Disgusting.

[RedLightning]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9156612/

disgusting and sad.


"Some officers who had been stranded on the roof of a hotel said they were shot at."

[Muscletang]

That's aweful right there. Why can't they fly a plane over like they did in Afganistan and drop supplies?

Poor people.

[TexasF355F1]

Originally Posted by Muscletang

That's aweful right there. Why can't they fly a plane over like they did in Afganistan and drop supplies?

Poor people.

I would say b/c the only land that's not underwater is engulfed by the victims and it would land on top of them. Not to mention the chaos that's already ensuing, that would just create worse problems with people jumping barriers, getting trampled, etc.

[T4 Primera]

U.S. Customs' hurricane-relief Blackhawks pulling press duty

Got to get priorities straight!

[tenguzero]

We've been hearing about this for days now -- and what have we gotten? A president who *boo hoo* cut his vacation short (despite the fact we're engaged in a war right now -- I mean, he'd only had 4 weeks off ) a government that's pathetic at best in its response time, and the "promise" of military sent in to help the beleagured city. Meanwhile, there's people wasting away on rooftops while helicopters sit idle, violent looting and dangerous behavior, guns being shot at what little support there is, babies and those with disabilities dying from lack of needed items like formula, post-natal care, and insulin, and a city full of people in every state of chaos. And what's the president doing today? Making a fly over. Well call in the band, our problems are solved now!

There's no reason ANY of this shit should have gotten to this point. We can spend BILLIONS on air support for an engagement half a world away, and yet it takes 5 days to get military support and a few choppers to one of our own cities in turmoil. How hard is it to drop supplies to people on rooftops from a helicopter? Maybe you can't get them out right at this moment, BUT YOU CAN AT LEAST GET THEM SOME GODDAMN CLEAN WATER TO DRINK! Holy crap. If all this wasn't bad enough, you've got gas stations across the country gouging the HELL out of people for gas (it's up to 4 or 5 bucks for a gallon of gas down there!) And what do we get from our president in respect to assistance? "If you don't need gas, don't buy it." Well congratulations Einstein, you want a cookie!?

At least we're officially accepting aid from other countries offering it, no matter how little it is -- I was afraid our government would try and brush it off. At least the citizens of this country are able to mobilize efforts through blood-drives, donations, and volunteer work, despite the dogged specter of a controversial war, increasing debt burden, and skyrocketting gas prices. It goes to show that this country really is a country of the people, and that no matter how shitty the bureaucracy and how inept and ignorant the empty suits in power are, we're still able to put our daily BS aside and help our fellow citizens in need. I know (as of 6 pm yesterday) just my state of NH alone had already tallied up nearly $800,000 in relief funds, plus many volunteers and numerous companies offering their aid. I'm glad to see our federal government is as much on-the-ball

[tenguzero]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050902/...atrina_wrap_dc

How could they have let it get to the point where they're sending in the troops with orders to F#$&ing SHOOT TO KILL! What the hell is that? Maybe if they had gotten some asses down there 2 or 3 days ago, they could have stemmed this tide of rioting.

[highteknology]

yeah, it's pretty ridiculous. what i think is pretty bad is the fact that a horrific even like this had to happen in order for me to REALLY dislike our government, not the wars or anything else. this comes down to the basic essentials of life, people need food and water.

it's terrible and my heart goes out to all the people effected.

[twospirits]

I tell you one thing, it should have come to this. Where is the Shock and Awe, I blame the government first and foremost. When the Corps of Engineers first constructed the levees, they only constructed them to resist a category 3 storm. Why? Cause it was the most cost effective at the time. Apparently, that assessment proved wrong, not that its going to cost billions to fix this problem. To add insult to injury, the funding to fix the levees to withstand a category 5 storm kept being reduced.
quote: "Al Naomi, senior project manager in the corps' New Orleans District, said it would cost as much as $2.5 billion to build such a system, which would likely include a massive system of gates to block the Gulf of Mexico from Lake Pontchartrain and additional levees. If the project were fully funded and started immediately, Naomi said it could be completed in three to five years. A project to build up the levees to withstand a Category 3 hurricane was launched in 1965 following Hurricane Betsy and was supposed to be completed in 10 years, but it remains incomplete because of a lack of funding.In recent years, funding has dropped precipitously, which some officials attributed in part to the escalating costs of the Iraq war. Funding for a drainage project in New Orleans went from $69 million in 2001 to $36.5 million in the current fiscal year, while funding for such hurricane-protection projects as levees around Lake Pontchartrain declined from $10 million in 2001 to $5.7 million this year, according to figures provided by the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La."

Truly Unbelievable.

Plus.. "Maestri [the local EM director] is still awaiting word from FEMA officials as to why Louisiana, despite being called the "floodplain of the nation" in a 2002 FEMA report, received no disaster mitigation grant money from FEMA in 2003 ("Homeland Insecurity," Sept. 28). Maestri says the rejection left emergency officials around the state "flabbergasted." That plain sucks and is inexcusible. These are peoples lives at stake. Not only in New Orleans, but throughout the whole Mississippi River areas that have thousand of miles of levees.


Getting back to NOLA, the governments response to this situation is pitiful. No one can tell me that knowing how the city of New Orleans is lower than sea level, and that the levees were made to hold back only a cat 3 storm and seeing that this storm is a cat 4 or more and heading towards the city, that they could not see that it was a disaster about to happen. Therefore they should have gotten their act together and get things in place so that the minute the storm passes, you get in there and aid the people. I see folks on here complaining that people are rioting. I would too after days of no clean water nor food. It wouldn't have come to this if the government was prepared. This is a disaster unlike any before. A whole city is destroyed. Millions are affected directly and millions more indirectly cause of the food and gas prices (that came through the ports of NOLA) and will be in short supply in the weeks and months to come. I can't help but to think its also a racial thing. Being that there are more african americans in the city dying and in desperate help and nothing is being done for these poor folks. Yes the media is concentrating on the rioters and looter, but there are plenty of good tax paying hard working citizens that are lossing any hope.

Its a shame and could have been avoided.

I can only think what would happen if any city were to be hit with a major terrorist attack with a dirty bomb or a nucleur accident. We are not prepared as shown what is happening to NOLA.

TS out