SDS

he didn't say. Seemed like an obvious followup. I have no idea why guys like this aren't on the top of the hour.

probably Miss. The guy that was interviewed was in uniform. Looked like police or a state trooper. They showed the trucks they had, the MRE's... they were 3 hrs out on Tues and were told to go home.

did anyone see the Virginia unit that was SENT HOME last night on CNN? They had men, food, water, and were 3 hours from NO and they were told to go home.

did you try: neworleansemergencyplan.gov ????

It was a sarcastic way to point out that there isn't a means to train for the submersion of an entire city.

No, it is the second time today - you must have skipped my post. Did the "people" that were informed to gather at the CC include anybody at FEMA? No. Days, means after the storm. They were telling people who were stranded to get to the CC because access to the SD was blocked off. Nobody bothered to tell FEMA. They aren't clairvoyant.

I propose we siink an American city once every other year to training purposes.

I'll correct you again. FEMA was aware of people at the SuperDome. They were unaware of the people being told to go to the convention center after the storm came through.

see, you are incredulous at something that didn't happen. It is the convention center that FEMA was unaware of. Also, and someone correct me if I am wrong, they only started diverting people there AFTER Katrina blew through. The breakdown was in the communication between what was happening on the ground and the controlling authorities at FEMA.

what do you do about making a plan that *appears* to be so good - that you encourage people not to leave? Should you announce that you have food/water for 1 week for 50k people? Or do you say - you will live if you come here, but we have limited supplies and only 10k show up?

or maybe we just lost a US city and our minds are elsewhere...

Let me guess, are you one of the people who, when you disagree w/ the pres., say he is a liar and he is just "spinning" a situation, but when you agree - he is telling the truth? Perception is reality. There is nothing else he can say, even if they are doing the best they can.

So you are saying there were ZERO supplies ANYWHERE. None at the SD, no food carried in by the citizens... none? Something tells me that is not the case considering we have people complaining about the food they were given...

Everyone at the SD was checked for weapons. Even if there was more than 1 - there aren't as many rapists as there are refugees in there. Again, I think it was an embellishment. No one talks about bad food and rape in the same sentence.

No kidding - a 40 year old trash collector stands by and watches a child get raped? Actually, I doubt this happened, but he should be slapped for saying it just the same.

on top of that, I don't think that there is an appreciation that many of the people who would normally be helping in this situation lost their own homes, have their own families, and are perhaps fearful for their own lives. How many here would drive a bus into NO with CNN reporting that they are shooting at Medivac helicopters?

well, maybe they weren't? Or maybe they are so inundated with everything else that they can't get to it all? Are you suggesting that there are scores of FEMA employees kicking back watching the news, seeing the CC and saying - "huh, someone should do something about that," and then flip the channel?

But is it the case that it appears to be so obvious from 1000 miles away, but with so much happening so quickly that those close to the situation just didn't see it?

Again, the death of logic is displayed in your post. So, "leadership" was the barrier between the Convention Center and FEMA? Do you think that someone at FEMA took the call about the CC and forgot to take the message? Clearly, if FEMA didn't know - then someone didn't TELL FEMA. Maybe the situation is so chaotic, communication channels are so poor that what appears to be a "no brainer" is actually not?

who knew hockey pucks were so volatile?

which is what I was trying to say, albeit in a nastier tone, to some of our fellow posters. It is one thing to question why "X" wasn't done, in hopes to learn something. It's quite another to go ballistic and start blaming others when you don't even have a set of minimal facts, let alone a complete set.

he probably meant the United Way.

Is there any wonder why so many people have the desire to choke the crap out of you? Instead of declaring yourself as a know it all - why don't you go find the answer yourself? Are you so arrogant that you think no one in the entire power structure of the state of LA, the Feds, or the Red Cross hasn't thought of that? Are you the smartest person ion the world now and that everyone else is so friggin' dumb that they couldn't come up with "just drop them pallets of water"??? Why don't you start seeking some knowledge instead of spouting off about what you don't know?

don't you have concern about where the money goes though? I have a huge distrust of people soliciating money after major disasters.

Booo... not a good choice on a mixed gender board