Please Read

[Downdraft]

If you have looked at the other thread I posted "Extent of the Damage...
and read the daily SITREP reports each day you will see the extent to which things have been accomplished so far. America has never suffered a calamity of this magnitude within her own borders before. We are talking an area 96,000 square miles in area. Thats roughly the State of Idaho in size. So much is being concentrated in the news on just New Orleans and rightfully so considering the disgrace going on there. However, while each state has responsibility within it's own borders the federal response includes Louisana, Mississippi, Alabama and continuing missions in Florida.

Please stop the blame game, stop racism in it's tracks by denouncing it and not giving it a chance to raise it's very ugly head. Unfortunately, unless in your in the "biz" you don't and won't realize all of this has been highly modeled, all of this was for the most part expected given the scenario and response to it. Those who have studied major disasters will tell you this is following the scenarios predictably and unfortunately.

No one can excuse the lack of leadership in New Orleans for a time being. Over and over the reporters are telling us no one told or tells the people anything. THAT is inexcusable and will be dealt with later I'm sure.

Please please read what the government has done and is doing. This is not a state tragedy, it is not a city tragedy, it is not a black tragedy it is an American tragedy and we are working on it we will correct it and we WILL rebuild it.

Yesterday I felt New Orleans was history it could never come back. Someone replied we rebuilt Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I thought then we rebuilt Berlin, we rebuilt Hamburg, Rome, the list goes on and on. We rebuilt these cities 60 years ago with the technology we had. NO ONE is going to tell us we can't rebuilt one of our own cities and by God, everyone in America will pitch in to help!!!!!!!!

[inotherwords]

I'm all for rebuilding as long as we don't rebuild it in a way that 100K people would be so easily trapped next time.

[Mac]

I am absolutely fed up with the finger-wagging that is going on in the aftermath of Katrina. This is not FEMA's fault, it isn't the federal government's fault, and it isn't George Bush's fault.

If should first be pointed out that the "blame game" serves absolutely no productive purpose. But if people really need to cast blame for what's going on in New Orleans, they might consider casting that blame a little closer to home.

New Orleans officials have known for DECADES that this scenario could happen. But what measures did they take to avert this catastrophe? The measures they have taken to reinforce the levees have been laughable.

They knew that 1/3 of New Orleans' population was poor, so what measures did they take to ensure this poor population could evacuate or get to adequate shelter?

They knew the potential that existed for interruption of vitals services and communication, so what did they do to plan for this contingency?

I am a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, and my research studies focus upon disaster medical response and emergency preparedness. When we look at the logistics of responding to crises, we take a lot of things into consideration--disruption of vitals services, transportation problems, communication problems, etc. What we don't typically take into consideration is that we are going to be coming under sniper fire when we're trying to make medical evacs and render aid.

Rule #1 in rendering medical aid is: Do not create more victims.

Given the current state of lawlessness in New Orleans, it has been simply unsafe for responders to get to those who need help the most. The risk of creating more victims is too great. Law must be restored in order to give these people the help they need. Nobody planned on such a significant portion of the population becoming barbarians. The inverse is usually seen--we typically see communities pull together in times of crises.

And since some people seem to have forgotten, this is the United STATES of America. There are certain laws which prohibit the federal government from taking certain actions--such as implementing martial law--without states officially requesting such assistance. These laws are in place to protect the public from a corrupt federal government. As bad as things are in New Orleans, the regional problems at hand do not supercede the rights of citizens to be protected from government.

So if you want to blame someone for federal troops not mobilizing and restoring order, you can blame the governers for not requesting martial law be imposed in the immediate aftermath of Katrina.

Sorry, but I'm fed up with this. Tens of thousands of Americans are pitching in to help these people. They are opening their wallets, their cities, and their homes to render aid. They are leaving their families and mobilizing to the Gulf Coast--often creating financial hardships for themselves in doing so.

A simple "thank you" would be nice.

Finished ranting now.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

I say we lay a rcok base to make sure it never sinks again. Then cover that with 10 feet of dirt. Then once the city is at least 5 feet above sea level rebuild it. If not then another hurricane can hit a few years later then it go's around.

RISE IT ABOVE SEA LEVEL...