 |
|
Jon Miller
|
|
we should consider whther or not the netherlands are tenable
JM
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Park Avenue
|
 |
Liberal and defender of freedoms for the people
Oct 1999
time: 05:33
|
|
As for any whining Brits in this thread...
quote:
We are trying our best. You have to put this in perspective. The devastated area is approximately 100,000 sq miles, the entire size of the UK is 93,000 sq miles, now think of that. It's not just the 20,000 at the super dome. It's the 300,000-500,000 that are stranded all over that large area. Think about saving 500,000 in an area the size of the UK with approx 200 helicopters. The people seem to be only getting the news about the super dome, those people are alive, we need to save the people everywhere, then fine enough food , water, and shelter for approx 1,000,000 (when it's all over). You just can't get enough water to feed a million sent to LA in 40 hours. My brother is down there, in the rescue effort. We sent down 30,000 bottles of water from New England , but that takes 2 1/2 days to get there. This is not sending a few bottles of water from Southampton to Portsmouth. Think of saving everyone from Scotland in 40 hours, feed, clothe and shelter them in less than 3 days, after you rescue them one at a time off there roofs. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
techumseh
|
 |
of the frozen North.
Apr 1999
time: 22:33
|
|
Given New Orlean's position in the hurricane zone, it's well known vulnerablity to flooding and it's large population of poor people, one has to wonder why the disaster plan was so inadequate. Cities in Canada, and I'm sure the US as well, must have a disaster plan in place, which has to be updated regularly.
I don't really know which level of government (city, state or federal) is responsible for what, but cooperative joint planning for this type of situation is what was required. Whatever planning there was, it was woefully inadequate.
In order to deal with a major disaster like this, you need to consider realistic evacuation plans, deal with the possiblilty of electrical, water and sewer system failure, have emergency medical plans in place, search and rescue, food and water, and a housing plan for refugees. Equipment and supplies must be assembled in advance. Command and control issues must be resolved ahead of time.
You can't do this planning while the disaster is happening. You must do it in advance.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
SpencerH
|
 |
Co-Ruler of my patch of land south of Birmingham Alabama
Feb 2002
time: 23:33
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by Patroklos
You guys are impossible
If you honestly think that there was any way to plan for this, and plan for this for every city in America you are stupid. And not just plan for this in every city in America, but also for earthquakes, tidal waves, meteor strikes, locaust swarms...
Given the scale of this disaster, and that the vast majority of the effected ARE getting help, your critisisms are neither warranted or constructive.
Obviously the hardest hit and the most difficult to help will be in the center of teh disaster, that would be the very definition of "center." |
That being said, I do think that the existing plans underestimated what level of response would be needed on what day. For example, the effect of the breakdown in civil authority was woefully inadequate. They seem to have believed that americans would behave better than Iraq's or Lebanese where such authority has disappeared.
It seems like a terrible thing to say at this time but the inadequacies of this response will help us prepare for the next hit on a US city be it natural or not.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
MosesPresley
|
|
Why is it when a disaster happens, the right wings answer is always "no could have seen this coming", "hindsight is 20/20" and "sh*t happens?"
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Boris Godunov
|
 |
Portland, OR
Aug 2001
time: 00:33
|
|
Here's a run down of what our leaders were doing yesterday, Sept. 1:
-President Bush made the incomprehensible statement that nobody "expected the levees would break." Given that all the experts knew they could only withstand a Cat. 3 storm and were predicting for years that there would be levee failures if a stronger storm hit, I just wonder if by "nobody" he's just referring to the nobodies in his administration. Well, at least he had time to devote to the issue, instead of the previous two days, where he had shuttled around to staged events and photo ops over Social Security and such.
-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice played tennis in New York before attending a matinee performance of the musical Spamelot. She then spent several thousands of dollars shoe shopping on 5th Avenue. A fellow woman shopper who saw her shouted to her something to the effect of "you should be ashamed you're here while people are dying in our own country." Rice had her Secret Service agents remove the woman from the store.
-FEMA director Michael Brown (who, interestingly enough, was fired from his previous gig as a lawyer for the International Arabian Horse Association Legal Department) was spinning furiously about how wonderful and prepared FEMA was for this. He then admitted to Paula Zahn on CNN that it wasn't until that very day FEMA realized there were 15,000 people also stranded at the New Orleans Convention Center. That's despite it having been designated an official emergency shelter before the storm. Then he had the wonderful compassion to say this on CNN:
"Unfortunately, that's [the suffering] going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings. I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans."
Is this guy for real?
-Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieux, in a stunning display of political insensitivity, went on Anderson Cooper and, when asked about the suffering of those still trapped, proceeded to rattle off a long litany of thank-yous to--get this--other politicians. Not rescue workers, not police or national guard, but politicians like Bush, Clinton, Bush Sr., Sen. Frist, Sen. Reid, etc. Cooper totally lost it on her over this, and it was one of the best smack-downs I've seen.
-Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert said that we shouldn't rebuild New Orleans because it's expensive, impractical, etc. Nice timing there, Dennis.
-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld eased the minds of the nation by assuring us that the ultra-tacky country music hoedown with Clint Black in, erm, remembrance of September 11, 2001 would go on as plan. A big sigh of relief was heard all around the country.
-Republican party chairman Ken Mehlman sent out an "urgent e-mail" to the GOP party demanding their help with the most crucial issue facing the nation today--repealing the estate tax.
-Vice President Dick Cheney remained on vacation in Jackson, WY. Aides insisted it wasn't a vacation because he had had two briefings while there. Uh-huh.
Ladies and gentlemen, our leadership just boggles the mind, don't it?
|
|
| |
All times are GMT. The time now is 05:33.
Apolyton Time is 00:33. |
top of page
|
|
|
Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
Smilies are ON
[IMG] code is ON
|
|
|
|
|
|
02-09-2005 16:46
|