WhoDat

Yeah - that's pretty freaking dumb Euph. Like the poor people who don't have cars or can't afford gas and a hotel room. It's their damn fault right?

Frankly, I blame Aaron Brooks.

Sorry, just an attempt at some levity in all this.

TheGambler

It's pretty much a Category 2 now, and it has veered into Mississippi...

Most importantly........have their been any deaths as a result? I know there is damage in New Orleans...but I hope nobody died in all this mess..

This could have been MUCH worse......Thank the Good Lord that it wasn't, looks like our prayers were answered.

WhoDat

I dunno...

Nagin also said as many as 20 French Quarter buildings have collapsed or been paritally downed. There is 4 to 8 feet of water along the lake from New Orleans East to Lakeview to Kenner. There are people trapped in their attics uptown, which is under substantial water. The loss of life may be minimal, though there appears to be some. The property damage could be catastrophic.

Euphoria

LMAO... Damn Brooks.

Euphoria

LMAO... wait a freakin minute!!! When did I say people deserved to die??? NEVER I have a few choice names/words for you people. Read what was writen don't make crap up. They have 2 feet start walking! bum a ride, borrow money, whatever get out... get a bike. all you really need is less than a tank to avoid a direct hit. If you take your dog for a walk during a hurricane your an idiot.

ya had 48 hours to react come on... and then only something like 7, 000 ya got to do better than that.

BrooksMustGo

Returning from a fact-finding expedition from the newspaper's Howard Avenue headquarters, a group of reporters and photographers stumbled on a parade of looters streaming from Coleman's Retail Store, located at 4001 Earhart Blvd., about two blocks away from The Times-Picayune offices.

The looters, who were men and women who appeared to be in their early teens to mid-40s, braved a steady rain and infrequent tropical storm wind gusts to tote boxes of clothing and shoes from the store. Some had garbage bags stuffed with goods. Others lugged wardrobe-sized boxes or carried them on their heads.

The line going to and from the store along Earhart Boulevard numbered into the dozens and appeared to be growing.

Some looters were seen smiling and greeting each other with pleasantries as they passed. Another group was seen riding in the back of a pickup truck, honking the horn and cheering.

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakin...08.html#074893

Some folks appear to be just fine.

spkb25

first of all i feel for the people who chose not to leave. i feel for anyone who lost a love one. i don't think that euphoria was at all refering to people who can't do for themselves. meaning people that are handicapped whether it be physically or mentally. i don't think he was referring to the extremely old. when referring to the extremely old the ones that have families should have helped them. before you scream and yell read again what i just wrote. for the ones that have family they should have helped them. for the others you would hope that they copuld have made it to the superdome or taken a bus or a train. you would hope. i do not want to see anyone die from this. but we already know that that did not happen. now i have no and read again no sorrow for the poor. let me explain why. if you are poor you have made choices to leave yourself in that condition. now before you get on me about the old that are poor once again the ones that have families should have helped them. there is still no excuse to be poor because you are old. listen to me on why. we make choices in life. the choices we make lead us to where we are at at any given moment. i am 29 going on 30 and i am going to college for the first time. well for the last two years. this is not someone elses fault. this is my fault. i except the full blame for my condition. i also work 40 hours a week and have been working 56 hours per week not by choice but because my company told me they need me to and if i don't like it find another source of income. this is hard on me but i do it because that is my choice and when i get done school i don't want to be forced again to work overtime without my approval. i don't bring home much money every two weeks because i put the max amount or 15% to my 401k and i pay for medical insurance. i understand that some of the old didnt have 401k's but they had options to put away and if they didnt then the burden of cost should not be pushed on other people. their families are in need of standing up. like i will for my parents soon. my father raised 9 children on one salary. we were all in private school (catholic). i do not practice that or any religion and only said it so you would understand what i meant by private school. i keep my own relationship with god and to be honest it isn't as strong as it should be. we didn't have vacations but they did what they could. we always ate well. we lived in a three bedroom home with one bathroom. we built other rooms down in the basement to accomodate. i never saw my father miss one day of work. in order to get my life in order because i was headed absolutely no where at 22 i joined the navy. one of the best decisions i have ever made. i got out after my time and am now working and going to school. in the end of all of my choices until this point are what cause me to be where i am at now. if i am going to school at a month from being thirty then it should be obvious that not all of my decisions were the ones i should have made. we all make mistakes. we all mess up. we all have a sad story. some worse then others. some have lives i can't begin to imagine. but other people have done more with less. some of the blind like ray charles and stevie wonder. not that ray charles lived the perfect life but i don't have the patience or drive to even learn the piano besides master it and be blind. michael lewis drove a beer truck as we are all very familiar with now. he was also cut by the eagles. but he worked his butt off to make more for him and his family. i am not angry with him. he made a choice. regardless of your situation in the end if you look at where you are in life it is not the stroke of bad or good luck. it is a direct result of your choices. so for the poor that have made and continue to make bad choices their lives whatever they may be are a direct result of thier choices. if you are someone that believes that the many should help the few i ask you one question. if you have children or when you do have children and your son or daughter asks you to let them rake the yard for 20 bucks would you tell them ok. then when it came time to pay them would you give them 10 dollars and tell them that you have to take the other 10 to spread equally amongst their friends because their friends didnt have the same drive or family or chances or had an attitude where they didn't know to work to better their situation. wouldn't it be better to tell his or her friends well if you want to earn some money you can offer to do something for me to earn money. wouldn't it be better to teach them that if they are willing to they can earn money. only in the dictionary does money come before sweat.

TallySaint

Many are taking advantage of the situation. Some are "taking what it takes for my family to survive".

Sad on both accounts.

BrooksMustGo

Let me begin by saying how afraid I am for the people still in the city. I hope everything still there can get out safe and sound.

I thought things were manageable right up until the levees broke.

Right now I have to wonder whether we're going to lose the city. Even if the levees were repaired right now, I don't know what will be left to go back to?

This is awful beyond imagining.

saintz08

I have to say , this is awful and beyond imagining . They knew it was coming and Blanco has now gone on the air with Larry King and pleaded that the Army Corp of Engineers gets the materials in New Orleans to repair the levees .

I am inches from going postal on this whole thing . This is the 2nd most run FEMA disaster and it has been handled for **** .

People are being told to stay out of the area , people who could be gathered together to help search efforts . At a time like this , the last damn thing I want to hear a month from now is " IF ONLY " .

This from the Army Corp of Engineers offical site just makes me wanna puke :

Corps Prepares for Hurricane Katrina

In anticipation of Hurricane Katrina making landfall along the north-central Gulf Coast near New Orleans, the Mississippi Valley Division (MVD), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, based in Vicksburg, Mississippi, began preparations Friday to support hurricane response operations.

"Right now, we are tracking the path of Katrina," said David Sills, Chief of the MVD Emergency Operations Center. "MVD’s primary mission in response to hurricane threats is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) emergency operations. Last year MVD personnel responded to four major hurricanes, so we've got a good idea how tough this mission will be if Katrina hits the Mississippi or Louisiana Gulf Coast."

"I am proud of our employees and their spirit of service in a time a need," said Brig. Gen. Robert Crear, Mississippi Valley Division commander. "Team members are all volunteers, some of whom have just recently returned from service in Iraq."

With an estimated 500 Corps personnel still deployed in support of the Global War on Terror, it will require an even larger contingent of Corps personnel to support emergency operations if Katrina comes ashore in our area of responsibility as a Category 4 or 5 hurricane. Anticipating potential requirements to pump water out of New Orleans, the Corps has begun discussions with partners to preposition assets to conduct un-watering operations should Katrina strike the southern Louisiana and New Orleans area.

And while still not knowing the exact path Katrina will settle on, MVD planners are not standing by and guessing what assets will be needed. The Corps has teams that are trained and ready to move into impacted areas with necessary support like ice, water, temporary power, housing and roofing, and debris removal. The division is posturing elements of the response plan from as far away as Hawaii so that it can most quickly react either to a strike on New Orleans or other parts of the Gulf Coast.

"Teams from our six districts and other districts in the U.S. are trained, rehearsed and ready to move into the area with FEMA and state emergency management teams as soon as practical," said Crear. "We also want to make sure our employees and their families are safe while providing continuity of operations."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts its emergency response activities under two basic authorities: the Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Act (P.L. 84-99, as amended) and the Stafford Disaster and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 93-288, as amended). Under the Stafford Act, the Corps supports the Federal Emergency Management Agency in carrying out the National Response Plan, which calls on 26 Federal departments and agencies to provide coordinated disaster relief and recovery operations.

The Mississippi Valley Division has a primary role in support of the National Response Plan. The plan describes the basic structure by which the federal government will mobilize resources and conduct response and recovery activities to assist states and local governments in coping with the consequences of significant natural or man-made disasters, to include terrorist events.

Within this plan, the Department of Defense has designated the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the primary agency for planning, preparedness and response under the Emergency Support Function #3, Public Works and Engineering. The type of assistance provided by the Corps includes restoration of critical public services and facilities, including supply of adequate amounts of potable water and ice, temporary restoration of water supply systems, provision of temporary emergency electrical power, temporary emergency housing, structural evaluation of buildings and damage assessment, and clearance, removal, and disposal of debris.

The Mississippi Valley Division is responsible for emergency preparedness and developing plans for all hazards response. In addition, each of its six districts has a specific primary mission assignment for execution in support of FEMA under the National Response Plan. These missions are executed by a Planning and Response Team trained specifically for the assigned mission. These teams may respond within the Mississippi Valley area or may be deployed worldwide.

MVD includes portions of 12 states and encompasses 370,000 square miles.

The district offices that conduct the programs and activities overseen by the Mississippi Valley Division are located in St. Paul, Minn.; Rock Island, Ill.; St. Louis, Mo.; Memphis, Tenn.; Vicksburg, Miss.; and New Orleans, La.