Hurricane Gustav

[PariahPoet]

Well pups, hurricane season is here again, so I'm probably going to be lurking for a while. Like 3 years ago with Rita, I am able to stay with my parents 200 miles inland with the rest of my coastal-dwelling family. The only drawback is internet here is sketchy at best, so if I'm not around, I'm not dead, I just can't get online.

[MattSullivan]

Isn't it funny how the right wingers prayed for rain to ruin the Democratic National Convention? And now, the Republicans are pondering cancelling their convention because of the chance Gustav could smash into New Orleans AGAIN.

New Orleans may be destroyed TWICE while Geroge Bush is president.

[PariahPoet]

I am so bloody sick of hearing about New Orleans. Rita did more damage to my area than Katrina did to NE. The main damage they got was because their stupid governor was too busy tending his own interests to fix the levy and take care of his people. The only people in NE I have sympathy for are the people in hospitals and those who are honestly too poor to be able to leave because they can't find work.

But that town has been wallowing in self-pity expecting everyone else to fix their problems, when Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange fixed our own darn cities in 6 months.

I chose to live in Beaumont just like those people chose to live in New Orleans. We all know that hurricanes are a big risk in our area.

I am all for helping people who are too old or sick to help themselves, but most of the people down there whining the loudest are able-bodied individuals who are fully able to fix their own stuff or move.

[Midnight]

Hope your place survives OK and that you can catch up with us again sooner rather than later.

[Moonwatcher]

Amen to that Midnight Amen

[Sunbane]

*Sends a ton of be-well wishes to the folks down there*

[Konietzko]

I am so bloody sick of hearing about New Orleans. Rita did more damage to my area than Katrina did to NE. The main damage they got was because their stupid governor was too busy tending his own interests to fix the levy and take care of his people. The only people in NE I have sympathy for are the people in hospitals and those who are honestly too poor to be able to leave because they can't find work.

But that town has been wallowing in self-pity expecting everyone else to fix their problems, when Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange fixed our own darn cities in 6 months.

I chose to live in Beaumont just like those people chose to live in New Orleans. We all know that hurricanes are a big risk in our area.

I am all for helping people who are too old or sick to help themselves, but most of the people down there whining the loudest are able-bodied individuals who are fully able to fix their own stuff or move.

Oh my god, thank you.

And for Sullivan...I see you throwing out Bush's name. I'm not a Bush supporter, but I do have to call you on your BS. New Oreleans wasn't his fault, no matter how many ways people try to pin it on him. It's state and local government's job to ensure that levies and are in good condition, not the federal governments. Same as with the tornado sirens out here in my area. Not federal governments' job to keep them in working order. It's also not federal governments' job to ensure that people evacuate when they're told to.

Funny thing is...Kathleen Blanco, who was the state governor during Katrina, was a Democrat. So if it was state and local governments job to take care of such things...which party failed in Louisiana?

*Takes his political soap box and goes back in his hole.*

[RedEye]

Isn't it funny how the right wingers prayed for rain to ruin the Democratic National Convention? And now, the Republicans are pondering cancelling their convention because of the chance Gustav could smash into New Orleans AGAIN.

New Orleans may be destroyed TWICE while Geroge Bush is president.

So far it hasn't been. The Federals got the repairs done in time, barely. The only screw up was that there was some overtopping* where it wasn't expected.
*literally where waves go over the tops of the barriers. They thought they were high enough.

[*nagowteena*]

Be safe, I hope everyone over there will be okay.

[MattSullivan]

i don't support either party. And notice i said New Orleans MAY be destroyed TWICE during Bush's term.

I'm no democrat. the others here can attest to that :}

[Uniform Two Six]

It's state and local government's job to ensure that levies and are in good condition, not the federal governments.

In many places that is so (such as most of the Sacrament River Delta here in California), and in terms of total levee mileage in southern Louisiana that is probably mostly true, but all of the major levee breaches during Katrina were along sections of levee which were the primary responsibility of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. So it really was the fault of the feds. Was it the fault of George Bush?
For the failure of the levees? No. The problem should have been solved under the Carter Administration. It wasn't. Nor was it under the Regan Administration. Nor the first Bush Administration. Nor under Clinton. By the time Fearless Leader got into office there really wasn't any time to fix anything. A full crash program to upgrade the levees wouldn't have borne fruit by 2005. The system is simply too extensive.
Was it his fault that there was no coordinated evacuation plan for the poor and elderly? No. That was the responsibility of New Orleans municipal authorities, and thus the primary fault of and sole responsibility of Mayor Ray Nagin.
Bush is at fault for getting rid of FEMA director James Lee Witt (who clearly didn't deserve the post since he was a Clinton apointee) and replaced him with "Brownie", whose sole qualification for the job apparently was that he liked horses. Under Bush, FEMA went from a highly effective governmental service which saved countless lives during and after major disasters, to being unable to get even a single evacuation bus to the Superdome in under a week.
Bush played politics and for once got burned badly in the process. People died who should not have. I have no qualms whatsoever about bad-mouthing that idiot. He got off lightly. If this were the U.K. there would have been a vote of no-confidence the very next day and his butt would be history.

[Konietzko]

If this were the U.K. there would have been a vote of no-confidence the very next day and his butt would be history.

yeah, but then we'd have been stuck with Dick Cheney, aka "Lex Luthor in disguise". And nobody wants a comic book super villain in office. Lesser of two evils.

[Midnight]

If this were the U.K. there would have been a vote of no-confidence the very next day and his butt would be history.

yeah, but then we'd have been stuck with Dick Cheney, aka "Lex Luthor in disguise". And nobody wants a comic book super villain in office. Lesser of two evils.

The Westminster system (as practised, with local variations, in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and, as far as I know, in Canada) works a bit differently to the American system. If a government loses the confidence of the House, e.g. through defections or a vote of no confidence, the Prime Minister is obliged to advise the Head of State (or a representative thereof) of that fact; if no party in the House is able to secure a majority on confidence, then a general election is called.

Over the last few years I've done some civil defence training (I'm one of a group of people who would be on call to help with getting information in and out of local areas during an actual emergency - locally it's most likely to be an earthquake or flood event) and the immediate response to Katrina has been used as an example of poor response to an emergency at all levels.

... Is it just an urban legend, or "a good story", or was there actually an American President who had a sign on his desk saying "The buck stops here"?

[Uniform Two Six]

... Is it just an urban legend, or "a good story", or was there actually an American President who had a sign on his desk saying "The buck stops here"?

Indeed there was. President Harry Truman. 33rd president, (1945-1953). Democrat, Missouri. The only U.S. president to authorize the combat release of atomic weapons.

[PariahPoet]

Woo! me and Matt officially turned this into a political discussion. ^^

Well the thing went mostly east of me, so I hope the people who did get hit stay safe. We got three more out there eyeing us as we speak, so we're in for a fun season.

As for me, I have no home, no job, and nothing of value other than my old computer and a lovely art print of wolf pack I got for my birthday, so I don't have much to lose anyway. Both those things can fit in my car with me. ;3

[Uniform Two Six]

So far it hasn't been. The Federals got the repairs done in time, barely. The only screw up was that there was some overtopping* where it wasn't expected.
*literally where waves go over the tops of the barriers. They thought they were high enough.

Yeah, that's another thing: The video CNN has been showing of those levees are really scary. I recognized some of those shots where the water was "sloshing" (Anderson Cooper's own words) over the top. The CNN crew apparently wanted to see how the new rebuilt levees were doing. The shots where the water was right up to the top and sloshing over -- that's the section that failed near the MRGO canal on the northwest quarter of the lower ninth ward during Katrina. That's the brand new levee. The eye passed by about 40 miles southwest of New Orleans. It was not a direct hit by any stretch of the imagination. Moreover, when the shots were taken, Gustav was already down to a category 2 and well on its way to a cat 1.

Just to recap: you've got a near miss some forty miles away from a low-end cat 2, and the brand new levee sections were nearly overtopped.

Capable of sustaining a category 3 direct hit, my butt.

[Scott Gardener]

As I write this, Ike has just passed over you, Pariah, or at least your house. Did you evacuate? Please let us know you're OK as soon as you get this. I know, it could be several days.

Those of us in the Dallas/Fort Worth area are expecting some wind and rain, but the places where I used to live and work, the Houston area and around Port Arthur, have really gotten pummeled.

[PariahPoet]

I appreciate the concern Scott. I am 200 miles inland at my grandmother's house near Palestine. We just got power back up here, but my parents 20 miles away still don't. The mate's dad works for the phone company, so he's giving us updates from the Beaumont area and it's not good. He's telling us it is as bad as Rita and that Bollivar is pretty well flattened. Orange and Bridge City are under 9 ft of water. From what he can see, their house and mine look like they might be ok, but a lot more aren't.
It's looking like it will be 3 weeks or more before they even let people come home.
For the second time I was very fortunate, but my thoughts are with those who were not.