Post by Saturdaynight on Sept 2, 2005 8:48:46 GMT -5
I'm sure most of you have probably heard about this natural disaster that Struck the south eastern United States, this past week. I live in Vermont, one of the Northern most states in the country, so we didn't really get effected. Well accept for gas prices that have risen by about a $1 in the last two days and are expected to rise even further over the weekend.
The south east plays a pivital part in the US economy. Two or three major oil refineries went offline because of the storm and the ports of New Orleans, the second largets in the country, have been wiped out! It will hurt the country financially but it's not going to destroy us. But the sad part is the human tragedy! Thousands upon thousands of people have been left homeless. Hundreds missing! There have been riots and luting and even reports of much worse which I don't even want to get into! The government can't seem to send help fast enough!
What gets me is that the goverment talks about being prepared for terrorist attacks but when a natural disaster hits, they can't mobilise very quickly. How can they respond to a terrorist attack when they can't even respond to this. The 130 city law enforcement officals in New Orleans are overwhelmed along with some 300 Nation Guardsmen. And meanwhile, the governemt is tryring to pass a $10Billion bill to aid the disaster! Why wait to pass a bill, just send help now! That's politics for you! It won't be until Sunday that some 300,000 more National Guardsmen arrive to help out! These people need help now!
The leavy that was protecting the city of New Orleans was only capable of holding back a Category 3 Hurrican, not a Category 5. The real problem is, Louisiana, has been pleading with the US Government for a few years now, to strengthen the leavy, to no avail!
My heart goes out to everyone effected by this tragedy! My wife is going to the local Red Cross chapter, today to donate money for the relief. I could go on about everything I've seen and heard but there's just so much that I can't figure out where to begin!
The south east plays a pivital part in the US economy. Two or three major oil refineries went offline because of the storm and the ports of New Orleans, the second largets in the country, have been wiped out! It will hurt the country financially but it's not going to destroy us. But the sad part is the human tragedy! Thousands upon thousands of people have been left homeless. Hundreds missing! There have been riots and luting and even reports of much worse which I don't even want to get into! The government can't seem to send help fast enough!
What gets me is that the goverment talks about being prepared for terrorist attacks but when a natural disaster hits, they can't mobilise very quickly. How can they respond to a terrorist attack when they can't even respond to this. The 130 city law enforcement officals in New Orleans are overwhelmed along with some 300 Nation Guardsmen. And meanwhile, the governemt is tryring to pass a $10Billion bill to aid the disaster! Why wait to pass a bill, just send help now! That's politics for you! It won't be until Sunday that some 300,000 more National Guardsmen arrive to help out! These people need help now!
The leavy that was protecting the city of New Orleans was only capable of holding back a Category 3 Hurrican, not a Category 5. The real problem is, Louisiana, has been pleading with the US Government for a few years now, to strengthen the leavy, to no avail!
My heart goes out to everyone effected by this tragedy! My wife is going to the local Red Cross chapter, today to donate money for the relief. I could go on about everything I've seen and heard but there's just so much that I can't figure out where to begin!