The Ledge

Go Back   The Ledge > Main Forums > Chit Chat
User Name
Password
Register FAQ Members List Calendar


Make the Ads Go Away! Click here.
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #196  
Old 08-31-2005, 04:45 PM
David's Avatar
David David is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: California
Posts: 14,945
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by strandinthewind
Interestingly, there is no safe place to build a city. Natural disasters can happen just about anywhere
I would amend that to say: There is no completely safe place to build a city.

But you try to stack the odds in your favor. It's like internetworking security: "100 percent secure" is a myth. But you implement firewalls, antivirus software & other measures to afford you a level of protection that you don't otherwise have.

When you develop on a large scale, you build in safeguards & you implement measures that afford you a level of protection that you don't otherwise have. An example: The good folk of Hilo Bay in Hawaii, after suffering through multiple disasters, finally got the picture. There is now a beautiful grassy park between the downtown district & the mighty ocean. Another example would be earthquake-proofing buildings with state-of-the-art codes in earthquake country.

But one thing I would think you never, never do -- anywhere in the world at this point -- is to develop along a coastline below sea level.

As thousands of years of civilization have taught virtually all societies: Sooner or later, the sea will out.
__________________

moviekinks.blogspot.com
Reply With Quote
  #197  
Old 08-31-2005, 04:45 PM
Mad4stevie's Avatar
Mad4stevie Mad4stevie is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 1,504
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by David
Just about six hours before landfall, one of the news channels I was watching interviewed a father & teenaged son -- a couple of numbnuts (the father moreso, obviously) who stood there in front of the camera, uttering every type of imbecility imaginable. The reporter asked them why they didn't plan to evacuate when meteorologists were saying the storm was going to create a storm surge that would bury much of coastal New Orleans like a tsunami & so forth, & numbnuts Dad & Son just stood there saying, "No way, man. That ain't going to happen. It ain't the same thing" blah blah blah.

The reporter was just dumbfounded.

I wonder where numbnuts Dad & Son are now. I don't wish bad things on dumb people (only on bad people), but I can't help thinking that natural selection is at work.
I saw these fools, too. They sounded so stupid and seemed proud of themselves for having made it on tv.

When the reporter questioned them about why they weren't worried about the comparison to the Asian tsunami, they said, "It ain't the same thing, man. A tidal surge is different than a tsumani. We will know when it is coming, and after all, we are a mile from the coastline". I have a bad feeling that something really happened to these people. So stupid and so sad.
__________________
~Heather~

Well, someday when we're older
And my hair is silver gray
Unbraid with all of the love that you have
Like a soft, silver chain . . .
Reply With Quote
  #198  
Old 08-31-2005, 04:52 PM
Mad4stevie's Avatar
Mad4stevie Mad4stevie is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 1,504
Default

Did you see all the footage of the coffins that have been displaced from their gravesites? God, its like a horror movie . . .
__________________
~Heather~

Well, someday when we're older
And my hair is silver gray
Unbraid with all of the love that you have
Like a soft, silver chain . . .
Reply With Quote
  #199  
Old 08-31-2005, 04:54 PM
strandinthewind's Avatar
strandinthewind strandinthewind is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: New York City
Posts: 25,791
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad4stevie
Did you see all the footage of the coffins that have been displaced from their gravesites? God, its like a horror movie . . .
I've seen that in person. It does not really bother me because in New Orleans, the dead are always with us - in fact the graveyards are like Cities of the Dead and are often referred to as such.
__________________
Photobucket

save the cheerleader - save the world
Reply With Quote
  #200  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:05 PM
amber's Avatar
amber amber is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Fighting foh the Nohthun Stah...NO SPEED LIMIT! BITCH! THIS IS THE FAST LANE!!!
Posts: 23,178
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by strandinthewind
I've seen that in person. It does not really bother me because in New Orleans, the dead are always with us - in fact the graveyards are like Cities of the Dead and are often referred to as such.
That's true. I know it's stupid, but I can't stop crying about this. I would call NO the most unique and wonderful and strange city in the whole country. I just keep thinking "well, the people will keep the culture and spirit alive, hopefully on higher ground". But that only helps a little, especially because I never got to see the city. Heartbreaking.
__________________
"Do not be afraid! I am Esteban de la Sexface!"
"In order to live free and happily, you must sacrifice boredom.
It is not always an easy sacrifice"

Whehyll I can do EHYT!! Wehyll I can make it WAHN moh thihme! (wheyllit'sA reayllongwaytogooo! To say goodbhiiy!) -
Reply With Quote
  #201  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:18 PM
gldstwmn's Avatar
gldstwmn gldstwmn is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Drowning in the sea of La Mer
Posts: 19,490
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by strandinthewind
I just heard that W will be going there tommorow. We'll see.
Then he can go to Camp David for the weekend on Friday.
Reply With Quote
  #202  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:20 PM
gldstwmn's Avatar
gldstwmn gldstwmn is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Drowning in the sea of La Mer
Posts: 19,490
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by lbelle1214
The WM I saw was not open for business...there were Nat'l Guard personnel letting people in to get food.
That was footage from yesterday in NOLA.
Reply With Quote
  #203  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:21 PM
gldstwmn's Avatar
gldstwmn gldstwmn is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Drowning in the sea of La Mer
Posts: 19,490
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer
I agree with you.
Who said it would never happen?
Reply With Quote
  #204  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:24 PM
gldstwmn's Avatar
gldstwmn gldstwmn is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Drowning in the sea of La Mer
Posts: 19,490
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by johndoe
I don't think its the world being blase about it, its just that we don't hear about them being sympathetic.
Some of the first pictures I posted in another thread were from a newspaper in Italy. The story was front page news.
Canada offered us their support this morning. I've been gone most of the afternoon so I'm not sure who else has ponied up.
Reply With Quote
  #205  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:26 PM
gldstwmn's Avatar
gldstwmn gldstwmn is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Drowning in the sea of La Mer
Posts: 19,490
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by SuzeQuze
People really are mostly generous in a crisis.
Very true.
Reply With Quote
  #206  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:28 PM
gldstwmn's Avatar
gldstwmn gldstwmn is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Drowning in the sea of La Mer
Posts: 19,490
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer
I fear for the break-outs of disease if they are not evacuated immediately.
I heard from a friend that has family there that some of them are being quarantined.
Reply With Quote
  #207  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:30 PM
gldstwmn's Avatar
gldstwmn gldstwmn is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Drowning in the sea of La Mer
Posts: 19,490
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by SuzeQuze
That's so frightening. I wish I could help them get out. Then smack them silly for not heeding the evacuation order.
I'm only going to make this point one more time, I promise. There were people who were unable to evacuate for a variety of reasons, mostly financial.
Reply With Quote
  #208  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:56 PM
GypsySorcerer's Avatar
GypsySorcerer GypsySorcerer is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: KY
Posts: 6,591
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by gldstwmn
I heard from a friend that has family there that some of them are being quarantined.
Have you heard anything about the VA in NOLA? At least 150 were there, and I heard the generators had run out of fuel. I hope they've been airlifted out.

Last edited by GypsySorcerer; 08-31-2005 at 07:01 PM..
Reply With Quote
  #209  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:58 PM
gldstwmn's Avatar
gldstwmn gldstwmn is offline
Addicted Ledgie
Supporting Ledgie
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Drowning in the sea of La Mer
Posts: 19,490
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer
Have you heard anything about the VA in NOLA? At least 150 were there, and I head the generators had run out of fuel. I hope they've been airlifted out.
No. But I will keep my eyes open and let you know if I see anything.

Last edited by gldstwmn; 08-31-2005 at 07:42 PM..
Reply With Quote
  #210  
Old 08-31-2005, 07:23 PM
strandinthewind's Avatar
strandinthewind strandinthewind is offline
Addicted Ledgie
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: New York City
Posts: 25,791
Default update

CNN: Heartbreak and destruction in small towns and large
Editor's Note: CNN correspondents report back on what they are seeing in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities hit by Hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans destruction recalls past tragedies
Posted: 4:12 p.m. ET
CNN's Jeanne Meserve in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

On the way out of New Orleans, it looked like the dust bowl. You've seen the pictures of the dust bowl, of people piled onto the backs of tracks and moving their lives. That's what is happening here. It's extraordinary to witness.

I truly believe that apart from 9/11 this is one of the most significant events that has ever hit this country. Anybody who tells you this disaster is going to be rectified in a matter of months hasn't seen the situation.

People are carrying their children, trying to get them to safety. A woman coming down to the police, close to hysterics, saying, "My elderly mother is in a building over there, she needs dialysis. She can't get it. She is dying. Can you help me?"

And the police had to say, "There is absolutely nothing we can do. We don't have a precinct house. We don't have communication. There is absolutely nothing we can do for you."

That was amazing to me.

The other thing that struck me was the looting. The police were standing in the middle of the street and right in front of them stores were being ransacked. And they didn't even make an effort to stop it. I don't think they could, under the circumstances.

They were totally outnumbered. They couldn't call for any reinforcements. And frankly, the priority now isn't property. The priority has to be people and people's lives. The police are there protectively, I think, in case things escalate even further. But they are powerless. They're powerless in this situation.

We did see tree removal trucks, electric trucks. So help is beginning to come in. We even saw, and this was a very strong image, Air Force One, or what we believed was Air Force One.

That was a powerful image to us because we've been out of communication, unaware really of what's happening in the outside world. This was a sign that you've heard, that you've heard and listened.

New Orleans a refugee city
Posted: 3:46 p.m. ET
CNN's Jim Spellman in New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans has fast become a refugee city. Thousands and thousands of people are seeking shelter on the highway overpasses looking for some sort of help, some sort of information.

They are screaming out to us and anybody around for water and for help. They are looking for information and for a way to get out.

On the highway overpasses and underneath the highways as well, people are trying to find a spot for themselves. Prison buses are streaming by to evacuate prisoners and a lot of people are very, very upset that they aren't getting help, but the prisoners are.

We have seen looting all day long. We actually went right up to a Walgreens where people were trying on shoes to get the correct size. They were picking out whatever it is they wanted -- televisions, just anything they could get. The police have definitely been trying to keep it to a minimum. The police are in boats but there's really nothing they can do. I don't know where they would even take anybody. They are taking all the looted material and they are trying to keep the chaos to a minimum.

Today is the first day when I think lack of water is starting to become a problem. It's about in the 90s. It's extremely humid here. And people are just baking out on these highways. There is nowhere else for them to go.

New Orleans airport becomes makeshift hospital
Posted: 2:20 p.m. ET
CNN's Ed Lavandera in Kenner, Louisiana

I just spoke with one of the officials here who is in charge of organizing the entire logistical situation at the Louis Armstrong International Airport here in New Orleans. This is where over the last 12 hours a team of FEMA workers have been setting up a field hospital, one of about 40 or so that have been set up across the region.

To give you a sense of just how massive this operation is, consider that in the four major hurricanes that hit Florida last year there were never more than five of these field hospitals set up at any time.

This one here at the New Orleans airport will turn out probably to be one of the most effective ones. In the last hour, we've seen four Coast Guard helicopters dropping off people who need medical attention. The inside of the terminal here has been turned into a makeshift hospital. There are FedEx trucks that have been turned into pharmacies on wheels.

The head of that logistical operation is hearing rumors that as many as 20 helicopter missions will be returning here to the tarmac and bringing more patients. And just because there are 20 helicopters doesn't mean that's just 20 people. There could be dozens of people brought in.

We understand these could be people who are literally just being plucked from their homes. There are people who are trapped in hospitals or other shelters who need immediate medical attention who also are being brought in. A lot of that is going on.

Since we've been here, we've seen helicopters landing. We've seen a couple planes land as well. But by no means does this mean that just anybody can come flying into the New Orleans airport. I think it is kind of obvious, but the aviation director here at the airport was telling me that for the next several weeks the only people probably allowed to land at this airport will be those that are involved in the humanitarian mission here, the rescue mission and the relief mission.

It could be as long as two months before this airport returns to normal for regular civilian air traffic.

New Orleans getting worse by the hour
Posted: 1:03 p.m. ET
CNN's John Zarella in New Orleans, Louisiana

We are part of a convoy of CNN personnel who left the city. We left the hotel this morning. As we did so, we helped evacuate people from it.

We drove on the sidewalks to stay high enough out of the water so the cars would not bog down until we made it over to Canal Street. Canal Street was dry in the middle. We stopped where the police were and I told one of the officers that we had these evacuees from the hotel and that we were told to drop them off there with him. He said, "Well, we're not going anywhere. We're only here because we can't get back to our station. Everything's flooded under water."

So they're sitting in the middle of Canal Street. We took the evacuees to another area by another hotel and dropped them off there.

We wound our way through the city this morning through back streets and side streets, downed power lines, around downed industries. We were driving on the wrong side of the road periodically, up along the Mississippi bank, along the levee and finally made it over the Huey P. Long Bridge on Highway 90. We are making our way up to Baton Rouge now. Highway 90 is a steady stream of traffic.

In New Orleans, there's no sanitation any longer. The knee-deep water in the hotel lobby is just full of stench. It is a miserable, deteriorating situation in the city and it is growing worse by the hour and the water is rising.

The fact of the matter is this bowl, as they call it, is filling up. The estimates of time that it's going to take to get the water out of the bowl are three to six months. You could be sitting there in absolutely untenable conditions, in water that is filled with disease and germs, for months to come, walking through it, slogging through it.

With the looting that's going on and with the deteriorating sanitation conditions, it is a situation where you can't cover the story because you can't venture out from the hotel. It's so dangerous, one, because the water is getting higher, and two, because of the disease factor that is beginning. There's no food, there's no water.

Shreveport hospital in dire need
Posted: 12:36 p.m. ET
CNN's Deborah Feyerick in Shreveport, Louisiana

We had a conversation with one family who had left New Orleans. They are desperately trying to get in touch with their sister. She is a college nurse at the Memorial Medical Hospital on Napoleon Street. The story they told us of what is going on at that hospital is quite dramatic.

According to their sister, looters are trying to get into the hospital. There's no electricity. The nurses, the doctors and their families have virtually locked themselves into the medical center and they don't know when they are going to be able to get out.

The story they were telling us is that the hospital administration was telling the staff there it would be five days until they might be able to be rescued. They are telling us that people in the hospital are dying because there's no electricity.

One nurse walked outside to get a breath of fresh air. She was robbed at gunpoint. There were National Guard that was around the hospital, but apparently we are told they pulled out in order to help with the prisoner uprising that happened yesterday.

And according to the story they are telling the people who are in that hospital simply don't know how they are going to get out. They want their sister to try to meet them in Shreveport. Right now they can't get in touch with her. We tried to call her. We can't get in touch with the hospital either. It's a desperate situation.

Homes flattened in Biloxi
Posted: 12:15 p.m. ET
CNN's Ted Rowlands in Biloxi, Mississippi

Many structures along the Mississippi coast have been literally flattened by Hurricane Katrina.

It is difficult for search and rescue crews to wade through this. This is expanded over miles and miles, including some larger cities like Biloxi and smaller cities and townships.

Vast stretches have been flattened by Hurricane Katrina. The death toll continues to rise here. People have been trickling in against the advice of authorities to see if their homes withstood the hurricane.

Most folks here in Biloxi have come away with very bad news, finding out that their homes have been completely destroyed. There is no electricity and no water. It is a health hazard to have people coming in. The odds of them finding their house in one piece are low. Coming back now does absolutely no good.

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/3...log/index.html
__________________
Photobucket

save the cheerleader - save the world
Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


Blues: The British Connection by Brunning, Bob Paperback Book  picture

Blues: The British Connection by Brunning, Bob Paperback Book

$8.90



1960s Pop - Hardcover By Brunning, Bob - GOOD picture

1960s Pop - Hardcover By Brunning, Bob - GOOD

$6.50



1960s Pop by Brunning, Bob picture

1960s Pop by Brunning, Bob

$7.91



Bob Brunning Sound Trackers Music Series Hardcover 6 Book Lot Pop, Metal, Reggae picture

Bob Brunning Sound Trackers Music Series Hardcover 6 Book Lot Pop, Metal, Reggae

$56.99



1970s Pop - Hardcover By Brunning, Bob - GOOD picture

1970s Pop - Hardcover By Brunning, Bob - GOOD

$6.66




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:28 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
© 1995-2003 Martin and Lisa Adelson, All Rights Reserved