Katrina was a 5, Sandy was a 1 = FEMA not remotely close to handling a big hurrican

[Bulwinkle]

I've seen an estimate that there is/was up to 300 million gallons of water in NY subway system.

Katrina? "The unwatering team successfully removed 250 billion gallons of water from Orleans, St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes after Katrina " http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2012/10/new_orleans_corps_employees_jo.html

Sandy, though wide, was not Katrina... FEMA ain't close to handling a large storm.

[Bulwinkle]

http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2012/10/new_orleans_corps_employees_jo.html

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

I think that’s misleading, because the surge far exceeded what would be expected from a typical category 1 hurricane/storm. That’s what all the hype was about.

[FR_addict]

I agree. Fema is worse than ever.

They told Brian Kilmeade of Fox and Friends they couldn’t come out his way because they didn’t have gas for their trucks.

[txrefugee]

Actually, Katrina was a Cat 3 storm when it came on shore in MS. LA would not have sustained such horrific damage had the levees been in good repair. The government had given billions to do just that, however the money was used for things such as building highways to the new casinos on the shore. No one ever checked to see what the money was being spent on. THat is government in a nut shell.

And no, FEMA cannot handle a big disaster, period. Take care of yourself and your family, and join a church with caring people. NEVER depend on government.

[FR_addict]

It will be after the elections before we see the real extent of the damage and the lack of FEMA response to the disaster.

[Bon mots]

Katrina: Bush's Fault
Sandy: FEMA's Fault; Governor's Fault; Mayor's Fault...

Everybody but Obama...

The MSM has a bit of a dilemma - they love the Sandy stories because it helps give them enough cover to keep Benghazi off the front page, but they don't like reporting on another replacement story that makes Obama look like a fool.

[cripplecreek]

FEMA is a joke and massive waste of money.

Time for people to get to know their neighbors and draw up some plans on how to take care of each other like Americans used to do.

[RavenATB]

The thing to remember is that much of New Orleans wasn’t just covered with water...that water was 8-10 feet deep. SO emergency vehicles couldn’t get through. And in the surrounding areas of southern Mississippi and Alabama, the roads that ran through the country side were largely dirt roads. So it was much more difficult to get through those areas than it is in most areas of New York and New Jersey that have been suffering this past week.

Really, there’s absolutely no excuse for people to be digging through dumpsters and begging for water four and five days after what happened in the northeast. Emergency vehicles from the National Guard should be able to make it to virutally any neighborhood. If FEMA had been doing its job those people should have had water and military meals (MREs) in their hands the day after the storm hit.

[ronnie raygun]

Government run anything is a problem. Affirmative action appointments as well as diversity is more important than getting the most qualified in positions to adequately run anything. The system is so big the paperwork and red tape and knuckledragging and waste is enormous and notorious. How hard is it for the president to order c30 transports, fill them up, tell the governor in the state to have trailer trucks at the ready at the airport for load up and delivery while the red cross and others set up relief stations throughout the state.

[astounded]

...”LA would not have sustained such horrific damage had the levees been in good repair”....

The levees didn’t fail. Concrete floodwalls in two canals, one from the Mississippi River, the other from Lake Ponchartrain, were overtopped by storm surge and broke. There is a vast misconception that the levees failed.

[astounded]

I love it, The Katrina Beer Guy.......LOL.

[cripplecreek]

Lets not forget that FEMA is now under the umbrella of Homeland Security which twists the mission of FEMA anyway.

I suspect most rural people feel the same way I do about natural disasters. Get the roads clear and get the power on, we’ll take care of the rest.

[Liaison]

FEMA is for planing government response and the comptroller for federal assistance during a disaster. FEMA is not a first response organization and does not have equipment (they rent equipment or use the military) or manpower (less than 3000 personnel across the nation)to conduct operations. They rely on a tier system for response starting at with local level then state and then federal help in a disaster. they can help pay and order items but it the infrastructure must be built to provide needs to the people. I think that the the upper Atlantic and New England coastal states did not plan or did plan but did not have the money to afford to mitigate the affects of a storm like this. Lack if imagination on leadership. As usual it takes a disaster you live through to prepare for future ones.

However: NYC has always worried about flooding of the tunnels but why is there not infrastructure to pump the underground out?

FYI: I do not work for FEMA.

[silverleaf]

Katrina = FEMA failures = Bush’s fault

Sandy = FEMA failures = global warming

but at least obama looks “presidential”

[Lil Flower]

* And in the surrounding areas of southern Mississippi and Alabama, the roads that ran through the country side were largely dirt roads.*

No they weren’t. It’s that Katrina washed the roads and bridges away. Paved roads and bridges.

[AlexW]

“Actually, Katrina was a Cat 3 storm when it came on shore in MS. “
__________________________________

I agree. Katrina was a “disaster” primarily because of the
the total incompetence of the mayor and his local government.
IIRC, the French Quarter stayed in business.
No disrespect to any FReepers that lost property there.

The Gulf Coast has had many hurricanes in my lifetime that
caused enormous damage.
How many crybabies are still living in Katrina FEMA trailers?

[Alberta's Child]

These were two very different hurricanes. Sandy was a Category 1 but made landfall with a very high storm surge that was magnified by a higher-than-normal high tide during the full moon. The Category 1 definition was based on sustained wind speeds, and nothing else. The situation here is bad because the Northeast has a lot of old hardwood trees, and even a Category 1 knocks a lot of those trees down.

Katrina's most devastating impact -- at least in New Orleans -- had nothing to do with wind or a storm surge. It was rainfall that inundated New Orleans, which explains why the city became a disaster zone long after the storm had passed. New Orleans was flooded by rain that fell far to the north in places like nothern Lousiana and Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, etc. -- and then drained down the Mississippi River over the course of several days.

[Kartographer]

Sandy’s lesson is right before your eyes just as it was with Katrina; You either prepare and stand on your own or you can depend or a bunch of self-serving politicos, third class bureaucratic and chance to provide your basic needs.

Me I don’t want to be beholden to anyone for providing what is needed for me and mine. I certainly don’t want to have to kiss some ‘gubberment’ third class bureaucratic to try and coax some help from them, I don’t want some ‘jack booted’ thug herding me in line and telling me where to stand, sit, eat or sleep. And last but not least I don’t want to be shut up in with a bunch of ‘zombies’ and have to worry about not only trying to get basic necessities but having to fight to keep what I manage to get.

Its your choice you can prep or you can stand around on a bridge waiting for FEMA to bring you a bottle of water, a MRE, a warm blanket and a kiss for your boo-boo. Maybe while you stand there you will get a chance to a prop in some politico’s photo op and even get your picture on the national news.

For those who are just starting or are old hands at prepping you may find my Preparedness Manual helpfull. You can download it at:

http://tomeaker.com/kart/Preparedness1j.pdf

NOTE! THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOAD. I DO NOT MAKE ONE CENT OFF MY PREPAREDNESS MANUAL!

For those of you who haven’t started already it’s time to prepare almost past time maybe. You needed to be stocking up on food guns, ammo, basic household supplies like soap, papergoods, cleaning supplies, good sturdy clothes including extra socks, underwear and extra shoes and boots, gas cans, cooking stove/fuel, tools, things you buy everyday start buying two and put one up.

As the LDS say “When the emergency is upon us the time for preparedness has past.”

Or as the bible says: A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
NIV Proverbs 22:3

I also like to recomend FReeper’s ChocoChipCookie Blog The Survival Mom (Please Blog Police let this one slide!) Where you can get lots of useful information like:

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2011/11/20/8-morale-boosters-for-any-worst-case-scenario/

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/02/02/survival-priorities-the-rule-of-three/

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/12/29/normalcy-bias/

And More

“There is no greater disaster than to underestimate danger.
Underestimation can be fatal.”

[Kartographer]

Preppers’ PING!!

[muawiyah]

There's scale and then there's New York City SMSA. So, let's compare them ~

NO SMSA 1,235,650 people

NY SMSA 22,085,649 people

NO SMSA 3,755.2 sq. mi.

NY SMSA 11,842 sq mi

Just Manhattan by itself has 1,601,948 population.

You could send the Louisiana National Guard to The City and they could stand on corners all day long and do what?