Reading Current Events

Hey,

I am not sure how close you are following the stories on the New Orleans catastrophe; reading some of the articles, letters and reports I could not help myself realizing the tragedy behind it - and I am not talking about the awful situation in terms of supplies or similar - it is the human tragedy that really gets me. I am well aware that I am probably not able to imagine the chaos and devastation in which people live there these days, but I find it nevertheless shocking to read of rape and murder, of elderly and sick people being left behind, of shooting at rescue helicopters. I mean, what is this? Is it back to Hobbes? Back to "man is a wolf to man" (which assumes we have managed to leave this stage)? Is it just me sitting in my cosy office and wailing about the abrupt and localized decay of civilization in a situation I have never had to experience? Or has "civilization" simply not been developed for the bad times?

-marc

I was so busy moving that I didn't really notice what was going on until two days after the hurricane. All I heard was "hurricane in the US" and thought that America is used to dealing with hurricanes, they will manage. Then after two days I switched on the TV for the first time and crapped my pants. I had never realized that something like this could even happen in a first world country. I hope the situation will finally improve a little over the weekend.

'Yeah, That's what Jesus would do. Jesus would bomb Afghanistan. Yeah.' - snowlion

My cousin is in Baton Rouge (LA) and he said that even though the situation is not as bad there (because the hurricane didn't actually hit, but they got only 60 kmh winds and rains), now they have to deal with all the people who were evacuated from New Orleans; they were all transported there (if not all, the most part), because it is the closest biggest city, which they were sure wouldn't have had terrible damages.

Now he says that the situation is better, but during the hurricane he was without tv and without telephone. Oddly enough, the internet was the only communication mean that was still available. The university was closed for several days, and now he says that they are in lack of drinkable water, and the stores are always almost empty because of the high demand of the last days, and the impossibility to receive goods in brief times.

Fortunately he had bought some things before the hurricane, but you can imagine: he got there on the 10th of August, and doesn't have a car yet (he's planning to buy one to move around), and doesn't know many people yet (and the ones he knew moved away because of the hurricane). He was basically blocked there without car, and he said that the bus system stops working at 5 pm, and for him it was very difficult to manage to buy things in large quantities given all the things I have already mentioned.

Of course we are worried about him even though he's not in real danger, because he's one of the family. But I can't help thinking about those people who were living in New Orleans. I mean, even though they managed to save themselves because they left the city... well they will get back to destruction and desolation, and I have already heard that the city won't be inhabitable for a good while.

Only one question after the disaster: considering that the city is located for its 70% under the sea level... well couldn't they build better fortifications, thinking that something like this could have happened? I mean, America is subjected to hurricanes. We know it, they know it. And of course a city which is close to the Gulf of Mexico is a good candidate for one, and considering also that it is under the sea level... Now they have to deal with 6 meters of water, which could be even more, depending on whether or not the Mississipi will overflow in the following days.

Italy no longer accepts illegal immigrants. Mr. B sink their boats!!!!!!!

Only one question after the disaster: considering that the city is located for its 70% under the sea level... well couldn't they build better fortifications, thinking that something like this could have happened?

The Netherlands have already expressed careful WTFs because when they last got their asses kicked by a flood in 1953 they spent some serious money to keep such a tragedy from repeating itself.

'Yeah, That's what Jesus would do. Jesus would bomb Afghanistan. Yeah.' - snowlion

Last Saturday, I felt drawn to pick up a book off of my shelf, which I had purchased on Magazine Street in New Orleans, back in 1994. Since its purchase, I had left the sticker of the bookshop on it's backside, and the bookmark from the New Orleans shop was still inside the book. I kept looking at it, and wondering how New Orleans was doing without my sister in it, anymore, and wondering why I all of a sudden cared, or was even thinking about New Orleans, let alone my sister. She left in a hurry two years ago. My brother-in-law is still down there.

Tuesday, I woke up very late for work, and rushed through my shower. My poet friend Paul called me to tell me about the hurricane, and while I was at work...I began to sink into a quagmire. I couldn't believe it had happened, and wondered how my sister's nerves were holding up wondering about her missing friends, not to mention how my nephews would feel after hearing the news. Then it gradually hit me how far-reaching the events would be... and how naive the US was to ignore the possibilty of such a thing happening as the devastation of New Orleans. We've known for years that this sort of thing could happen.

I guess I'm not the only one who has been living in a fantasy world. But now that the fantasy has been shattered, apparently the city is taking volunteers now and for the next estimated six to seven months, to help in the restoration of the city, and the rehabilitation of it's residents and businesses.

This isn't just going to fix itself overnight, and I don't understand why more people aren't concerned about it. Everyone here seems to know about the tragic events, but is quite blase about the situation. Are we just in shock and disbelief that something like that could happen, as you say, in a first world country? And we can't blame any Arabic countries for it (like we did with 9/11), because mother nature did it. That must just knock the government for a loop. There ARE some things that our government can't project onto other countries...

There are some things we can't stop from happening, but we certainly could have been better prepared. Maybe road repair, public works, and dams will be higher on the nation's priority list of things to allocate funds to in the near and distant future. One could only hope. We seem to be under the impression in this country, still, that we are invincible; and because of that, it seems to be hard for some of us, including myself, to swallow that mother nature doesn't give a damn about which country she hits...she just comes on. It makes you start to wonder just how strong your own 'house of cards' really is...

Meanwhile, I am chanting away in the midst of my messy life, and hoping that there is peace for those who have died, and hope for those who were displaced, and whose families and businesses and lives were destroyed overnight seemingly. And yet, it still seems so surreal. So otherworldly. So not happening several hundred miles away from me...But...IT IS. AND IT HAS...

My mind is made up...not like my bed, which is a mess.

This post was edited by rosyxxx on Sep 03, 2005.

This isn't just going to fix itself overnight, and I don't understand why more people aren't concerned about it. Everyone here seems to know about the tragic events, but is quite blase about the situation. Are we just in shock and disbelief that something like that could happen, as you say, in a first world country? And we can't blame any Arabic countries for it (like we did with 9/11), because mother nature did it. That must just knock the government for a loop. There ARE some things that our government can't project onto other countries...

There has been an interesting article in the Houston chronicle in 2001, after Allison had hit Houston. The author very accurately predicts possible consequences of a storm like Katrina - four years in advance. Hm.

-marc

Hey,

just wanted to point out a NY Times article (in English, although on a German site)...

-marc

That article in the Houston Chronicle was quite interesting, to say the least. If, as the article states, the Federal Emergency Management Agency listed the three most likeliest, and devastating distasters to befall the U.S. as, "almost prohetically" a terrorist attack on New York, the flooding of New Orleans, and a massive earthquake in San Francisco...then when is the massive earthquake due? Did I hear a pin drop?

Are we dealing with self-fulfilling prophecy here, or are there actually meterologists out there who can 'create' the weather, and geologists able to shift the tectonic plates, rather than just predict it? (Not to mention government officials with 'supernatural'[/sarcasm mode] powers as well? More like the power to ignore the obvious. :/)The word 'alchemy' springs to mind, as well. Yes of course, that sounds odd; but, I am still knocking on the particle board of my desk that I live not in any one of those major cities.

It sounds like we are knowledgeable enough as a country to see the writing on the wall, but we stick our heads in the sand. Something I've been known to do on an individual level...so I guess I am no better. *sigh* Must change that. And so should our country. What good does knowledge do if you don't use it? But, then again, some knowledge seems to already have been used inappropriately...so it seems. I find myself at a loss for words. That's highly unusual for me.:/

My mind is made up...not like my bed, which is a mess.

This post was edited by rosyxxx on Sep 04, 2005.

Only one question after the disaster: considering that the city is located 70% under the sea level... well couldn't they build better fortifications, thinking that something like this could have happened?

Yes, I definitely think they could have made better preparations... But it always seems to take disasters like hurricane Katrina for example, for people to realize that things like this will happen and that something should be done to help protect, sustain, or prevent etc.. (depending on the circumstances).

Hurricane Katrina is a tragedy that I will not soon forget... The unfortunate part is that this tragedy is something that will happen again, whether it be next year or 30 years from now, once everything has been re-built and brought back to normal. However, maybe next time places that are so much below sea level will take the necessary precautions to ensure that the aftermath of such a disaster will not be as intense or immense... Its too bad that Katrina had to happen first.

If I were a resident of New Orleans I wouldn't go back. I'd move somewhere else, I would literally pick up what little I had left and start over again somewhere completely new and less risky... I mean, you just don't know when nature will strike, or how hard it will strike for that matter... But there are always guarantees that it will strike eventually whether we like it or not... People have to stop thinking that just because something hasn't happened in 100 years, that it won't happen again... We're being ignorant. Wherever you live is not going to be 100% safe of course, but I sure wouldn't be living in a prime hurricane/flooding, tornado, or earthquake location (if we're only talking about natural disasters).

The hurricane was the cause... The obvious effect is death and destruction... But I just can't comprehend the other effects of Katrina, the attutides of some of the people remaining in New Orleans... Raping babies in the stadium, looting neighbors belongings, swimming in water contaminated with feces, dead bodies, oil and chemicals.....You get the idea, I don't want to say anymore.

Where the fuck are the minds of these people, did they get swept away amongst the winds of hurricane Katrina? I guess I just didn't realize how fast people can turn into complete savages.

It's very possible that there will be more hurricanes yet this year, the season isn't over yet.
And they may be just as bad, or worse.
Global warming is part of the reason this one was so bad.
Warmer tempratures, warmer water, and part of the energy a hurricane gets is from the water.

As to what the people are doing, none of it surprises me at all.
The wild uncontrollable behavior shows us what we are all capable of.
It's easy to say that no civilized person would act like that.
Unfortunately man is capable of being the worst animal on the planet.
History is full of such accounts. Not all of them brought on by disaster.
We don't seem to be able to learn from history.

Now we are faced with seeing the worst of what humans are capable of.
It's on t.v., plastered all over the place.
And it's having the trickle down effect very fast.
Gas prices going up, faster than most any of us can adjust to is just the beginning.
We in this country are about to face problems that we haven't had to deal with in a very long time.
A hundred years ago this would have been as terrible, but people would have coped better than we are now.
Yes we have all this wonderful technology, but as this has shown us our technology is nothing when it comes to mother nature unleashing her power on this planet.

Cell phones, computers, televisions, cars, air conditioning and the list goes on, everything we rely on for daily life now, are completely useless when everything crashes.
That's alot to think about.
We are as helpless as new babies.

The ablity to survive off the land, knowing what plants are edible, where to find water, how to find fresh water, how to read the signs on the landscape to know what the next season will bring, all those things have been all but lost.

The madness that you are witnessing is just a preview of what's comming when everything collaspes.
You would think it would make people stop and take stock.
You would think all of this would cause people to stop and think about what we are doing to the planet and it's limited resources.
But it won't.
It will be in our faces, those of us not in the area, and after awhile the rest of the country will get bored or tired of hearing about it and go back to business as normal.
If you don't think so, take a look at recient history, and remember the intital reactions of people around you, and what happened as days passed.
Things just got back to "normal"
Not for the people living in the area, their lives, the ones who survived are changed forever.
But the rest of us.

I tend to think about what happened as mother nature responding to what man has done to the planet.
We are in part responsible.
We've done so much damage and now it's comming back to bite us in the butt.

Back in the seventies, early sevenities the scientists were trying to warn the world of the effects of global warming, some people listened and made changes in how they did things, but lots and lots of people just laughed about it, said it was all just a big scare tactic...
in short no one was listening. They tried to tell the world about things like this comming.
Now that it's starting to happen, people are wringing their hands and falling apart.
And because no one listened, we are going to face more and more natural disasters.
The really sad part of all of this is that until it comes and sits on the majority of peoples front door so to speak, they won't change what they are doing.

A side note, knowing that your building below sea level and doing it anyway, thinking that if you build something it will keep mother nature out was arrogant on the part of the people who designed and built the city of New Orleans.
For all our brillance, human beings can be rather stupid about things.
But we keep doing stupid things and expecting nothing to happen.

there is a question that I wish people would have thought to ask way back, just because we can build a city here and move the ocean back, does that mean that we should?
Think about what it would have ment if New Orleans would have been built further in land and not under sea level.