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Biggirl
Junior Spanko
Username: Biggirl
Post Number: 74
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Friday, September 02, 2005 - 11:35 pm: | 
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Hi Everyone:
I just have to ask this question. How are you all feeling about what you are seeing on the news about the conditions in what is left of New Orleans????????????????????
I can not contain my outrage!!!!!!!!!! I can't!
I just am so angry I weep from frustration. There is no excuse for this.
BigGirl |
Speccotter
New member
Username: Speccotter
Post Number: 16
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, September 03, 2005 - 02:37 am: |
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Biggirl, Yes I'm angry at what is happening, but over the last few days I was sorry to hear several people saying "someone" should shot the President. Our nation is so wounded right now I don't think we could stand something like that. No nation of earth could have prepared for this disaster. What is wrong is that our goverment is too proud to except help from others. The logistics are food for nightmares --buses and trucks with no gas or half tanks-nowhere to take half a million people for 2-3 momths-how to feed and care for rescue volenteers-each city who takes in survivors must then must feed, house, provide medical care, absorb kids into schools and try to find jobs for the adults-the list is endless with no simple answers.That's not counting any of the paperword that well sometime in the future be required. Yes mistakes are being made, peolpe are justifiablly angry but I would not want to be in the shoes of anyone trying to organize the chaos. All we can do is give what we can and pray for the survivors. I'm geeting off my soap box now, sorry. Speccotter |
Biggirl
Junior Spanko
Username: Biggirl
Post Number: 75
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Monday, September 05, 2005 - 08:26 pm: |
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I think it is high time for every american citizen to get on their soapbox & DEMAND answers.
I keep coming back to the same things. At a time when the citizens of this country are at great risk of an outside attack from another nation we are poorly prepared to handle the aftermath of what that would bring. At a time when our civil liberties are more restricted then ever before (due to the Patroit Act) which was in affect inacted to "protect" american citizens (a trade off if you will) what did the citizens of america get for those concessions??????????? FEMA was placed under the budget & responsibility of the leaders of "Homeland Security" Our federal gvmnt was incapable of responding in a prompt & effective & organized manner. The director of FEMA is an unqualified friend of the President. And this fact can not be allowed (by the american people) to be IGNORED or FORGOTTEN.
*****The UN offered assistance to the US on wednesday in dealing with & organizing diaster relief & as of Thrusday evening at 11:35 east coast time (per nightline) their phone call had yet to be returned. The fact that phone call was not placed by our leaders to the UN needs to be explained as well as why the call our government did receive went unresponded to.
I am & will always remain a pacifist. I do not believe anyone should do harm to president. I do understand where that rage & frustration is coming from however.
I do however feel that all leaders in our government need to be FIRED by the american people in the elections of 2006 & 2008. We as citizens of this country need to stand up & say NO MORE.
I guess my frustration with the "road" our "government" is on is coming out. I LOVE & ADORE the people of our america. I however equally detest the members of population currently in "power" in my beloved country.
I am weary of the hatred. I am weary of the racism. I am weary of the intolerance. I deeply resent hearing (from elected officials) america is a christian nation.
Ever since I was a little girl sitting in sunday school & I knew what I was being taught didn't make complete sense. Never once in my life did I question the existence of a "source of divinity" but I always questioned the lessons I was being taught. All I have ever wanted to do for as long as I can remember is heal this country. See the citizens of this country actually tell the truth of america history. To see our citizens actually live up to ideology of Consitution that our leaders hold up as a documnet of freedom to be emulated by all. And yet we ourselves as a nation do not.
All of the ideas I have had all my life just won't stay in the back of my mind. I want to change this world & our countrys place within it & yet I have no idea how.
Becomeing involved in politics is not the answer because politics is the problem. Each party & its members are equally corrupt. I have wanted so desperately to leave for so long. But that is not an answer either.
The hurricane that hit our country is one that the size itself makes history. That sheer horror exeprienced by the SURVIVORS of the history making hurricane will too be a part of our collective american history. Our government did a pisspoor job helping those survivors but the general american population did not. The PEOPLE of this country started rallying immediately to offer assistance either thru cash donations or donations of need items (food, water, clothing, shelter etc) And of course their personal time & energy.
So how will history define us, the people of our nation? It will define us by our actions. How can "WE THE PEOPLE" take a country so obviously divided by poverty & race at this moment & come together as ONE & move forward into OUR future as ONE for the first time in OUR AMERICAN HISTORY?
I am genuinely heart broken,BIGGIRL |
Speccotter
New member
Username: Speccotter
Post Number: 17
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 02:36 am: |
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Thank you Biggirl for saying what I was having trouble saying. Tonight Nightline showed a Senator who was at home in a small town(didn't catch his name)where he took over rescue efforts, when none was forthcoming. He took over a wherehouse for survivors where volenteers and medical help set up, commandeered boats(anything that floats)and started saving people, used his authority (whitch he didn't have) to break into food and supply stores to stock the wherehouse. Help still hasn't come. He is a rare politian, he is acting instead of reacting. The others are pointing fingures and will most likely set up committees to spend millions or billions to find someone to blame. That money can be better spent right now, the time for blaming is later not now. I hope in the elections our memories will force the people to get out and vote. Maybe now term limits will look better, our forefathers put in their one term and went home to continue with their lives, public office was never meant to be a lifetime job. I give my soapbox over to someone else now. Speccotter |
Ziggy
Spanko
Username: Ziggy
Post Number: 355
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 05:46 am: |
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The President can fly over the flooding all he wants, he needs to get off the plane and roll up his sleeves and start helping these people. That goes for all of his family, wife and daughters. |
Wolfie
Moderator/Spanking Aficionado
Username: Wolfie
Post Number: 470
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 08:13 am: |
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Is anyone else as extremely glad as I am that no other nations are prepared to attack us at this time? If as the president believes, we have to watch our backs every minute of the day, why havent we been attacked while we are in the middle of one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit our country? It would be the perfect opportunity...and yet nothing. I think that says a lot about how paranoid our government has become, dont you?
I can barely stand to watch the tv anymore, the sad state of affairs in the gulf states only makes me cry and cry. 
wolfie loves Steve more than anything else in the whole world...even more than chocolate and lobster!
ISN'T IT OCTOBER YET? *pout*
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Ziggy
Spanko
Username: Ziggy
Post Number: 358
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 08:49 am: |
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yes me too wolfie, today I am going to pick up a dog that was found down south, I guess I will be a foster mom. he looks so so sad. but he is a lucky one most of the animals where killed, because the shelters wasn't taking any of them. I couldn't send any money so I decided to get this dog. I hope this helps in some way.........I say a pray for the people who are in the middle of the mess. god bless. |
Biggirl
Junior Spanko
Username: Biggirl
Post Number: 77
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005 - 09:34 pm: |
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Ziggy:
You giving that dog a home is helping. I have said since I was 17 & Hugo hit that there are lives lost needlessly because of the fact that shelters will not take pets. A pet owner in more instances then not I believe, is not going to leave their pet behind anymore then they would an infant/child. The risks of allowing animals into shelters are far outwieghed by the # of lives that are lost by disallowing them.
Wolfie:I agree 100% about the present administrations "policy of fear" as I have heard it referred to.
To anyone who may read this: What are your thoughts on the viability of the creation of third politicial party if the financing could come 100% from private citizens? The elite. The upper 5%. Not owners of corporations or any religously affilated organizations. People (only for example) like Oprah Winfrey, Sean Penn, Michael Jordan etc. (I have a 3 page list already)
I have all these ideas. The way our existing government really should work. The thing is to actually accomplish change....to rid the government of the seemingly limitless misspending of taxpayers monies (couple that with obscene tax cuts for the privately wealthy & the large corporations all while the poor suffer more & more)...sweeping change in representation is fundemntal. And all present political representatives "owe political favors" to those who gave them money to get them elected. That is a FACT! Is there a present leader within OUR federal government that is not endebted in that way?
With the internet & private funding it could be accomplished. The events of the past 2 weeks are historical. Period! There is just no way to deny that. It is the private citizens that got OUR CITIZENS their first meal in days. PRIVATE CITIZENS. Yes Oprah is very wealthy & all that & so were her friends she pulled together BUT DON'T FORGET THEY ARE PRIVATE CITIZENS that could no longer stand by and watch OUR FELLOW CITIZENS existing in the horror they were. I really don't think the signifience (sp?) of that has reasonated with all of us. I also think without Oprah coverage a lot would have gone unseen & the private citizens rescue efforts would be being downplayed even more then they are right now by the government. All the survivors when asked "who fed you, who got you water" are responding with names of PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS and/or individuals.
Criminal Charges must be filed against President Bush, Vice President Cheney & Michael "brownie" Brown. This was Criminal Negligence & Depraved Indifference to Human Life by their very definition. If there is no federal accountability (& I do mean jail time) how will this NATION ever heal & move forward as ONE NATION? I genuinely fear the long term effects on OUR NATION as a whole if the people of the poverty stricken & afro-american segment of OUR COLLECTIVE AMERICAN POPULATION do not receive TRUE JUSTICE for the incompetence of those men.
The changes needed to our beloved country are RADICIAL. Yes I said it RADICIAL. It is going to take REAL LEADERSHIP not mouthpieces bought by the large corporations to do it. I believe by what I am seeing on tv that the general american public is enraged to the point where HISTORICAL POLITICAL CHANGE could be attained.
Please tell me your thoughts as I am presently drafting a letter to Oprah Winfrey on this very subject manner & want HONEST INPUT!
BIGGIRL |
Ziggy
Spanko
Username: Ziggy
Post Number: 373
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Friday, September 09, 2005 - 07:18 pm: |
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I am so so upset, I went to go get the dog at the shelter. they said that they haven't got any animals from New Orleans. But they had an add, they thought that people would come in and look at the animals they already had. I was so mad, and walked out. False Advertising, |
Biggirl
Junior Spanko
Username: Biggirl
Post Number: 78
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Friday, September 09, 2005 - 09:28 pm: |
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That is obscene. |
Ziggy
Spanko
Username: Ziggy
Post Number: 376
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, September 10, 2005 - 06:43 am: |
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I am so upset still Biggirl. how can people do that, I know I should do something about it, not sure what though. I will have to think more about it.I was so excited I was going to help by taking this dog(so call dog) and give him a good home, and try to find his owners. |
Biggirl
Junior Spanko
Username: Biggirl
Post Number: 79
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, September 10, 2005 - 10:16 pm: |
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Call your local/city news media. That is what I would do. |
Ziggy
Spanko
Username: Ziggy
Post Number: 386
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, September 11, 2005 - 07:06 am: |
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I wrote a note for the local paper, how some shelters are mistreating the media. And how I was suckered into thinking that I was going to help out by taking in an animal for the storm. Thank you so much Biggirl for your help |
Rocco
Advanced Spanko
Username: Rocco
Post Number: 546
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Monday, September 12, 2005 - 09:53 am: |
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What you all are perhaps forgetting is that there are necessary steps that LOCAL and STATE governments MUST take in order for federal aid to be initiated as well as a meeting of congress to vote on the allocations of funds for such a relief effort. Congress was not in session and had to be called back to reconvene for a special session for this vote. As a matter of fact, the federal government pleaded with the Governor of Louisiana to declare a state of natural disaster before Katrina made land fall. The governor refused to do this, tying the hands of the Federal Government. The systems of checks and balances we have in this country, protecting the rights of states and their individual government’s demands that certain protocol be adhered to. This is basic civics. I know this is of little solace in a time of crisis but if we bend the rules for one instance then where does it stop? Do you want the federal government controlling all aspects of operation in your own states? Before condemning the Federal Government and our national leaders for following the rules of government that this country is built on, perhaps questioning the Governor of Louisiana and her motives and decision making process would be a better place to start; if finding someone to blame is of that much importance. Personally I think our energies would be better used in doing what we can to support the relief effort through our donations and prayers to lift up those affected by this tragedy and rebuild their cities. But that just my two cents.
Nothing says I love you like a spanking
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Biggirl
Junior Spanko
Username: Biggirl
Post Number: 80
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - 09:47 pm: |
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I find it amazing how everyone seems to forget that FEMA has the last say. Period. They have power over the Federal Government as well as State & Local officials. The Dept of FEMA has this authority so that POLITICS doesn't cost lives. And that is exactly what happened. No branches of the government knew what the others were & were not doing. And people died as a result.
No ONE did their jobs correctly & that is being seen around the planet & that is an unmistakeable fact. Read the articles from newspapers from other countries if you don't believe me. Don't explictly trust the american media.
Supporting the relief effort for our fellow citizens is an exercise (and responsibility) in humanity. Most people are quite capable of dividing their energies rather sucessfully..ask any mother of children not yet in school.
Requiring accountability from officials is not wasted energy. Not with the mess that the US is in right now. Domestically as well as Internationally. If this does not wake the working class people in america up & get them politically active then I don't know what will. If there is not real accountability (and I don't mean an apology I mean prosecution) I am leaving. If the events of the past weeks does not lead to a real change within this country then I am getting out before this nation self destructs. Because with the path that our present federal government has placed us on that self destruction is only a matter of time & the working poor of this country see it.
BigGirl |
Rocco
Advanced Spanko
Username: Rocco
Post Number: 548
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - 08:28 am: |
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You know you’re absolutely right. You would be better suited to live in another country. Good luck with that. I hope that works out for you.
Nothing says I love you like a spanking
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Wolfie
Moderator/Spanking Aficionado
Username: Wolfie
Post Number: 488
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - 11:33 am: |
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Let's all please remember that this is a discussion and everyone's opinion is valid. You dont have to agree with them, but let's remember we're friends and stay courteous.
Ziggy, I understand the way you feel. What they did was wrong and they should be reprimanded for that. Every state has a K-9 officer that's in charge of all shelters, that's who you should contact.
I do wonder though if this shelter is so overrun with unwanted animals that they are desperate to find them homes as well. I have been a K-9 control officer in my town...having to euthanise perfectly healthy animals because you can only keep them so long (by law) and because no one wants them is sickening to any animal lover. I know your incensed by what they did, but they could be just as desperate as the shelters down south. 
wolfie loves Steve more than anything else in the whole world...even more than chocolate and lobster!
ISN'T IT OCTOBER YET? *pout*
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Babyj4
New member
Username: Babyj4
Post Number: 37
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - 12:36 pm: |
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I think it is awful what is going on, but there is not much I can do to change it. I donated clothing and other things that I could to the people who evacuated to my state, but that's all I can afford to do.
Babyj- worlds cutest little brat!
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Lash_le_roux
New member
Username: Lash_le_roux
Post Number: 30
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 04:10 am: |
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Admittedly I'm coming late to this thread. However, I feel compelled to reprise a post I made during September to a similar thread on another site.
This post is definitely the longest I've ever made to the Den, but I hope you'll all bear with me and wade through it. It contains information that everyone should read.
Permit me to point a few things out:
First of all, FEMA is, by law, not a first response agency. They can act if, and only if, called in by state and local authorities. President Bush declared a state of emergency before Hurricane Katrina ever made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi. Rescue workers were stationed around the perimeter of the expected disaster area. They were not sent into New Orleans for two reasons. First, they cannot enter a disaster area, as previously stated, until requested by local authorities. Second, and more importantly, to send them in before the storm hit would have placed the rescue workers squarely in harm's way along with the civilians, resulting in even more victims.
Since we are now in "finger-pointing" mode, let me suggest a better place to place the blame: Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans and Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana.
While this hasn't gotten much airplay in the mainstream media, New Orleans has had a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan in place long before Katrina even existed, specifically for such a catastrophic storm. Here is the link:
http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26
The passages in italics are taken directly from the New Orleans CEMP.
The City of New Orleans government will conduct at least one functional or full scale training exercise annually, which will test the response capabilities of all functions of city government, as well as the private organizations, Parish school system and other agencies required to respond to disasters.
Was this done, and if not, why not?
Evacuation of major portions of our population, either in response to localized or citywide disasters, can only be accomplished if the citizens and visitors are kept informed of approaching threats on a timely schedule, and if they are notified of the need to evacuate in a timely and organized manner. If an evacuation order is issued without the mechanisms needed to disseminate the information to the affected persons, then we face the possibility of having large numbers of people either stranded and left to the mercy of a storm, or left in an area impacted by toxic materials.
And now these people have the nerve to act surprised?!
Authority to issue evacuations of elements of the population is vested in the Mayor. By Executive Order, the chief elected official, the Mayor of the City of New Orleans, has the authority to order the evacuation of residents threatened by an approaching hurricane.
The Mayor of New Orleans, NOT FEMA or the President of the United States.
The authority to order the evacuation of residents threatened by an approaching hurricane is conferred to the Governor by Louisiana Statute. The Governor is granted the power to direct and compel the evacuation of all or part of the population from a stricken or threatened area within the State... The same power to order an evacuation conferred upon the Governor is also delegated to each political subdivision of the State by Executive Order. This authority empowers the chief elected official of New Orleans, the Mayor of New Orleans, to order the evacuation of the parish residents threatened by an approaching hurricane.
I still don't see any mention of any Federal agencies here, and Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco still aren't on the same page.
Conduct of an actual evacuation will be the responsibility of the Mayor of New Orleans in coordination with the Director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, and the OEP Shelter Coordinator.
Again, local authorities...
A. Evacuation Time Requirements
Using information developed as part of the Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Task Force and other research, the City of New Orleans has established a maximum acceptable hurricane evacuation time standard for a Category 3 storm event of 72 hours...
They knew Hurricane Katrina was going to be at least a Category 4 the day before the storm made landfall. It became a Category 5 several hours before landfall. The NatWS called Mayor Nagin when Katrina was upgraded to a Category 4 storm and told him to evacuate the city, as New Orleans was going to be "unihabitable for weeks, if not months."
President Bush had called Gov. Blanco and begged her to sign an executive order for a mandatory evacuation. The Governor replied that she, "needed about 24 hours to think about it." Meanwhile, nothing was done.
Clearance time also includes the time required by evacuees to secure their homes and prepare to leave (mobilization time); the time spent by evacuees traveling along the road network (travel time); and the time spent by evacuees waiting along the road network due to traffic congestion (delay time)... Evacuation notices or orders will be issued during three stages prior to gale force winds making landfall.
> Precautionary Evacuation Notice: 72 hours or less
> Special Needs Evacuation Order: 8-12 hours after Precautionary Evacuation Notice issued
> General Evacuation Notice: 48 hours or less
The City of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas. Those evacuated will be directed to temporary sheltering and feeding facilities as needed. When specific routes of progress are required, evacuees will be directed to those routes. Special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific life saving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed.
This is the biggie:
Transportation will be provided to those persons requiring public transportation from the area. (See Special Needs Transportation, ESF-1).
Under the tasks assigned to each branch of local government, the Regional Transit Authority is to "supply transportation as neeed," "place vehicles on alert," and, "position supervisors and dispatch evacuation buses."
None of this was done, and they had from the time Katrina hit Florida until the time the storm hit New Orleans to get this together. Instead, Mayor Nagin basically threw up his hands and told those without transportation that they were on their own. They were instructed to "bring food and water for several days," and to make their own way to the Superdome and other shelters.
I also noticed dozens of Orleans Parish school buses sitting in parking lots which were under several feet of water. Why wasn't anyone who was able to drive a bus called in to do so? They had at least 100,000 people in that city without public transportation... they could have saved them and the buses at the same time. In fact, at least one plucky citizen commandeered a school bus and drove it and a busload of evacuees to Houston. Where was the city?
As to the delay in getting help to the people stranded in New Orleans (most of whom would not have been stranded if the city had followed its own plan), I saw a television interview with a spokesperson from the Red Cross, who said that they wanted to bring in food and water to those trapped at the Superdome and other such places, but were told to hold off by local authorities because they didn't want to encourage people to stick around New Orleans! Is this the fault of FEMA or the President?
Another reason help didn't arrive sooner was that all ways into the area were blocked by standing water and debris, etc. While a few reporters and rescue workers can be inserted into an area that is basically cut off from the rest of the world, large-scale rescue caravans with heavy equipment need clear roads in order to reach afflicted areas. I'm not saying the federal response was perfect... far from it. However, they're being made scapegoats for the failings of others.
As far as comparing the response of the federal agencies and National Guard troops to those in charge of the tsunami rescue effort, once the tsunami hit, the water quickly receded. In New Orleans, it's still sitting there. That makes a big difference as far as rescue operations are concerned.
Next, as far as the levees are concerned, they were built to withstand a Category 3 storm as a result of Hurricane Betsy in 1965. As we all know, Katrina was a Category 4 when it struck New Orleans. The levee system has remained essentially unchanged since the Johnson Administration. Even if the levee funds had not been cut, to prepare for Katrina would have taken years, not days. Anyone who doubts this should do a little research on this and other comparable projects such as the North Sea Wall in the Netherlands, which took five years to complete.
Also, because the Mississippi River was reconfigured years ago by the Army Corps of Engineers, south Louisiana has been losing hundreds of acres per year to the Gulf of Mexico. New Orleans, which was already at or below sea level in most places, has slowly settled even lower as the land upon which the city sits is drained. These were also factors in what happened when Katrina struck.
Finally, to those who insist that we're reaping the rewards of our environmental policies, I say this: check out the patterns of Atlantic tropical storms & hurricanes since 1900. They tend to run in cycles of around forty years. The 50s and 60s were just as bad as the last ten years. In fact, most of the worst hurricanes that have struck the Atlantic Coast occurred in the first half of the 20th Century. If Hurricane Camille, a Category 5, had stuck New Orleans instead of Mississippi in 1969, we wouldn't be having this discussion now, because New Orleans would have been rebuilt to withstand a Category 5, not a Category 3, because there would have been nothing left of New Orleans.
There... I've finished my rant.
Lash Le Roux 
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. — Dr. Seuss
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Everyday Life 