T&P&C to all the TE'rs in the Katrina area

[pkq]

A friend from OH called yesterday to rail and pontificate on the stupidity of building in New Orleans or anywhere nearby, especially the last 40 years, just because something like this could happen. He knows Louisiana will always be home to me, since I was born, raised, and lived there 38 years.

He railed about this for a long time and the lesser damage suffered by Florida....blah blah blah. Katrina was a Cat. 1 storm, when she hit Florida and a Cat. 4, downgraded from a 5, when she hit Louisiana. There was a significant increase in energy once Katrina hit the shallow, warm gulf waters.

He sure sounded like there are no smart people in NO, which I know to be untrue. No empathy for what they endure now. After I called him Bubba enough, he backed down on his position.

The same can be true of any coastal region of the Gulf or Atlantic; however, he refused to admit they need to stop building along other coastal regions, just NO.

I think his real issue is the disruption to his travel plans due to the cost and shortage of gas.

On a happier note, a friend of mine from Lake Charles is offering his boat and assistance this weekend. Louisiana has some great people and they won't be down long, they always find a way to enjoy life!

Katrina Facts

[Trek420]

uh, excuse me but don't they have tornadoes in OH? the nerve of him.

Trek-livin' on the faultline-420

[bouncybouncy]

i just thought i would pass it on...

http://www.usgs.gov/

[Irulan]

I've donated to the Red Cross. Prayers and wishes are great, but something more tangible will really help people out.
http://www.redcross.org/ You can designate your donation for hurricane relief. United way and salvation army are also good organizations. Money is more easily used for direct results than "stuff".

NO has been at risk for one reason or another, but there are not many areas in the world that are completely immune to natural disasters, be it earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding,tornadoes, volcanoes, ice storms, fires, etc.

For those of you interested in reading about such things, NO has been at risk for year, not only from ocean based storms, but from the Mississippi River. If you know anything about river deltas, rivers naturally migrate across the deltas, changing thier flow pattern, leaving and pirating channels and so on. For years, the Army Corps of Engineers has been trying to prevent Old Man River from doing what it wants to do naturally, that is, shorted it's course to the sea by pirating the Atchaflalaya River, which would shorten it's route by about 50 miles. They've actually built reverse dams on the Atchafalaya to keep this from happening. Which hasnt' yet, but they always figured it was a matter of time. Anyway,..... no point really, but an interesting book about this kind of thing is In Control Of Nature by John MacPhee.


irulan

[DeniseGoldberg]

I've donated to the Red Cross. Prayers and wishes are great, but something more tangible will really help people out.
http://www.redcross.org/ You can designate your donation for hurricane relief.
irulan

Me too. The first time I tried to access the site it didn't respond - but I kept trying and was able to make my donation. So if you're having problems accessing http://www.redcross.org, wait a bit and try again. (The web site seems to be much more responsive today than it was earlier in the week.)

--- Denise

[jeannierides]

My computer has been down for almost 3 weeks, so I haven't been able to get on as much as I would like. I am babysitting for my little grands today, so have a few minutes to get on my daughter's computer. I was really glad to see this thread, and want to add my t's and p's as well...and will be sending my donation to the RC today...

[pkq]

Irulan, the Corps of Engineers has done a marvelous job keeping the course of the Mississippi from going down the Atchafalaya River Basin. Twenty years ago they presented a show at E-Week on their efforts. It was impressive and fascinating. I've had friends here, PA, probe about all that stuff and basically to allow the combination of the Mississippi with the Atchafalaya would leave Baton Rouge and New Orleans, two major ports, high and dry. It also allows tankers to dock at the refineries along the Mississippi from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. To move the infrastructure for industry, commerce, and residential would be a whoppin' lot of dough. This is making financial analysts look again at the feasibility of doing such a move so the outcome will be interesting.