[quote]BIGRAGOO wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
Follow the money.
That’s just basic La politics. Always has been.[/quote]
Sad to say, it’s politics all over the place. A man once said that political leaders will promise to build a bridge where there is no river.
[quote]BIGRAGOO wrote:
Headhunter wrote:
Follow the money.
That’s just basic La politics. Always has been.[/quote]
Sad to say, it’s politics all over the place. A man once said that political leaders will promise to build a bridge where there is no river.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
rainjack wrote:
You must have been watching it on Al Jazeera TV if you think for a second that the gov was calling anyone but her press secretary while the hurricane was still blowing.
I was wathcing CNN and Fos - they both had teams in the French Quarter two days before the hurricane struck talking about the possibility of a direct hit on NO. You’d think Nagin might have tried to err on the side of caution and d all he could. He didn’t. Neither did the governor.
FEMA dropped the ball. But you have them pegged as being responsible for things that are not in their scope. They had a complete ignorant dill hole running the show. He was pointing fingers just as fast and furious as was Nagin and the Governor.
As for Bush - he showed up 3 days before the Houston hurricane hit. There was no way in hell to divine the actual intensity of the hurricane. It was evidently a serious enough threat to evacuate most all of Houston, though.
You are one of the head cheerleaders for the “no matter what Bush does it’s the wrong thing” Brigade. And it shows in this last post.
Funny thing, Houston was able to evacuate - something that NO just couldn’t seem to grasp.
Why do you keep bringing up Houston as if you can’t understand that AFTER KATRINA, THE ENTIRE SOUTH WAS PARANOID!? No shit Houiston evacuated. My parents were stuck on I10 for over 14 hours just to get out of the city. We have never evacuated for any other hurricane that has hit the city growing up but they left for that one. Do you honestly think that many people would have fled if Katrina hadn’t occurred? If you think so, then you don’t know Houston very well.[/quote]
My point is not that Houston evacuated. My point is that NOLA couldn’t get the job done.
NOLA is 12 feet below sea-level. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to connect the dots here. FEMA didn’t have the responsibility to evacuate the city - that was Nagin’s baby all the way, and only got 80% of the job done.
SO let me recap. Big assed hurricane. Big assed city sitting 12 feet below sea level. Mayor with head up his ass.
I’ll leave you with your crayons to figure this one out.
[quote]rainjack wrote:
Professor X wrote:
rainjack wrote:
You must have been watching it on Al Jazeera TV if you think for a second that the gov was calling anyone but her press secretary while the hurricane was still blowing.
I was wathcing CNN and Fos - they both had teams in the French Quarter two days before the hurricane struck talking about the possibility of a direct hit on NO. You’d think Nagin might have tried to err on the side of caution and d all he could. He didn’t. Neither did the governor.
FEMA dropped the ball. But you have them pegged as being responsible for things that are not in their scope. They had a complete ignorant dill hole running the show. He was pointing fingers just as fast and furious as was Nagin and the Governor.
As for Bush - he showed up 3 days before the Houston hurricane hit. There was no way in hell to divine the actual intensity of the hurricane. It was evidently a serious enough threat to evacuate most all of Houston, though.
You are one of the head cheerleaders for the “no matter what Bush does it’s the wrong thing” Brigade. And it shows in this last post.
Funny thing, Houston was able to evacuate - something that NO just couldn’t seem to grasp.
Why do you keep bringing up Houston as if you can’t understand that AFTER KATRINA, THE ENTIRE SOUTH WAS PARANOID!? No shit Houiston evacuated. My parents were stuck on I10 for over 14 hours just to get out of the city. We have never evacuated for any other hurricane that has hit the city growing up but they left for that one. Do you honestly think that many people would have fled if Katrina hadn’t occurred? If you think so, then you don’t know Houston very well.
My point is not that Houston evacuated. My point is that NOLA couldn’t get the job done.
NOLA is 12 feet below sea-level. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to connect the dots here. FEMA didn’t have the responsibility to evacuate the city - that was Nagin’s baby all the way, and only got 80% of the job done.
SO let me recap. Big assed hurricane. Big assed city sitting 12 feet below sea level. Mayor with head up his ass.
I’ll leave you with your crayons to figure this one out.
[/quote]
RJ, you’re correct in that it was Nagin’s baby to begin with, but you also have to factor in the ignorance and stubborness of the people there. I bet if more of those people were really motivated to leave, the evactuation would have been better. But since a lot of the victims have sat through so many other storms, they felt that they could make it through this one, be it a CAT 5 or not. That was Nagin’s first stumbling block. He could not get the people to move fast enough. You can call for a mandatory evac, but if the citizens don’t react, how does one leaglly force people out of their homes. Let’s face it, these people were basically broke with little to no means of transportation.
Sure the busses could have been used, but again people were hesitant to get that ball rolling. It wasn’t until the storm hit that everyone discovered how wrong the were to not get the hell out. Yes Nagin should have been more forceful, and Blanco should have lit a fire under his ass to do so, but they underestimated the storm and got bit on the ass.
[quote]BigRagoo wrote:
RJ, you’re correct in that it was Nagin’s baby to begin with, but you also have to factor in the ignorance and stubborness of the people there. I bet if more of those people were really motivated to leave, the evactuation would have been better. But since a lot of the victims have sat through so many other storms, they felt that they could make it through this one, be it a CAT 5 or not. That was Nagin’s first stumbling block. He could not get the people to move fast enough. You can call for a mandatory evac, but if the citizens don’t react, how does one leaglly force people out of their homes. Let’s face it, these people were basically broke with little to no means of transportation.
Sure the busses could have been used, but again people were hesitant to get that ball rolling. It wasn’t until the storm hit that everyone discovered how wrong the were to not get the hell out. Yes Nagin should have been more forceful, and Blanco should have lit a fire under his ass to do so, but they underestimated the storm and got bit on the ass.[/quote]
And from that point on, it became a FEMA issue and they completely dropped the ball. I am wondering what so many critics would have done to get people that don’t want to leave out of their houses when they have no cars or other transportation. Those people didn’t believe it would be that bad. They were wrong.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
BigRagoo wrote:
RJ, you’re correct in that it was Nagin’s baby to begin with, but you also have to factor in the ignorance and stubborness of the people there. I bet if more of those people were really motivated to leave, the evactuation would have been better. But since a lot of the victims have sat through so many other storms, they felt that they could make it through this one, be it a CAT 5 or not. That was Nagin’s first stumbling block. He could not get the people to move fast enough. You can call for a mandatory evac, but if the citizens don’t react, how does one leaglly force people out of their homes. Let’s face it, these people were basically broke with little to no means of transportation.
Sure the busses could have been used, but again people were hesitant to get that ball rolling. It wasn’t until the storm hit that everyone discovered how wrong the were to not get the hell out. Yes Nagin should have been more forceful, and Blanco should have lit a fire under his ass to do so, but they underestimated the storm and got bit on the ass.
And from that point on, it became a FEMA issue and they completely dropped the ball. I am wondering what so many critics would have done to get people that don’t want to leave out of their houses when they have no cars or other transportation. Those people didn’t believe it would be that bad. They were wrong. [/quote]
Very true. After the storm landed, it was then up to FEMA to roll out aid and rescue. You can’t blame FEMA for the lack of initiative on NO’s part, but you CAN pick apart their slow response. There was no reason to have waited so long to get help down here. Like you said, it was a total clusterfuck from bottom up.
And I too want to know what else someone could have done to get the people out of their homes. I mean I’m just as guilty for staying as anyone else. I got lucky that the storm didn’t come any closer, or I would have been homeless too. Complacency is to blame for the initial number of people being trapped. Finger pointing is to blame for the extra time and lives lost after the storm.
[quote]BigRagoo wrote:
Complacency is to blame for the initial number of people being trapped. Finger pointing is to blame for the extra time and lives lost after the storm.[/quote]
Leave it to BR to end a perfretly good fight. Now what the hell am I going to do for the rest of the day?
Shit.
[quote]rainjack wrote:
BigRagoo wrote:
Complacency is to blame for the initial number of people being trapped. Finger pointing is to blame for the extra time and lives lost after the storm.
Leave it to BR to end a perfretly good fight. Now what the hell am I going to do for the rest of the day?
Shit. [/quote]
Well, we could speculate on who’s going to fuck up the next disaster response…
We’re only just now reaching the peak of the hurricane season, and people 'round these parts were completely freaked (many of whom were here for Hugo in '89) when Ernesto paid us a visit last week. As it ended-up, we sustained a side-swipe by a mere tropical storm, yet people were on the verge of stampeding to get away. Anxiety in the wake of Katrina and Rita is still sky-high.
And Tropical Depression Number Six just hit the radar, so to speak.
Complacency was the bane of the ill-prepared system last year… I think panic is going to be the name of the game this year, regardless of where the next storm comes ashore.
And what if that does happen to be close to NO? Can they handle another hit right now? Have Nagin and FEMA learned enough to be ready for another crisis-situation so soon, if one should arise?
[quote]rainjack wrote:
BigRagoo wrote:
Complacency is to blame for the initial number of people being trapped. Finger pointing is to blame for the extra time and lives lost after the storm.
Leave it to BR to end a perfretly good fight. Now what the hell am I going to do for the rest of the day?
Shit. [/quote]
Hahaha, sorry to rain on your parade RJ. I was just putting it into perspective.
[quote]Anakyn wrote:
And what if that does happen to be close to NO? Can they handle another hit right now? Have Nagin and FEMA learned enough to be ready for another crisis-situation so soon, if one should arise?
[/quote]
Right now, NO is in no shape to take another hit. However, the damage is done in certain spots and the people have not returned, so it won’t be as deadly.
But you’re right about panic being the idea of the next crisis. I believe many more of us will take extra precautions to get out of the way.
We are planning Christmas in Cancun this year. I am hesitant to book the trip as Cancun has been hit twice since 2003.
And that sucks.
[quote]rainjack wrote:
We are planning Christmas in Cancun this year. I am hesitant to book the trip as Cancun has been hit twice since 2003.
And that sucks. [/quote]
I hear that. Several people in our office had to reschedule, or flat-out cancel their vacations to the Keys and Caribbean last year. It was like fuckin’ dodge ball, man.
[quote]rainjack wrote:
We are planning Christmas in Cancun this year. I am hesitant to book the trip as Cancun has been hit twice since 2003.
And that sucks. [/quote]
You’ll be ok in Dec. there, unless there is a major storm that hits between now and then.
[quote]BigRagoo wrote:
rainjack wrote:
We are planning Christmas in Cancun this year. I am hesitant to book the trip as Cancun has been hit twice since 2003.
And that sucks.
You’ll be ok in Dec. there, unless there is a major storm that hits between now and then.[/quote]
My wife wants to book now. Me? Not so much - unless there is some sort of hurricane refund policy. I can just see me losing 6500 bucks - I have that kind of luck.
[quote]rainjack wrote:
BigRagoo wrote:
rainjack wrote:
We are planning Christmas in Cancun this year. I am hesitant to book the trip as Cancun has been hit twice since 2003.
And that sucks.
You’ll be ok in Dec. there, unless there is a major storm that hits between now and then.
My wife wants to book now. Me? Not so much - unless there is some sort of hurricane refund policy. I can just see me losing 6500 bucks - I have that kind of luck. [/quote]
Your actually going at the best time to avoid Hurricanes. I went in November after George busted their sack, and it was still really good. I’ve been several times and that time was really no different, other than the reefs were a little torn up and they had Mexians with five gallon buckets scooping sand and putting it back on the beach. Watching the burritto powered backhoes was actually quite funny.