this pisses me off....

[tiger909]

bush sr. clinton and dubya all declined projects aimed at strengthening the N.Orleans levees. it was deemed unnecassary. but lookat this doomsday scenario written aug. 2004. eery how dead on it was. so scientists knew it was possible but we didnt do anythng about it.



"It was a broiling August afternoon in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Big Easy, the City That Care Forgot. Those who ventured outside moved as if they were swimming in tupelo honey. Those inside paid silent homage to the man who invented air-conditioning as they watched TV "storm teams" warn of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing surprising there: Hurricanes in August are as much a part of life in this town as hangovers on Ash Wednesday.

But the next day the storm gathered steam and drew a bead on the city. As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however—the car-less, the homeless, the aged and infirm, and those die-hard New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.

The storm hit Breton Sound with the fury of a nuclear warhead, pushing a deadly storm surge into Lake Pontchartrain. The water crept to the top of the massive berm that holds back the lake and then spilled over. Nearly 80 percent of New Orleans lies below sea level—more than eight feet below in places—so the water poured in. A liquid brown wall washed over the brick ranch homes of Gentilly, over the clapboard houses of the Ninth Ward, over the white-columned porches of the Garden District, until it raced through the bars and strip joints on Bourbon Street like the pale rider of the Apocalypse. As it reached 25 feet (eight meters) over parts of the city, people climbed onto roofs to escape it.

Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.

When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City. Even the Red Cross no longer opens hurricane shelters in the city, claiming the risk to its workers is too great."



http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/

[majorpecs]

Everyone knew that NO was below sea level and that a hurricane could kill thousands....the onus was on the government of NO, but did they do anything to fix the problem? HELL NO...so let's not get into another blame it on the president thread.

Everyone living in LA or San Francisco also knows that sooner or later one of those devasting quakes is going to hit and thousands will die there and the devestation will be on par with this current disaster. But I suppose you think that the president should be fixing that now.

[1819]

Everyone knew that NO was below sea level and that a hurricane could kill thousands....the onus was on the government of NO, but did they do anything to fix the problem? HELL NO...so let's not get into another blame it on the president thread.

Everyone living in LA or San Francisco also knows that sooner or later one of those devasting quakes is going to hit and thousands will die there and the devestation will be on par with this current disaster. But I suppose you think that the president should be fixing that now.

thats a great point bro. alot of preventable measures can be taken in alot of places in this country but there is a little thing called money. who's gonna pay for all this? make every building earthquake proof? you could. then no one could afford to rent the space. make flying 100% safe? maybe. but $5000 new york to florida? i dont think so. yea engineers knew. did they donate their time and ideas to fix the problem for free? no. i guess it wasnt important enough for construction companies to donate time and material for free either. horrible things happen. they just do. tornados, fires floods etc... no city in this country is completly prepared for a storm that size. it happened with andrew in fl. they did the same thing afterwards pointing the finger at everyone. some things you cant control. and the funny thing is...it missed. a few miles to the west and there wouldnt even have been a city to be flooded. all those people that are suffering right now would be dead. they are saying to rebuild the levy system to survive a cat 5? what about the buildings? what good is an unflooded city with no structure? i hope they focus on rebuilding the best they can and then sitting back and taking their chances...just like the rest of the country.