Hurricane Relief
 

Was thinking this A.M. as I watched the news about how quickly the U.S responded to the tsunami with relief to the region.
Unless I've missed something, there seems to be a lack of relief offers coming from any of our "friends" around the globe. Should that not change, perhaps we, as a nation, should keep that in mind for the future.
Just an observation.

And where the hell is our own president in all this? Bicycling? We have the best Army Navy and Marine corps in the world. Can't we do a huge rescue op of our own? Air drop supplies? Set up a tent city for all the displaced? Bring in the corps of engineers to fix/patch levies? Where the hell is our own government?

I understand the sentiment, but don't think it really makes sense.

First, I don't expect other countries to offer us financial relief. The poor countries aren't able to. We don't financially help the other rich countries when they have disasters. (When's the last time we sent financial help to Switzerland or the UK after a natural disaster there etc?)

Second, if there's specialized medical or specialized search/rescue needs, I'd want to see our fellow rich countries offer to send teams, just like we send such teams around the world. But I'm not sure there is this need. (I'm seeing small boats picking people off rooftops, you think there's a shortage of bass boats in the SE US such that Germany needs to send some over? :-)

The recovery effort is just getting started, we'll see what needs arise as the poeple on the ground get their arms around things.

The broken dykes should have been patched already. Why the Corp is sitting around with thier thumbs up their a$$ working up the ultimate plan is beyond me. All this waiting just screwed over any parts of the city that was not under water. By the time the dykes are fixed the city will be a total loss.

The people in charge are overhwelmed. Outside help is needed. I know this is emotional for the leaders of the areas affected. What I am suggesting is that leaders are needed that are not distraught. My heart aches for these people and seeing the city leaders on TV sobbing is understandable but is also a signal that they need help. They need some clear heads in there.

Word is they don't know where all the leaks are, so how can you repair leaks if you can't find them?

Like this little one that is barely detectable?http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1125496275.jpg

with all our technology we can't find leaks in a levy? We can land on Mars but we can't save our own cities.

I suggest you watch the news:

1. The corp of engineers is trying desparately to plug the holes in the dykes but it is very hard and efforts are not meeting with success.

2. Coast Guard, Army and Navy choppers are lifting people out of the city as fast as they can...no sense air dropping supplies in...they'd just get swamped.

Have you considered the fact some leaks may be under water? Have you considered the magnitude of the disaster? This may very well be above and beyond the contingency planning of any mortal. The focking city is below sea level. It was a mistake from the beginning.

Sorry, the arms on my chair are broken. I won't criticize the efforts.

Thanks for pointing me toward the media. What do you think I live under a rock? Every time I see numb nuts he's giving some speech about justifying the war to veterans. Tough sell there. I heard he actually was going to cut his vaction short because of this disaster, what a sport! I guess if his brother were governor of LA he would have at least flown over the disaster. Maybe he hasn't shown up yet because they are still looking for a suitable backdrop.

Thanks again for that tip on watching the news... I work for a newspaper. I'll see if I can figure out how to turn my TV on when I get home.

Then I suggest you READ YOUR PAPER and drop the sarcasm.

It is obvious your issue is with Bush, whether there was a disaster or not..and you can care less about New Orleans or the efforts underway there.

Based on your posts?

1) Bush is trying to schedule a flyover, but at present his procedures for his security would interfere with rescue efforts. So his choices are to make a flyover to look good and possibly cause the deaths of some more people, or wait and let the rescuers do their jobs without interference.

2) As usual, we should blame the French. They decided to put a city below sea level between a river and a lake. I'm still trying to figure out how Chirac has personally profited from this.

3) I love New Orleans. I went there for a conference in 2003 (stayed at the Hyatt) and fun far outweighed business on that trip. Even when I was doing work-related stuff, it just felt fun there. Still, I have to wonder how long we can try to maintain a city below sea level situated between a river and a lake, and in a storm prone area. Eventually nature will triumph. At some point we will have to concede defeat. Is this that time?

Part of the issue now is that the flow of water has eroded huge cavities in front of the levees, so there's no easy way to drop stuff in to stop the flow.

This is going to be weeks, not days.

Funny when the ***** hits the fan we've got Jesse Jackson smoothing it over with Hugo Chavez down in Vennie, Charlie Sheen (the real president!) with his thumb up his rear end outside the Bush ranch, and all the internet pundits telling us whats going wrong with relief effort because the problem can't be solved inside of 2 minutes.

Saw an army rescue guy hanging from a helicopter working his way down through power lines to grab someone off a roof- that takes nads. If you're so worried about the levy breaks grab a shovel and head on down.

I believe it was YOU that started the sarcasm with "watch TV". Followed now by "read my paper". So sack that crap. My first post was more concerned about the people fate, I was inquiring as to the whereabouts of our leader as part of my concern. You also were the one who decided my priorities were less for the people and more about Busch.
[/B][/QUOTE]
"It is obvious your issue is with Bush, whether there was a disaster or not..and you can care less about New Orleans or the efforts underway there. [/B][/QUOTE]


So if you want to say things make them in your words. Don't tell me what I am saying.

My impression is that when New Orleans was founded, it was not below sea level.

It was marshy silty ground which tended to sink but the ground level was maintained by silt flows from the river, floods and storms. As the city was built up, levees were constructed, the river was channeled, and marshland was drained and developed. This reduced the supply of silt to maintain ground levels and reduced the area of marsh which absorbed flood and storm-water. Fast-forward to today and the city has come to be well below river and sea level, and protected by levees rather than marshland. Neither the French settlers nor the Americans planned this outcome, people probably didn't even understand it until the urbanization was too far along to stop. This is just the Reader's Digest version based on some quick reading, someone correct me please.

Anyway, if it is in fact too late to restore lots of natural marshland around New Orleans, then seems the only solution is better levees and bigger pumps. I heard an interview with someone from the Army Corps of Engineers saying that the levees were built for a category 3 storm. Since the Gulf Coast is always at risk of bigger storms, seems the levees should be raised and strengthened? Maybe interior levees as well, so the whole city isn't threatened by one levee breach? And maybe some raised main roads so that people and vehicles can get to flooded areas? I'm just thinking out loud here.

Assuming it makes sense to rebuild New Orleans, that is. I think yes - there's so much energy infrastructure there that needs to be staffed, a lot of history and culture, and lots of tourist industry. But I guess I "want" to conclude yes, and am not really objective about this.

I agree with you John. How many times has S.F been rebuilt? Gets better ever time.

That is not sarcasm. You were ranting about how little was being done. If you watch the news, they are covering what is being done. To imply that nothing is being done is a great slight to many people.

Quote:

So if you want to say things make them in your words. Don't tell me what I am saying.

I only know what you are thinking by what you write, and your third post was all about Bush.

I have already said what I wanted to say:

1) The army corp of engineers is trying to fix the levys

2) The army, navy etc. are already doing everything they can.

There was official recognition of the sinking levees a couple of years back.

In fact, Federal money was requested -- and denied -- a year ago. That doesn't mean they couldn't have done it. It appears the state did not prioritize levee repair, even though this result was widely predicted.

It will likely take 4-5 years before all the evidence of this disaster is erased -- and that presumes there are no more hurricanes between now and then.