Hurricane Katrina

[ZephyrZodiac]

I was just over at MTS2 and notice they have a link there to the Red Cross Website, but the minimum donation button is 25$, which is more than a lot of people can afford.  Makes me wonder whether a collection with a smaller donation amount, like 5$, could be started and then the total donated in one go?  After all, if five people donate 5$, that's 25$ the Red Cross wouldn't have had otherwise.

[Liss]

Reggie,
I haven't posted recently because I'm back on dialup (ugh) and haven't used the internet much, but I have been following this and thinking of you.  I'm glad you are ok.  This blows my mind...I hope y'all can bounce back sooner than the news is making it sound like.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, it certainly sounds like some of your government officials have taken their time in getting things moving, from what I read.  I just hope that now your president has finally got involved that things will speed up a little, and those people who've managed to cling on to life up to now will all be rescued in time!

[reggikko]

Friday , September 02, 2005 @ 01:34 pm
Hurricane Update:

My elderly aunt and uncle who live in St Bernard Parish (which is completely under water) have not been heard from. I also have cousins in that area that haven't been heard from.

Another cousin, who lives in a rural area about 75 miles from New Orleans, lost his home to a fire after a tree knocked a power line onto his roof. They lost everything.

Slowly, I am finding out information about some family, but many are unaccounted for. Senator David Vitter has said that he expects the death toll in Louisiana to surpass the 10,000 mark.

This is a nightmare. It's worse than anything that I could imagine. It's hard to believe that in the richest nation in the world that help was not gotten to these people sooner. From the bottom of my heart, I thank all who have sent their thoughts and prayers and support.
 
About Pescado....I truly take no offense at his remarks. I know it is just his way. I was a bit emotionally raw when I first responded. So, all's well, Fishman. You know that.

Long-term, we will go home as soon as we are allowed. We live in the northernmost section of western Jefferson Parish. Satellite views show my entire neighborhood is intact. There are some trees down, but other than that and the lack of cars about, all looks like any other day. There is no flooding and no anarchy going on anywhere near my home. As Veilchen said, Southern Louisiana is my home and my love. I would never leave it. My family has been here since the early 1720's. We've survived a lot and we will continue to do so. 

[Sandilou]

I'm a Red Cross subscriber, but I'm more than willing to add extra to my monthly payment; so many countries need help.  I've just heard on the news that Fidel Castro has offered substantial help.  This seems so ironic.

The US government's response seems unbelievably slow; US troops need to be brought home to support US citizens in New Orleans.  It is disastrous that the manpower is not in place where it is needed most. 

[cabelle]

My daughters' school has collecting voluntary donations for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Besides all the loving kids who have emptied their piggy banks many of us parents have also donated as much as we can. Prior to the disaster our school had planned a blood drive for September 12, you can bet it's still on. Hubby & I will be there to give our pint and I am certain that many other residents of our area will be there too. There was also a telethon by our local news station yesterday and the amount pledged was encouraging news, about $1,600,000.

I was so discouraged by the slugishness in an appropriate response. My husband & I along with many other friends we spoke with felt so helpless seeing all of the suffering. I can't understand why it took so long to pull it together. I just hope that things will get better from here. All of the residents in New Orleans and the other Gulf areas will continue to be in my thoughts and I will do whatever I can to help them get their lives back.

[J. M. Pescado]

Well, it's certainly better than living in a freaking HOLE in Montana.

You're just jealous my hole is much cooler than yours. I bet you wish you had a nice hole to hide out in.

BTW, Pescado, you can kiss my fat New Orleanian Ass.  BASTARD.

Nyah, nyah. You're just jealous. And you have an ugly butt.

Another cousin, who lives in a rural area about 75 miles from New Orleans, lost his home to a fire after a tree knocked a power line onto his roof. They lost everything.

Pssh. Power lines fall over all the time. That's what you get for building your home out of flammable materials. If I had a penny for every time a power line fell over here, I'd have enough copper to make my own power lines! And I'd make sure they wouldn't fall over!

There is no flooding and no anarchy going on anywhere near my home. As Veilchen said, Southern Louisiana is my home and my love. I would never leave it. My family has been here since the early 1720's. We've survived a lot and we will continue to do so. 

NO ANARCHY? Dammit, why can't I ever have any anarchy going on around here? I've been waiting for some anarchy for years now. Anarchy is fun! When else can I finally put all this ammo to use? Oh, well. Here's to hoping a disaster happens here, so I can laugh at the locals who didn't invest in a nice bunker. And partake in some anarchy.

The US government's response seems unbelievably slow; US troops need to be brought home to support US citizens in New Orleans.  It disastrous that the manpower is not in place where it is needed most.

What did you expect? The government can never do anything fast. If you call the police and order a pizza right afterwards, your pizza will arrive first. If something catches fire, you're going to be out of marshmallows by the time the fire department arrives.

[kim]

I just hope that now your president has finally got involved that things will speed up a little,

now, see, that's humor.  that's truly fucking funny.  gwb walking around in front of cameras making semi-intelligent noises that he doesn't understand, which is okay because he doesn't mean it anyway, is not getting involved.  getting involved was when his policies took money that would have gone toward enhancing flood protection and sent it, along with 1/3 of the LA national guard, to Iraq.  which hopefully wasn't about the oil, because...
 
Odyssey, does your dad have anything to say about the major oil production that used to take place in the gulf before all the platforms drifted away?

'sokay though, pescado's truck prolly runs on something from a Montana open pit mine that used to be a mountain.  nothing touches him.

[SimsHost]

The second worst part about this whole disaster is the sleazy politicians and "celebrities" who are seeking personal profit from the grief of people in Louisiana and Mississippi by using it as an exuse to take pot-shots at the president.

The worst part is the sensationalist "news" media giving these insane swine a public forum because they are "celebrities."   We should demand equal time on CNN for non-celebrity crazies!

JM, if you want to use up some ammo, there are some targets for you.


Get real, Kim.  The president declared a state of emergency in Louisiana and Mississippi and mobilized the effort before the storm even hit.  These are people we're talking about, not magic machines that suddenly appear at the push of a button. 

The speed and magnitude of the response to this emergency, from all parts of America, is without precedent or parallel in all of recorded human history.  Never have so many done so much so quickly, and such an extreme expression of ingratitude on the part of the politicians claiming to represent the people of New Orleans is also without precedent or parallel.

Folks, when ya'll get home, fire those bastards.  They are disgracing the great state of Louisiana. 

Meanwhile, you're welcome to enjoy the hospitality of Houston (where I was this morning, working my day job) and Dallas (where I am tonight, in my house up north for the long weekend).  We're glad to have you!

Innocent bystanders might be interested to know what the "news" media are not reporting because it doesn't support their political agenda.  Every television station, every radio station, every church, and everybody else I've seen in Texas from Dallas to Houston are organizing relief efforts and collecting donations to help out the folks displaced by this mess.

Beyond that, why are these greedy sleazebags whining at the federal government in any case?  Why should people in Idaho and Montana pay the extra cost of hardening New Orleans against a hurricane?  Let those who want to live in New Orleans pay the cost of building facilities for a hurricane zone; it's what everybody else on the Gulf coast does.  If they don't want to pay those costs, they should move to Boise or Billings where they don't have to worry about hurricanes.

Sheesh.  I've lived in border counties for more than thirty years, just 25 miles from the Galveston sea wall, and this is the first time I've heard anybody whine at the federal government for not doing what we have already shown that we can do for ourselves.

[kim]

 We should demand equal time on CNN for non-celebrity crazies!
...
Get real, Kim.  The president declared a state of emergency in Louisiana and Mississippi and mobilized the effort before the storm even hit.  These are people we're talking about, not magic machines that suddenly appear at the push of a button. 

yes, we should have some air time too.
yup, the president's declared a lot over the past 5 years.  pretty near all bullshit.  but he's got you fooled, so carry on soldier.   
three closing words.  james lee witt. 

[reggikko]

The speed and magnitude of the response to this emergency, from all parts of America, is without precedent or parallel in all of recorded human history.  Never have so many done so much so quickly, and such an extreme expression of ingratitude on the part of the politicians claiming to represent the people of New Orleans is also without precedent or parallel.

I'd like to ask one question. If you and your children were stranded on an Interstate overpass for 4 days, in extreme heat, with no food and no water, would you still feel that the response was fast enough? If your wife had a premature baby who died in a hospital due to lack of power, water, supplies, etc, would you still think it was fast enough? What about if you watched your elderly mother die of dehydration right next to you? Still fast enough?  I don't fault Ray Nagin for being angry and frustrated. The situation is horrific. The president himself has admitted that the response was not fast enough. Why couldn't the Louisiana National Guard respond? BECAUSE THEY ARE IN FUCKING IRAQ.

I'm glad that you're safe and sound in the great state of Texas. I and all of Louisiana are grateful to Texas for their stepping up in the heroic manner in which they have. Louisiana is a POOR state. When the oil industry down here went belly-up in the 80's, our economy was destroyed. New Orleans and Louisiana were just beginning to turn the corner, after years and years of plain determination and hard work.

Beyond that, why are these greedy sleazebags whining at the federal government in any case?  Why should people in Idaho and Montana pay the extra cost of hardening New Orleans against a hurricane?  Let those who want to live in New Orleans pay the cost of building facilities for a hurricane zone; it's what everybody else on the Gulf coast does.  If they don't want to pay those costs, they should move to Boise or Billings where they don't have to worry about hurricanes.

Greedy sleazebags? I'm sorry, but that offends me deeply. We'll see what happens when the rest of the country has no gasoline to run their fucking huge pickup trucks and SUV's. Do people in Idaho and Montana use gasoline? Do they sell their grain to the rest of the world? Do you like your coffee and your sugar? Think the Port of New Orleans wasn't worth protecting? We'll see. In the meantime, Greg, I won't be responding to anything you have to say.  Have a great fucking life and think about me when you're paying 7 bucks a gallon for the gasoline for that commute.

I need to stay away from this forum until this is over. Over and OUT.

[reggikko]

Well, it's certainly better than living in a freaking HOLE in Montana.

You're just jealous my hole is much cooler than yours. I bet you wish you had a nice hole to hide out in.

HAHAHAHAHAHA. Nice try, though.

[Renatus]

*raaaaises eyebrows at SimsHost*

Political agenda, hm? Yeeeeeeeah. I think I'll stick to getting my opinions and information from Making Light, since their thinking is based on data from within this universe.

[J. M. Pescado]

Greedy sleazebags? I'm sorry, but that offends me deeply. We'll see what happens when the rest of the country has no gasoline to run their fucking huge pickup trucks and SUV's. Do people in Idaho and Montana use gasoline?

Yeah, but many of us wisely saw this one coming. Mostly because it happens every year. And hoarded the stuff. I sure did. I started hoarding it years ago, and stocked up majorly when it got cheap a few years back. I generally keep at least 40K gallons on stockpile. Just in case. Even on the less than stellar fuel economy of a T-34/85, that's enough to travel across the entire country.

Do they sell their grain to the rest of the world? Do you like your coffee and your sugar? Think the Port of New Orleans wasn't worth protecting? We'll see. In the meantime, Greg, I won't be responding to anything you have to say.  Have a great fucking life and think about me when you're paying 7 bucks a gallon for the gasoline for that commute.

Greggo happens to be from Texas, not up here. I, for one, have boycotted gas for over a year now. I encourage everyone else to do the same! Say "No!" to outrageous fuel prices. BUY A HORSE!

And sure, the port is certainly worth protecting. I see this as an opportunity. When Rome burned down, many accuse Emperor Nero of fiddling while Rome burned, but forget that he did drastically revise the fire safety codes in response. It didn't happen again. Something to think about.

[Bane~Child]

Hey y'all. I will be AWOL for several days. Hurricane Katrina is being a bitch and appears to be heading our way. We'll be vacating the premises and staying with friends in Texas. Bah.  Anyone else along the Gulf Coast, please stay safe.

Oh Reg, thank goodness, I have been worried sick about you.  I am so glad you made it to safety for now and I am so sorry for your community.  Thank you so much for checking in with us, I know you have greater worries on your mind.  Please keep us posted when you are better able to do so.

Jack Woods at MTS2 lives in the Southeast most part and he posted a note on the 29th that he was hoping for the best and may be out of pocket for a while.  He actually apologized for the inconvenience of possibly being unavailable - Can you believe this?  Nobody has heard from him yet. 

Here is an excerpt from Delphy:

08-31-2005, 10:01 AM ..."Our thoughts and prayers will be with these victims and their families. JWoods is one of the Simming Community's most talented artists and modders. He is also a moderator at MTS2, and a loving friend and father. He was in New Orleans with his family as the hurricane hit. We can only hope that he and his family are safe. If we hear anything, we will keep you informed. But please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as well..."

Kind Regards,
Delphy, and the MTS2 Staff
~~~

LyricLee said he has her cell phone number, but as of today there is still no word on him.  She even posted on the website for the Red Cross to try and request some additional information.
Here is the thread, if anyone is interested:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=87245&page=5&pp=25

[Bane~Child]

'sokay though, pescado's truck prolly runs on something from a Montana open pit mine that used to be a mountain.  nothing touches him.

No he uses completely natural sources of Methane - It runs on all that crap with which he entertains himself.

JM, You are such a Gun-Ho, why don't you go have a field day and organize with the KKK or some of your fellow Wyoming militants?

For the love of whatever God you don't worship - It's OK to show and receive compassion without inflicting PAIN - Really it's OK

I just thought of something and I am truly not trying to be funny, as most of you know I am incapable of that anyway, however - Do you realize those poor people are actually living out the Email Challenge?  A Cell with no walls and no toilet!

[bluecatvon]

Reggikko, sorry for not posting to this thread sooner cause I only go online once every 2 or 3 weeks. Though I don't know all of you very well, I do think secretly of us as a family, hope i'm not only fantasizing this I'm so glad that you and your family are ok, and i'm also sorry for the others that weren't.

I come from Malaysia, one of the areas where the tsunami of 26 december struck. A tragedy isn't easy to get by, but after 8 months, the people in the south asia area have gone on with their lives, and i'm sure everyone in the affected area of Hurricane Katrina will do so soon.

I'm not very good with words, so i'll just wish everyone good luck

[ZephyrZodiac]

To blame the ordinary people living anywhere for not making their city safer is ridiculous!  Ordinary people have no say in these things - the ballot box these days merely replaces one lot of self-seeking opportunists for another lot!  Did the people of Chernobyl have any say in the state of the Nuclear Power Plant near their homes?  Do the people of Bangladesh have any choice but to continue to live on the world's largest flood-plain!  And the poorer the people, the less say they have!

Any large multi-national company could have afforded the cost of reinforcing the defences of New Orleans, any government which cares about the safety of it's people could have extracted a one-off payment from those companies which choose to use the Port of NO as a base of operations to pay the cost of protecting what is, after all, their investment as well, but if you have a city with a large poor population, you cannot expect them to be able to pay such huge costs!

And Reggikko, just because one or two people posting here seem to think this is just another opportunity to bolster their own ego or that of their "wonderful" president, it doesn't mean that most of us don't genuinely care about the plight of all the people for whom New Orleans has been home for so long!

[ElviraGoth]

What I find totally amazing is that here in North Carolina, the power companies were on standby and ready to respond BEFORE Katrina hit.  The morning after, we saw convoys of power co. trucks headed south out of town on their way to NO.  But the troops at Fort Bragg here and the marines stationed on the coast weren't called out to go there until Thursday or Friday.

And with all the looting they've been showing on the 24 hour news coverage, wouldn't you think troops could have been sent in earlier?  Why weren't they on standby for a national emergency?  Guess "our" oil interests in Iraq are more important than the people in our own country and the oil off our own coast.

(I heard that that idiot Rush Limbaugh said that this just shows we should be finding more places to drill for oil.  Get a clue, RL.  Like JM said, get a horse!  Personally, I'd like to see more solar-powered vehicles or steam/water powered.)

I just can't believe how horrible the devastation is there.  My heart goes out to everyone who lives (lived?) there or who has friends or relatives there.  We are doing what we can here in the way of donations to try and help those who are in need.  Wish we could do more.

It is the people who care - because we know that something as devastating could happen to any of us at any time.  And I would hope that if an act of God (or any other event) happened here, the rest of the country would be willing to help us, too.  Look at 9/11.  I only hope as much, if not more, can be done for NO as was done for NY.

[Danni]

Reggikko- I'm glad you're ok, and I hope your family is too. I'm not going into politics right now (though I'm a socialist so you can try to guess my views) but I wish help had gotten there quicker. I heard the Mayor blasting off on the radio - good for him!

[Oddysey]

Yup. Going to stick solar panels on my roof. Take that! Hah!

The main problem with the response has been the bureaucracy. Basically, FEMA has to get massive amounts of authorization to do anything, or they won't be sure that they're going to have the money. The administration has been trying to take FEMA apart, and has been doing a fairly good job of doing so, and before Katrina it was looking like FEMA was going to be taken off of natural disasters entirely and its resources were going to be devoted to terrorism.  Guess someone forgot that homeland defense includes natural disasters.

The Coast Guard is an armed force, so it runs along military lines. You give them a job to do, and they do it, and they'll worry about the money later. Most of the Federal Government isn't set up that way.

The drilling platforms aren't that big of a deal at this point. They locked down any leaks pretty quickly, so they're not producing any oil, which isn't the greatest thing because I think the Gulf platforms (not just the ones that got unmoored by the hurricane) account for around 50% of the countries oil, but they aren't leaking or anything.

This is why watching the television news depresses me. I watch the news, and I think about all the tens of thousands of people who were still in New Orleans because they didn't have any way to leave, either no car or no money for a hotel, and I think, "This is wrong." Gut feeling of wrongness. This whole mess was definitely made worse by things that we do, how we handle things. New Orleans wasn't underwater when it was started. Stopping the replacement of silt, provided by flooding, is to blame for that. The loss of the mangrove swamps took out a natural buffer to flooding. Global warming increases the nastiness of the system that creates hurricanes. Our use of toxic chemicals to do everything makes natural disasters that much worse when they release those chemicals.

[SimsHost]

If economic arguments about the value of the port of New Orleans, offshore oil, and agriculture products hold, then the area has enough money to build its own infrastructure.  Case in point: the Houston ship channel.  Also don't overlook the economic value of tourism in New Orleans; tourism is the second largest export industry in the world today.

Of course, if those industries didn't return sufficient revenues to pay for the infrastructure required to make them economically viable, then no, those things would not be "worth protecting" from an economic standpoint.  But that's really not the case; those industries in Louisiana clearly do have sufficient revenues for the local region to build what it needs to build.  Or at least they could if the politicians (and the people who elect them) would only realize that it's a local problem.

I agree that disaster relief is a national problem.  Everybody is subject to some kind of natural disasters.  Even folks in Billings and Boise have to worry about having volcanic ash dumped on them.  But when it comes to the long term projects of building infrastructure, it's time for folks in Louisiana to move up from feudalism and join the modern world.  Be builders, not beggars.

Greggo happens to be from Texas, not up here. I, for one, have boycotted gas for over a year now. I encourage everyone else to do the same! Say "No!" to outrageous fuel prices. BUY A HORSE!

Speaking of which, there's a horse ranch just half a block from my house in Wylie, Texas that would be happy to talk to you!  

[J. M. Pescado]

JM, You are such a Gun-Ho, why don't you go have a field day and organize with the KKK or some of your fellow Wyoming militants?

I have nothing to do with the KKK. I'm not racist. I hate everyone.

For the love of whatever God you don't worship - It's OK to show and receive compassion without inflicting PAIN - Really it's OK

THat has to be the biggest load of crapola I've ever heard. Didn't anyone ever tell you that love hurts?

I just thought of something and I am truly not trying to be funny, as most of you know I am incapable of that anyway, however - Do you realize those poor people are actually living out the Email Challenge?  A Cell with no walls and no toilet!

Hey, maybe they'll get perfect scores, too.

[ZephyrZodiac]

All I have to say is, whatever certain people think, there are times when "a still tongue makes a wise head" , and those people would do well to remember that, and to consider the feelings of those whose lives have been torn apart.  As I said before, ordinary people, some of whom are poor by world standards, not just those of the West, cannot be expected to pay for these defences, and whether it's the state government or the national government that finds the money is really immaterial - if they get the money from the large businesses operating in the area it makes no difference who does it, so long as the money is found and the job done!

We have natural disasters in Europe too, but despite the fact that we have umpteen different languages which makes communications more difficult, aid reaches areas hit by disaster far more quickly.  Maybe it's down to how much people actually care!

[rohina]

They've been pushing for 'wildfire' because it 'properly conveys the out of control behaviour of fire', rather than the 'romantic images' one conjures up with bushfire.

ROMANTIC IMAGES??? I used to live in Melbourne, and some of my friends had their houses destroyed the year I was in grade 12, and we lost our beach house (yeah, yeah, boo hoo) in a bushfire. I don't attach any romance to the word. Who are they thinking of? This is the stupidest explanation I have ever heard.