However intelligent sounding this post is, it's dead wrong. Much of this could be prevented. But of course, America has remained ignorant to the plight of coastal Louisiana despite our efforts, and unfortuantely it will be lost after this catastrophe. It's called barrier islands and wetlands. We used to have them and now we don't. Find out why their important and why we don't have them, and then we'll talk. It's a shame when one of the most important states in the union is neglected because it's poverty and therefore it's lack of influence on a national level. You've raped us and now we have to reap it. Thanks. I can't wait till all you fuckers start crying about how expensive gas is.

aren't we one of the ones who gets all offended by the n-word?

Actually fairly easily dickwad. NO ONE IS SAYING IT'S WORSE. Just using a reference point. We fucking rallied our asses off for those victims. Federal money, charity, and celebrity fundraisers. What's wrong with saying,"wake the fuck up people! we are in dire need of help like the tsunami victims." Let's see why. 1.3 million people lost everything they own, and they haven't even began a death count yet. It will be significant. After 9/11, all I said was I hope they find some still alive, and this is terrible. Not "quit crying." Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you. FUCK YOU. Gawd I wish I could pound your face in.

EDIT: Nascar is not big in South Louisiana either. In fact South Louisiana isn't much like the rest of the south either.

Ok some people were a tad insensitive in this thread, but instead of whining and complaining about it on a fucking message board aren't there more important things you should be doing?

that's like saying to New Yorkers after 9/11, "quit crying and go do something about it". I want to do something so badly, but we are helpless.

i didn't even think it sounded intelligent, and I said that much of it could be prevented. how is that dead wrong when you agree with me in the first sentence? and i'm well aware of the necessity of barrier islands/wetlands in your local ecology and i think it's pretty obvious why you don't have them anymore. which brings me back to my point in that it's fucking nature, much of it reacting to us. I don't support the dickholes that ignored the mounting threat or destroyed your civil engineering, and I certainly wasn't supporting the "rape" of your state and I never have. Complain to the oil companies about that. I'm sorry that your state's natural resources are getting pillaged, truly. Just like Nevada, Alaska, and every other state in the union. but i sure as shit am not going to be blamed for that.

I have never complained about the price of gas and I never will. It should be $5 a gallon. just to fucking force somebody into searching for alternatives.

of course it's upsetting that the poor bore the brunt of this devastation, but isn't that pretty much how it works in this country?

i am aware of how insensitive and cold this post sounds and I can assure you that isn't my intention. But to be shocked that this happened is asinine. i'm glad you're out there helping people, you're doing the right thing. If it was near me i would be as well. But don't blame everyone in america for this. We weren't in a long line to gangrape your state anymore than people were to gangrape my state 150 years ago. It sucks, but obviously nobody's gonna change anything.

My point is it's more than nature being nature. If we were another state, the $$$ would have been there to protect us like Florida. Unfortuantely Nevada and Alaska(although it could) doesn't produce like we do. People need to be shocked by this and help us. We known for years this was coming and this is only the tip. Louisiana keeps this country running not Alaska or Nevada, and we need help.

But you're right, and I'm not really trying to blame anyone (ok I am). I'm half crazy right now, It's been a long stressful time for me, and I am admittedly not handling it well.

hey man it's all understandable. my biggest fear is that this is going to draw a huge amount of aid in an attempt to make people forget how and why it was made so much more dangerous than it should've been. i shouldn't of reacted like such a glib prick but, well, you know...

you're handling it fine. If you weren't freaking out and going through some serious mental trauma I'd be far more concerned. It's gonna be slow recovery down there and i wish you the best of luck and all the strength you can muster.

me too. thanks.

i have several questions, from the point of view of someone who has no idea what happened other than what i've pieced together reading this thread:

1). What's a levee?

2). We get a almost this big every couple of years or so here (but of course it happens in small towns, because, well, Australia is a country comprised of small towns, so the damage is scant), but does this sort of flood happen often over there?
3). Why is New Orleans 6 ft. below sea level? Wouldn't that mean it would always be flooded?

Also, i would like to say i'm glad i live in a country where people wouldn't murder each other over looted items in a time of need. That said, this looks like it was pretty messed up, i mean it's no Noah's Ark, but damn. I don't think i've ever seen a flood this bad in such a built up area, with my own eyes or in a photo.

jesus fucking christ dude. get over yourself. we get it. it's a terrible, terrible thing. no one is saying that it's not. you're acting like you're right in the thick of it, like your life has been wiped away but yet you said "houma has been spared." you're not the only person that knows someone in N.O. quit acting the goddamn ambassador and spokesman about the Plight of the People of the Bayou. It's awful, yes. A terrible, horrible natural disaster. But come on. "Someone's to blame?" When there was the earthquake in San Fran during the World Series in '88 and shit got fucked, was the first thing that the people of California thought "THAT GUB'MENT! THEY DID THIS TO US!!" I don't know anyone in N.O. or anyone down there for that matter. So yes, I'm not as involved as other people might be. And the more and more I watch CNN and read reports, I learn more and more about what happened down there and how awful it really was/is. I'm hoping for the best of the people down there, and that would include you and your friends/family. I'm sorry that this has happened to you/them. But if you're so concerned about getting in touch w/ your friends, helping people, etc, I'd suggest a different approach than posting on a webboard.

What have levees got to do with places like Gulfport or Slidell? I'm curious how the dumbness of living in a below-sea bowl applies to some of the communities toward Mobile wiped out when the eye shifted east.

I don't get how "other people had worse tragedies" argument applies. Dead is dead and bad misery is still bad misery.

New Orleans should have prepared better, but there are plenty of communities that aren't NO. And plenty of people who weren't capable of evacuating, because they had no money, were sick, didn't know anyone who could help, the homeless, mentally ill, mentally/physically handicapped.

I understand being disgusted at the media repeating the "Hiroshima" and "Tsunami" quotes, but how's it important to worry about when there's so much bad that's happened to people? The mayor of Biloxi had his city obliterated. His hyperbole of the moment is understandable. Hayley Barbour was an ass for most of his life and is confronted with genuine human suffering. It's demonstratively affecting him. If the dude is finally turning into a compassionate person through this event, I don't give a shit if he says dumb things like "Hiroshima."

Global compassion is difficult. If we're horrified on a continual basis by every awful thing that happens on the planet, we spend every waking moment being horrified. Close to home horror serves as a wakeup call that life isn't a guaranteed funbox. It doesn't mean your average American is any less caring than other people, but there's a threshold of "copability."

Ryan you seem like a cool guy but FUCK dude. Cut him some fucking slack. His state has only been completely ransacked and people have been displaced everywhere. Towns have been completely wiped off the face of the earth. He's just venting a little. You might try a little compassion.

I mean what does a person have to do around here to get a little sympathy? Have you heard any of the stories about wives and babies getting swept out of their parents arms by flood waters yet. We're just now getting reports back of this stuff.

Oh yeah, the waters are STILL coming in New Orleans from the busted levee from Lake Ponchatrain(sp?). It's not over.

God damn. Thankfully, the levee breach in St. Bernard is now going the other way, gushing back into the canal. Not gonna fix it all, but it will bring the water level down.

I'm not saying that it's not a big deal. You'd be naive to think that it isn't a big deal. maybe I let my hangover influence what I said, but I'm not lacking any compassion about this situation. My fiancee and I donated $100 this morning for relief. It's a sad event, one that I hope to never go through. I guess I just got tired of him saying that noone understands the situation more than him, which is silly.

The most terrifying thing about this situation, it seems the people in power down in NO (politicians, police, etc) are totally useless and have no clue where to begin. Everytime I see them on the news, they're whining and crying about how they're overwhelmed.

Oldbulee, you mentioned NYC, but I can guarantee you, our mayor and governor won't be on CNN crying "This is our tsunami". I only mention this cause you brought up NYC.

01: A levee (say: levv-ee) is a ridge or embankment of dirt that runs parallel to the river (and in this case the lake, as well) to keep rising water from spilling into the city. These things are pretty big. It's not uncommon to see police patrol vehicles driving on top of them. Also, one of the breaches on a lakefront levee is about 300 feet (91m) wide Here's a picture. Notice the boat in the back ground on the river side of the levee, the grassy mound between the stop sign and the boat.



02 & 03 To prevent massive and frequent flooding, the city has an intricate series of canals and pumping systems. The problems in the 9th Ward are due to the failure of an overwhelmed pumping system coupled with a levee on a canal--not the river or lake--that broke.

The city is basically a bit bowl between the levee of the Mississippi River to the south and Lake Pontchartrain to the north. Check out a map on google maps and you can see all the water around. Also keep in mind that this is no dinky river, it's the second longest on the continent.

As for measuring sea level, here is an article from Slate that will run you through some background details.

Perhaps you could lend your superior intellect to fix it all up real nice, you fuck.

first of all, fuck the royal "we". i'm not 5 years old and you should never talk to a child like that anyway.

secondly, equating the word nigger with a nascar crack is so completely ridiculous that i cannot even begin to address it.

that said, this is an overwhelming tragedy. i have a cousin in Louisiana, in some dink town on the coast that my family and i have yet to hear from. it's a mess and i feel nothing but sympathy for the people down there. i can't begin to imagine.

i know you're understandably very upset. it's a very personal tragedy for you and you have my deepest sympathies.

I really don't find anything wrong with the mayor of Biloxi saying what he did about the hurricane. When he said "our" he was simply speaking for the people and city of Biloxi. "Our", did not mean or include the entire U.S..

Ya know, Chris, it's comments like these and some of those previously made byo thers ... *sigh*... I'm sitting here trying to find a nice way of telling you to eat shit.

When people go through a devastating tragedy, the "politicians, police, etc" are personally affected. What makes people in power that less subject to the same events the people around them have suffered? They're overwhelmed? Of course they are! And sometimes, no matter how much training the "people in power" have for these sort of catastrophic events, it rarely prepares you for the real thing. We, as humans, are emotional beings and when we're personally affected, we react differently. IMO, they're doing the best they can under the circumstances. Right now, they need our support vs an attack on their attempt to restore order.

I thought you guys were all about calling it like they see it?

Well, thats what Bill did...


suck it up and swim.

This thread has me all tense. I'm going to go read about music now.

today i am feeling a little better. Houma has destruction but comparatively it was "saved." Dude our lives here our based on New Orleans. I live about 45 minutes away from downtown and 5 minutes away from massive destruction. Sorry if I am freaked the fuck out. Areas that I grew up in are GONE FOREVER. At least 75% of my friends currently live there. 5 of them I still have no idea about. Today I found out my family is okay. So that's good news. I'm off to our Civic Center to help with the refugees.

I was making a comment about the politcians and police in that city who should not be overwhelmed because it's their job to deal with these sort of situations, and not go on TV and look like total invalids. We, as the public, look to them for stability and reassurance. That's why we elect them. I can tell you from experience that I felt better about our situation after 9/11 when both Giuliani and Pataki came out and reassured us of that. Any doubts and things would've been much worse for the public.

I said nothing about the hurricane and the victims. I feel bad for them and God knows I'll do everything I can to help.