God Spare New Orleans

[bigw00dy]

Here are some aerial shots of the flood damage.

[Elspode]

Well, with the failure of the Ponchatrain canal levees, the worst case scenario has come to be. I heard this morning that they fully expect the flooding of the New Orleands basin to cease only when the water level reaches equilibrium with the level of the lake.

Even in the aerial shots I saw last night, slicks of gasoline, oil and chemicals are evident in almost every view as submerged gas tanks and vehicles lose their contents. As the water rises higher, more and more petroleum-based and other industrial contaminants will enter the festering mix, joining rotting bodies, animal carcasses and vegetable matter.

New Orleans may be a dead loss. As it is, the number of businesses unable to function and the number of people who have lost everything, jobs included, will be unprecedented in our history. Who is going to house and care for these people? Who will pay their outstanding credit card debt (now that they can't file bankruptcy to clear those accounts)?

You know the one thing I didn't see in all of the approximately 30 solid minutes of different videos and stills I looked at last night? A military presence that was more than the merest token.

Where's our military in all of this? Surely, this disaster calls for a strong military response, with all of their hardware, expertise and organization.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Elspode

Where's our military in all of this? Surely, this disaster calls for a strong military response, with all of their hardware, expertise and organization.

With the New Orleans flood prevention and disaster preparation money, in Iraq.

[bargalunan]

Originally Posted by Elspode

Where's our military in all of this? Surely, this disaster calls for a strong military response, with all of their hardware, expertise and organization.

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

With the New Orleans flood prevention and disaster preparation money, in Iraq.

I find it's a pity/shame that people have no other efficient federal solution/organisation than military one's.

The 14th of July at the French military parade, our Defense minister was only justifying our army by is ability to help people during natural disasters. She "forgot" mines thrower trucks that were shown for the first time on the Champs Elysées and all kinds of offensive weapons that require most of the money.

Hoping it won't get people used to see the militaries in their streets.

[Elspode]

I was thinking along the lines of hovercraft, amphibious vehicles, helicopters, fast patrol boats, big trucks, stuff like that...and the people who are trained to work in harsh conditions while maintaining discipline. Chaos we've got plenty of. There'll be lots of time to plan the next Mardi Gras after we get people out of the festering choleric cesspool and into some clean clothes and a hot meal.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by bargalunan

I find it's a pity/shame that people have no other efficient federal solution/organisation than military one's.

Not so much the Army, etc, as the National Guard. Since the US isn't under the threat of actual invasion, national emergencies really are what the National Guard is for.

[tw]

Originally Posted by bargalunan

I find it's a pity/shame that people have no other efficient federal solution/organisation than military one's.

It is rare - mostly unheard of - for the miltary to be involved in national disasters. When disasters are extreme, the state's governor can call out the state militia - also called the National Guard.

In this case, the number of people who did not leave are so numerous that even active military response is required.

Even when racists had less than 100 Federal Marshalls pinned down with little ammunition and under heavy arms attack, President Kennedy still stalled at sending Federal Troops to their rescue. When he finally did order it, Gen Abrams took almost a full day to resuce those Federal Marshalls. Use of Federal troops for anything inside the US was generally frowned upon. The change was recently created by this president with something called Northern Command.

[bluecuracao]

I've been reading nola.com...it's all just...awful.

With so much need and so few resources, the weakest and frailest were bound to suffer the most. Seated next to her husband's body on the neutral ground beneath the St. Joseph Street sign, Allie Harris munched on crackers, seemingly unaware of all the tragedy unfolding around her. Eventually, guardsmen loaded her into a truck and hauled her off with other elderly evacuees.

Mr. Harris' body was left behind.

Such a breakdown did not bode well for other evacuees. As the afternoon wore on, hope faded, replaced by anger.

"This is 2005," John Murray shouted, standing in the street near Mr. Harris' body. "It should not be like this for no catastrophe. This is pathetic."

Indeed.