positive side-effects of hurricane aftermath? - Page 2

johnco · 09-03-2005, 09:57 PM

I wouldn't wish a disaster like this on anyone.
I am also unemployed now for who knows when because of the storm. My pools are shipped from Florida. no wide load permits are being issued in Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana until further notice. There are no bridges in Slidell. There are no other ways to get what I need without paying more than I make to get one. We came really close to closing the doors of our cafe because we couldn't get food from our supplier in N.O. Luckily we received a shipment today from Dallas, almost a week late. try shutting the doors on a restaurant for a week or two and still be able to reopen. We would end up in a shelter just like everyone else after losing everything we own to creditors. My problems are nothing compared to others that were hit by Katrina, but serious enough for me. I know about the damages others have suffered and will continue to suffer. A friend spent 2 hours trying to find where her house used to be in Mississippi. there was nothing there. should we shut down Biloxi also? to continue to preach shutting down N.O. and not rebuilding is crazy in my feeble mind

dd74 · 09-03-2005, 10:02 PM

Johnco - where are you in Louisiana?

johnco · 09-03-2005, 10:42 PM

about 80 miles west of N.O. on hwy 90 in Morgan City. and no.. we did not have 10% of the damage N.O. has. but we are feeling the effects of what shutting down N.O. does. as will all of you soon enough. everything we get comes thru New Orleans. shutting down and not rebuilding N.O. will hurt every city and town within 100 miles or more. Maybe we can build a large enough port somewhere else. but when? where? sorry if I sound hostile. Maybe I should leave the rest of the discussion to all the intellectual giants without a clue that know more about the area than those of us that live here know. I was just showing these posts to a friend whos family owns one of the largest boat and barge building businesses in the state. He got quite the laugh from the idea of shutting down N.O.. I thought it was funny at first also until I realized you guys were not joking

pwd72s · 09-03-2005, 10:54 PM

John, have you called your creditors, explained what's up? I hate to get personal here, but there are a few people with biz minds here...maybe if we understood the problem more, we could figure something out?

dd74 · 09-03-2005, 10:57 PM

I spent half my childhood in Lafayette. I know exactly where Morgan City is. My uncle still lives in Lafayette.

Have you been through to Lafayette, by chance? Seen how it is?

As far as hurt, we have many people and many interests in NO. Needless to say, we're quite upset out here...

island911 · 09-03-2005, 10:58 PM

Well certainly it will be rebuilt to some extent.

Though I hate to say it but the media is running stories that talk about how the water ruins so much (housing) that it needs to be bulldozed . . . "but where to dump it all!?," they rhetorically ask. (insert gasp here)

fwiw, Seattle burned a few times, a century ago, or so. People decide to build on top of much of the city. I imagine that type of thing may work for some areas of New Orleans too.

pwd72s · 09-03-2005, 11:33 PM

Seriously, John...maybe many heads working on your Katrina related biz problems can help here...if you don't mind laying 'em out for all to read...contracts, penalties, "what ifs", etc. Think about it, and if you'd like to start brain storming with the folks here, start another thread...it sounds like you're under some time constraints here...

Jims5543 · 09-04-2005, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by island911
Well certainly it will be rebuilt to some extent.

Though I hate to say it but the media is running stories that talk about how the water ruins so much (housing) that it needs to be bulldozed . . . "but where to dump it all!?," they rhetorically ask. (insert gasp here)

The media is correct. If the house has had standing water in it up to the attic it will be more cost effective to bulldoze the house and build a new one on the foudation.

The water/mold damage will be unbelievable.

On a side note, when the hurricanes hit here in the Port St. Lucie area (2 eyes passed over us) the local County and City got this brilliant idea to shut down the building dept and stop all new home construction. This idea last 24 hours. This entire cities economy is building homes. We build home so more peole car move in and build more homes. To shut down this cycle would have caused unemployment like you wouldn't believe.

Some suggestions, have you considred sourcing a supplier that is to the west of you? It seems you would have a better chance getting what you need from points west right now.

Also contact whoever is making the decision to shut down the wide load permits. Some one has made a knee jerk reaction and must realize they are about to affect a lot more that one city. They are going to hurt a lot of economy that is fragile now anyway.

I was so happy to see our city/county here wake up and realize the mistake they were making.

johnco · 09-04-2005, 06:24 AM

sorry about the harshness last night. I was pissed. everything is okay now. we have our delivery. we have a small specialty store in a small town. closing the doors for a week or two waiting on supplies would have put my girlfriend so far behind she may have never caught up. since my work is delayed until who knows when, I could not have helped with the money part. we were not the only place here affected. there were signs on most places stating they were running out of food because of no deliveries. phones are not working so great, faxes aren't working, credit card machines not working, cell phones can dial out but not receive calls half the time. we will be okay now that we have established a delivery schedule with Houston. I have many different skills so I can always make more money, my girlfriend would not be so lucky. I have nothing to lose... she could lose everything. but to suggest shutting down and getting rid of N.O.? N.O. is close to 110 miles from the coast, surrounded by swamp. where would anyone suggest moving it? my town is 18 miles from the coast, surrounded by swamp. where would we go? close N.O. and everything would dry up as far as commerce, business, and people's lives sooner or later. that includes all the northern states that depend on goods shipped thru N.O.

johnco · 09-04-2005, 06:31 AM

Lafayette is fine, Baton Rouge is fine... except for the bus loads of scum/slum dwellers shipped in and refugees trying to find housing. every one is low on food and gas though from what I've been told. we've been thru this many times from many hurricanes. we will be okay as usual.

tdatk · 09-04-2005, 07:05 AM

UMMMMM Lake Katrina?
Seriously, It seems that nature is telling us that N.O. should be under water anyway, why fight it? The ACOE could bulldoze from the lower parts of N.O. and build miles wide burums 8' above sea level, along the mississppi/Lake Ponchitrain areas for comercial/Industrial/residental activities and possibily some of the historical areas and get another lake in the process. It would save the ports and create plenty of construction work for decades to come. Sorry If this irks the locals that want to maintain the area as is, but that would be another disaster waiting to happen.

johnco · 09-04-2005, 07:56 AM

sounds like a plan to me. but with a 30 ft storm surge, would 8ft above sealevel help much? Probably so. this shouldn't take much more than 100 years or so to do. or just maybe we could build bigger, stronger levees, get bigger, stronger pumps. have some sort of evacuation system in place BEFORE the rare cat4/5 hurricane comes. that might be quicker, cheaper.. if it were not for the levees breaking, this wouldn't have been in the news more than a few days. as usual.
and before the next earthqake we could get some big cables and stitch all the fault lines in California together, put some big valves in all the volcanos around the world to drain them, get some big fans to blow tsunamis away, have huge buckets of water suspended from sky hooks in case of forest fires, put a big drain in the ground in case of floods, and those tornados... we'll just put all the mobile homes in one central location. everyone knows they are tornado magnets.

island911 · 09-04-2005, 08:33 AM

"UMMMMM Lake Katrina?" . . . "water suspended from sky hooks in case of forest fires,"

You guys are hilarious.

The fact that New Orleans has been sinking really does point to some tough choices. One only needs to look at Venice Italy to see a similar dilema.

"and those tornados... we'll just put all the mobile homes in one central location. "

I know you were TIC there, but I think this is actually sound thinking. --that is; build appropriate structures. (Dixie-cups are great for camping trips)

Perhaps the city should buy a cruise ship as a storm shelter.

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

The main positive effect of Katrina will be that at least one Democratic administration will follow this one.

island911 · 09-04-2005, 08:46 AM

Someone needs to bump that techweenie record-player . ..it seems to be broken. . .stuck on the same track.

Back on the topic, of positive effects. . .

Per the NY Daily Times:

"By almost every statistical measure, New Orleans is a bad place to be poor. Half the city's households make less than $28,000 a year, and 28% of the population lives in poverty.

"And Louisiana is the only one of the 50 states where the state legislature doesn't allocate money to pay for the legal defense of indigent defendants. The Associated Press reported this year that it's not unusual for poor people charged with crimes to stay in jail for nine months before getting a lawyer appointed."

Again, sadly, Cuba would fit these people perfectly. . . .keeping them poor and kept.
Yet, fourtunately, they are being spread out in to other (hopefully/likely better) working communities accross the nation.

johnco · 09:09 AM

"And Louisiana is the only one of the 50 states where the state legislature doesn't allocate money to pay for the legal defense of indigent defendants"

don't know how true this is. the few times I have been to court, the judge appointed lawyers to most of the defendants in the room.

"know you were TIC there, but I think this is actually sound thinking. --that is; build appropriate structures."

there are appropriate structures. they're called houses. not everyone can afford them though

DaveE · 09-04-2005, 09:58 AM

You people kill me sometimes. Move the poor out of New Orleans? How are you going to do that? NO seems to be a major tourist attraction to me. That means low wage jobs. How much does a restaraunt dishwasher make? A waitress? How much to hotel employees make? Housekeeping workers? Cities like this thrive on the working poor. WORKING poor. Not bums. Maybe they didn't make the best decisions when they were young, didn't go to Yale, get a BS degree. Maybe they didn't have the resources. The point is, how do you run a tourist city without them. Do you want to pay them enough so they aren't poor. No. If you move them out you have to bring in others to do that work. Maybe Mr Bush's plan to give work visas to Illegals. Then you have 100,000 of them drowning.

pwd72s · 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DaveE
You people kill me sometimes. Move the poor out of New Orleans? How are you going to do that?

That is happening. 1,000 refugees will soon be in Portland, Oregon. Think they'll return to New Orleans once they discover that Oregon welfare pays better and the free housing is better? (edit) Oregon's state imposed minimum wage is higher than most of the nation as well. Of course, we have higher than the national average unemployment, but our leaders claim there is no connection.

tabs · 09-04-2005, 10:26 AM

LOL.....READ MY POST ON ANOTHER CHANNEL....

ALL those poor people are gona be new Welfare Receiptants whereever they land....they ain't goin back....partly because they don't know how to....

People have to understand that there are alot of IGNORANT people in the world...not stupid mind you...IGNORANT...some of that is because of circumstances and part of it is by choich or lack of motivation or desire for anything better....

tdatk · 09-04-2005, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by island911

I know you were TIC there, but I think this is actually sound thinking. --that is; build appropriate structures. (Dixie-cups are great for camping trips)

Perhaps the city should buy a cruise ship as a storm shelter. [/B]

Thanks Island,
The hurricane was/is a wake up call to low lying cities. Look to Holland/Denmark for the real answers to this issue. I wasn't trying to be insensititive, but N.O. now has a chance to do it right.
By the way, I'll bet we lighten the restrictions on illigals(read Mexican labor) very soon as there will be lots of cleanup and construction going on and in this country, most are above all that.