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Serious Problems are Afoot in New Orleans (pg. 6)
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| NeoPhono |
| quote: | Originally posted by shaolin_Z
You obviously missed the point. |
Please enlighten me. :rolleyes: |
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| George Smiley |
| quote: | Originally posted by metalgearsolid
I am sorry we have a government that can get things done unlike those damn third world countries:whip: :whip:
So why don't you come and help in fact you can go get the media and say, "hey look at me I am going to go help america!!" |
Ok I shall look forward to the plane tickets your about to send me, I shall also need somewhere to stay and would a bit of spending money be too much trouble or what?! |
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| metalgearsolid |
| quote: | Originally posted by George Smiley
Ok I shall look forward to the plane tickets your about to send me, I shall also need somewhere to stay and would a bit of spending money be too much trouble or what?! |
What you seriously would come here and would to visit me? PM me if your are serious I would really enjoy your company. |
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| George Smiley |
| quote: | Originally posted by metalgearsolid
What you seriously would come here and would to visit me? PM me if your are serious I would really enjoy your company. |
Dear God no! I wouldn't go and visit you! |
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| shaolin_Z |
| quote: | Originally posted by NeoPhono
Please enlighten me. :rolleyes: |
George already tried and you didn't understand and somehow made it into an argument about fixating on money.
To put it simply, we have plenty of resources and don't need help. (and I'm not just referring to monetary resources) |
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| metalgearsolid |
| quote: | Originally posted by George Smiley
Dear God no! I wouldn't go and visit you! |
What WHY not! I still have all of my teeth! |
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| NeoPhono |
| quote: | Originally posted by shaolin_Z
George already tried and you didn't understand and somehow made it into an argument about fixating on money.
To put it simply, we have plenty of resources and don't need help. (and I'm not just referring to monetary resources) |
Let's read the post I replied to again...
| quote: | Because Europe and ing Japan needed help! Like the ing Asian countries needed help! None of them had any ing money
America is the richest country in the world, it does not need any ing help!
JESUS ING CHRIST!!!
Are you people brain dead or summat?!
Aid goes to countries that cannot afford on their own to do whatever the aid is intended for... |
Yes, I do think he was talking about money.
And to say that the US could not use specialists from other countries (engineers, medical workers, construction specialists, cleanup and hazmat crews) to help in the aftermath is ridiculous. This is the worst natrual disaster in the history of the United States, to be so arrogant as to say we can just handle things on our own is ridiculous. The more people we have, (who know what they're doing and we have a need for) the faster things are returned to some semblance of normalcy and the amount of prolonged suffering is minimalized. I think a previous post gave specific examples of specialists from different countries who could help, but I'll repost it if needed. |
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| ogvh5150 |
Among emergency specialists, "mitigation" -- the measures taken in advance to minimize the damage caused by natural disasters -- is a crucial part of the strategy to save lives and cut recovery costs. But since 2001, key federal disaster mitigation programs, developed over many years, have been slashed and tossed aside. FEMA's Project Impact, a model mitigation program created by the Clinton administration, has been canceled outright. Federal funding of post-disaster mitigation efforts designed to protect people and property from the next disaster has been cut in half. Communities across the country must now compete for pre-disaster mitigation dollars.
As a result, some state and local emergency managers say, it's become more difficult to get the equipment and funds they need to most effectively deal with disasters. In Louisiana, requests for flood mitigation funds were rejected by FEMA this summer. (See sidebar.) In North Carolina, a state also regularly threatened by hurricanes and floods, FEMA recently refused the state's request to buy backup generators for emergency support facilities. And the budget cuts have halved the funding for a mitigation program that saved an estimated $8.8 million in recovery costs in three eastern North Carolina communities alone after 1999's Hurricane Floyd.
Consequently, the residents of these and other disaster-prone states will find the government less able to help them when help is needed most, and both states and the federal government will be forced to shoulder more recovery costs after disasters strike.
In addition, the White House has pushed for privatization of essential government services, including disaster management, and merged FEMA into the Department of Homeland Security -- where, critics say, natural disaster programs are often sidelined by counter-terrorism programs. Along the way, morale at FEMA has plummeted, and many of the agency's most experienced personnel have left for work in other government agencies or private corporations.
A Disaster Waiting to Happen
As FEMA weathers Bush administration policy changes, some insiders fear that concerns over terrorism are trumping protection from hurricanes and other natural hazards.
[sarcasm]Them WMD's around there in Iraq somewhere. We're sure of it. Even if the coastlines in the US of A have to drown.[/sarcasm]
Incidentally, Louisiana is a red (republican) state. How ironic is that?
"Before FEMA was condensed into Homeland Security Š it responded much more quickly," says Walter Maestri, director of Jefferson Parish's Office of Emergency Management. Maestri has worked with FEMA for eight years. "Truthfully, you had access to the individuals who were the decision-makers. The FEMA administrator had Cabinet status. Now, you have another layer of bureaucracy. FEMA is headed by an assistant secretary who now has to compete with other assistant secretaries of Homeland Security for available funds. And elevating houses is not as sexy as providing gas masks."
Maestri is still awaiting word from FEMA officials as to why Louisiana, despite being called the "floodplain of the nation" in a 2002 FEMA report, received no disaster mitigation grant money from FEMA in 2003 ("Homeland Insecurity," Sept. 28). Maestri says the rejection left emergency officials around the state "flabbergasted."
Disaster in the Making
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's diminished capacity to handle natural disasters is especially worrisome to Louisiana. |
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| Yoepus |
| quote: | 10 to 12 nations offer aid in wake of Katrina
Associated Press
From papal prayers to telegrams from China, the world reacted with an outpouring of compassion Wednesday for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in messages tinged by shock that a disaster of this scale could occur in the United States.
The storm was seen as an equalizer — proof that any country, weak or strong, can be victimized by a natural disaster. Images of flood-ravaged New Orleans earned particular sympathy in central Europe, where dozens died in raging floodwaters only days ago.
Should the nations of central Europe, or any nation, help the United States rebuild the Gulf Coast?
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday 10 to 12 foreign governments have offered general assistance to the United States to deal with the hurricane aftermath. No decision has been reached about accepting the offers.
Venezuela's government, which has had tense relations with Washington, offered humanitarian aid and fuel if requested.
Throughout Europe, concerned citizens lamented the loss of life and the damage caused to New Orleans, often described as one of North America's most "European" cities.
The U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland — a capital at the foot of the Alps hit by flooding last week — said calls were rushing in from Swiss individuals and institutions looking for a way to donate to relief efforts.
"We are getting calls from the Swiss public looking to express their condolences, (and) people are also asking for an account number where they can make donations," said spokesman Daniel Wendell.
The Internet-edition of the Vienna daily Der Standard had recorded 820 postings commenting on a front-page story on the hurricane. In one of the postings, signature "Emerald" asked where money could be donated to the victims, but the question sparked a debate about whether a rich country like the United States needed such aid.
In response, one posting, from signature "far out," argued that hurricane victims who are poor still needed support.
Amid the sympathy, however, there was criticism.
As U.S. military engineers struggled to shore up breached levees, experts in the Netherlands expressed surprise that New Orleans' flood systems failed to restrain the raging waters.
With half of the country's population of 16 million living below sea level, the Netherlands prepared for a "perfect storm" soon after floods in 1953 killed 2,000 people. The nation installed massive hydraulic sea walls.
The sympathy was muted in some corners by a sense that the United States reaped what it sowed, since the country is seen as the main contributor to global warming.
Joern Ehlers, a spokesman for World Wildlife Fund Germany, said global warming had increased the intensity of hurricanes.
But Harlan L. Watson, the U.S. envoy for negotiations on climate change, denied any link between global warming and the strength of storms.
Whether aid is sent, most nations did offer sympathy.
French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sent messages of sympathy to President Bush. China's President Hu Jintao and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II also sent messages of condolence.
Link: http://www.journaltimes.com/article...e8099133083.txt |
I also saw on the scroll-news bar of MSNBC that the Germans have offered aid to the USA. It looks like the countries that have most recently been effected by natrual disasters have kinder hearts than Georegy.
:(
More:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20050831-1619-katrina-world.html
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/opinion/12518554.htm |
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| donnybrasco |
| quote: |
New Orleans, the 35th largest city in the US, is gone.
I don't know if this is the USA's pompeii or if they will rebuild... but the city is gone. |
EXACTLY!!
People keep talking about this like it's a little storm..."pump out the water, the homes will dry out and it's back to business as usual."
What happened down South in the U.S. is tantamount to having had a Nuclear Bomb dropped on a few of it's major cities. New Orleans will be under water for MONTHS! And when they finally do repair the levies and pump out the water, most, if not all of the wooden buildings (all the homes) will have to be bull-dozed. We're talking about a city of MILLIONS here! Not to mention the damaged infrastructure...sewers, water mains, power plants and lines, and on and on...
Highway 10, a MAJOR interstate highway, vital to commerce, has a ten mile stretch of roadway over the lake which is not just damaged, it's COMPLETELY DESTROYED!
The Mississippi River outlet is THE major source of commerce for middle America...it's out of action! The oil production we all know about. Millions of people are without homes or JOBS!
Bottom line is; This disaster will eventually affect the whole country, people have no clue yet how bad this really is...not even other Americans!
My only real question is; Could they have made those levies stronger and higher to begin with? And if so, why the hell didn't they? It would have been WAY cheaper to do that then to rebuild a city.
As for assistance; The Red Cross could certainly use some money! Out of curiousity, how many of you arm-chair Economists have donated anything to the Red Cross for this tragedy? How many of you donated after the Tsunami?
I donated $50 for the Tsunami victims and the same for this tragedy...I hardly think anyone would say that the Red Cross has all the money it needs. ;) |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by donnybrasco
I donated $50 for the Tsunami victims and the same for this tragedy...I hardly think anyone would say that the Red Cross has all the money it needs. ;) |
The wifey and I are donating $100 to the Red Cross from here in Toronto, Canada.
Unfortuatenly the major banks haven't quite set up the donation account for it yet.
I suspect that will change in the next few days... |
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| donnybrasco |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
The wifey and I are donating $100 to the Red Cross from here in Toronto, Canada.... |
$100 Canadian? Because that's like $20 U.S., lol (j/k;) )
I plan on donating more as soon as I move some more money in to my checking account tomorrow.
Awsome Fir3start3r! Glad to see someone who's not full of free ideas and opinions, but actually sets out to make a difference...apart from the world of Message Boards. :) |
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