katrina

[Saxman]

What city has a plan in place to evacuate or relocate tens of thousands of poor?

[longlegsrule]

What city has a plan in place to evacuate or relocate tens of thousands of poor?

for real...but on the same note...how are the poor supposed to 'drive' away...

[Alan Evil]

I've only had contact with two of my friends from there. One was a text message, my friend's second child was born in a Comfort Inn in Baton Rouge on the 30th. The people I'm most worried about lived in places that I've seen on tv where only the peaks of roofs are showing. It's heartbreaking. They've lost everything. Some of them may have died. There's no way for me to know.

[Steve]

I guess they are moving people to the astrodome because of the flooding. I'm still in awe over the logic of building a coastal city below sea level.

The need for a coastal port near the mouth of a major river, the lure of the ocean, and America's drive to conquor through engineering no matter how irrational it might seem and you get the Big Easy? Just a thought. It is pretty wild to be stumblin' down the street and look over and see tugs cruising along at or above eye level.

I'm also worried about just how high gas prices are going to get.

I'm still worried about America's dependance on petroleum based products...that and coffee prices. Nothing like a jump in gas prices to take the focus on all that death and destruction.

[Saxman]

for real...but on the same note...how are the poor supposed to 'drive' away...

Life is not always fair. The people out in the woods who have a year of supplies don't seem so nutty now.

[Artsay]

Alan - I'm so sorry for you. A piece of my heart is in Savannah and I can only imagine how I would feel if Savannah was under water.

New Orleans is such an amazing city...one of my favorites. Ray and I had a trip planned over Halloween weekend and I'm selfishly upset we can't go now.

Sending prayers to the people of New Orleans...

[Crankmas]

releasing oil that can't be refined will improve oil futures but you can't make gas when refineries have no power

[gunslnga]

I totally feel for all the people affected, but how about the soldiers who have survived hell in Iraq, only to return to there home base, thats under water, and then possibly have to shoot looters already making a devastating situation worse! The National Guard units returning will have no breaks, they will remain on active duty until this is under control??
I wish my first involvement on here could have been useful or informative, but as a veteran of the first gulf war, a climber, and a human being I needed to say it. in the future I hope to be a better contributor.
gunslnga

[Alan Evil]

One of the oldest cities in this country has pretty much been destroyed. I wonder about all the landmarks I used to navigate that are now gone. Many of the trees are gone, entire neighborhoods will have to be raized because of the flooding... today I've received e-mails from friends who confirm other friends as still missing...

This hurricane was untold number of times worse than any in recorded history to strike that part of the world. It's the third strongest storm to make landfall since we started writing it down and it was a monster. It happened in August. September is usually the most active hurricane season. What do we do if another one comes in?

One of the first things Bush did was reduce funding for New Orleans levee maintenance by 80% in the Federal budget. Uh... the levees failed... uh...

Of course if you're not the type to associate with poor people you never would've met some of my friends that lived in places like Chalmette or the Lower 9th Ward. Those are the people that I haven't heard from.

Any of you that ever spent more than a few days in N.O. know what this country has lost. We can only hope the city will return, somehow.

And as far as the soldiers go, I feel they should all be here except for those involved with Afghanistan. The war in Iraq was wrong from the start and because of it thousands will have died along the Gulf Coast. The Nat'l Guard troops and their equipment were in Iraq fighting a fucked up war based on lies instead of protecting and aiding Americans in America. Our President was on vacation. He's been on vacaation for more than a YEAR since elected. Have any of you been on vacation for one fifth of a year recently? (I mean, without being a homeless bum) Yeah. I guess if they die of starvation trapped in their attics it saves them from having to gas them. Oh. Wait. That's implying the current administration is fascist.


Yep.

[Meadows]

I'm really bummed to see one of my favorite cities destroyed ... and even more bummed to see scumbags making it an opportunity for an all-you-can-grab day at an abandoned WalMart [and other places] there.