So you wanna experience a Cat 3 or higher hurricane, eh?

[Steve]

Take a few minutes out of your busy day to follow along with the Times Picayune's ongoing story (they're up to Part 3) entitled:

For Dear Life - How Hope turned to despair at Memorial Medical Center

Memorial holds a special place for me as my 3 kids were all born there and my mother died there just an hour after I last saw her. This series will be a major award winning piece for the TP next year, take that to the bank. You can catch the story on their webpage (nolalive.com) or you can click the links as they go. My ex called me today after reading only Part 3 and said that she busted out crying. Of course she's a nurse as well and worked post-storm recovery at EJGH. Read if you can:

Part 1

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/ ... xml&coll=1

Part 2

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/ ... xml&coll=1

Part 3

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/ ... xml&coll=1

With more to follow. FWIW, Memorial/Baptist was the place where the euthanasias allegedly occurred. I don't know if the series will touch on that or not because the attorney general's case is pending.

*edit* Part 4 below (Posted Wed. 8/23/06)

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/ ... xml&coll=1

*edit* Part 5 below (Posted Thurs. 8/24/06)

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/ ... xml&coll=1

Comments?

Steve

[temujin]

Somebody said William is 18 years old.

18 year olds don't understand death, unless they've been personally faced with a grave illness, war, or some other unusual event.

It ain't gonna help... the rest of us just have to put up with it.

[Steve]

This wasn't intended for will. This is for all those (like me in the past) who recently debated the exhilaration and excitement brought on by impending disasters. I just finished the first 3 installments myself and can't do anything but shake my head at the hell (first hand accounts by doctors and nurses) people will encounter in these types of situations.

Steve

[ConvergenceZone]

let me chime in here. I think the excitement and exhilaration is the same type you find with Tornado chasers. This kinda reminds me of the movie Twister. The excitement I've seen from Tornado chasers is very close to what you see in that movie twister.....It's just the energy rush and excitement you get from mother nature. The energy rush and excitement isn't generated by thinking about the possibility of death and destruction.

I think as human beings all we can do is make sure we are as prepared as we can be protecing our pets and lives and leave the rest up to mother nature...

[AJC3]

[soapbox]

I think the sooner we accept a certain condition about ourselves that most (but not all) of us have, the sooner we can come to terms with this issue that seems to perpetually simmer on here.

When I applied to Cornell to get into their met program, one of the essays I had to write was why I wanted to become a meteorologist. The most alluring and fascincating aspect that drew me to weather, and continues to do so to this day is the fact that there is this untamed power and fury that we have no power to control. It excites me. It exhilarates me. For some such as storm chasers, it draws to follow.

Inside most of us there lies a conflict. We want to experience the fury and the raw power of nature - to a point. We want the excitement, and the thrill of the storm. But what we don't want is such ferocity that the thrill becomes fear. But more importantly, what we don't want to deal with is the very real consequences - the price that is paid.

There is this point, and it is different for each of us, where the excitement of it all turns to fear - be it fear of death, destruction, loss of friends and family, you name it. Obviously those who have been through such ferocity, and through the aftermath will have a different perspective than those who have not, or have been though storms of lesser intensity. They are the ones who say "Never again".

Deep down inside, most of us really do want to experience the excitement and fury of what nature has to offer. Unfortunately, we want this fury controlled and without consequences. But mom nature doesn't work that way. Perhaps if all parties concerned keep in mind that this conflict is part of the human condition, and there can't be the thrill without the consequences, then those who have suffered can learn not to let it bother them when they see a post viewed as insensitive in this regard, and those who live for the thrill can remember to temper their excitement out of respect for those have suffered because of a storm.

[/soapbox]

[Frank P]

uhhhhhhhhhh, let me think.... NO

[Acral]

Well put AJC3 .. very well put indeed, and very true.

[jasons2k]

This wasn't intended for will. This is for all those (like me in the past) who recently debated the exhilaration and excitement brought on by impending disasters. I just finished the first 3 installments myself and can't do anything but shake my head at the hell (first hand accounts by doctors and nurses) people will encounter in these types of situations.

Steve

Hey Steve, yep, I still remember your pre-Katrina stance - even just before she hit Crazy how a monster changes everything.

I also remember Jax from Pecan, MS wanted it bad too - real bad. Funny I haven't seen him around since Katrina.

Anyway - thanks for posting this. I picked-up part one while in NOLA over the weekend. One thing I noticed while there - much of the newspaper and the first half of the local news, to this day, is still Katrina-related. I will probably make a detailed post in the recovery thread with some pics of the 9th ward.

[gerrit]

[Deep down inside, most of us really do want to experience the excitement and fury of what nature has to offer.

Maybe that's true. I never understood and never will understand people who feel that way. If those who feel this way would only pay attention to the damage and tragedy after a big storm, they would ( should?) change their mind.
If - theoretically - the 'only' damage a storm would do is causing one person to, let's say, break a leg, why would anybody want that to happen?
Even a tropical storm kills people and does a lot of damage to property which is somewhere between sad to a disaster for a lot of people.

I am used to the storm enthousiatics on this board and I try to read as little of their happy comments when a storm develops.

Why do I visit Storm2k you may ask? Only because here - after I filter out 95% of the wishful thinking and based upon little knowledge predictions of amateurs - I get information about storms which might come my way.

Living on a highly populated island like Puerto Rico where most people have to ride out storms in their own houses and without a possibility to evacuate to a safe place, storms and hurricanes to me are monsters.

It's somehow similar to disaster movies. I don't watch those. Even knowing it's fake, most of the times they're based upon a disaster that happened for real. Watching something like that would make me sick, knowing that people actually died in the real thing. Lots of people think different when you see how big a success those movies ( think of Titanic or Pearl Harbor ) are.

I know writing this won't change the tone of the threads when a storm develops. I know the 'storm freaks' will still cheer for the next hurricane.
I just hope that some of them reading this might see the other side of their 'hobby'

[bvigal]

Yes, AJC3, good job!

I used to love tornado spotting, and felt that same mix of emotions every time I saw one. Knowing full well the danger and the consequences, I never wished to see one, I more anticipated them as inevitable, but still experienced the exhillaration each viewing. (I'd be lying not to admit it.)

Hurricanes, being much larger, the feelings are, too. Sort of like snakes, don't like them, don't wish to be near one, but seeing one on tv or something always elicits both abhorrance and fascination. I can never wish a hurricane to form, not knowing later where it might go. That said, when I look at one on satellite (that I no doubt hoped wouldn't form), I can't help but admire their beauty.

[MS39047]

Steve,
I've been reading those articles on the NOLA website since they started coming out. I read through alot of the messages there also but couldn't find an answer to a question. This attorney general (Foti?) - I was wondering if he was in N.O. during and/or immediately after Katrina to experience first hand how bad it was?

[x-y-no]

Been there, done that.

Would rather not do it again. But if another one comes, I'll just have to deal with it.

[Wthrman13]

I echo AJC3's sentiments.

[bvigal]

Oh gosh, yes, forgot to comment on the nola articles. I read them all. Thanks for posting them, Steve! Such tragedy, words are inadequate.

[gboudx]

I picked-up part one while in NOLA over the weekend. One thing I noticed while there - much of the newspaper and the first half of the local news, to this day, is still Katrina-related. I will probably make a detailed post in the recovery thread with some pics of the 9th ward.

Local radio is the same with the Katrina coverage. Up here in DFW, I can pick up 870am out of NO at night. I listen in frequently to hear what's going on back home.

[jasons2k]

Good post AJC3. I think there are extremes on both "sides" but most of us are somewhere along the spectrum. The older I get, the more I move to the anti-storm side of things. Last year before Rita (when it still looked like a Galveston hit), for the first time my excitement became genuine dread and fear, just as you described. We had just moved to The Woodlands from Dallas and I was almost in tears thinking it would never be the same.

[WeatherWiseGuy]

I think I have an analogy that I hope will promote understanding between these two sides. When I see and hear a fire engine there is a certain amount of fascination with those sights and sounds. However, as a thinking adult I realize that those sights and sounds mean somebody is having a really lousy day and may even lose their life. Do I go around hoping for accidents so that I can see a fire engine go roaring by? Certainly not! But, undeniably there is a fascination with those machines.

I don't think I need explain this analogy further, but I hope that it will lead to some reconciliation between the two sides.

[Mr. MidAtlantic]

Steve, this was an excellent topic, and post. Great Job!!!

[fci]

[soapbox]

I think the sooner we accept a certain condition about ourselves that most (but not all) of us have, the sooner we can come to terms with this issue that seems to perpetually simmer on here.

When I applied to Cornell to get into their met program, one of the essays I had to write was why I wanted to become a meteorologist. The most alluring and fascincating aspect that drew me to weather, and continues to do so to this day is the fact that there is this untamed power and fury that we have no power to control. It excites me. It exhilarates me. For some such as storm chasers, it draws to follow.

Inside most of us there lies a conflict. We want to experience the fury and the raw power of nature - to a point. We want the excitement, and the thrill of the storm. But what we don't want is such ferocity that the thrill becomes fear. But more importantly, what we don't want to deal with is the very real consequences - the price that is paid.

There is this point, and it is different for each of us, where the excitement of it all turns to fear - be it fear of death, destruction, loss of friends and family, you name it. Obviously those who have been through such ferocity, and through the aftermath will have a different perspective than those who have not, or have been though storms of lesser intensity. They are the ones who say "Never again".

Deep down inside, most of us really do want to experience the excitement and fury of what nature has to offer. Unfortunately, we want this fury controlled and without consequences. But mom nature doesn't work that way. Perhaps if all parties concerned keep in mind that this conflict is part of the human condition, and there can't be the thrill without the consequences, then those who have suffered can learn not to let it bother them when they see a post viewed as insensitive in this regard, and those who live for the thrill can remember to temper their excitement out of respect for those have suffered because of a storm.

[/soapbox]

Probably the most eloquent explanantion of this issue.

It clearly explains what we are all doing here and helps temper the emotions that run on all sides of the issue of "-removed-"; those who employ it and those who deplore it.

This should be required reading for all.

I applaud you.

[bevgo]

Not me again. Never again. I thought I wanted to experience a hurricane but Katrina showed me how wrong I was. I understand the desire but I have been cured. My hurricane prep includes gassing up the car, packing a suitcse and bugging out!