RE: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Hurricane relief
I think a lot of the problem was that nobody expected it to be as bad as it was. All the reports I heard said that if the storm hit land east of New Orleans (which it did) that the city would be OK. After the Storm went through, the pundits were saying that the city had really dodged a bullet. Then the levies began to burst. Up until that point, everyone I heard on the news said everything was expected to be OK. If the storm had hit land west of New Orleans, I think the local, state, and national relief centers would have been better prepared because they would have been expecting exactly what ended up happening. Aaron
-----Original Message----- From: South Jordan Mom Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 9:59 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Hurricane relief
I didn't know there was so much poverty in that area, that's a bit different then I guess. I've never been that poor so it's hard for me to fathom being in a position of having no resources to get me out of a dangerous situation. That is sad then that the govt. couldn't somehow arrange to bus these people out of danger before the storm hit.
Michael Carnes <MichaelCarnes@earthlink.net> wrote: We're sounding just a bit mean-spirited about many of the folks who were stuck in New Orleans. I too feel for the animals (I'm a vegetarian, after all), but not everyone that got stuck there stayed because they were idiots (some were, I'll grant you). One of every six households in the city had no car. With or without a car, a great many had no resources to afford a getaway--there is grinding, numbing poverty in the region. Bus fare or a tank of gas are luxuries. A great many shopkeepers can't afford insurance (try getting covered in the inner city) and had every penny tied up in their businesses. How else to protect what they had but to stay nearby and stand guard. Even if those reasons don't withstand pure intellectual scrutiny, people have paid much more than a fair price for the mistake.
I know we're not really mean, but we sound that way.
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I read a number of articles about the whole thing last night and that makes sense. I don't have a problem donating to the LDS church if they are the most efficient with money and can get things done. I did read an article about the Netherlands and their levees, it sounds like the New Orleans area is in need of similar structures. "Lambert, Aaron" <Aaron.Lambert@Williams.com> wrote:I think a lot of the problem was that nobody expected it to be as bad as it was. All the reports I heard said that if the storm hit land east of New Orleans (which it did) that the city would be OK. After the Storm went through, the pundits were saying that the city had really dodged a bullet. Then the levies began to burst. Up until that point, everyone I heard on the news said everything was expected to be OK. If the storm had hit land west of New Orleans, I think the local, state, and national relief centers would have been better prepared because they would have been expecting exactly what ended up happening. Aaron
-----Original Message----- From: South Jordan Mom Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 9:59 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] OT: Hurricane relief
I didn't know there was so much poverty in that area, that's a bit different then I guess. I've never been that poor so it's hard for me to fathom being in a position of having no resources to get me out of a dangerous situation. That is sad then that the govt. couldn't somehow arrange to bus these people out of danger before the storm hit.
Michael Carnes wrote: We're sounding just a bit mean-spirited about many of the folks who were stuck in New Orleans. I too feel for the animals (I'm a vegetarian, after all), but not everyone that got stuck there stayed because they were idiots (some were, I'll grant you). One of every six households in the city had no car. With or without a car, a great many had no resources to afford a getaway--there is grinding, numbing poverty in the region. Bus fare or a tank of gas are luxuries. A great many shopkeepers can't afford insurance (try getting covered in the inner city) and had every penny tied up in their businesses. How else to protect what they had but to stay nearby and stand guard. Even if those reasons don't withstand pure intellectual scrutiny, people have paid much more than a fair price for the mistake.
I know we're not really mean, but we sound that way.
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Last night on one of the TV specials, a rep from the Army Corps of Engineers said plainly, they did a cost-benefit analysis when they designed that levy and it was designed to sustain ONLY up to a Category 3 and not 5!!! That was to save money and to make the cut for cost-benefit. Now in hindsight, that was a terrible judgement/business call. HOW much will it cost now! He was so cold and matter of fact about it being the right decision. I was really taken back by his attifude after what we are seeing everynight on the human toll - how to you factor lives into cost-benefit analysis??? I was so disappointed by his cold response, and how he SO easily justified the original decision. Jim Stitley diveboss@xmission.com wrote: Quoting South Jordan Mom :
I did read an article about the Netherlands and their levees,
It wasn't about some little kid named Hans Brinker was it? ;) _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com
I visited a girlfriend of mine while my son was at preschool today, and we talked about this very thing you mentioned. She's been pretty vigilant on keeping up with all the news. She also mentioned though that the local governments down there had been trying to get the voters to pass tax bills for quite a few years to upgrade the levy system but the voters wouldn't go for it. So it sounds like it would be a bit unfair to blame everything on the Feds and the Army corps of engineers. Oh and on a lighter note: Guy, you are such a hoot. Jim Stitley <sitf2000@yahoo.com> wrote: Last night on one of the TV specials, a rep from the Army Corps of Engineers said plainly, they did a cost-benefit analysis when they designed that levy and it was designed to sustain ONLY up to a Category 3 and not 5!!! That was to save money and to make the cut for cost-benefit. Now in hindsight, that was a terrible judgement/business call. HOW much will it cost now! He was so cold and matter of fact about it being the right decision. I was really taken back by his attifude after what we are seeing everynight on the human toll - how to you factor lives into cost-benefit analysis??? I was so disappointed by his cold response, and how he SO easily justified the original decision. Jim Stitley diveboss@xmission.com wrote: Quoting South Jordan Mom :
I did read an article about the Netherlands and their levees,
It wasn't about some little kid named Hans Brinker was it? ;) --------------------------------- Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page
participants (4)
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diveboss＠xmission.com -
Jim Stitley -
Lambert, Aaron -
South Jordan Mom