C.diesel
NAXJA Member #1284
- Location
- Broomfield, CO
Just a couple of thoughts...
I do feel very bad for all of the people that evacuated the cities when they were ordered to and now see the pictures on the news and realize that they have nothing left. I am sorry for the people that could not get out of the area because they did not have the means or transportation to do so.
Now, with that being said...
1. If you live on the coast in that part of the country then you have to accept the fact that there are going to be hurricanes and eventually you are going to get a major one. If you are going to gamble with that sort of thing then you need to be willing to accept the risks. This is not a situation where there was a 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Kansas City. This is a forseeable event. It is not like anyone forced these people to live in New Orleans or on the coast. I have read at least one article a year for the last five years saying that if a major hurricane ever hit New Orleans the city was going to be screwed. If you live on the coast in a toliet bowl that sits below sea level, it does not take a lot of brains to figure out that you are betting on some bad odds.
2. When the evacuations were called there were a lot of people that stayed. I think that it is reasonable to assume that many (the great majority) of those people could have gotten out of places like New Orleans but stayed. I watched the pictures of the people that waited in line to get into the Superdome before the storm hit and let me tell you that I did not see a lot of elderly people that looked unable to get transportation in those lines. What I saw was a lot of people in their 20s and 30s who looked like they should have been able to get out of town. From my view, I saw a lot of people that did not make the effort to try to get out of town and took what they thought would be the easy option that was provided by the city. Please understand that I AM NOT talking about the people that truely could not get out. However, common sence would tell you that the majority of the people that could not get out of town (elderly and people without any means of transportation) probably would not get to the Superdome anyway.
3. I watched interviews with the mayor of New Orleans and the Gov of La. before the hurricane hit and BOTH of them said that THEY WERE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT LOOTING AFTER THE STORM. They said that the people of New Orleans and La. were not capable of doing something like that in a situation like this. Well, that is about the same time where they should have been preparing for the situation that is occuring right now. Anyone with any common sence could have told you that there was going to be mass looting in New Orleans. Look at the demographics of the city and the crime rates there on a yearly basis for a clue. It would have been easier to contain the situation if the Gov and the Mayor would have prepared for the eventuality and were not in denial until Tuesday.
4. I also heard an interview with the mayor of New Orleans this morning where he critisized the government for not doing more to get the people out of the Superdome with the horrible conditions that have developed there. This from the same guy that four days ago was asked by a guy on the national news if they had thought through what was going to happen when the piping and sewer system in the Superdome backed up under the load from all of the poeple there. THE MAYOR SAID... WE REALLY HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THAT AT THIS POINT, BUT WE DON'T CONSIDER IT A MAJOR CONCERN. I really don't think that this guy has any right to be critisizing a national government that is trying to help his city out of this mess.
This will happen again if they go back in and rebuild this city. The city never should have been built there in the first place. We can thank the French for starting that one. However, if you have any brains and common sence you would not subject yourself and your family to those kind of odds. If New Orleans was a building it would have been condemed long ago. It is not a safe place to have a city. They should distribute the insurance money, donations and federal funds to the people and companies affected by this and tell them to move somewhere else. That city should not be rebuilt, it is just asking for another disaster down the road.
I do feel very bad for all of the people that evacuated the cities when they were ordered to and now see the pictures on the news and realize that they have nothing left. I am sorry for the people that could not get out of the area because they did not have the means or transportation to do so.
Now, with that being said...
1. If you live on the coast in that part of the country then you have to accept the fact that there are going to be hurricanes and eventually you are going to get a major one. If you are going to gamble with that sort of thing then you need to be willing to accept the risks. This is not a situation where there was a 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Kansas City. This is a forseeable event. It is not like anyone forced these people to live in New Orleans or on the coast. I have read at least one article a year for the last five years saying that if a major hurricane ever hit New Orleans the city was going to be screwed. If you live on the coast in a toliet bowl that sits below sea level, it does not take a lot of brains to figure out that you are betting on some bad odds.
2. When the evacuations were called there were a lot of people that stayed. I think that it is reasonable to assume that many (the great majority) of those people could have gotten out of places like New Orleans but stayed. I watched the pictures of the people that waited in line to get into the Superdome before the storm hit and let me tell you that I did not see a lot of elderly people that looked unable to get transportation in those lines. What I saw was a lot of people in their 20s and 30s who looked like they should have been able to get out of town. From my view, I saw a lot of people that did not make the effort to try to get out of town and took what they thought would be the easy option that was provided by the city. Please understand that I AM NOT talking about the people that truely could not get out. However, common sence would tell you that the majority of the people that could not get out of town (elderly and people without any means of transportation) probably would not get to the Superdome anyway.
3. I watched interviews with the mayor of New Orleans and the Gov of La. before the hurricane hit and BOTH of them said that THEY WERE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT LOOTING AFTER THE STORM. They said that the people of New Orleans and La. were not capable of doing something like that in a situation like this. Well, that is about the same time where they should have been preparing for the situation that is occuring right now. Anyone with any common sence could have told you that there was going to be mass looting in New Orleans. Look at the demographics of the city and the crime rates there on a yearly basis for a clue. It would have been easier to contain the situation if the Gov and the Mayor would have prepared for the eventuality and were not in denial until Tuesday.
4. I also heard an interview with the mayor of New Orleans this morning where he critisized the government for not doing more to get the people out of the Superdome with the horrible conditions that have developed there. This from the same guy that four days ago was asked by a guy on the national news if they had thought through what was going to happen when the piping and sewer system in the Superdome backed up under the load from all of the poeple there. THE MAYOR SAID... WE REALLY HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THAT AT THIS POINT, BUT WE DON'T CONSIDER IT A MAJOR CONCERN. I really don't think that this guy has any right to be critisizing a national government that is trying to help his city out of this mess.
This will happen again if they go back in and rebuild this city. The city never should have been built there in the first place. We can thank the French for starting that one. However, if you have any brains and common sence you would not subject yourself and your family to those kind of odds. If New Orleans was a building it would have been condemed long ago. It is not a safe place to have a city. They should distribute the insurance money, donations and federal funds to the people and companies affected by this and tell them to move somewhere else. That city should not be rebuilt, it is just asking for another disaster down the road.