I haven’t commented at all on Hurricane Katrina. I guess part of the reason is a sort of disbelief. Not that the weather can be that destructive, but that it happened in the US. The idea that an entire American city could be destroyed is almost unbelievable. We are sort of used to it in less developed countries, but, somehow you kind of figure that the world’s only superpower would be able to deal with anything.
Another lesson that we don’t take nature all that seriously.
If you want to donate, there is a Browncoat appeal raising money for the American Red Cross. Also Instapundit has a whole list of links where you can donate.
The Beeb have some pictures that show just how bad the damage is.
And in case you are wondering about the title of this post, it is a quote from the Lord of the Rings as mentioned in an entry on The Irish Trojan’s site.
I thought I was at the wrong blog for a second there…nice facelift!
Yes, it is rather unbelievable that New Orleans as we knew it is gone… I did not know the city was below sea level. It's amazing something did not happen like this earlier!
The Federal government has a lot of explaining to do. Bush just saying "The Private sector needs to do more" is infuriating!! Of course the private sector will help…
Any govt that orders in troops with a shoot to kill policy over looting has serious problems. I mean is a TV really worth someone's life?
Surely the best thing to do is ignore the looting until after the city has been evacuated. I think a lot of the "anarchy" there at the moment has more to do with the fear and uncertainty everyone is going through. Does it excuse it? Not at all. But creating an atmosphere where there are armed soldiers going around armed to the teeth is hardly likely to ease any tensions
Armed soldiers always soothe and calm. Adding to the body count helps everyone feel better. Shoot to kill policies are all good.
N'Orleans is often one of those places people go on their J1 post-work holiday – I remember people from my class accidentally bumping into each other on Bourbon Street. It's been on my list of 'places to go' for ages, although the only things I know about it are from my dad's jazz collection and from movies. It's just hard to see how this could happen – did nobody actually see this coming?
Hey, they rescued Fats Domino!!!
They did see it coming, but the money for improving the levees (sp?) wasn't given to them. A lot of funds were diverted to the war in Iraq and the dreduction of the marshland in Louisiana.
<blockquote cite="http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2002/2002-09-25-neworleans-isidore.htm" title="USA Today in 2002">A major reason for the Crescent City's vulnerability is that the southeastern Louisiana coastline is losing 25-35 square miles a year of marshland, which serves as the first line of defense against hurricanes. Marshland protects the city by reducing a storm's wind energy and reducing its storm surge. Each 1.5 miles of healthy marshland reduces a hurricane's storm surge by one foot
:) They were talking about him on the Breakfast show this morning.
But that's what I mean – how could they not see that drowning a major city and many of its citizens was not going to cost a bloody fortune? How short-sighted is that? If Leaving Cert geography memories serve, isn't the city below sea level? With big ole Lake Pontchartrain only held back by levees which they aren't able to repair/maintain, even an ill-informed person like me could see a problem just waiting to happen.
And your spelling of levees is perfecto. :-)
That quote is from 2002, you know.
And I'll admit I stuck in a grocer's apostraphe in levee before going, "hmm, that aint looking right."
So they were aware it was majorly vulnerable (I could do a google search but can't be arsed) and failed to do anything about it. That is short-sighted.
I once saw an ad for pillow on sale that spelt it like this: pillo's.
That's pretty much it alright.
And don't be silly, that ad wasn't for pillows, it was for this fella Pillo who was having a sale…