An apology to the Americans

[Uncle Gizmo]

There were several posts a few years ago after the Katrina Hurricane event and I took issue with the fact that they hadn't received much help. However I have just watched this BBC video about another possible hurricane hitting new Orleans, and I gather a similar warning was issued before Katrina.

Now with this extra knowledge, I can see that if people were warned in advance, and they didn't evacuate, then I can understand people's reluctance to risk their own lives in rescuing them.

So please accept my apology. It just goes to show that much friction in life is caused by misunderstandings, lack of information etc. My best wishes to everyone at risk from this new threat.

 

[Rich]

There may have been warning issued prior to Katrina, the difference between then and now is that the Fed govt. has moved in already to help those that can't help themselves and make sure that the looting scenes that we saw before didn't happen again, the evacuation this time is organised, unlike the last

 

[Vassago]

There was a warning issued with Katrina HOWEVER, people didn't take it seriously. It's sad that it takes a major catastrophic event for people to wake up sometimes and realize you cannot defeat the elements.

 

[georgedwilkinson]

Odd any government would have to move in anywhere to cause people to do the right thing.

 

[Rabbie]

Odd any government would have to move in anywhere to cause people to do the right thing.

Unfortunately there are always people who will exploit other people's misfortunes by looting etc. Any evacuation has to include safeguards against looting or people just won't leave.

 

[georgedwilkinson]

Having lived in Florida most of my life with evacuations pretty common throughout, I can't say I ever had to worry about looting. I realize Katrina was a disaster on a scale above most, but the people there chose not to leave and they chose to behave the way they did after the event. There was no way any government or person who posts on a forum could have known it would happen the way it did because there was no precedent.

 

[Alane]

Yeah, that's a major catastrophe. I hope it doesn't cause too much destruction! My wife has distant family down there in Louisiana, hope they are ok.

 

[statsman]

Gustaf is due to hit land just west of New Orleans sometime today (Monday Sep. 1).
According to the news reports there are a lot of people who are refusing to leave the city. Here's hoping things work out for them.

 

[Alisa]

I just turned on my tv and every channel has some poor guy (no women I noticed, they must have too much sense) standing out there in the roaring winds and stinging rain dodging pieces of flying debris and trying to yell into a microphone while remaining upright. Those must be the correspondents who haven't been doing a good job this year - I know if someone told me to go stand out in the street and wait for a hurricane to hit me, I would call them crazy to say the least.

 

[PaulJR]

I know if someone told me to go stand out in the street and wait for a hurricane to hit me, I would call them crazy to say the least.

Would sooner be blown around a bit than be sent into a war zone

 

[georgedwilkinson]

I just turned on my tv and every channel has some poor guy (no women I noticed, they must have too much sense) standing out there in the roaring winds and stinging rain dodging pieces of flying debris and trying to yell into a microphone while remaining upright. Those must be the correspondents who haven't been doing a good job this year - I know if someone told me to go stand out in the street and wait for a hurricane to hit me, I would call them crazy to say the least.

Women are just smarter than men. All that testosterone takes over, you know.

 

[rustyCrVx]

There was a warning issued with Katrina HOWEVER, people didn't take it seriously. It's sad that it takes a major catastrophic event for people to wake up sometimes and realize you cannot defeat the elements.

I was in New Orleans about to attend my first year of college at Loyola when Katrina was coming around. The attitude of the locals seemed to be that it was just another typical hurricane so there was no need to rush but by the time everybody realized that it was going to be serious, which apparently happened with short notice, there was not very much time to get out of the city. The evacuation was not very organized and lots of people didn't seem to take it seriously. There was a lot of havoc with the crime in New Orleans and even in Houston, where we were harboring a lot of the refugees. When I went back to New Orleans to attempt a semester the damage was still evident (even considering I was in one of the more cleaned up areas) and it was pathetic how little was done for the city. Most of the aftermath was not shown on the news and the government was definitely not taking it as seriously as was necessary. I couldn't imagine trying to move back with the annual threat of losing my home. It was traumatic enough for me going through that just once.

What a mess!

Edit: @ georgedwilkinson post #11: Always true with the exception of practical shopping

 

[Alisa]

That explains why you are rusty - all that water damage