Posted on 09/21/2005 4:58:56 AM PDT by Chairman_December_19th_Society
We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail!
Good morning!!
Do not let the victims of the attacks on New York and Washington, nor the brave members of our Nation's military who have given their lives to protect our freedom, die in vain!!
NEXT SERVICES 250 MILES
The sign above is actually located on the Dalton Highway (AK Route 11), just north of Coldfoot, AK. From that point northward, there's nothing in the way of creature comforts until you reach Prudhoe Bay--no rest rooms, no water, no restaurants, no fuel, no nothing.
It might as well have been posted along the Gulf coast after August 28, 2005. From Baton Rouge to east of Mobile, roughly 250 miles, and from New Orleans to Jackson, MS, roughly 200 miles, nothing much was available.
Indeed, the destruction wrought by KATRINA has already (!) become the most expensive natural disaster in American history--and the counting has not really started. Already the Congress has appropriated almost $70 billion in relief, and insurance companies estimate payouts in similar ranges. This does not account for infrastructure repairs, such as highways, railroads, electric and phone lines, and so on. So, excluding the infrastructure, we already have a bill of $150 billion. The totality of hurricane ANDREW, the previous benchmark for natural disasters in this country, was just shy of $100 billion. When the counting is done, KATRINA will likely top the quarter-trillion dollar figure.
The mind reels. Two hundred and fifty thousand million dollars. To put it in some kind of perspective, 100 dollar bills is roughly one inch high. Two hundred and fifty billion dollar bills would form a stack 39,457 miles high. In other words, the quantity of dollar bills to fix KATRINA's wrath would stretch about one-sixth of the way from Earth to the Moon.
As mentioned earlier, the triangle of destruction left by KATRINA also boggles the mind. Areas in the tens of thousands of square miles were worked over, and in many instances either obliterated beyond recognition, or flooded in ways that prevented easy access.
Yet, the view among many is that, somehow, the Federal Government is immune to the fundamental acts of nature; the central Government can, somehow, instantly appear on the scene and provide the relief and comfort to those that have been left wanting because of the storm. For a moment, let's set aside the fact that Government assistance in this way is a rather liberal notion, that was discussed in the last installment of this series, which may be found on thread number 1703. The question worth pondering is how fast is it reasonable to expect aid to reach the region?
In the first installment of this series, the legislative constraints working upon the Federal Government were explored, and the Stafford Act limitations of aid were discussed. The second installment looked at the differences in responses when you contrast the Republican and Democrat governors. This installment, the final in the series, will explore the damage to the infrastructure of the region and how aid could not have arrived any faster than it did.
Note earlier where it was mentioned that damage occurred in a region over tens of thousands of square miles. In fact, an area roughly the size of England was laid waste by KATRINA's winds and floods. People who live along the Gulf coast are routinely advised to prepare for hurricane season by laying in non-perishable stocks that would last them five days. The theory here is that by the end of that time, you would either have services restored or, at least, be able to travel to places that have had service restored and get essentials to restock.
It's been three weeks, and, guess what, you STILL in many instances cannot even drive to places where you can get food, get gasoline, or other essentials.
Well, that sort of blows the theory of personal disaster planning, as recommended to the local inhabitants of the South, to smithereens.
So, what to do? Clearly, this is an area where even the most die-hard conservative would agree there is a role for the central Government to get things going again, to begin the process of rebuilding and moving in basic supplies.
These basic supplies didn't just have to be rolled in to a few major cities--ANDREW, for example, required supplies in Miami and the Florida Keys, that's it. No, KATRINA required even fundamental items such as water to be moved into remote homes in wooded areas (remember, no electricty, no pumps for the wells). Supplies were pre-positioned outside of the areas likely to be hit by the storm and could be moved to these places. But, first, you had to get to these places.
National Guard units, the people providing the relief, literally found themselves cutting their way to the coast. Interstate highways, particularly in southern Mississippi, are not somehow immune to this--trees were down over Highway 59. Then there was the flooding and coastal damage. United States route 90 is literrally running along the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in a number of places; the "Twin Span" that was Highway 10 was similarly dropped ungraciously into the waters of Lake Pontchatrain.
Progress of major relief was, therefore, agonizingly slow. Sure, you could fly planes into Moisant Field (the Louis Armstrong International Airport) in New Orleans, but where could you go from there? The Interstate was flooded once you reached Metarie. This meant, for the Crescent City, material had to be trucked down from Baton Rouge--which, if you cannot use Highway 10, takes about four hours in a passenger car. Military conveys are much slower.
But they don't just bring supplies for the affected people, in this instance supplies had to be brought for the troops themselves. Remember, no services for 250 miles. They had to bring their own fuel, their own porta potties, and their own food, let alone the rations for the general population.
But aren't there plans for these sorts of things? Well, sorta, kinda. Sure, there were the Hurricane Pam exercises that worked the issue of a major hurricane inundating New Orleans--not altogether unlike KATRINA--but that was a plan that had never had to meet the harsh aspects of reality. KATRINA, as pointed out earlier, is the biggest natural disaster to hit the United States since, well, ever. So much of what has been going on has been improvised, devised at the moment because there is no historical model upon which to draw.
Yet, in spite of this lack of historical input to the equation, relief supplies were, although slow, beginning to trickle into affected areas. Materiel was starting to arrive along the coast of Mississippi within two days following the storm, and, despite the hand-wringing going on in Baton Rouge, within three in New Orleans. Subtract from that the time it took to EVEN REACH those areas--a day's drive in Louisiana (the supplies were coming from Shreveport, in the northwest part of the state), and probably a day and a half in Mississippi (something not talked about much in the media), and "stuff" was starting to get to those who needed it rather quickly.
Now to quickly touch on the obvious question--couldn't supplies have been pre-positioned closer? Sure. Then they would have been destroyed by KATRINA and replacement items would have to be trucked in from much further away. As it is, the scale of the relief effort is resulting in that long-distance trucking, but at least it was AFTER regional pre-positioned materiel had been dispersed.
So between the requirement to engineer novel solutions for a disaster at a magnitude never faced in American history, and the need to literally cut or float your way to the devastated coastline, the response was actually pretty darn quick.
Was it good? No, and pretty much everyone admits that. It is important to strive to make improvements in these sorts of things, and the President has committed to such. But is it the right question to ask whether it was "good" or whether, considering the circumstances, was it "the best it could be". Well, there's enough evidence now to show the Federal response probably wasn't the "best," but there's also an overwhelming amount that shows it was "pretty darn good."
So it's time to stop bellyachinig about the paucity of the Federal response and time to set about fixing the Gulf Coast.
For AMERICA - The Right Way, I remain yours in the Cause, the Chairman.
About 5 years ago there was one of those on sale at Home Depot...15000 watts for 1800 dollars.//Not installed but G could do that...I/we passed...kick..kick...kick. ..stupid, stupid.
When you Google, put the following phrase in quotes: "discontinuing nicotine before surgery", and many links will come up. It is meant to speed healing and fusion. If I was less lazy, I would post some of the links I found there.
They made the same requirement of my husband when he had foot surgery. Fortunately for his peace of mind before surgery, he doesn't smoke.
I just read your post to Mr. Peach and he's hysterical laughing. LOL
We got an optical mouse (with a wire) and until you explained it, I didn't know what that meant or why it was important. I did notice a big red light coming out of the mouse; I guess that's the laser thingy.
Good luck with your surgery tomorrow! I hope you have some good books to read during your recovery.
NOW it is time to go to bed, when you get old you can do this ya know early to bed, early to rise.
Then , I'm old... night sweetie.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,170076,00.html
A JetBlue (search) airliner with landing gear problems circled the Los Angeles area for more than two hours Wednesday as the pilots dumped fuel over the ocean and officials tried to determine how to make an emergency landing.
The pilots discovered the plane's front wheels were turned sideways and stuck as they tried to retract the gear shortly after takeoff.
The back landing gear was also down as the plane circled, but it appeared to be in the correct position. Officials planned to try to land the aircraft, relying on the back wheels, at Los Angeles International Airport (search), which has longer runways than surrounding airports and more emergency equipment.
JetBlue Flight 292 left Burbank's Bob Hope Airport at 3:17 p.m. with 139 passengers headed for New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, said airline spokesman Bryan Baldwin.
Federal Aviation Administration (search) spokesman Donn Walker said the Airbus A320 was dumping fuel over the Pacific to lighten the plane for an emergency landing.
I'm watching this on my local news channel. Scary
I've been up since...who knows when...must hit the sheets in hope I can stay ther till a decent hour.
Good night, my friends.
Glad ya got a grin, I redacted an entire paragraph in order to keep my posting privlidges intact. Some subjects are just too easy to elaborate on, har!
We got an optical mouse (with a wire) and until you explained it, I didn't know what that meant or why it was important. I did notice a big red light coming out of the mouse; I guess that's the laser thingy.
Yep, that's the laser, quite an improvement over those old mouse balls, eh? Uh-oh. Stop. Back away from the keyboard, and have a swig, W. You know better... Grin!
if Mr. P. hasen't HEARD this one, he might bust a gut--IBM Mouse Balls, from 1991!
Oh! Good night! See ya next time!
I'll be sure to show that to him. Hah!
It is amazing how much better this mouse is -- very fast and responsive. Love it.
That Jet Blue airliner made it down ok, but blew both tires on the nose gear in the attempt, the wheels were turned hard to the right. Too bad I had to find it on PMSNBC.com video instead of Fox News, but maybe that will be a lesson for FNC. I hope!
I was in bed watching tv, but...Back to say.I applaude the pilot and the crew...What an amazing landing!! So happy everyone is safe.
Just got my marching orders. I have to go to Shreveport MEPS Monday. Leave at 2(that's two in the morning! for those in Rio Linda!). Needless to say, I'll be one cranky SOB... ;^)
Feeling a little better?
I went and got my hair cut, then slept for about 7 hours. I also managed to fall down and have bruises all over my legs and knees. My advise: never get a summer cold. It'll be the death a'ya!
I am quite proud. A trim chick asked me to see if an area event was still ongoing, and I managed to spell 'renaissance' correctly. On the first try! Considering the circumstances, it was not expected by yours truly!
You are a hoot.:)
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