Katrina thoughts

[lieutfaber]

This is terrifying. I do have to admit that the city planner of New Orleans was an idiot. I do not understand why you would build a city in such a location- it was basically originally swampland, and the only way to ensure enough land was to dam up the lake.

The destruction scares me. A lot. I can't believe that basically the entire city is underwater. I saw on the news some houses where only the roofs were left above water.

I don't understand why so many people stayed. There was plenty of warning. Everyone should have been able to look at the weather forecasts, and seen "Oh, there's a category 5 hurricane COMING STRAIGHT FOR US. Maybe we should, oh, I dunno, GET THE HELL OUT." *Sigh* I worry for humanity. I feel sorrow for all of the people who were lost. I don't think I can watch the news anymore because of the interviews. I don't understand why people are complaining about the conditions of the shelters in the Superdome. It at least has most of a roof. You were safe in there for the brunt of the storm. YOU'RE STILL ALIVE. That, to me, would seem to be the key feature here.

I feel frustrated because of the city engineers. I feel embarrassed that the government removed funding from the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project.

I think I am most frustrated and embarrassed that there is only one link on my Yahoo homepage to a story about the 800 Shiites trampled during a pilgrimage.

Comments

[etoilepb.livejournal.com]

Good, and mostly true, post about why people stayed: http://www.livejournal.com/~wicked_wish/582898.html

And the first comment -- they closed the bus station on Saturday -- really brings the point home.

[lieutfaber.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I hate society.

thanks for the linky.

[davitant.livejournal.com]

"I love humanity. It's the people I can't stand."

~Original source unknown.

sorry for the long ramble, I'm as upset as you are

[beth60.livejournal.com]

I'm asking myself the same questions. I wish we could convince the citizens of New Orleans to relocate their new city when they rebuild. And I can't believe anyone would not heed evacuation warnings. When all of those hurricanes hit Florida last year, my former roommates were among 400,000 residents who SPLIT. No fooling around, just got to higher ground. I haven't been able to think about much else for the last couple of days, especially today, when I saw the headlines getting grimmer every time I checked. I listened to a reporter on a radio talk show this afternoon and he was barely containing himself and he joined other reporters in saying that New Orleans is worse than a war zone. My brother took a trip there a few months ago, not for Mardi Gras, but he still did his share of bar-hopping on Bourbon Street, took pictures of all of the sights, had an awesome time, and now can never go back. At least not to what he saw and enjoyed at that time. New Orleans is just so famous for so many great things, and now it is destroyed. It's worse than San Francisco getting hit by that earthquake. Just gone, off the map. Not to mention those other big tourist places of Gulfport and Biloxi. My cousin was stationed in Pensacola when his AFB was ruined by a hurricane last year, so he was evacuated to Biloxi, and now Keesler AFB in Biloxi is almost completely destroyed. Thank God he's in Oklahoma now. Sigh ...anyway, sorry for the long comment, I'm just glad to read a LiveJournal entry that, for a change, is not all about navel-gazing. Talk soon.--Beth