Rita

[louadams6]

As if they have not been through enough the people of New Orleans have to brace themselves again for Rita, i wish them well and hope they take the advice and evacuate this time!!

[libertie]

Me too!  What a truly horrendous time they are having!

[littleoldme]

No-one seems to know exactly where it will hit this time. It's already hit the Florida Keys but has built up strength since then. Latest estimates seem to think it will hit Texas rather than Louisiana, but New Orleans is still a possibility.

[libertie]

Frightening is'nt it!  Although I moan about our weather I suppose that by and large we are pretty lucky!!

No doubt I'll regret making this remark, especially if the weathermen have correcty predicted our coming winter and I'm knee deep in snow :o/

[louadams6]

it is scary, i was in the states earlier in the year and heard a man in a restaurant comment that when he left home that morning there'd been 38 inches of snow in his back garden! So yes i think we a pretty lucky even if we are due a bad winter i dont think we'll get 38inches of snow!

[ianess]

OK...it's horrendous what they've been through already and wouldn't want to wish that on my worst enemy, BUT can someone explain exactly why some genius thought it was a good idea to build a city below sea or lake level?  And having evacuated once who would really feel confident about going back?
Same concerns obviously apply to the Netherlands and even parts of Lincolnshire as an example closer to home.

[january_bug]

Couple of points. 

1. Very disappointed that no-one so far has questioned the statement "hope they take the advice and evacuate".  I saw on the news many times, explanations that the black community were worst affected because they lived in the poorest housing and had least chance of escape because they did not have cars.  It's not that they were being stubborn or naive... they could hardly pack up their lives on their backs and walk 100 miles North.  The City should have provided buses for them so that they could evacuate.
2. ianess - I suspect that when New Orleans etc grew as a city, it grew as a port, and in times when weather systems were not realy understood.  Satellite weather predictions are a relatively recent thing.  Also, without such technology, they wouldn't have understood about sea level.  Thirdly (and finally I promise!!) New Orleans has a population that is/was mainly in poverty.  Even in a country as huge as the USA, poorer people end up living in the less geographically favourable areas, and consequently get d1cked on repeatedly by the elements. 

[louadams6]

sorry jan-bug, i can see what youre saying but i would just pack a case, get my daughter and go! material things would not be of importance to me so i would not pack everything! I would just leave and if that meant hitch hiking or catching a bus or walking for a few miles then so be it, i certainly would not risk the lives of my family by being stubborn and staying put "just because its my home" Hopefully the governement will sort them some sort of transport this time

[january_bug]

I didn't mean to pack up their entire lives... I just mean that for a mother and daughter to have enough things to last them several weeks, may be more than they can carry.  Especially if the daughter is a baby.  I'm sure carrying 4 weeks worth of clothes, food and nappies for a baby under 6 months would be an immense struggle.... as well as carrying the child. 

I'm not trying to say it's not possible, I'm just saying that we should be wary of dismissing it as naivity, stupidity or laziness. 

[jno]

just hitch-hike or catch a bus?... Last I heard there was a traffic jam 100 miles long out of Houston. It just isn't that easy. It's not just where to go, but how to get there. There's really only one main route out of Houston going inland, much the same as with New Orleans - the others are mainly coastal roads, which won't get you away from the storms. And as Bug says, not all Americans have cars, incredible as that may seem - particularly the poorest, who are the ones who get abandoned.

[louadams6]

thanks for the patronising reply jno, i have been to the states several times and have seen some of the poorer parts so yes i do understand what it is like.

What would you do if yours and your familys life were at risk? wouldnt you at least try to get out of it by any means possible? I for one would im afraid! and just for the record as i seem to be upsetting everyone with my post if you watched reports from Katrina you would have seen the stubborn people who refused to leave their houses and sit it out... maybe just maybe these were the people i was talking about. But instead of asking............!

[january_bug]

I appreciate that you understand the situation... I don't think you're stupid, and it's clear from jno's reply that neither does he.  However, even the smartest people fall into the trap of making sweeping generalisations, and you question was certainly a generalisation, even if not totally sweeping. 

If you'd only meant the stubborn ones, then you could have said so.  Or you could have made that comment when I raised my "objection". 

I don't think anyone is questioning your attitude about trying to protect your family, and do not be mistaken... we would all protect ours too.  As you do, we just appreciate that we have cars, and suit cases, and enough stuff in the house to pack up that would last us a few weeks.  We were each just talking about the fact that there are different reasons for not leaving.  In all fairness, you hadn't expressly said that you were only talking about the stubborn ones. 

You don't have to have been to the USA to understand the poverty that some of these people live in. 

I for one am not upset, and I highly doubt that jno would allow himself to be riled by this thread.  I certainly wasn't having a go at you, and I also doubt that jno intended to offend either.  Seriously... it's just a chat isn't it!?

PS - jno, I know I've put some words in your mouth there.  If I was wrong at all, then please do correct me, and hopefully accept my apologies.  :-)

[louadams6]

ha ha, im hardly riled or upset january-bug, it would take more than those comments to upset me im afraid! Im aware that we are just chatting! Just felt i had to explain myself, not sure why

[january_bug]

Don't feel you have to explain yourself!  Everyone's entitled to their view.  I think it's just that many of us (myself included) are often perhaps too quick to assume things, if the contrary is not expressly stated.  Your post implied that you were upset/p'd off... I'm glad that you weren't.  :-)

[louadams6]

no not at all january-bug, i think we all bite at times when we dont mean too or express ourselves differently to how we want to (if im making sense!!!) Hope youre having a good Friday night x