Those of us here are pretty much an indepent breed -who are vanishing from the plains in this country- and I know this is off topic, yet I believe each of us are represented here by the spirit and character...

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""" Subject: The western way of life

THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A MOMENT.

Denver Post:

Colorado after todays snowstorm.

WEATHER BULLETIN

Up here, in the Northern Plains, we just recovered from a Historic event--- may
I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic
blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in
half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow
banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's
of thousands.

FYI:

George Bush did not come.

FEMA did nothing.

No one howled for the government.

No one blamed the government.

No one even uttered an expletive on TV .

Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.

Our Mayor did not blame Bush or anyone else.

Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else, either.

CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5
snowstorm. Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.

No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.

No one looted.

Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.

Nobody expected the government to do anything, either.

No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera.

No Shaun Penn, No Barbara Striesand, No Hollywood types to be found.

Nope, we just melted the snow for water.

Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.

The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny.

Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it
to the snowbound families.

Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.

We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns.

We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".

We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess
created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for sittin'
at home checks.

Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early,
we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.

"In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48
degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate."

It does seem that way, at least to me.

I hope this gets passed on.

Maybe SOME people will get the message. The world does Not owe you a living."""

 

youve got a good point, its not apples to apples though. Its like here after our last ice storm that took down alot of trees. the "minority" side of the city the day after it happend was saying the city was leaving them out not helping them clean up??? nobody was getting help and it was still snowing? I bet N.O will be underwater again someday and the same thing will happen. . .

 

Wow....................................!!!!!!!!!

 

There is another difference too.
It was 44 inches of snow and 44 feet of water.

 

back in 89, when Hugo hit here, nobody pissed and moaned. everybody helped everybody and the people themselves got themselves back on their own feet. whoever had a chainsaw was cuttin up trees. whoever could lend a hand was there to help. no money was exchanged and the only thing we got was trucks bringing in water.

 

I know no one is comparing the blizzards in the midwest to Hurricane Katrina because simply there is no comparisions. A city under 44 inches of snow can never compare to whole cities being pounded by winds of 140 mph and 30 feet of storm surge. When water moves at high rates of speed it is very devestating and there is nothing that can stand up to it. I highly recommend to anyone to come down to the gulf coast and see first hand the devestation that Katrina caused because simply put pictures do not do it justice. I know the point of the article is that the people affected by the storm need to quit waiting for the government to come and bail them out, but I will also tell you that it is a small minority of people that are doing the waiting around with their hands out.

Where I am in southern Mississippi the people have razed their homes and many have started to rebuild. I was in New Orleans last month and I can tell you there are parts down there where it appears the storm just happened. Of course most of those people are of very poor income and probably had little to no insurance and probably had zero flood insurance whatsoever. Alot of people also were told they didn't even need flood insurance because they weren't in a flood zone. Those who had flood insurance are having to do battle with insurance companies refusing to pay because the insurance companies are stating that the damage was caused by winds before any water damage could happen. These insurance companies have deep pockets and you know they have lobbyist that are in the governments pockets to keep regulations in their favor. My friend lives 27 feet above sea level and had no flood insurance because he was one of the ones told he didn't live in a flood zone. He was one of the luckier ones because he only had 3 feet of water in his house. Everything on his first floor was gone and we spent three days throwing everything into a huge trash pile in his front yard. Then he spent $50,000 of his own money to buy all the supplies and him, I and some other friends did all the work and redid his house. He's fortunate because he had the financial means to do that.

Most others though do not have the resources to pay to have their homes tore down let alone rebuild. The few who do have the financial means to do so are being ripped off by contractors who do even more damage to their homes or who simply take their money and run. That certainly isn't making it outside of the local news area. Also who's fault is it that the levies in New Orleans failed? There where warnings that this type of event could happen in the right circumstances and no one took precautionary measures to help protect the city.

I know it's easy for those outside of the area to simply look at it and say these people are sitting around with their hands out waiting for someone else to come and bail them out. That is certainly going on and that is what the media will focus on just as they have focused all their attention on New Orleans and continually lose focus on the more devestated small cities that line the gulf coast in southern Mississippi that were hardest hit (even harder than New Orleans). Trust me though, there is a spirit of regrowth and rebirth and an attitude that it will be rebuilt better than it was.

 

well said. i was born and raised in new orleans, and i lost every thing that i had. i was not even going to comment on this thread, because the comparison left me speechless!! 8,000 dead, 400,000 home lost for good, neighborhoods that will not bounce back, others that will take more than 10 years to. friends that i will never see again..... i am speechless at this #@$#ing posting!!

 

We know several contractors who say they will never go back, b/c they got all their stuff stolen from behind 10' steel fences. They also said it was a "hell hole that was lawless (they recommended a military prescense ), but many(locals) still where willing to see that it came back" Granted i have never been and that is others experiences. There probably shouldnt be a comparison between snow and a hurricane, but i still dont understand why its the governments fault and those certain people chose not to leave knowing the city is below sea level?

 

Belt-loop,

You are a MORON

As for anyone who agrees with his post...You are also ignorant.

Yes, Im from Louisiana but No I was not wiped out by the hurricane. You people have NO IDEA how big this was compared to your blizzard

 

Anyone who read that and thought the idea was to say Katrina was exactly comparable to the recent blizzard is ignorant.

It was a GOOD example of how a SERIOUS weather condition that could cost lives, and disrupt the way of living did not result in selfish actions. In fact, it was the opposite.

Do I think it is apples to apples? Not even close. But it does hold a valid point.

 

Lumadar - That is exactly why I started my response out the way I did. I know that no one is trying to compare the two storms because they were far different in terms of magnitude and effect. My point though is you also cannot compare the two storms in order of how the government should respond either. In Louisiana and Mississippi people lost everything, they weren't simply stranded in their cars or lost power for a few days or couldn't get to work. They lost everything and they are being taken advantage of by contractors and by insurance companies. The governemt is doing things to help out such as loans and grants, but it's been almost a year and a half and the amount of people the government has helped is less than 5% of the total area affected. Should it really take that long?

People shouldn't be just sitting around though and waiting for the government to come rebuild their homes for them. As I said though that is a small segment that the media is focusing their attention and that's all that America outside of the gulf coast hears about. It's easy for those unaffected by this disaster to say those people should have moved out of the city and somewhere safer. Most of these people live well below the average income so for these people to just pick up and move was virtually impossible.

Also just so everyone knows, all I lost in the storm was a few shingles off my roof, a fence around my deck and a few trees. I don't say these things because I am sitting aorund waiting for the government to help me out, I say these things because I live in the area devestated and I know how people lived before the storm and how they are being forced to live after the storm. Most aren't complaining though, they live happily in their FEMA trailers despite being used to living in a 2000 sq foot home prior to the storm. They are happy because they know some of what they lost can never be replaced, but they can rebuild and they can make it better than it was before.

 

For one thing if youve ever been to new orleans before the storm at least, it was an atmosphere that could never be recreated anywhere at any time. Those that may have had the means to pick up and move because of the chance that this would happen wouldn't want to. New Orleans is more than a place to live, it's a culture that once you taste it you'll never want to leave.


Also how were people supposed to fix their houses and not wait for the government when the government was blocking access to the city. I live 40 minutes away and the traffic we had in my city was the traffic that wasn't expected until 2028. new Orleans was off limits to anyone and everyone for a long time, especially for people who had no transportation.

 

I don't know.....I thought it was a good read. I guess I am ignorant.

 

Id bet it was for safety reasons. god knows what is in that water, and werent they trying to pump it out? Those pumps have a very strong pull. .

 

yes they were trying to pump the water out but how were civilians supposed to operate something that the government saw fit (and they were right) to put in. The government put the pumps in and were the only ones to operate them. How were the people supposed to not wait on the government when they were the ones who put the pumps in. The water was absolutely disgusting and they were evacuated for safety reasons but the way people talk about it it seems like they are saying that the people of new orleans werent doing everything they could and waiting on the government. They were but it was because of the actions the government took