http://www.wdsu.com/weather/4908558/detail.html That place is giving out updates about every 10-20 minutes. It seems the storm has calmed, but is still doing lots of flooding. Parts of New Orleans are under 20-25 feet of water. This is scary stuff, I really hope everyone makes it ok down there.
Remember learning about this in geography lessons! They must have known for years its going to happen.
I'm sure they were well aware they could get hit by hurricanes. But how do you know how far to go with your protective measures? You think you have your system down, and good to go, then suddenly, BAM! Something comes along and blows all your plans right out of the water. Hell look at Florida, they get hit with more hurricanes than Lousiana, but even their guidlines and plans couldn't prepare them for Andrew, or Hugo, or any of last summer. But you know what, the next hurricane that hits New Orleans is gonna have one hell of a fight on it's hands.
Well, lets look at where I have lived Oklahoma City - F5 tornado South Korea - Monsoon California - Earthquakes I've lived through most of everything but there is nothing that can be done to stop nature. What gets me is the incredulous look some people have when disaster strikes home. This planet will do what it will and we are absolutely powerless to stop whatever destruction and mayhem it may unleash upon us. Cesspool? Absolutely, been there, seen it, known some from there... its not the nicest place on earth. Crime out the yin-yang. The modern version of sodom and gomorah? Probably
We (humans) are more at risk from the forces of nature (floods, famine, hurricanes, earthquakes et al) than we ever will be from terrorists. There is some interesting stuff on Katrina on Weather Underground. Thankfully it doesn't seem to have been as bad as it could have been.
These distaster weather threads are coming more and more frequently, and all I can think about is 'The Day after tommorow' Even the crazy massive hurricane satellite pic's look like the film...makes you think about global warming, with the increased size in hurricanes, the massive asian flooding (of water not asians :|) etc it seems to be happening alot more at an increased rate/damage. - M@
Tbh, it more likely due to the fact that people now have more access to media, so hear about things more. If this happened 10 years ago, people outside of America wouldn't have heard so much about the bad weather. And global warming is as drastic as everyone thinks. Temperatures on earth change naturally, it was in fact hotter 500 years ago than it is now!
I read just before in the National Geographic that the increase in hurricanes is due to a rise in the temperature of the Atlantic currents
That's still not an excuse for what you said earlier. Some people had no choice but to stay there due to certain probalems that happens. And there's crime EVERYWHERE nowdays. Hell, I live in a "redneck, backwards" state yet the crime rate seems to be on a dramtic rise. Just because there are people living there that are on the bottom of the human evolutionary ladder doesn't mean that an entire city should be destroyed. To be quite honest, your first post was rather insensitive and you came across as a jackass. But just because it happened here in the U.S., it seems as most people over the world don't give a ******** about it. If the same were to happen in the U.K. you'd still get people in the states showing sympathy for what happened. So in tiems like this, it would have been much better for you to have just kept your opinion to yourself.
One of my good friends lives in Houma, LA; I've not heard from her since Katrina made landfall so I hope she's ok. I've never been to Nawlins but one day I would love to. It's a terrible shame to hear that some of it may be destroyed permanently. I hope they get the levees fixed and the pumps working and get that water pumped out of the city.
Hmm, I don't think that's very true. In fact most people would probably say it's the other way around, with other nations being more externally aware then the US, which can, at time, be quite introverted. Certainly people in all the UK only forums I goto are talking about it, and are concerned.
I tend to agree with you, America is a big country with plenty of media and most of the world knows whats going on in America, on september 11th 2001, the world united to support America, during the Asian tsunami, America didn't exactly do much to help the Asians. The government anyway. Tbh, the media just distorts the truth all the time. I'm not going into a debate on this, this will just cause arguments, but I guess it is everyone's opinion, so I think we should just stick to the thread.
It just seems that's the general gist of how things seem nowadays. With it being "Oh, screw the Americans... they don't care about anyone else!" Yeah, our government might not give a damn, but it doesn't mean that the citizens don't. With the current reports on how things are going right now, it seems alot of people are going to be in trouble for awhile yet to come. Some areas of New Orleans are reported to be under as much as 25 feet of water and there's already been 50 deaths reported in one county in Mississippi. To everyone who actually cares about things that are happening all over the world... these two smilies sums up how I feel about you.
Agreed. The world is never that black or white. Can people keep their american critising comments to themselves, especially if their only "reliable" source of information is the media, as it only upsets people. That's totally unjust, the american govt. may not have given "much" but it has other commitments and the american people must have given loads. Look at Bill Gates - he gave a shed load. And the fact you add your 2p then say you're not gonna debate on it!!
That's actually pretty typical of this country. The private sector (people & businesses alike) of this nation will usually shell out massive amounts of money to whatever cause there is at the time and the government will supply the work force (National Guard / Army), supplies and hard assets. I think that's why we're always getting criticized about the amount of money the governement gives, but those figures don't include the hard assets or private donations. I don't know.. Whatever.. This thread isn't about all that. I've said my piece, let's get back to the topic... Reports are coming in about deaths now. So far they are nearing 100 deaths with 80 being in a single county & 60 in a single apartment complex down in Mississippi. This is the largest mobilization of the Red Cross ever.
Well, here is a hole in your theory. I am an American, and I serve in the US Armed Forces. I live in the UK because its where I am stationed. Yes, I am a jackass and I think I used the term cranky S.O.B. in the first line of my post to warn you of the content you might come across. Do I care about those people? Absolutely! Do I think they all deserve to be slapped when they complain about a hurricane that is bound to happen? Absolutely! I just find it amazing that so many people are amazed when nature takes its wrath out on populated areas. They should move away from cities that are under sea level or that are protected my levees. I lived close to Des Moines IA when the entire city flooded because our water management system couldn't handle the rain in '92. Did I complain? No, because we can't stop nature but we can stop human stupidity.
This is getting worse and worse: From CNN: "We know we've had some loss of life. We really don't know how much. There are credible accounts of 50 to 80 in Harrison County. Those are not confirmed, but they're credible," Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Tuesday. "And I hate to say it, I think there are going to be more." While Louisiana officials have not confirmed any deaths there, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said there have been reports of bodies floating in the floodwaters. Two storm-related traffic fatalities were reported in Alabama. ... Nagin had said that about 80 percent of the city was flooded and that some areas were under 20 feet of water. (Watch the video account of unanswered screams -- 1:57) CNN's John Zarrella, in a hotel on Canal Street, said the water level was "much higher" than it had been during the height of Katrina's onslaught, rising all morning Tuesday and topping the sandbags meant to keep the water out of the building. "Water has now filled the basement of the hotel," he said. "All of the entrances to our hotel are completely surrounded, and the water is slowly creeping up the side of the building. ... CNN's Adaora Udoji, monitoring the rescue efforts, said authorities had ferried at least 500 people from their homes, flooded with as much as six feet of water. Some residents reported water rose so fast they did not have time to grab their shoes. (Full story) A 50-inch water main break left the city without drinkable water, and the massive power outages caused by the storm are likely to take at least three or four weeks to repair. Nagin said both the city's airports were under water, the Southern Yacht Club had burned to the ground, an oil tanker had run aground and was leaking, there were gas leaks throughout the city and Interstate 10's twin spans heading east over the lake were "completely destroyed." (Full story)
