It Looks Like I was Right (Hurricane Katrina Merged)

[Dryden]

Just shoot the assholes going on shopping sprees!!!
I hope the people stealing dvd players and plasma screen tv's in the midst of this tragedy enjoy it now, cause when they're in hell it won't be all that much fun.

Those looters have probably condemned themselves to death. Obviously, looting plasma TVs and DVDs doesn't do much good when your family room is 8-feet of standing water and you have no electricity, but beyond that these fools have spent the last three days wading through toxic, contaminated water and will probably die from cholera or typhoid fever within a week. Those who have decided to stay on what little inhabitable high ground that is left in NOLA will be competing for food sources with rats, snakes, and alligators in what amounts to a bowl of stagnant water.

None of us can fathom what those conditions must be like.

This is pretty gruesome, but it has not been mentioned on any newscasts that I have seen or reports that I've read. Because NOLA was already below sea level, all of the cemetaries were above-ground crypts at street level. Many of these have been leveled and flooded. Aside from the remains of those who died as a cause of Katrina, there could be thousands upon thousands of long dead bodies that have been uprooted by the wind and flood waters.

Click on the photos, video, and more link at http://www.usatoday.com/ and look at (presently) photo #5 in the photos section.

Why couldn't you build up a mound in the middle of the city and put the pumps up there so they aren't submerged?

Much of New Orleans will have to be rebuilt from scratch, if it can be at all. It would make more sense to raise the elevation of the city. The elevation of Galveston, TX was raised by 17 feet following Isaac's Storm in 1900.

 

[sandgk]

New Orleans The New Pompeii?

I know most will jump at Atlantis as a direct analogy as both succumbed to flooding, however I think a closer analogy is Pompeii.


Why?
Both succumbed to natural disasters that the inhabitants knew might be coming. Both cities inhabitants ignored the elephant in the corner - fairenough in Pompeii's case the surprise was immediate, whereas for New Orleans it is a case of reluctant evacuees, or simply those incapable of evacuating that are in harms way.
More important is the eventual fate of the cities so struck by disaster.
One way or another New Orleans will return as a habitable city. _ it may be that it is back up as far as Metairie, it may be back where it is - but it will be back and still christened New Orleans.
The scale of the disaster in terms of human casualties is now reportedly much larger.
On the matter of the number of dead, the pronouncements of the Major of New Orleans are pretty grim. He suggests that there are thousands dead in New Orleans alone. He cites seeing bodies floating in the waters that now shroud all but a small portion of the city. The only hope that he is wrong false rests on another grim prospect, that those bodies are the remains that have been released from New Orleans many above ground cemetries.

I for one hope that they do get the city back in full working order, safe for habitation - whether it is on higher ground, or behind stronger sea walls and levees is another matter. The Big Easy was always a great place to go for food and fun. The Gulf Coast's largest habitable adult theme park and restaurant complex.

 

[gotwoody]

they said thousands could be dead, making it the worst hurricane of the century, i didnt even think it was gonna be that bad of a hurricane, damn...

 

[bucks4me]

I don't think it was so much the worst hurricane of the century but the aftermath is the problem. The French Quarter did not look so bad until the levee's broke. Once they broke..........

 

[Dryden]

they said thousands could be dead, making it the worst hurricane of the century, i didnt even think it was gonna be that bad of a hurricane, damn...

If the number of casualties exceeds 3000, that would make this disaster larger than even 9/11, behind only the hurricane in Galveston, TX that killed over 8000 more than 100 years ago.

On the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, this was still only a Category 4 at landfall, which is, according to measurements, less severe than hurricanes Andrew or Camille. The problem was the topography and the levee and pump system failing, not the hurricane itself. If Katrina had struck New Orleans directly when it was a Category 5, the collapse of the Superdome alone would have made it the biggest catastrophy on US soil.

The levee and pump system of NOLA might be the fastest man-made construct to go from The History Channel's 'Modern Marvels' to 'Engineering Disasters' programs.

 

[Piney]

they said thousands could be dead, making it the worst hurricane of the century, i didnt even think it was gonna be that bad of a hurricane, damn...

The actual hurricane wasn't that bad, it just hit the worst possible place it could hit. Everyone in New Orleans knew that is they ever got hit by an average or worse hurricane that hell was going to break open.

 

[AKAK]

The actual hurricane wasn't that bad, it just hit the worst possible place it could hit. Everyone in New Orleans knew that is they ever got hit by an average or worse hurricane that hell was going to break open.

And the timing was bad... I don't know what the tide tables were looking like.. but the storm surge is worse at hihg tide than low... from a net perspcetive if you see hat i'm saying.. AND this was a very large storm from an actual size perspective... so lots and lots of rain... and longer amout of time with prolonged winds... etc.... this was a bad storm by every measure... 28 ft storm surge in places? Ridiculous.

 

[sandgk]

One Picture Summing Up The Current Impasse in NOLA

I guess one picture really cannot capture ALL that is going on down there in the Gulf.

But this one seems appropriate nonetheless.

 

[tibor75]

"Finding" versus "Looting"

<center>

</center> Please match the above picture with its -- ahem -- correct caption below. 1:

<center>

</center>
2: <center>

link
</center>

that's great methomps.

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by LoKyBuckeye
All the pump are useless while they are under water.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
I have a question, is it mandatory to have these pumps at ground level?

Why couldn't you build up a mound in the middle of the city and put the pumps up there so they aren't submerged?

Or maybe put them on an upper floor of a building if they aren't too heavy?

Actually, a pump is most effective/efficient when it 'pushes' water. You can't really 'pull' water up with a pump, at least not efficiently. Hence, a sump pump is a 'submersible' pump.

 

[LoKyBuckeye]

They had a woman on TV that was one of the people that were taken to the overpasses. She was sitting on the side of the road with her dead husband next to her on the ground.... he died after they got to the street and all the police told her was to move the body down the road because it was starting to smell. Someone else pointed out the body of a person who committed suicide off one of the overpasses.

 

[Bob Buck]

Alright... a cop has been shot in the head.

It is time for martial law.

If people disobey the law they should be shot dead.

End of the problem.

There is a reason why the government has the power to initiate martial law and I cannot think of a better reason than the uncomprehensible crisis that is going on right now.

 

[Oh8ch]

I really don't want to come across as defending the looters - not at all. They are scum. But the problem for the police in NO is really complicated.

1. Some folks are looting for food, medication and other necessities - which is not only something any of us might do, it is perfectly legal under the circumstances.

2. I don't think anyone really believes the police can/should shoot all looters on sight. That means you arrest them instead. Then what do you do with them? I saw a video today of a large group of convicts being 'herded' to an evacuation point by police. They don't have any place to put the convicted criminals they have and are expending resources to evacuate them while other citizens also wait for evacuation and other assistance.

3. Many looters are armed and in most cases outnumber the police. Attempts to confront looters could turn into armed battles that would quickly grow out of control. As heinous as looting may be, it is not the top priority in NO right now.

4. The best weapon against looting right now might be a video camera. 'Capture' the looters on film and deal with them when you can. It also would help if the TV stations would quite broadcasting that the police are doing nothing and declaring it 'open season'.


This is an unprecedented event. We are seeing the dark side of human nature come out just as we see all too often in these situations. I think our gut reaction of 'shoot the bastards' is really a cry to destroy that element of our nature. That unfortunately doesn't work.

 

[Bob Buck]

I totally understand the good nature behind your post Oh8ch. However, I respectfully disagree with you. Martial law will be needed to get the civil unrest under control. Otherwise, things will get worse and more people will die as a result of lawlessness than as a consequence of martial law.

1. Some folks are looting for food, medication and other necessities - which is not only something any of us might do, it is perfectly legal under the circumstances.

It is clear to me if someone is looting for food or a plasma tv. Shoot the person looting the plasma tv.

2. I don't think anyone really believes the police can/should shoot all looters on sight.

I do. Shoot the looters.

3. Many looters are armed and in most cases outnumber the police. Attempts to confront looters could turn into armed battles that would quickly grow out of control. As heinous as looting may be, it is not the top priority in NO right now.

The problem will only get worse unless a precedent of instant death for heinous crime is set. Criminals know they can get away with their actions and will only stop when it becomes clear that it is not worth their life.

The police were just pulled off trying to rescue people because the security problem has become so incredibly bad. They cannot take care of their top priorities. Why? No law enforcement in the general community. Turn that around with absolute instant justice. It would work if done in an absolute fashion.

The national guard is very organized and will eventually get into town. Woe be to any Wal-Mart gun totting thug who wants to cross the line then.

This is an unprecedented event. We are seeing the dark side of human nature come out just as we see all too often in these situations. I think our gut reaction of 'shoot the bastards' is really a cry to destroy that element of our nature. That unfortunately doesn't work.

I wish everyone was good too, but wishing doesn't get much done. Leave the philosophy for another day. Shoot the looters, the vultures of humanity, now.

I realize that we will probably never agree on this issue, however, I think it is beneficial to at least look at the differing perspectives. If for no other reason than it reminds us that we are human and that we have the human ability to reason things out.

I just feel that any looter would reason in his or her own head to stop immediately if he or she heard that they could be legally killed for doing it.

 

[Oh8ch]

Well said.

But in this day of 24 hour news programs with lenses pointing everywhere we are never going to pull the trigger on looters. No mayor, governor or president is going to order it.

But I do wish the talking heads would quit reminding looters that there will be no consequences.