Re: Another inept Bush pal leaves FEMA

["Frank Olson" <feolson@xxxxxxxxxx>]

"no wires showing" <alarminstall@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1126591319.458709.183760@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Isn't it funny how the mayor of New Orleans just bought a home in
> Dallas and enrolled his kids in school there? Guess he quit like the
> majority of the N.O. government employees.
> The rest of the country has to deal with the drain on the economy
> caused by the residents of New Orleans because this 2 bit shitbag, and
> his cronies have given up.


I was listening to an interesting program today on CKNW.  One of their
reporters actually toured the affected areas and came back with a couple of
rather interesting observations.

Apparently it was quite well known that several of the levees and dikes
needed work because they were in poor shape but for some reason the local
Government couldn't find the where-with-all to address the situation.  A few
million dollars to shore them up may have drastically reduced the damage.
Richmond (a city just south of Vancouver) is currently reviewing their dike
infrastructure and disaster preparedness.  It took a "gal" by the name of
"Katrina" to wake us all up.

Phillip Till (the CKNW reporter) also mentioned seeing some boarded up
windows on a house supposedly "prepared" for the storm.  It listed the names
of the three preceding hurricanes on one sheet of plywood with big lines
through each (a "score card").  It also listed "Katrina", but no one's going
to be "coming home" to cross her off.  They found the bodies of the
residents inside.  He stated (and I agree) that most of us tend to always
think that "bad stuff" happens to "other people" or the "other guy".  This
is compounded by the fact that most of us mistakenly believe we can best
weather a storm or disaster like this surrounded by our families and the
things we know and cherish.  That doesn't always work.  Sometimes it's best
to just get the heck out.

He also happened to come up with a really good suggestion.  In the wake of
this disaster, local phone and cell service was a total shambles, but people
were somehow able to still call "long distance" in some areas (go figure).
Phillip suggested that the first thing to do is establish a family crisis
call centre where members of your family can communicate their survival
stories and ensure the information gets passed on to other family members in
the area who are also calling.  Knowing they're alright and dealing with the
aftermath would tend to help aleviate worry.