Katrina and the aftermath

[kknudson]

They're now comparing the damage from Katrina, with the Tsumai. From the looks of it, pretty reasonable. Although thanks to knowing it was coming, evacution spared many lives.

Maybe we'll hear more, and maybe in Chicago we don't hear about it.

But how much aid is coming in from other countries ?

Anytime there is a disaster anywhere in the world. We are there, aid, donations, troops ....

Am I wrong for feeling like we're being used ?

Maybe I kinda believe that thread about the Spam letter would be a good thing, nah but you get my drift.

Originally Posted by kknudson

They're now comparing the damage from Katrina, with the Tsumai. From the looks of it, pretty reasonable. Although thanks to knowing it was coming, evacution spared many lives.

Maybe we'll hear more, and maybe in Chicago we don't hear about it.

But how much aid is coming in from other countries ?

Anytime there is a disaster anywhere in the world. We are there, aid, donations, troops ....

Am I wrong for feeling like we're being used ?

Maybe I kinda believe that thread about the Spam letter would be a good thing, nah but you get my drift.

You posted this before I could, the US like like the rich uncle of the world, the rest of the family thinks that fortune just spins his way and he never needs any help.

[Snibble]

Good post.. I was about to post a thread on this. I also don't know why in the world those people who are being picked up stayed. They had 3-4 days notice to GET THE %(@#* OUT yet the decided to stay in the way of a category 5 hurricane

[Honus]

Maybe we're being used, I don't know. I would prefer not to think of it that way. Good people help those in need, without regard to reward. If others choose not to help, oh well.

[A264172]

I will be interested to see how much our newest bestest trading partner China sends.

Originally Posted by A264172

I will be interested to see how much our newest bestest trading partner China sends.

If they had ports that helped the chinese get their goods here I'm sure they would, otherwise forget about it.

[matt7531]

I'm sure we'll see a great outpouring of help from the Iraqis.

Originally Posted by matt7531

I'm sure we'll see a great outpouring of help from the Iraqis.

yea, before the war they were a bunch of help

[Botnst]

I flew the coast of Louisiana today from Terrebonne Parish to Mandeville at about 500 ft. I got probably 1,000 hi-rez digital stills. I'll psot some after I download them tomorrow but right now I'm tired and brain-dead and I have a glass of Old Charter so I thought I'd give you a brain-dump, for what it's worth. There are peopel doing search and rescue and I stay out of tehir way. About 20 of my colleagues volunteered to drive boats for FEMA and are helping with the rescue. They chose 7. Not me this time.

Port Fourchon was in operation, but not terribly busy. I spoke to a oil company exec who said he cannot locate 5 of his 75 oil rigs. The emergency valve systems worked so there was very little leakage.

Grand Isle is terribly trashed, especially on the eastern end. I saw lots of small boats tossed over the sand berm and deposited willy-nilly around the island. The liveoak forest in the middle and ends looks dead. The salt spray has killed the leaves. If the water drains off teh island fast enough, they'll probably recover. Probably 1/4 of the homes on the eastern end of the island were totally destroyed. Another 1/4th were damaged. There were trucks and cars here and there, but none appeared where they were supposed to be. The eastern end of teh island fared better, but there was tsill substantial damage.

Things rapidly degraded from about Bastion Bay to Buras. The marsh and forest was scrapped clean from the substrate. We did not fly over Buris.

We did fly over Venice, LA. It is virtually gone. The ratty little mobile home village is up to the roof tops in water. There were tugs and ocean barges beached in crazy positions. A huge barge with agiant crane on it was deposited in a parking lot. Small boats were scattered for miles in teh marsh.

The Chandeleur islands are mostly gone. They're probably recover somewhat, but they are no longer so significant a feature. The Chandeleur lightouse is gone. The GPS position it formerly occupied is about 3.4 miles from the nearest island.

The ratty houses around FT Pike in the Rigolletes are gones. In fact, the NOLA side of the bridge looks like a madman's lumberyard. Building material of every sort is stacked and piled and arranged crazily for several acres. Later, I figure-out that the debris came from the area formerly known as "Eden Isles" in Slidell.

The twinspan bridges are missing several spans from both lanes of I-12. Others are twisted out of line. The large, cheerful subdivision that encroached on the twinspan is mostly gone. There are plenty of standing houses still, but several ahd boats stuck through them so I would guess water soaked the first floor. There was no standing water in Eden Isles.

Proceeding eastward, destruction was fairly complete for perhaps 15 miles or so. But at about Mandeville, quite suddenly it quit looking like an area of devastation and instead, looked like an area where very bad storms had passed. Trees snapped at 30 ft or so, trees on houses, trees on cars. But mostly not too bad. In coastal Slidell, there were few trees remaining.

On Wedn I'l fly MS barrier islands and the Pearl River to about Bogalousa.

Bot

[G-Benz]

I have several relatives in NOLA. Talked to others further inland and no one is getting word of their condition.

Based on what I've seen televised, ALL of them have lost their homes.

A mixed blessing, but my grandparents died 6 months apart last year. Had they been alive, they would have also lost their home...and lives.

A few of my cousins evacuated to Houston and one from Dallas, but I have yet to get in contact with any of them successfully. Some chose to remain in NOLA, and no contact from them either.

I believe many felt that they were only going to experience a bad rainstorm with heavy winds and that would be about it.

Strange to see familiar sights in NOLA looking the way it does now...

Yo, B thanks for the update, what kind of plane did you cruise around in? I talked to our friend Nar, and he said his area is beat to hell but they made it through ok.

[Botnst]

Originally Posted by MedMech

Yo, B thanks for the update, what kind of plane did you cruise around in? I talked to our friend Nar, and he said his area is beat to hell but they made it through ok.

Good to hear that he made it okay. I believe it was still a Cat 1 all the way up where he lives, though he may have been west of the main storm.

Cessna 185 Amphib. We spent 6.2 hours flying at between 500 and 1,000 ft. The tension of prolongues low-altitude flying his bad enough on a good day, but combine that with the present circumstances, and I'm a whupped puppy. But Old Charter was begun the healing process. And my kids made me laugh and my wife made me smile and they fixed me a supper.

Oh yeah, we also landed on the Mississippi River for a break. And we landed at Galiano for fuel. Galiano was like freaking O'Hare! They're the nearest Jet A and Avgas to NOLA from the west. So the two people who run the pumps and credit cards were hopping like jumping beans. We were unable to raise DeRidder to close our flight plan because nobody west of Houma had contact with them, the VOR's weren't working and the cell phones don't work and land lines are unreliable. Fortunately we were on the ground at Galiano, our flight plan destination, when they called to check on us. They were real nice about it. We rarely let flight plans expire (once in 6 years I've been right seat), so that dependability might be worth something to them.

I saw a hell of a fine looking airplane today, a Pilatus. I think it's of Swiss manufacture. Great lines.

Bot

[peragro]

Glad to hear you are OK Bot. Looks like there will be much work ahead to clean-up and repair. I am sad that I never got to see New Orleans prior to this, but I hope to visit the rebuilt version one of these days.

My wife asked me, this afternoon, the exact question that started this thread. She also wondered, as do I, how many of our global neighbors will be sending aid and assistance our way during our time of need. I don't think I'll be holding my breath. I'm sure if there's a like disaster in the near future somewhere else in the world we'll send people, food and money. That's the kinda great counrty we are.

[Vronsky]

Originally Posted by Botnst

I flew the coast of Louisiana today from Terrebonne Parish to Mandeville at about 500 ft. I got probably 1,000 hi-rez digital stills. I'll psot some after I download them tomorrow but right now I'm tired and brain-dead and I have a glass of Old Charter so I thought I'd give you a brain-dump, for what it's worth. There are peopel doing search and rescue and I stay out of tehir way. About 20 of my colleagues volunteered to drive boats for FEMA and are helping with the rescue. They chose 7. Not me this [...]

Bot

The scale of this disaster is slowly getting clearer over here on the news. Seems to have apocalyptic magnitude. Scenes on tv are horrific. We've had some similar disasters in this part of the world, but none ever like this. Hope aid and rescue gets going soon, but given the sheer size of the catastroph that won't be easy. Good luck.

[Vronsky]

Originally Posted by peragro

Glad to hear you are OK Bot. Looks like there will be much work ahead to clean-up and repair. I am sad that I never got to see New Orleans prior to this, but I hope to visit the rebuilt version one of these days.

My wife asked me, this afternoon, the exact question that started this thread. She also wondered, as do I, how many of our global neighbors will be sending aid and assistance our way during our time of need. I don't think I'll be holding my breath. I'm sure if there's a like disaster in the near future somewhere else in the world we'll send people, food and money. That's the kinda great counrty we are.

I reckon many countries assume that the richest, most powerful country in the world can or even prefers to handle this alone and has the resources to it. I'm convinced that if the US would make clear it welcomes foreign assistance, it won't be disappointed.