<p>The thing is - if the flood, not the hurricane, but the flood 36 hours later could take out two levees, don’t you think it would have been a ripe “terrorist” target?</p>
<p>The difference is transportation. In Florida, the interstate highway didn’t fall into the swamp, water wasn’t standing 8 feet deep in the area that needed the help.</p>
<p>Exactly Bandit. And in Florida they didn’t have gangs shooting guns at rescuers either.</p>
<p>Why compare Florida and Louisiana?</p>
<p>I heard a woman on the radio today with a relative in NO. She was told by her boss she could not leave because she would lose her job if she didn’t show up for work, and not wanting to risk her job she stayed to long, another was told she needed to finish her shift</p>
<p>The least the very least that should have been done was get those people out- there was time, just not the will</p>
<p>“I hope those 200,000 aren’t left to wander the countryside. I hope we’ve progressed beyond 1865.”</p>
<p>Well, we’ll see. I sit on our state’s committee for the homeless, and have watched the dismantling of public housing efforts, begun by Bill Clinton, and accelerated by George Bush, over the past 8 years. HUD is a shadow of what it once was. I can’t imagine any concerted federal or state to build that amount of low-income housing, in addition to needs currently there, happening anywhere in the country.</p>
<p>CGM, unfortunately, this is true every time a hurricane heads towards land. Some people honestly can’t leave, but many simply choose not to leave.</p>
<p>I remember when my husband and I lived in Biloxi in 1985 and there was a large hurricane. We left but were surprised at the number of people in our apartment complex who decided to stay. There was even something of a party atmosphere and we felt almost foolish evacuating.
Of course, I’m not saying that’s why everyone who is still in NO is still there, but I am sure there are many who could have left, but choose not to.</p>
<p>As someone who went through this 3 times last year I can tell you that while yes…the trucks were rolling towards FL the next day. But they didn’t arrive at the needed destinations the next day either necessarily. Roads had to be cleared. Some places like Okeechobee had several feet of water standing and couldn’t get to people till a few days later. </p>
<p>While I’m not saying that I necessarily agree with the way this whole situation in LA has been handled to say that FL got preferential treatment over LA,MS and AL is ridiculous…</p>
<p>I have also read that prisoners from parish jails escaped, the few guards were overwhelmed, so perhaps those gangs are the now freed inmates</p>
<p>Much more planning should have been ahead of time while they were able to move people</p>
<p>Sure some stayed, but to not have a means for those who wanted to leave is inexcusible</p>
<p>It will be interesting to see about work…tens of thousands no longer have work…will there be work, training, housing, etc, as was done by Roosevelt, what about schooling, college, elder care</p>
<p>But with an adminstration that appears to despise the new deal and its programs, we can just hope and pray…</p>
<p>“to say that FL got preferential treatment over LA,MS and AL is ridiculous…”</p>
<p>Your opinion. The facts speak for themselves.</p>
<p>Regarding the relative transportation issues, land versus flooded, this is a surprise? Gee, I never knew parts of I-10 are above water…and NO is at risk of flooding. Right.</p>
<p>Disaster planning is about, surprise, PLANNING.</p>
<p>The Feds planned for an appropriate response in Florida and executed well. And Okeechobee is not a large city, as I recall. </p>
<p>Regarding the civil unrest, looting and so forth in NO, it appears that’s the result of inaction. It did not start right away. Besides, if you read a bit, you’d find that they sent in substantial Nat Guard forces to Fla last year to keep civil peace. How many to NO? Nada.</p>
<p>You can make excuses all day, claim this is accidental, a surprise, or whatever. The fact is, the feds completely dropped the ball for NO. They did not for Florida. You may draw your own conclusions.</p>
<p>I have good friends in the Tampa area. Last year they had 5 consecutive evacuation notices for hurricanes. They are still waiting for the first one to hit. People in these areas get jaded about the warnings and decide to ‘wait and see’. Hurricanes routinely change course as they near land. The best forecast are about 200 miles wide on landfall predictions. Yes, the forecast this time was dead center, but ask Florida the last time that happened there.</p>
<p>In case you missed them, here are the latest cnn.com headlines:</p>
<p>Relief workers face ‘urban warfare’</p>
<h1>Survivors living among corpses</h1>
<h1>FEMA head: Working in “conditions of urban warfare”</h1>
<h1>Armed gangs attempting rapes, police warn</h1>
<h1>Bodies dragged into corners at convention center</h1>
<h1>Mississippi death toll rising</h1>
<p>Great planning. Great response by our government.</p>
<p>Frankly, I’m ashamed.</p>
<p>
“They?” You mean the governor, who is commander of the state National Guard, and also the boss of the State Police? I don’t want to second guess the LA governor too much, but I suspect she thought that airlifting them into the sea might have turned them into victims. I have no doubt that we armchair governors will find better ways to have handled this disaster, but I also don’t think any of us really has an inkling of just how unique this disaster is just yet.</p>
<p>this is the list of recommended chatrities to send flood disaster donations copied from the FEMA web site. Listed third, in the top category: DONATE CASH, is Operation Blessing…PAT ROBERTSON’S ORGANIZATION. (Second Harvest is a public private partnership, non religous organization, which was not listed earlier today.) Donate at your own risk. </p>
<p>Donate Cash</p>
<p>American Red Cross
1-800-HELP NOW (435-7669) English,
1-800-257-7575 Spanish; </p>
<p>Americas Second Harvest
1-800-344-8070 </p>
<p>Operation Blessing
1-800-436-6348 </p>
<p>Donate Cash and/or Volunteer</p>
<p>Adventist Community Services
1-800-381-7171 </p>
<p>B’nai B’rith International
1-888-388-4224 </p>
<p>Catholic Charities, USA
1-800-919-9338 </p>
<p>Christian Disaster Response
941-956-5183 or 941-551-9554 </p>
<p>Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
1-800-848-5818 </p>
<p>Church World Service
1-800-297-1516 </p>
<p>Convoy of Hope
417-823-8998</p>
<p>Corporation for National and Community Service Disaster Relief Fund
(202) 606-6718</p>
<p>Feed the Children
1-800-525-7575 </p>
<p>Lutheran Disaster Response
800-638-3522 </p>
<p>Mennonite Disaster Service
717-859-2210 </p>
<p>Nazarene Disaster Response
888-256-5886 </p>
<p>Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
800-872-3283 </p>
<p>Salvation Army
1-800-SAL-ARMY (725-2769) </p>
<p>Southern Baptist Convention – Disaster Relief
1-800-462-8657, ext. 6440 </p>
<p>United Jewish Communities
1-877-277-2477 </p>
<p>Union for Reform Judaism </p>
<p>United Methodist Committee on Relief
1-800-554-8583</p>
<p>Thank you Spiker. ARguing about who is to blame is all fine and good, but we all need to start taking personal action to each do whatever we can.</p>
<p>Out of curiousity, has anyone heard from Cangel? I have not seen her posts and wonder how she is fairing.</p>
<p>Driver notes, " And as for the gunships patrolling the city…they would have to be willing to shoot the looters to have any significant effect. What do you think the media–and our fellow CC posters–would have to say about helicopter gunships blasting away at black Americans in the waters of our new Atlantis?"</p>
<p>Response: Driver, you declare Marshall law and broadcast a message that if anyone is caught looting or with a gun, they will be shot! Not shooting these looters and gunmen is jeapardizing recovery efforts. I was just reading that an evacuation helicopter took off after being fired upon. This is absurd!. Bring in some gun ships and machine gun some looters and snipers,and you will have the situation better under control. Our politicians need to have spine in this situation or tens of thousands will die.</p>
<p>“Your opinion. The facts speak for themselves.”</p>
<p>Yes…facts do speak for themselves. And I was there. Were you? </p>
<p>“The Feds planned for an appropriate response in Florida and executed well. And Okeechobee is not a large city, as I recall.”</p>
<p>Yes Okeechobee is a small city. Does that make their victims less worthy? Or Arcardia, or Punta or Avon Park? Things were not quite as fast as you believe.Especially with Charley. And you keep quoting about how services were quick for Francis. Heck yea they were fast…they were already in the State!!! By the time Ivan and Jeanne got there even the smallest hint of a hurricane sent people scurring and supplies flying in. While I don’t wish to debate this especially during this time, misinformation is a dangerous thing, especially when all of us should be showing more concern for LA,MS and AL right now.</p>
<p>What concerns me is what a couple of you have mentioned - there are always obstacles and issues with a catastrophe. But there doesn’t seem to have been a plan. We are asking each other in an adversarial way - “okay, what would you have done?”. Well, that’s a great question. But why does it seem no one asked that before? And what else have we not planned for?</p>