not that there's anything wrong with that...
Posted on 08/31/2005 10:28:28 AM PDT by spycatcher
Some people are saying the destruction is worse than Hurricane Camille. Others aren't saying anything, staring in wide-eyed wonder at the total devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
Just last Thursday, Katrina hit South Florida as a Category 1 hurricane. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, she moved through the Gulf, slowly gaining strength and growing larger until she became a Category 5 with winds of 175 mph.
Monday morning, she hit Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana, then moved slowly north, slamming into the Louisiana-Missisppi line as a Category 4 storm and causing destruction of buildings and homes along the Coast and in southeastern Louisiana.
"Catastrophic is an understatement," one resident said.
South Mississippi isn't exactly the ideal tourist spot right now, but the hurricane has drawn journalists from all over the world who want to cover what could be the most costly and deadly natural disaster in U.S. history.
Kim Riseth is one of those journalists. He works for a newspaper in Norway but is based in New York City. He has covered the war in Iraq, as well as the tsunami in Sri Lanki.
He and a photographer flew to Florida on Monday and droveto South Mississippi early Tuesday to write about the damage wrought by Katrina.
Riseth found his way to the Harrison County Courthouse after walking around surveying damage for several hours.
"The destruction here is worse than the tsunami," Riseth said at the Emergency Management Agency. "It's exactly the same thing I saw in Sri Lanka. The houses were smaller and not as strong as the ones here, but this place is totally destroyed about three blocks from the beach."
When asked if the pair planned to travel to New Orleans to cover the hurricane's damage to one of America's most famous cities, Riseth said no.
"The better story is here."
In the early days, no one is ready for donations other than food, water, clothing, and bedding.
Give it a few days; then Church-based groups will need such things. Check with your local Catholic diocese, as most of the areas affected are heavily Catholic. Thet'll know how to get your donations to the afflicted.
MS ping!
not that there's anything wrong with that...
Whatever. My point was that we won't be anywhere NEAR tsuanmi numbers.
Obviously not hundreds of thousands though, but a thousand or two easy. The tsunami total was created mostly from the massive the amount of coastline that the tsunami covered, and all the islands. Of course that's far more than Katrina.
Those are definitely interesting images, but best to simply link rather than dump on the phone modem users while draining the bandwidth of the host.
"Count our blessings: at least we had some warning beforehand."
Even though many were warned, they decided to stay. Whatcan you say about that? Some people just aren't too smart.
It's ok, we don't need them. India took the same attitude after the tsunami, they told everybody they could take care of themselves, good for them.
On the other hand, the tsunami victims didn't have to deal with 145+ MPH winds along with all the water. Even if you survived the water, the wind would get you.
Crickets chirping indeed.
Oh, my no! India's effort was right there with Australia's and ours, only they didn't get a bit of press from it (and are still bitter).
There's no comparison to the recent tsunami in terms of loss of life. Property-wise, the Gulf Coast simply had more to lose. Disasters in the third-world generally knock over mud huts, not modern infrastructure.
Since you're low on cash, how about donating blood, and/or volunteering at your local salvation army?
Don't forget, the victims of this disaster had at least a 3 day warning. The Tsunami victims had none.
Check out this prescient Nat'l Geographic article about the potential damage of a hurricane in New Orleans. Looks like it was published last year.
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/
Just because people had a warning doesn't mean they left. They just said the storm surge pushed everything back almost a mile in many locations along the entire coast of Mississippi.
Thanks Freepers!(that's what my dad calls ya'll) I will let you all know when we officially decide what to do!
:)
Kinda like the 187 Texans, Mexicans, Tennesseans, etc. who were beseiged within the Alamo...
Oopps... didn't realize they were that big!
Here are the links:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17018
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Aug2005/Louisiana_AMO_2005239_lrg.jpg
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Aug2005/Louisiana_TMO_2005242_lrg.jpg
The local Salvation Army will accept donations.
And kudos to you, young lady, for asking how you can help. You are the best part of America!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
