<p>Carolyn, cangel has checked in OK. Taxguy, there is still a Grammar Nazi thread going, so forget about declaring Marshall Law. :)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t have a problem with some real tough action against the criminals, but I do think the Anderson Coopers of the media world would turn such action against those attempting to enforce the law.</p>
<p>Hayden ask the best question!! Education is key. Communities have to educate every single solitary person in a community, at least to the best of their ability, about how to prepare and what to do in case of a disaster. So many natural disasters are unpredictable that no matter where you are you need to know what to do. Plain and simple. </p>
<p>Here is a very good reference…at least IMHO.
<a href=“http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/[/url]”>http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/</a></p>
<p>The lesson from Katrina might be that those with means ought to try to evacuate their family–and one without means. When millions are involved, when the numbers and the odds are overwhelming, individuals perhaps ought not rely on a nanny state to assuage moral obligations. </p>
<p>I have been in a Cat 5 hurricane and only evacuated my two young boys. From here on out, I will be thinking about who else I could take out with me should I find myself in the situation again. </p>
<p>That’s my thought.</p>
<p>I don’t know if any of you have played with computer simulations based on queuing theory. The lag time between plan and execution turns out to be pretty critical - 24 hours can make a surprising amount of difference between a reasonable response and things going to hell in a handbasket. My guess is that, on top of the levees failing, there was a relatively short - maybe less than 36 hours - delay in putting contingency plans into execution. Once the decision was made, the response was weaker than it could have been - our national guard troops are spread pretty thin. Everyone could be operating at 110% - but if there aren’t enough everyones, you’re still in trouble. </p>
<p>The thing is, there are people (many in our military) that are really good at logistics planning. But there has to be a national will, and there has to be the committment. Look what we did with the Berlin airlift 58 years ago. Operational in under a month.</p>
<p>From an ABC news report. Ironic?</p>
<p>"LA National Guard Wants Equipment to Come Back From Iraq</p>
<p>Yunji de Nies</p>
<p>August 1, 2005, 9:07 PM CDT</p>
<p>JACKSON BARRACKS – When members of the Louisiana National Guard left for Iraq in October, they took a lot equipment with them. Dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators are now abroad, and in the event of a major natural disaster that, could be a problem.</p>
<p>“The National Guard needs that equipment back home to support the homeland security mission,” said Lt. Colonel Pete Schneider with the LA National Guard.</p>
<p>Col. Schneider says the state has enough equipment to get by, and if Louisiana were to get hit by a major hurricane, the neighboring states of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have all agreed to help.</p>
<p>“As Governor Bush did for Ivan, after they were hit so many times, he just maxed all of his resources out, he reached out to Louisiana and we sent 200 national guardsmen to help support in recovery efforts,” Col. Schneider said.</p>
<p>Members of the Houma-based 256th Infantry will be returning in October, but it could be much longer before the rest of their equipment comes home."
Want
Driver, understand yet?</p>
<p>I know my 57 year old cousin/Blackhawk pilot took their midwestern National guard Blackhawks to Iraq too–because the Pentagon doesn’t have enough for that mission.</p>
<p>My cousin came home after 15 months in Iraq and I think the helicopters did too. I remember he wrote soemthing about packing them up–as he is also a helicopter mechanic.</p>
<p>(His wife is making him resign from the guard even though he loves to fly Blackhawks. She does not believe the US military is able to keep it’s word at the moment; ie 57 year old pilots who have served in Vietnam, Panama, the Falklands, Iraq I and II do not have to go back).</p>
<p>Well, NMD, I understand that Col. Schneider said they have “enough equipment to get by.” That 3500 out of 11,000 LA Guardsmen have been deployed to Iraq. What else should I understand?</p>
<p>Another interesting statistic I heard on tonight’s news: 25% of New Orleans residents did not own cars.</p>
<p>Assuming this is accurate, and that these were mostly people who could not afford cars, they obviously could also not afford to muster air fare or bus fare to evacuate a large family or to stay in a motel somewhere. Informed or not, educated or not. So, the question is, what arrangements were made ahead of time to bus people out when the original evacuation was called for? Were the National Guard and their vehicles ordered in then? Buses organized at churches, schools, other sites in poor neighborhoods? If not, it is hardly surprising that even some people with the means to do so did not take the call to leave the city seriously.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I am disturbed that the head of FEMA is blaming those too sick to move out of hospitals on their own or without means of transport for their current plight. It’s unclear to me what FEMA did between the first warnings and the time Katrina actually hit.</p>
<p>Very good point, if the government on its many levels, didn’t call for buses, trucks, whatever, the army to come in and help evacuate those that had no options, it might be difficult to believe it was real, because if the government was doing little to get people out for a mandatory evacuation, was it really manadory</p>
<p>It is so bad and it is dry and sunny, where is the food and water and why wasn’t it sitting away in trucks ready to be driven in for a five hour drive and get it into the people</p>
<p>the planning has been pathetic</p>
<p>After three days, food and water should be there now, why are they still waiting</p>
<p>New Orleans is a very flat city which wraps around itself. It is easy to get many places by bicycle.</p>
<p>Also, the trolley and bus systems are widely used. Plus, the urban design is such that lower income people have easy access to business centers. The mix and close proximity of diverse economic groups is more like New York City than Atlanta, Washington or St Louis.</p>
<p>For FEMA to say that while providing little transportation is really scary</p>
<p>I am not big on blaming people while the energy is needed to help…unless they continue to hinder. For the same reason, I am less worried about the looters stealing televisions while there are lives at risk. The street drug supply will be out pretty soon and this will make it worse in some of these neighborhoods… I have not read but suspect that attempts at taking pharmacy drugs must be underway.</p>
<p>I would have suggested a volunteer sweep of neighborhoods with canoes and small water craft…but now with the looting of gun shops and the shooting of rifles at helicopters…I would be hesitant to send civilian volunteers into some sections of New Orleans.</p>
<p>I don’t pretend to outsmart the experts on this…but could blimps be used as floating cell towers over a disaster area after the skies cleared. If there aren’t enough buses, use school buses, tractor trailers or even hay wagons to get people to the nearest working plumbing. How far do they need to bring people before they reach a civilized and suitable staging place for relocating them away from the disaster? </p>
<p>Where to relocate them? Probably not to one place, armories, schools, Public centers, closed military bases that still have buildings…this might be in some disaster plan someplace…perhaps we need to postpone school in the northern parts of these states or other states and turn them into refugee camps for the next few months. Most schools have the plumbing and dining facilities which are essential for survival. We should probably get as many people out of the Southeast before the next hurricane comes along. When the last person is fed, then we can look back and see what should have been done differently. The time we spend looking for someone to blame is time we have lost looking for solutions.</p>
<p>Families should be together, single men to another place, women and children another, elderly to another</p>
<p>To put teens with grown men with screaming babies with old fussy people, its a recipe for disaster in even the best circumstances</p>
<p>NEWMASSDAD the report above is interesting - but that is not the site/report you indicated in your post.</p>
<p>Why is the gov and mayor so worried about the vandalism in a city that does not exist anymore. So tell me just where are the thieves going to take a 45" flat screen in a city that virtually nothing can get in or out? And unless there is electricity the damn thing won’t run. Even if you had electricity what is there to watch-satellite views of your destroyed city and recaps of politicians mouthing promises. And if they can watch something else, at least it TV will act as a pacifier until there is more normalcy or the symbolism of action towards a solution. </p>
<p>Why is it that I feel that I’m in Rome, circa 350 CE.</p>
<p>Gmo, US enclave, has airconditioning, running water and working sanitary facilities, big airport, housing and a beautiful view of the ocean on one side and a fence to keep the neighbors on their side of the fence. The weather is very similiar to NO. </p>
<p>PS. I just discovered that my firefox browser has spell check. I’m a bit dyxlexic (?) like GWB and this will really help. The spell check is not very extensive because it thinks I misspelled GWB. Oh Well.</p>
<p>But didnt you know, help is coming in…oh yeah, food and water still are not there</p>
<p>Its amazing isn’t it</p>
<p>On Monday, they were sending in a whopping 1000 National Guard troops. woo hoo</p>
<p>That ought have made the tens of thousands stuck in a war zone feel so much better</p>
<p>And the president thinks any one stealing anything should be dealt with “no tolerance” - aka shoot to kill</p>
<p>New Orleans.</p>
<p>Baghdad on the Mississippi. Anyone here recall the descriptions of Baghdad after our invasion? Amazing similarity. </p>
<p>Do you think we can get things back to normal in NO faster than we did in Baghdad?</p>
<p>Well, the state of Texas, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio have opened every available facility and are prepared to take over 100,000 on a long term basis, basically forever. Texas public schools are open to every child that comes in. The governor and all three city councils have decided that money is no object, write the d— check. We’d be happy for the rest of you to step up to the plate and quit talking about it. For once, I’m pretty proud of my governor.</p>
<p>Hey, I am waiting for Arnold to do something…where is he?</p>