worst part of this catastrophe is that the mayor, Ray Nagin, waited so long to issue the mandatory evacuation order.

[AFreeBird]

Hey, I wasn't saying jets wouldn't work in a pinch, just that they'd be more suseptable to the conditions. Airboats are best; flat bottom, skilled operators, and the state has lots of them.

[justa-hairyape]

But I think folks were astounded at how quickly the water rose.

Bret Favre's mother stated that her first floor was completely under in 5 to 10 minutes. One can imagine the mindset in that situation. When it was 2 feet high many probably thought, well it wont get much higher. Then it was 4 feet high heading to 5 feet and you would be forced to make a decision. Leave the house or head to the second floor or attic. If you decided to head up into the attic cause it wont rise much more, you could then find yourself in the panic mode. Too late to swim out of the attic.

[justa-hairyape]

This is the time Reverend Jesse Jackson should make an appearance and speak to the people- but I doubt we'll see him.

The Reverend is in Venezuela telling Hugo Chavez that his idea to sell cheap oil to poor people in America is a very smart idea. So thats where all our traffic comes from. Poor people driving their autos ! Remember how Newt was treated when he suggested tax credits to help poor people buy computers. The left laughed at him and said poor people hardly pay any taxes !

[TigersEye]

This is a tragedy of nearly incomprehensible proportions.
The Gulf coast is in great need of prayers and cash.

[nmh]

I hope they don't rebuild in New Orleans.

We need to learn from this and STOP building again and again on these devastation prone areas - certainly one way BELOW sea level. It's the breaking of the levees that did them in, not the hurricane. Eventually it's going to happen again. It's not right for others to have to pick up the tab, again and again for defiance of reality.

[af_vet_1981]

This is what I expected out of that socio-economic group. Those of us who are still human need to fight for our civilization. Capital punishment should be frequent until conditions improve.