Hurricane Katrina

Australia is about the same size as the U.S. We get a natural disaster almost on an annual basis--bushfires,floods, cyclones,drought. Sometimes more than one a year. So we are fairly well organised in coping with these events. Our PM has offered a number of disaster response coordinators if you think it will help. These events usually take more than a few weeks to solve as unforeseen side-effects start to surface. The long-term damage is to personal losses--all your photos, records, favourite items gone. I`ve been through it. You have to start almost from scratch.

I guess I understand a little now.

boy, I hope security here doesn't get to "poor to midlin" ...

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we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}

hehcheck this out:http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/...lure-of-leadership.html

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we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}

Absolutely. I see all those people on the walk ramps at the Superdome and I don't understand why choppers aren't dropping supplies right there.It is the distinct lack of planning that I find appaling. This is where the elected officials of Louisiana have left their constituents holding the bag. Where is the mayor or other city officials? What is the Governor doing? These are the individuals who should be in charge as the first responders.These are the folks who are supposed to coordinate the efforts of the feds by having a coherant emergency plan that integrates all groups for the specific needs of New Orleans.

Well, as I previously posted there are two distinct issues. The emergency disaster planning and the cause of the flooding. The planning is either inadequate, non-existant, or discarded for other reasons. That's a major issue. It an issue that starts with the local and state officials.Its easy to say Bush, Bush and more Bush. But that simply blinds one to the truth of the matter. Local and State officals bear the primary burden for emergency and evacuation planning in their jurisdictions. Its the same all over the country.Look at the Guilliani team and their work immediately post 911. It was the mayor and the governor of New York working together, directing actions, coordinating rescue and evacuation efforts. They were implementing their emergency planning. The feds didn't get involved until later.

I agree. I haven't seen the mayor on speaking in quite a while. Last I heard he was saying "This is an S.O.S.!"While I agree that the locally elected have a serious responsibility, I have to understand that every officer the city has is there. A lot (I believe I read about 1/3) actually quit the force because they didn't want to be shot at.My friends at DirectNIC, a tech company in New Orleans, had to go to the aid of an officer and give him water because he was stuck out there and actually said "I'm scared." I have people I'm speaking to on a regular basis that are there, in the thick, and it is BAD.Have a look at his blog: Interdictor LiveJournalI can't speak for the logistics that the president may be facing but I know that there are mega uber super duper stores, WAL-Mart for example, in the nearby areas who have HUGE stockpiles of goods. As the president I would be landing helicopters outside of their facilities and DEMANDING they be loaded and then putting them on the ground, not only at the dome but throughout the streets.Doesn't this fall under "Homeland Security?" Let's start actually putting that phrase to some practical use.

Absolutley correct here. Bush needs to step up given the lack of local leadership. Yes, people are dropping dead as we speak.

The feds have soaked us for major dollars with all this Homeland security stuff, and look what we have.Maybe government responders are not what we need, and we should have an independent authority or organization, run by the people, that trains and is ready to respond in such a catastrophe?I really think it isn't a lack of funding for FEMA and the government people, but too much funding and beaurocrats and not enough action. Perhaps we need more of a quasi-independent group, something more like the FED, or totally independent. The incompetence in government leadership in this whole thing is staggering.Heck, a few thousand fishermen in boats could probably have done a better job evacuating people.

sure but9/11 was small potatoes compared to dealing with ALL of NO. If they only had to deal with the people in the superdome it would be comparable.if every aid worker in NY on 9/11 had been surrounded by 100 people demanding attention it would have been a different story. AND you had a steady stream of people coming in to help, not just because they wanted to, but because they could.2,750 people died in the towers, there are\were 25,000 people in the superdome.aid workers in NY had existing operating bases to work from to lend immediate assistance, while in NO those bases need help.And I still say that part of the Homeland Securities MISSION was to develop plans of evacuation that could be implemented in minutes.

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we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}

Nonsense. The feds have been cutting taxes.It's your grandchildren who will be soaked to pay for homeland security, the iraq war, the tax cuts.

That would be great, but not real easy unless they can do something about all the armed gangs and looters. The logistics would be very difficult to overcome otherwise. In an urban area like that, there can’t be helicopters flying around willy-nilly and landing anywhere and everywhere, there has to be traffic control or there will be accidents and more senseless deaths. Only a certain number of helicopters can land in one area at any one time, so a sufficient load of supplies cannot be put down in one fell swoop. I would think that the armed gangs would be trying to take control of any supplies that are put down, which means people are going to get killed. They’d have to have heavily armed troops guarding, to control distribution. How do they get the troops in? More helicopters, meaning more air traffic, and less that can be utilised for carrying supplies and evacuating people.An awful situation and logistical nightmare, but I guess it is what they are faced with at the moment.

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On the 7th day, God was arrested.

who do you think is doing the evacuating?http://www.thestate.com/...thestate/news/nation/12529978.htm Perhaps what is needed is a federal program. Instead of words.

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we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}

Somalia

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Sure it is a different situation. Aid workers could get to the twin tower rubble without being inhibited by water, and workers could talk to each other, and they weren't being shot at. Still, much of these scenarios were predicted, yet NO was unprepared.