Hurricane Katrina

[Heat]

... in response to Re: Re: Hurricane Katrina, posted by Bubba on Sep 2, 2005

And what is exactly the motive for this?

[Bubba]

... in response to Conspiracy already in progress?, posted by Heat on Sep 2, 2005

Just to get the people to leave, they have ordered a complete abandonment of NO and a lot of people wouldn't leave if they could get food and water.

[Avispa]

... in response to Re: Conspiracy already in progress?, posted by Bubba on Sep 2, 2005

Sorry, I can't join the hate Bush party. Give the guy a break. It's not like something like this happens all the time. New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen. It's a city below sea level in a major hurricane area. I don't think it should be rebuilt. Let it revert to its natural state, a salt water marsh.

It's an insult to all the people down there doing what they can to say that nothing has been done to help the people of New Orleans.

[OkieMan]

... in response to Re: Re: Conspiracy already in progress?, posted by Avispa on Sep 2, 2005

I agree with that assessment, except for one thing.  We have to have the ports there.  So, the ports must be rebuild and maintained; but the city itself should be somehow rebuilt in a somewhat better location.  Man has already screwed up the natural marshes surrounding that area around the Mississippi River.  That needs to be restored and put the people in an area a little higher elevation.  I know it will be tough to do, but why rebuild in that "fish bowl"?  That's nuts!!
At any rate, I certainly would never want to live there.
At least in Oklahoma, I can usually dodge the tornadoes.  There on the Gulf, the disaster area is the size of Great Britain!!  That's hard to dodge!

               
                                 OkieMan

[doombug]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Conspiracy already in progre..., posted by OkieMan on Sep 3, 2005

Great points, Oke.

Unfortunately, not rebuilding the city is seen by many as sacrilegious.  House Speaker Dennis Hastert expressed an opinion about abandoning such an effort, and he was immediately denounced

So, "Katrina 2: Marsh Blues Revisited," should be in theaters within twenty years.

One columnist equates such efforts with mudslide lovin' homeowners in California:

"It’s the same toss of the dice in California. It makes no sense to me to build a house on the side of a potential mudslide. People do it. They take pictures of their grand homes and send them all over the place. They brag on their chances. And then calamity hits.  

They go back and ask for the same mudslide spill all over again."

http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_9315.shtml

[OkieMan]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Conspiracy already in pr..., posted by doombug on Sep 3, 2005

Doombug,

Good points.  Mark my words, the insurance companies are all taking such a hit, that somewhere along the way, they will force the issue.  For instance, they have refused to write flood insurance in certain areas already.  I don't know what all the stipulations are; but you can bet when insurance companies  start to refuse to insure certain areas (homes and businesses), and because of that many lending institutions will not lend to build, because they know that there is a strong likelyhood of storm damage-- that is when the changes will really come.  Hit people hard enough in the old pocket book and you get their attention.  It is absolutely stupid to continue to build in such a way where you are almost guaranteed to be damaged or destroyed again!  With all the storms(hurricanes, tornadoes, etc) that has hit Florida, and the gulf states, I bet many people will not even be able to rebuild.  Even though I don't like insurance companies, you can't blame them for putting the brakes on this kind of lunacy!  Maybe that will turn the tide on these people doing what they do, I don't know.  One can only hope.

                               OkieMan

[stefang]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Conspiracy already i..., posted by OkieMan on Sep 3, 2005

A lot of reasons that homes will continue to be built in danger zones have more to do with lobbying. The real estate industry loves those coastlines and make sure the government will bailout a home worth millions(federal flood insurance). The insurance industry doesn't want to cover them but Uncle Sam will because their is money to be made by the people who greased the politicians in setting up relief funds to homeowners who might lose the home to a catastrophe. If it was allowed to private industry and they were unwilling to cover these homes then they would not be built, your tax dollars at work.

The question is where do you build homes? Almost the whole US has some form of catastrophe that could emerge. Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tornados, Floods we have it all. We even have a mother of all catastrophes under Yellowstone waiting in dormancy, hopefully for a long long time.

[OkieMan]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Conspiracy alrea..., posted by stefang on Sep 4, 2005

Stefang,

Good points.  However, you would seem to indicate that the "movers and shakers",(the big money people) who do indeed make things happen, are the major consideration there. That is true to some extent, but that is not the total picture.  What about the poor who generation after generation can not or will not provide for themselves; but they want the government to continually bail them out when something bad happens. I heard today that the poor also live in the lowest part (elevation wise) of the basin that New Orleans sits in.  Everyone down there knew that, but the evacuation was not handled right.  As far as I am concerned, that is up to the local and State government agencies.  They were there all these years, day in and day out, knowing that this could happen.  Bush or any President cannot handle every single problem for every single city in the country.  Again, that is what the State and local governments are supposed to be doing for their own people.  Then it is up to the people to use the brain that God gave them to get out of harms way.  The only ones with an excuse are the children, the elderly, the sick, etc. I am far from a rich man, so I am not an elitist.  I am just tired of people from any and all walks of life thinking that the government owes them a living.  The last time I checked, all levels of government gets their money from taxing the rest of us.  So, how about a little more personal responsibility, and a little less sitting around for someone else to bail you out?  Having said that, I am still very compassionate towards the hurricane victims. By the way, Oklahoma is now housing many of these hurricane victims.  I also think a dose of common sense should prevail when it comes to "rebuilding" in these known hurricane and flood proned areas.  For instance, the area I live in is very close to the Arkansas River, and for years was very prone to flooding. In my part of the state, we are fairly low elevation too.   But, we passed some bond issues to deal with proper flood control, etc, and now we are all much better off.  Plus, I will tell you  that my own home and land is not right on the banks of the river.  It is in a very safe area.  I don't like courting disaster.  Again, common sense.  By the way, we have a major port in our area that connects to the Mississippi River. Barges from here float right down the Mississippi to New Orleans-- and they have been doing that for years. So, all of this disaster is affecting our economy too; especially if the port of New Orleans is not opened up soon! Also, Oklahoma has a huge amount of lakes for its size. So, I do have some prospective on these issues.  Our waterways are very important to us.

                              OkieMan

[david hagar]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Conspiracy already in progre..., posted by OkieMan on Sep 3, 2005

Everything that you say is true

beattledog