The head of FEMA is in Washington D.C. Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security, denied the existence of the 15,000+ at the convention center as of 4pm today on NPR.

 

Still, i doubt he would deny it if he knew it was there. He probably has a s*** load of things to deal with and he never heard about it, or forgot about it.

Still, i doubt he would deny it if he knew it was there. He probably has a s*** load of things to deal with and he never heard about it, or forgot about it.

 

How do you forget about 15,000+ people? How do you not know about 15,000+ people when it is all over the news when it is your job to know?

 

 

Incompetence

I wonder what kind of effect this will have on the airline industry. No doubt prices will go up--but I wonder if there will be any other long term consequences.

 

I've heard most airlines only have enough gasoline for the next two-three weeks...

Lighten up!

 

Tell it to the 50K or more in NO who are stewing in their own feces without fresh water. I'm sure they'll see that this administration, which has shown such brilliance in decision making, is doing all they can.

Tell it to the 50K or more in NO who are stewing in their own feces without fresh water. I'm sure they'll see that this administration, which has shown such brilliance in decision making, is doing all they can. 

Rex has family there, and lives in a place that was harder hit than us. Just, fyi, he isn't trying to minimalize the human costs at all. . .

 

But getting all righteous and indigant isn't really helping anyone.

I'm sure the most effective thing Chertoff could do right now is have a sitdown interview with Larry King.

I understand the anger towards the violence, but there is this vibe now of almost let's make these people look like they deserve all of this. First by saying they should have left and secondly, by painting them as ghetto animals.

 

Makes you wonder how this country would react to a bio terrorist attack. Apparently, some places are NOT ready.

I understand the anger towards the violence, but there is this vibe now of almost    let's make these people look like they deserve all of this.  First by saying they should have left and secondly, by painting them as ghetto animals.

 

Makes you wonder how this country would react to a bio terrorist attack. Apparently, some places are NOT ready.

It's easier to blame the victim like it's their fault than to think it might happen to us. (Just world hypothesis--see mom! My Psych degree IS useful!)

NYT THURSDAY: There are signs of complete social breakdown, experts and locals say, a descent into a kind of predatory violence... Developing...

 

www.drudgereport.com

Rex has family there, and lives in a place that was harder hit than us. Just, fyi, he isn't trying to minimalize the human costs at all. . .

 

But getting all righteous and indigant isn't really helping anyone.

moi?

moi?

No one. I was just responding to LMB. I've heard a lot of teh same from my "educated" lab partner. And it was irritating me.

CNN is reporting the Astrodome isnt letting anyone in and there are no where near the 25K they said they could take in. They also reported a death has occured inside.

CNN is reporting the Astrodome isnt letting anyone in and there are no where near the 25K they said they could take in. They also reported a death has occured inside.

 

 

Yep, did you see the tourists who said they got out by crossing a bridge on foot only to be stopped at gun point by police telling them they had to stay? WTF is going on down there? They said 60% of the N.O. police force walked off the job.

 

 

...and we wonder why people are going nuts down there.

 

I tell you one thing, if I haven't had food or water in 4 days and my family is dying and the gov. can't help me, you better believe I'm kicking a store window in and taking food and water. And if I walk through s*** water for 4 days, finally almost get out of town, only to have police tell me I can't leave, AT GUNPOINT, they're gonna have a situation on their hands. You'd best believe it.

Edited September 2, 200520 yr by LosMediasBlancas

After a 7 hour ride on busses without A-C during which people were passing out, they are now being turned away at the Houston Astrodome....wow.

Edited September 2, 200520 yr by LosMediasBlancas

I'm not sure if this has been posted in this thread but here is a blog from a group who are stuck where they work but have generators for power and have been providing images of the situation in NO.

 

LINK

Edited September 2, 200520 yr by whitesoxfan99

Uh Oh;

 

THE New Orleans riverfront has been rocked by series of massive explosions a few kilometres south of the French Quarter, the Associated Press reports.

 

Neither the cause of the blasts about 4:35am (19:35 AEST) nor the extent of any possible damage was known, the Associated Press reported.

I really think the government at state AND federal levels have massively dropped the ball here.

I really think the government at state AND federal levels have massively dropped the ball here.

 

To put it simply, I agree.

I don't know about the logistical side of things, especially when groups like FEMA probably never even imagined this many people to take care of, but there has been one massive miscalculation when it came to a disaster like this, and that was the assumption of law and order after a disaster.

I really think the government at state AND federal levels have massively dropped the ball here.

It would seem so.

 

Foe FEMA's part, I think Florida last year should have been the dress rehersal, but instead I think it made them complacent. Sure, they responded to a statewide emergency that resulted from four strikes. But we were, frankly, a bunch of whiny little b****es down here, worried about who was going to fix our roofs and screened porches and never worried about just surviving like people are now.

 

FEMA should have two weeks worth of food and water rations for 1 million people, stockpiled and ready to be mobilized (one day's worth at a time if necessary), anywhere in the country within 24 hours. That certainly seems within the realm of possibility to me.

I don't know about the logistical side of things, especially when groups like FEMA probably never even imagined this many people to take care of, but there has been one massive miscalculation when it came to a disaster like this, and that was the assumption of law and order after a disaster.

 

Depresing, isn't it? I don't recall the ravaged population of SE Asia f***ing each other over for short term personal gain after the tsunami.

 

Yea us.

 

( )

To that one particular part of the city.  Not everyone is there.  You are talking about trying to track down a couple of hundred thousand people spread out all over all kinds of flooded areas, trapped in places, and not even mentioning the safety of the people who would be trying to get this stuff there in the first place.  Can you imagine them driving a semi-tracker full of food and medicine into some of those areas, and a group of armed vigilantes killing the aid workers and hi-jacking the truck?  A couple of days ago I couldn't have imagined it, today it wouldn't surprise me.  The very first thing they have to do is restore law and order.  Until they do that, they can't rescue people, they can help people, and they can organize the safe distribution of good and services to the masses.

 

Sobering thought, but think of all the areas we have sent our military into to offer food and aid, then stood back and angrily denounced the citizens as ungrateful, lawless, etc. We seemingly are no better. :headshake

They are doing some food air drops, now. This picture is in front of the convention center.

 

 

The subject of FEMA's ignorance of the thousands of people at the convvention center well into yesterday afternoon is still really odd. During the 8 am news hour on NPR yesterday there was a piece that explicitly noted the small city that had sprung up at the coonvention center, how looters vere basically using it as a staging area and bartering their hauls there at an ad hoc market of sorts.

 

Eight hours later, and FEMA doesn't know there was anybody there?!?

Depresing, isn't it?  I don't recall the ravaged population of SE Asia f***ing each other over for short term personal gain after the tsunami.

 

Yea us.

 

(     )

 

Yeah it kinda upsets me too. Its one thing to be emptying a supermarket because you have nothing to eat, and I don't think anyone would begrudge that type of behavior. But you are talking about rapes, shootings, and just general anarchy conditions.

 

I was curious about historical context when I asked earlier, when was the last time that something like this happened. When was the last time that a major US city was basically destroyed by a natural disaster? The last two I could come up with were San Francisco in 1906 and Chicago in 1871.

Depresing, isn't it?  I don't recall the ravaged population of SE Asia f***ing each other over for short term personal gain after the tsunami.

 

Yea us.

 

(     )

 

I believe the difference was there was not such a huge difference between the have and have nots. Not too many haves. So what was to steal. Here the have nots are always walking past the haves and now had their chance.

 

Survival Hierarchy Rule of 3s

 

3 minutes without air

3 hours (varies) without heat. (exposure)

3 days without water

3 weeks without food.

 

No one will be starving to death anytime soon. Fasts can go on for weeks, easily, and even months. Water is their most critical issue. Turn on your tap today and be thankful for the miracle of our water systems, both incoming and outgoing.