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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:14 am
ok, that reporter, he just started crying.. he is on a video phone, a truck just came by with drinking water for the rescue waters, he said people came out of hiding, and were screaming, I said "what are they screaming?" we got closer, they were chasing the truck screaming "water, water' the truck didnt stop, kept going... you are reporting on convoys coming in, please, send someone here for water for these people... that was a powerfully sad image.
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Lkunkel
Member
10-29-2003
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:15 am
Reader, what station are you watching? CNN: Doctors say that having 2, 3, even 5 deaths a night is not going to be out of the ordinary.
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:16 am
Max wgnradio in Chicago ran a part of that this morning. (they warned us first that the language was powerful, emotions were real) WGNradio is also getting reports from people in hotels, and from people that just returned from NO.
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Beachcomber
Member
08-26-2003
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:16 am
We are a country made up of individual states. Each state and city within has the obligation to prepare a disaster contingency plan based on threats within. Where is NO's disaster plan, why is it not being executed? Where is Louisiana's plan? Why is the government of Louisiana not taking the brunt of everyone's wrath? NO has had levees for a long, long time and should have had a plan to deal with breaches in the levees, flooding, and evacuation and care of its residents. Why should the federal govt. and the current President be the #1 target of anger and frustration? We as citizens should not rely on the federal govt. to save us, we should first look to our city/county administrations and states and then to the federal govt. Having said all that, I am donating $$ and praying for those poor people in La, Ms, and Al who are living a pure hell on earth. But my anger is first with NO city administrators, then La governor, then the federal govt.
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:16 am
I switched to Fox, since most of yall were watching CNN!!
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:18 am
Firefighters have water, and are trying to save building now.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:18 am
Beachcomber, thanks for your post. That makes plenty of sense to me. Misery loves company, especially from higher up.
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Herckleperckle
Member
11-20-2003
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:18 am
Firemen armed with one hose aimed at fire now. Probably only goal is to keep it from spreading to next building.
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Lkunkel
Member
10-29-2003
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:19 am
Beachcomber: Unfortunately, the mayor cannot do anything without the governor's support. Mayors have incredibly limited power. The governor supposedly asked for help, but it's hard to know when. The feds, meanwhile, are the ones running the effort, so that's why the anger is directed toward them.
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:19 am
Beachcomber we're going to see some changes in November I'm sure. That is totally not in touch to bring Trent Lott's home will be rebuilt. The black caucus that came forward today was very powerful with action statements, not rhetoric!
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:21 am
taking a break, thanks for keeping me company. (gonna get dd ready for her school meet and greet! Wish us luck, its going to be emotional! Stupid school, I pray I keep my mouth SHUT!) Marine one flying over Biloxi.
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Max
Moderator
08-12-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:44 am
I'm angry at government in general and then some individuals in particular. Why? Because the various agencies and hierarchies have failed to work together for years. The government in New Orleans has been trying for YEARS to get the federal government to assist with changes in the levee system that would have helped alleviate this kind of disaster. They could not do those changes on their own, federal assistance from the Corps of Engineers was required. However, the federal powers that be continually put aside the proposals the locals made and did what they thought was a better plan. Of course, that fell short as funding was cut off in favor of the war in Iraq. Local and state governments only have so much clout and resources to wield. This is the UNITED states after all, not a consortium of individual governments. States and municipalities rely on a combination of local and federal funding to do things. In this kind of situation (both before and after Katrina), it's simply not possible for the state or local governments to fix the situation alone. Besides, the entire country benefits from and relies on resources in the region, so it's only fair that we all pay a share. Anyway, the biggest failure in this mess is communication. The second biggest is that politicians are more worried about their careers than the legitimate problems of the area. Political posturing has caused delays in fixing the things that might have mitigated this disaster and political posturing is now a significant contributing factor to the delays in getting REAL relief to the area. My comments at times may be directed at President Bush, but that's 'cause he's the one talking at the moment about how great the relief effort is while people are still stranded and dying in New Orleans. I'm just as frustrated with the array of senators and other politicians who have been patting each other on the backs, but they weren't speaking today, President Bush was.

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Lkunkel
Member
10-29-2003
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 9:49 am
CNN is showing a "convoy" of relief supplies going into New Orleans. (I am only seeing 3 vehicles, however.) The NG/Military have their weapons loaded, but they are under orders to not point their guns at anyone "as this is not Iraq." Okay, they just have the convoy REALLY spread out. The convoy is not going to the Superdome or the Donvention Center, but to the military staging point--which is also where there is about 75-100 touring buses all lined up. There are also school buses lined up to transport people.
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Fruitbat
Member
08-07-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:00 am
Interesting to see more of the city with this aerial coverage. Downtown faired pretty well, there are even trees and schrubs, not many windows broken that I can see. I would like to see the western part of the city.
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:02 am
I couldn't agree with you more, Max. Personally, I don't care WHO is in office right now, they're gonna be on the receiving end of my ire. The government that can provide LARGE SCALE assistance -- let's face it, that's federal -- in my opinion have moved TOO SLOWLY in relief. I know it's a horrible, difficult situation to deal with but you can't tell me that the richest country in the world -- the land of the plenty -- takes 5 days to mobilize to help it's own?! It just seems unfathomable to me. Without communication, without infrastructure, without leadership, there is anarchy and immense suffering. And I don't think it's too much to expect that of our government. It's what a society creates a government for! Do I blame the politicians, the governor, George W. Bush for the hurricane itself? Of course not. It's simplistic for people to say, "oh, well, everyone who's angry with the goverment are just crazy Bush haters who think he should be able to control Mother Nature." It's not that at all. I don't give a sh*it who's in office -- Republican, Democrat, human or beast. Get these people some help, and don't give smirky press conferences about "rebuilding" when you've got people drowning in their attics as you speak! I acknowledge and completely appreciate that there are countless incredible people out there DOING FANTASTIC WORK and DOING THEIR BEST to assist in this horrific tragedy. However, my opinion is that our federal government should have acted quicker and more efficiently to step in and get these people some help on a large scale. I'm saying this seriously ... I have been fighting the urge all day to pack up my car with supplies and drive my ass down there myself.
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Lkunkel
Member
10-29-2003
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:12 am
Yankee, TPTB won't let you in. They still haven't let in our 70 trained folks in to help--and they ASKED for their help--so they are stuck at a hotel in Dallas doing training exercises.
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Max
Moderator
08-12-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:13 am
Yankee, maybe this is a prime example of the difference between Americans pursuing happiness and Canadians pursuing better government. In the interview with Mayor Nagle, he was asked something about when help was requested and if the right help was requested. He said something to the effect of, "Did the Tsunami victims have to ask for help before they got it? Did the people of Iraq ask for help before we went in there?!" I thought it was an excellent point.
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:17 am
I know, LK, but it doesn't make the desire to do SOMETHING, anything, any less for me. (Yes, I've already donated to the Red Cross). P.S. -- Just to clarify, when I say "our" government, I mean the U.S. government. While I am currently a resident of Canada, I am still a U.S. citizen, born and raised. An American.
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Lkunkel
Member
10-29-2003
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:18 am
According to CNN right now (they're interviewing a doc), people are now dying in the hospitals due to a lack of resources. The Governor yesterday said that Tulane hospital the doctor is from was totally evacuated, but there were still 350 people in the hospital. So once again TPTB are lying. What is the point of obfuscation? CNN is going to talk to the author of that 5-part article I linked to yesterday.
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Marysafan
Member
08-07-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:22 am
My frustration is that there seemed to be very little forward thinking. It had been broadcasted days in advance that this was going to be a HUGE disaster unlike anything we have ever seen before. Why weren't troops put on alert and ready to go on a moments notice. (If nothing else it would have been good practice.) The skies should have been filled with troop carriers on Tuesday. Troops could have been assembled and staged in Texas and Arkansas. They knew where this storm was going and when it was going to hit. We had advance warning. Did they think Katrina was going to disappear into thin air? Secondly, I listened to the Mayor of New Orleans on Saturday or Sunday urging everyone to evacuate. He said something that was sobering. He said, "The levees will not hold." He didn't say that they might not hold. He knew that most likely with the information he had...they were not going to hold. I remember thinking then...why aren't they mobilizing resources to get at least some of these people out...knowing full well, that there was no way that they could get them all. It makes you wonder just how much importance they put on saving these lives.
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:24 am
And not only that, but the potential for this happening was discussed for years -- see the following link for a Times-Picayune article FROM 2002 that predicted this: http://www.nola.com/hurricane/?/washingaway/ For President Bush to say no one anticipated the levees would break still makes my blood boil. And they send out the aircraft carrier YESTERDAY from Norfolk to act as a "command center" -- it'll take 5-6 days from YESTERDAY to get there. Why wasn't it dispatched on Monday or Tuesday at the latest?! Some will say (and have said), "Well, no one anticipated how bad this would get." OK, maybe, but sitting in my living room on Sunday, I heard over and over again how bad it COULD and probably would get. Couldn't the federal government have mobilized SOMETHING to be on "standby" in case the predictions came true? Come on...
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Max
Moderator
08-12-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:26 am
LK, Frankly, I'm never sure if it's really lying or if they're just uninformed or misinformed. That goes back to what I was saying about communication. The politicians aren't THERE, for the most part, so they have to rely on what they are told by their aides or whatever. What drives me nuts is that often it seems we know more about what is going on from watching CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc. than the politicians seem to know and THEY are the ones who are supposed to be DOING something! I don't understand how they can be so uninformed. So, maybe they really are lying after all. I don't know. It's just so frustrating. And, as frustrating as it is for all of us looking on, I can only imagine how maddingly frustrated and helpless the relief workers, NG, Army, doctors, nurses, media people, etc. who are there must feel in not being able to do much and feeling like what they are saying is not being heard.
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Beachcomber
Member
08-26-2003
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:31 am
My criticism is why did this mess even happen to begin with? Planning for evacuation and aftercare when you live in a bowl between 2 massive bodies of water should have been better. Enough complaining from me, back to hoping for immediate relief and most importantly, accountability from every level after relief and evacuation is completed.
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:31 am
I want to strongly point out that I completely acknowledge, commend, respect and have love in my heart for all of the incredible work that IS being done by those offering relief on the ground in affected areas. People like DDR and the countless others. My ire is directed at those who could have provided a larger-scale relief than what was possible by local people, organizations, business.
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Friday, September 02, 2005 - 10:33 am
About the hospital, one hospital pediatric doctor who was trying to evacuate his patients, he learned from the helicopter pilot that they (the hospital) is 1/2 mile away from the National Guard, the pilot has told the NG how desperate the hospitals are, but still no relief.
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