Rita Damage to SW Louisiana worse than being reported

Lake Charles.com Photos ^ | September 25, 2005

[Comstock1]

The damage that has hit SW Louisiana and SE Texas is much worse than is being reported by the MSM. While there is very little in the way of a body count, houses and businesses by the hundreds have been destroyed. Entire communities in Cameron Parish have more than likely been erased from the map.

Here is link for some images from SW LA. You'll have to scroll down.

http://forum.lakecharles.com/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/14/t/000023

[Candor7]

Yours: ". the MSM are too freakin' lazy to go and find the news ."


Lazy maybe, but more likely MSN is waiting for spin instructions from the back room boys. That is todays Liberal media, when truth must be hacked out the way we are doing on this thread.

One overflight along the coast by private aircraft would get a true picture of the coastal community damages. They already likely have that footage. They are just deciding which way the Democrat wind needs to blow before editing the film footage, and added twisted scripting for broadcasters.

I do not have any TV in my house.

You know why.

As an aside, last Thursday 12 Vermont ambulances each with 2 med techs were on their way to the land fall area of Rita, courtesy of the Republican Governator of Vermont, Jim Douglas. That would never make MSN news.

[Columbus Dawg]

You are absolutely on the money about storm surge. Related to storm surge as well is inland flooding for the folks inland. For example, Frances and Ivan did a number in many parts of Ohio last year.
We see the pictures of destruction and immediately see the affects of high winds, which are dangerous too. However, for people in low lying areas, along the coast and inland in the path, water is the greatest threat.

[beckysueb]

I noticed on the forum there that people are upset at the lack of coverage. This is what the media did to Mississippi and Alabama. I never did see the first report about Alabama and they practically ignored Mississippi and it was just devastated. It was as bad as any hurricane damage I have ever seen.

[beckysueb]

This is what Cindy Sheehan called a little wind and rain.

[Yellow Rose of Texas]

I have seen this on FOX all day. The devastation is extreme. It reminds me of Mississippi, and Alabama 3 weeks ago.

May GOD help them and bless them.

[beckysueb]

Not enough coverage? Perhaps there wasn't enough blacks involved in the devastation?

Bingo!

[beckysueb]

knee-jerks ... turn on you tears now about - "it aint there fault ' "yada yada yada" as your hero would say.

Who is "our hero?"

[beckysueb]

I am surprised to see all the photos of damage. Last night I was thinking Rita came in a lot less powerful than expected. What's the reasoning behind downplaying Rita???

So they can continue to play up Katrina. Their not ready to let go of Katrina cause thats the one they can hammer Bush with.

[eeriegeno]

When you decide to build on the beach, you need to be prepared for the devastation that the beach can bring your way. Living on the beach, in other words, is not all moonlit beachwalks. And the fools who can't realise that, I have no sympathy for......

I pay hard earned cash to insure my property against all kinds of disasters, if they didn't, then I can only say, "Oh well."

[WasDougsLamb]

Thats what I was thinking. It does look just like a beach.

[timetogo]

CNN.com has on their webpage now stories about the devastation. It took CNN time to catch up with the real facts.

[Jaded]

Because it would knock NOLA out of the spotlight for more than 3 seconds. The media thinks the only thing in the entire state of LA is the French Quarter.

[LikeLight]

Here's a local LA community blog with tons of real solid damage info . . . fascinating & enlightening read:

http://forum.lakecharles.com/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/forum/f/20

[texas booster]

Got a call from Crystal Beach TX this evening from a state employee delivering supplies.

There is one main power line from Port Arthur/ Beaumont area that supplies the Bolivar peninsula. The entire line is down, with all poles needing to be replaced. They estimate two months for power all the way down to Port Bolivar.

Lots of damage around High Island, which was closer to the eye wall. Lots of homes without shingles.

Crystal Beach has damage, but a friends' beach house (on stilts) suffered only minor damage.

He is trying to get to Port Arthur this week to check on a few homes. Has heard that the damage was sporadic along Sabine Lake. Port Arthur TV stations were knocked off air. Could have been much worse. No water pressure in most parts of Port Arthur.

[conservative in nyc]

No doubt there is extensive flooding and damage along the Southwest Louisiana and extreme East Texas coasts. No doubt there is wind damage (some of it extensive) up to 75 miles inland from the coast.

But there's also no doubt in my mind that Rita was far less destructive than Katrina. Not many people live within a few miles of the coastline there. It might not be good news for them - but the economic damage and human toll from Rita will not even be 1/5th of Katrina's. Those are the facts.

Here are some other facts: -Cameron Parish isn't as impoverished as some posters indicated. According to the census bureau, the parish's poverty rate is about the same as the U.S. rate. Per capita and median incomes may be lower than the national average, but the cost of living down there is probably much lower than in the big cities. And almost 25% of the homes in Cameron Parish are vacation homes.

[laz]

But there's also no doubt in my mind that Rita was far less destructive than Katrina.

I don't see how you can correlate the fact that there was less for Katrina to destroy in the areas she hit with her having been less destructive. To claim she was far less destructive implies she was far less powerful. It's a measurement of her ability to destroy, not the amount of life and property available for her to destroy. Had Rita made landfall south of Houston/Galveston, at the same intensity she did in Louisiana, she would have caused far more destruction.

People are hearing phrases like "far less destructive", and the impression they get is that Rita wasn't very powerful. Nothing could be further from the truth.

[Flux Capacitor]

----When all is said and done, it will be Rita that has left the biggest scar on Louisiana.----

No, not even close. Rita did a great deal of destruction, of course, but Lake Charles was not dealt a death blow. There have only been two deaths reported at my last check, and the residents of the whole area will return, rebuild, and resume life. Callous as it may sound, as hurricanes go, Rita turned out to be pretty average.

Katrina, on the other hand, destroyed the largest city in the state and a huge chunk of Louisiana's economy with it. The loss of life was exponentially greater. There actually can be a recovery from Rita for this state; Katrina's effects are catastrophic and permanent.

We got very lucky with Rita.

-Dan

[laz]

This is what the media did to Mississippi and Alabama.

Actually, they did show what happened in those states, before the flooding started in NOLA. All day Monday, August 29, the coverage was split between NOLA having dodged a bullet and Mississippi having been hit hard. In fact, the media seemed pleased that while NOLA had been spared, the Republican state of Mississippi had taken the full brunt of Katrina's wrath. As soon as the flooding started in NOLA on Tuesday, though, the media immediately switched to that, and their focus has been there ever since.

[jeffers]

Thanks for the info. Is the whole Bolivar grid hosed or just the feeder?

[laz]

but Lake Charles was not dealt a death blow

And this is part of the misleading impression the media has created. No, Lake Charles wasn't dealt a death blow -- but other places were. Was Lake Charles ground zero? No. Coastal towns like Cameron and Holly Beach were ground zero. Cities like Lake Charles and Beaumont were just outside ground zero.