Englishmum

My heart goes out to those poor people in Biloxi, New Orleans and all of the other towns in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama etc. after seeing the media reports.

Many of those whom still have a home will be without power or fresh water for weeks and of course they have to act quickly to avert disease because of all the dead bodies of humans and animals....(one apartment complex had at least 30 dead).

One mayor said that it's their 'tsunami'.

Poor buggars.

(I'm not aware of any Red Cross appeals as yet?)

Hiro11

Every year, hurricanes move through the Caribbean. Every year, perhaps unsurprisingly, people are "shocked" by the devastation they cause. People then rebuild in the floodplain and forget very quickly. Meanwhile, we're all footing the bill as very few of them pay for flood insurance. FEMA funds et cetera pour in. It reminds me of those people who build gigantic, multi-million dollar homes on the hills over Los Angeles, the hills that burn EVERY YEAR as a result of the Santa Ana, and then whine when their homes go up in smoke.

Also, people along the gulf coast had DAYS to prepare for Katrina, it was all over the national news. What the hell were they doing staying in flood-prone areas? I hate to sound like a callous bastard, but I don't have too much empathy for people affected. Of course it's terrible that people have died, but they were deaths that could have easily been avoided.

anotherlimey

How does that work?

hayley82

I feel very sorry for these poor people. I was watching the news in shock and I was very emotional.
However, I couldn't believe it when they said it was their tsunami. Come on, it hardly compares does it?

BritGuyTN

typical american overstatement

i feel very sorry for these people but it is a bit retarded to hang around when what the media is hailing as the second most powerful hurricane to hit the USA in memory is looming

Pimpbot

I heard the people taking shelter in the Superdome, beat the New Orleans Saints 24 to 3.

Taffyles

Here you go- http://www.redcross.org/

When I was helping out in Punta Gorda after hurricane Charley last year, we were really glad of a red cross hot meal and cold drinks..the residents living in such difficult conditions were kept supplied with food, fresh water and ice. They also delivered portable loos (essential) and bleach, disinfectants, antiseptics and essential supplies etc. They do a great job.

Taffyles

It is retarded to stay IF you have the means to get out in time- you don't mess about with a category 5, or 4, hurricane on its way. I have no sympathy for the ones who decided to ride it out....but there are many poor people who don't have transport and have no means to buy air, train or bus tickets (even if they could afford it, some still couldn't get on a flight in time- many tourists were stranded) Some are homeless to begin with..and then there are pets, shelters won't take pets and if you have no car to drive out, some people are reluctant to abandon them. There are all sorts of reasons why people don't evacuate. To be honest with that big of a storm coming in I think the government should have helped getting people out but there again, hurricanes are so damned unpredictable. Even when one is heading straight for you, it can take a sharp turn at the last minute and nail somewhere else- like Charley did last year... it was forecast to hit Tampa, took a sharp right on its way up the Gulf and flattened Punta Gorda.

snorkmaiden

I imagine some of them had no cars and no money and thought maybe naively that their chances were better at home, in fact it does seem to be the case going on the reports coming in on CNN. The hurricane really didn't seem like it was going to be really bad until the day before, how many of those people will have thought that like many of the other hurricanes in the last few years, that this one would move direction or downgrade substantially before hitting shore.

Some people, the elderly and infirm for example, might have thought it wouldn't be as bad as was being reported, and given the prospect of sleeping in the superdrome for days when they are old and possibly ill they decided to stay at home to try and weather it out. It may be naive but I can see how people thought they might be ok.

I imagine the prospect of spending days in a crowded place with small children might have made some people think they would be better at home with their own things around them and indeed watching the news on CNN they are rescuing old people with walkers, people with diabetes and kidney problems, families with very young children. I can see why in all of those cases it would be easy, though not wise, to think staying at home was the better option.

In any event, for whatever reason they stayed at home, they did, and they are now paying for that, I think the price they are paying for that mistake is high enough without our derision.

My thoughts are with all those who are suffering through this.

jjmb

I feel really sorry for the people on the gulf coast this time as nothing can prevent damage from winds gusts ranging from 100 to 130 miles an hour plus the flooding.

However, having lived in Scotland for many years I was always astounded by the damaged caused by winds barely above category 1 level which is about 70 miles. We used to have those sort of winds every winter and at the most a few roof tiles would come off. One particular winter, the wind was howling at almost 100 miles for several hours and that time some of the flashing needed replacing. This was a station master's house build in the 1840's of the usual solid brick exterior .

Then I moved over here and realised why there was so much damage. What do they expect if they built houses and businesses with wood and plasterboard? Our house has thin brick exterior which is decorative at the best but on the whole it mainly those 2 basic materials. If there was a tornado or hurriance in our area I have no doubt it would be badly damaged. Of course the biggest problem down here is the use of trailer homes (which are used as holiday homes in the UK) because of the poverty in the south.

AmerLisa

Here's a headline for you:

Katrina closes 123 Wal-Marts

BritGuyTN

yes - its because houses here are made to basically be disposable

i didn't know until yesterday that most brick houses here are not actually constructed of brick - thats there just as a siding material and do nothing to hold the house up

the 30 people who died in the apartment in biloxi were living in beachfront property so I would assume that they had the means to get out

parts of new orleans are dirt poor and these are the people I fel the most for - whatever little they did have has been taken away

paddingtongreen

You have to separate the people who choose to live in dangerous places and those that live there because the jobs are there. The people who build summer homes on barrier islands, who build in flood plains should not receive federal aid when their homes are knocked out.

The largest port in the USA is the 50 mile stretch from New Orleans to the ocean. Because of the proximity of the oil supply there are four or five major refineries there. Most of the grain exports go through the port. People must live there. I have no problem with federal dollars being spent here.

Bob

Big chunk of the poor *****ers that live out there work for the navy and military bases, so don't have much choice in where there stationed, and can't afford to go bugger off...it's a touch situation and there could be more done for these people, but there wasn't, so there stuck aren't they.

Bob

government pays, gets money back from increased taxes extra...insurance also goes up to cover costs of pay outs for people with insurance and all those other knock on effects...