On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 20:51:03 GMT, Ignoramus21934
wrote:

I disagree with the assumption that leaving the city was the right
thing to do, given what they knew then. Hint: no one knew or could
guess that the levees would break. That was the catastrophe, not the
hurricane as such. I will appreciate being corrected if I am mistaken,
but that was not foreseeable, notwithstanding some long standing
warnings of researchers that the levee system was not as good as it
should be.

Why should I leave my house if a mere hurricane is coming. I would
rather stay in it, given that chances are that it will stay intact.
And then I need to defend the house against marauding gangs and
looters etc.

i

Being from south Texas I find the above inadvisable. I was about 6
yrs. old in San Antonio when Beulah hit and got a good idea of the
destruction on TV with boats in houses. Celia hit a couple of yrs.
later and I remember seeing wave after wave of storms just like the
satellite pictures of the arms of the hurricanes. In '80 I was in the
Rio Grande Valley and watched Allen get closer and closer. My friends
wanted me to stay for a hurricane party where you stock up on booze,
candles, and food and then sit around the house for a week. Not my
idea of fun, so I took a vacation to visit my mom in northern Wis.
When at peoples' houses they'd all ask where I was from with that
funny accent and I would point at their TV and say "You see that big
swirling monster?" I went back about 7-10 days later and there was
nothing but water on both sides and in the middle of the highway as
far as I could see and remember thinking that I should have waited
longer. The road trips were better than a week of canned food, no
shower, and no clean clothes.

I can't imagine staying within levees below sea level and relatively
right next to the surf. Florida isn't much better, what is it 20'
above sea level? If I had to have a house in FL. it would be on poles
with plenty of shaded parking underneath and everything would be
screwed and bolted together.

Call it paranoia or what ever, but hurricanes are not to be played
with. Most of the gulf coast's topography is flat with nothing to slow
them down. You can drive a hundred miles inland and the elevation
gained about the height of a simi. and the water table is a post hole
down. Out here in the desert they frequently have 75mph sand storms
that are wicked enough for me. I've had my hand out the windows of
fast cars and planes at 150mph and have a hard time seeing a house
hold up to it.

While I'm on the subject, can ya'll imagine if there where a couple of
national happenings like riots and such at the same time? Gunners
survivalist philosophy would be sounding more like a great idea.


On 4 Sep 2005 08:00:41 -0700, doo wrote:
I lurk here quite a bit, and have been following the threads on Kat
and NO.
What I can't seem to understand is the fact that with a hurricane, you
KNOW it's coming. Not like an earthquake or volcanic eruption or even a
tsunami. You have ample warning. The comparison to the tsunami of
December is apples and oranges. The aftermath is comparable, yes, but
not anything else. On a side note, if you invented a way to predict
earthquakes, you'd be a billionaire, or a Nobel prize winner, or both,
depending on your desire to help humanity.
I'm not a survivalist by any means, but I have done my share of
camping. Primitive camping, that is, not in an air conditioned,
generator equipped, propane powered house-on-wheels.
I can't fathom what some of these people in NO are doing. They were
told to get out. Flee. Run for your life.
Those that stayed, well, you knew there would be no electricity,
water, or sewer.
I think if I had made the decision to stay, I would have filled every
container I could find with water. Filled the bathtub, pots, pans,
buckets..anything while the system was working. Stocked up on canned
goods, candles, heating sources.
If I hadn't secured a source of fresh water beforehand, I certainly
woudn't be on CNN stranded on the roof of a hotel, whining about no
water. Damn, you got all the water you need, just gotta make it
drinkable. Build a still, burn whatever you have to to boil it,do
something for Pete's sake. It's not like you're too busy watching TV or
playing video games, or reading your newsgroups. G
Fido, you've been a faithful companion, but as soon as I get this fire
started...
I guess the true questions for this post is have we as society become
so soft that we can't fend for ourselves anymore? Have we become too
reliant on people providing for us? Whatever happened to Basic Survival
101?