Posted on 01/15/2010 7:04:48 PM PST by Kartographer
Severe flooding of a major metropolitan city creates a completely different circumstance from any other kind of catastrophic occurrence. It initially causes harm as it sweeps in and then the longer the water remains in place the more serious the destruction can become. Severe flooding can also keep some people trapped within an area unable to get to needed supplies, while it keeps other people from getting into the same area to help those who are trapped. After Katrina came through, it would have been nice if we could have "started working" for ourselves, but that was precluded by the levee breeches and the extraordinary conditions that followed.
If you recall, things were so bad here that the citizens who had remained in the city during the storm were airlifted out for relocation to other states. Because of the inundation, the infrastructure of the New Orleans was destroyed. Nothing was functioning. The majority of the population, the people who evacuated before the storm (about 80%), were not allowed back into the city and surrounding areas for almost a month! The state police actually kept people out. We had no choice but to wait and hope that our homes would be inhabitable. A monumental number were not. For a city of nearly 500,000 that is a devastating situation and when everyone around you is in the same predicament, it's not something quickly made right.
Shortly after people were allowed to return, hurricane Rita headed our way. The city was ordered evacuated again. Though Rita's effects only brushed us, they knocked out the jury-rigged levees and that caused more flooding and set us even further back. It was a long time before things could have been considered even remotely "back to normal". You don't easily pick up and resume your life when the things that you depended on are not there anymore. We celebrated when the electricity stayed on all day without any down time. I was thrilled when a grocery opened and stayed open for more than a few hours or when Home Depot came back and had the things we need to make some repairs. Getting the mail again after many, many weeks was a joy. Getting a tree lifted out of the attic and getting the roof replaced were big events. You certainly can't imagine that we wouldn't have immediately started to work on our damaged properties if we had been able. New Orleans would not have made the personal progress that it has if everyone just sat back and waited.
To: sig226
” In New Orleans, the fact that most of the city was under water made for pretty pictures of Sean Penn, but the press ignored the fact that flooded streets prevented relief effort.
Thank you for this post. You were so correct in your statement about this that I had to check to see if you were from Louisiana:) I see that you are from an area also very familiar with the damage of hurricanes. Though not a native, I lived much of my life until my marriage in Miami. I went through a few hurricanes and their aftermaths (I particularly remember Donna and Cleo), but none prepared me for the water hell that occurred here after Katrina passed through.
I was very careful. First checked the can top for movement, looked for discoloration, smelled, tasted a tiny amount. I was very cautious.
But, back in the day, how did we even know the age of canned foods? You checked for the click, looked for a bulge,checked for rust or discoloration, smelled the contents and relied on experience with the product.
I was prepared to toss it out, of course. Had it been non-acidic food, I wouldn’t even have opened the can.
I do go through things regularly and rotate them. This 4-pack of tomato paste and the little can of cream had somehow been shoved to a back corner of the shelf and ignored.
In doing so, They do great damage to the image of decent human compassion. Also, please refrain from referring to yourselves as Conservatives. You bring great shame and embarrassment to the term.
God’s wrath often falls on those who live below sea level in hurricane zones, live in earthquake zones without good building codes or well-functioning societies, that sort of thing.
See post 86
So what you’re saying is we should continue to feel sorry for the people of New Orleans.
The same people that chose to live on the coast, in homes built on land UNDER sea level.
The same people that, in many cases, chose NOT to have flood insurance.
The same people that elected incompetent city and state leaders. Not once but repeatedly.
The same people that for decades have allowed corrupt politicians to funnel our tax dollars away from projects to build stronger protections.
The same people that allowed life saving transportation to sit idle while desperate people had no way out.
I’ve been through 4 hurricanes in a period of less than 5 months. My life choices allowed me to weather the storm. The people of New Orleans have made their bed and they can lie in it.
I do the same thing—sometimes I wonder how we all survived—for all the added information on foods, we are not living any longer...***
Like you I turn over food—occasionally miss something.
That said, interestingly, the last time I was sick from food was likely fresh soup bought in a grocery store. Not terribly sick, but had stomach cramps for 12 hours...
***eh maybe the information overload causing stress ;)
“So what you’re saying is we should continue to feel sorry for the people of New Orleans.”
Nonsense. I simply related my personal experience as a citizen living in the aftermath of a devastating storm. I was trying to explain that not every New Orleanian waited for a rescue before or after said storm.
“The same people that chose to live on the coast, in homes built on land UNDER sea level.”
New Orleans has been here since 1718. Most who live here didn’t make a choice, we were born here and have deep roots. This kind of catastrophe, the flooding of the entire city, is a first for us. I can only hope that it doesn’t become a almost yearly occurrence, like the floods in some other parts of the country or the fires in California
“The same people that, in many cases, chose NOT to have flood insurance.”
Sadly, this is true, but on the other hand as flood insurance policies go, Louisiana at 482,802 has the third highest number of flood policies in force in the US, greatly exceeding the other gulf coast states of Alabama-55,362, Georgia-91,432 and Mississippi-75,297. Your state of Florida is #1 in that category with 2,159,500 and Texas is #2 with 682,502 , but you both have populations of about 14,000,000-20,000,000 more people than we do. Florida does seem to get many more tropical events than we do. I grew up in Miami, went to college there, worked there(Mercy Hospital) and was married there (Spanish Monastery), and though I have been married and living in New Orleans well over thirty years, most of my experience with hurricanes prior to Katrina comes from my time in Florida.
“The same people that elected incompetent city and state leaders. Not once but repeatedly.”
What exactly does this have to do with a hurricane knocking out a poorly designed levee system? See below.
“The same people that for decades have allowed corrupt politicians to funnel our tax dollars away from projects to build stronger protections.”
Not this time-
NEW ORLEANS, June 1, 2006
Katrina Report Blames Levees
Army Corps Of Engineers: ‘We’ve Had A Catastrophic Failure’
By Jennifer Hoar
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/01/national/main1675244.shtml
“The same people that allowed life saving transportation to sit idle while desperate people had no way out.”
City government’s lapses not withstanding, 80% of the population managed to get themselves out of the city before the storm. That was about 400,000 people, not too shabby as evacuations go. While there were some who could not leave, others chose to stay because there had been so many times in the past when New Orleans had beat the odds with near misses of hurricanes. Unfortunately some people here prior to Katrina, had no real experience with a dangerous hurricane. They were naive.
“I’ve been through 4 hurricanes in a period of less than 5 months. My life choices allowed me to weather the storm.”
Kudos to you on your unimpeachable wisdom
“The people of New Orleans have made their bed and they can lie in it.”
There is absolutely no satisfactory response that I can give to such a gracious statement. Enjoy your life in the tropical paradise that is Florida.
If you choose to live someplace knowing the risks then don’t cry when those risks come true. Likewise don’t expect others to pay for the risk you have chosen.
BTW, you failed to address the corruption. Federal tax dollars paid for those levees several times over.
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