Katrina's aftermath

ihttp://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20050901/capt.ladp13809010012.hurricane_katrina_ladp138

Even with the 18% of households without a vehicle, that doesn't mean that 18% of households had no way out of their homes. Sure, there's a tiny statistical chance that none of them know anyone who can provide a ride out, but that's ridiculous, and you and I both know it.

There were also plenty of "shelters of last resort", which while not comfortable, beat staying in your attic with rushing water.

because they probably won't be able to watch them until next spring? come on, that's kinda sad. To sit in your rancid water-filled apartment with a big-screen t.v. that you can't even watch? they say they won't even be able to drain all the water out of the city until february.

And how is it possible to better than number in any way, shape, or form?

BTW, why did more people flee New Orleans than Charleston? Just wondering.

here:

http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/503/captladp13809010012hurricaneka.jpg

Even with 10% unemployment, do you believe that, say, 25% of the population had absolutely no way out whatsoever?

Before the hurricane hit I saw a pair of reports on the national news that discussed the possibility of the city being flooded because of the bowl effect, which means that the higher-ups in New Orleans knew the possibility existed as well. What I'm saying here is I'm not sure people in New Orleans who didn't have constant access to information knew about it or that any real attempts were made to make them aware of it, other than "hurricane coming! get out!" I've just been hypothesizing as to why people might not have known the potential severity of the hurricane and why people decided to stick it out.

because there are more people in new orleans?

*rimshot*

(?)

And I have no idea what these words say...

Percentage wise?

My wife's supervisor's mother died when the power went out. She had been on life support.

One of the rumors about the looting in downtown Baton Rouge by evacuees was acknowledged by another source, but it's not THAT big of a deal. I still don't get the impression that anyone was hurt.

As far as I can tell, every effort was made to tell people what the situation was and how they could hopefully get to safety. I'm not sure what on earth could have been done differently or why we're having this discussion at all. Call me nuts, but I don't see 99% of the people having stayed, given past history in every other storm ever, to have done so because they were either entirely ignorant of conditions or were incapable of leaving. The fact that New Orleans was able to get as many people evacuated as they did in the time frame that they had is a testament to a hell of a job.

That's too bad. They could use the labor building the proposed Astrodome theme park / luxury hotel:

http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/05/08/18/astrodome.jpg

Of course, its more realistic to imagine that virtually everyone who stayed (about a quarter of the population) is too poor to afford a vehicle and too socially inept to have any contact with family or friends in the area who could transport them out. But please, go on and mock actual facts over wild speculation, because god knows its the more sensible thing to do.

10 pounds! that's a lot of shrimp.

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/nm/20050901/2005_08_31t214537_450x333_us_bt_weather_katrina_poverty.jpg?x=380&y=281&sig=S3zIeRa1ctHTuHYiW3_cuA--

also, i hope all the boater guys who're helping out have enough gasoline

I'm sorry. I should just blame the Louisiana government for not being able to get everyone out in time and keeping everyone stupid, because that was clearly their intention. I'll buy that 60% of that remaining 300,000 were there because they were too poor to get out, but no more than that.

the bad news: they lost everything.

"work"

Your saying it makes it fact, Al. Thanks.

And others: god stop bickering over semantics, go to the Red Cross website/hotline and GIVE MONEY AND GOODS, NOW.

Picture galleries of my wife's hometown, Hattiesburg MS:

http://hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=HURRICANE

Unbelievable.

*insert "water hazard" joke here*

Gave money to Red Cross tonight, planning to give more as soon as I can.

According to the 1999 census, the economic makeup of the city was pretty damn bleak:

INCOME IN 1999
Total Households: 188,365
Less than $10,000 - 39,617, 21.0% of total
$10,000 to $14,999 - 17,991, 9.6%
$15,000 to $24,999 - 29,760, 15.8%

23% of Total Families (nuclear, out of 27,000 total) below poverty
43% of Families (single mother, out of 20,000 total) below povery

SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS
Lacking complete plumbing facilities - 1,856, 1.0%
Lacking complete kitchen facilities - 1,900, 1.0%
No telephone service - 8,292 4.4%

Also, in that year 27+% of households didn't own a car

If you want to believe that every single poor person in the city of New Orleans couldn't get out because they lacked the means to, plus about 10-15% over the poverty line, that's fine with me. Believe whatever you'd like.

That's a fantastic strawman to come up with and throw at me.

Of course not. Probably a good percentage were though. Probably near half. I'm not stupid. I saw the people lining up into the Superdome just like everyone else.

https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp

is it a good or bad thing that you now have to specify where ALL the money has to go? I mean, yeah, they got shit for suspected shenanigans with donations 4 years ago, but at some point, they do need to come up with funds for infrastructure(walkie talkies, envelopes, gasoline, bandwidth costs, etc)

Could have foo--- nevermind.

A) Other people have automobiles. Rich white people weren't the only people driving out of the city, for god sakes. Its statisically impossible unless you believe significantly more than the estimated 300-400,000 are left are currently in New Orleans. There were also various forms of transportation bringing people both outside the city and within the city to "shelters of last resort", such as the Superdome. Its not like its some concealed fact.

Tell you what: You look at the figures, and you give me a rough idea of how many people you think stayed, and how many of those people chose to do so versus those who were forced to. We've got a ton of information at hand here, so let's see you give it a shot. I'm sure you'd rather just criticize, however, and offer no realistic alternative, other than "you're an idiot" and "you're a dumb italian", which is basically all you've done.

(In picking a charity, its smart to send cash (its spent much faster than a check) and to designate what the cash is for. charities do use events like this to take portions of donations and put portions away for future events, so this pretty much guarantees its use for what you want)

I'm betting 7-8%.

-- Alan Conceicao (deadandrestles...), September 1st, 2005.

Also, in that year 27+% of households didn't own a car

-- my name is john. i reside in chicago. (econjoh...), September 1st, 2005.

Alan, your initial theory was obviously based on a gross misunderstanding of the level of poverty in New Orleans, as shown here. Yet after a few people have corrected you, you persist in that same false reading of the situation based on the same false assumptions. Who's foolish?