After 2 years is anyone else still pissed off about Katrina?

Question

One of the worst disasters in U.S. history, and the majority of a MAJOR U.S. city remains in ruin...have we forgotten so easily and so soon?

Answer 1

Yes they have and it's a GD shame.

Answer 2

It is expected to take between 10 and 20 years to rebuild New Orleans. I just watched the representative from there and she said Katrina and the resulting floods destroyed 220,000 homes, plus schools, churches, businesses. Before they can rebuild, the whole levy system and pumps have to be redesigned and rebuilt. Of the billions that have already been sent there, very little has gone towards the actual rebuilding process. It went toward the cost of the responders and for vouchers.

Answer 3

I'm still ticked off about Katrina--moreso about the poor response time, and just plain response, from all levels of government than about the fact that it flooded in the first place. New Orleans was hit by a hurricane, pure and simple. The fact that the city wasn't better prepared to help more people evacuate, and better prepared to care for those who couldn't evacuate, was shameful. The fact that the state wasn't better prepared to rush aid to the city afterward was worse. The fact that our FEDERAL government, and FEMA, was so slow responding to people who were *losing their lives,* and who claimed that it was the state's fault for "blocking" their efforts when in fact the head of FEMA was completely inexperienced? That's unforgivable.

As for the people who say that hey, they built below sea level... The city has been there for centuries. Are you saying that every poor person who was born in NO should have somehow found a way to move because of a threat that hadn't happened in several generations? I didn't think so. Will we blame Californians in the case of earthquakes, mudslides, or wildfires to the same extent? I somehow doubt it. How about people up north who suffer massive blizzard and storm damage? How about people in the midwest when a tornado decimates their town? After all, they could have moved out of "tornado alley," right?

No? Then grow a conscience.

Yes, we've forgotten too easily and too soon. And the fact that the majority of Americans displaced were the poor (who because of that were UNABLE TO EVACUATE in the first place!) makes this a social blot on our nation that we may never wholly erase... especially since we sure aren't trying very hard.

Answer 4

i'm pissed off that i saw an article in news today about this and millions of the dollars are unnaccounted for. it said that if the money would have gotten to the right place there would have been enough to buy each person TWO houses AND a honda car. tons of money went to this effort and little of the money got where it was supposed to go. i'm disgusted with the government for mismanagine and outright stealing funds. i'm disgusted with the people that are from katrina that think that they should be supported by the public for sixty years. there is too much fraud at all levels in our society. yes, i'm pissed as you put it :-) lol

Answer 5

What bothers me so much about Katrina and New Orleans is this:
The people who use to live there are just waiting for someone to do for them. They demand someone pay for everything they do. That city would be 100% back up and running if they contributed to the rebuilding of the city instead of sitting on their duffs complaining about it.

ALSO, if you have not noticed, the crime rates of the cities that took in the victims of Katrina from New Orleans shot up!! Amazing 50 to 100 percent in MOST cases.
Now they are moving back into New Orleans and the crime rate is 50% higher now???
Time to stop complaining and start fixing the real problems...

Another issue I had was why was there several HUNDRED school buses underwater and NOT filled with people that needed to evacuate? I think the Mayor should have been charged with neglagance and deralection of duty for not protecting his citizans...

Answer 6

The city of New Orleans is below sea level, thus it is dangerous. The U.S. Government should not allow anyone to enter this danger zone. Open the levees and flood it. If anyone chooses to live there, it should be at their own risk and at their own expense. Also, since when is it the governments responsibility to replace or repair personal property destroyed when someone moves into an area that is so dangerous that you cannot even get flood insurance>\?

Answer 7

I wasn't really, till I just saw Spike Lee's
"When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,"
on HBO.
Unbelievable!
And a lot of the negative stuff that you heard that was going on, was just not true.
I urge everyone to spend a few moments to watch this. It is about 4 hours long. I was just gonna view a few minutes of it and could not turn away. It was like I was watching footage from a third world country.

And the disparity in no so much the amount of funds, but the amount of time it has taken the government to get those resources to Katrina compared to New York is reprehensible.

Answer 8

Why would we be pissed? You just said it was the worst disaster in US history. Rome wasn't built in a day. There are valid questions about the logic of rebuilding a city that sits below sea level and smack in the middle of hurricane alley. What company is going to insure property there? There are many complications and you can expect the rebuildning to take 10 years at least.

Answer 9

Living on the Gulf coast offers a unique perspective and lots of insight that most don't see.
Where to begin?
When Ivan came through (and destroyed my farm -- killing over half my live stock), we didn't wait for the governent to come bail us out. The morning came and we came out of our shelter, grabbed up our chainsaws and began clearing the roads. We checked on our neighbors to see if they were alright. We DIDN'T loot the local convenience store. Living in the country, we don't have a Mayor. But, our governor was on it when it came to calling for federal assistance. The President didn't find it necessary to call and ask if we needed assistance.
The tragedy of Katrina is that Mississippi took it hard in the shorts but you wouldn't know about that. Entire towns were wiped from the face of the earth. But all you know is about "those poor souls in New Orleans." Those people were abandoned by their mayor and their governor. They saw it coming but did not activate their emergency disaster plan. They'd been provided money years before to update the levees and diverted that funding to make bridges to casinos. The hurricane didn't REALLY do a whole lot of damage to N.O.. The damage came AFTER the storm had passed. The tragedy is, those poor souls were/are stupid enough that they reelcted both their cowardly/racist mayor and their worthless governor.
So, being the good neighbor, our commuities opened our shelters to those who lost everything. The folks from N.O., ate our food, and complained that we hadn't gotten them closer to the city and resources. They littered up the place and sprayed graffitti all over the place. They were not very courteous or respectful AND they certainly were not grateful.
Having lived it, the diffeerence between a republican and a democrat is simple. The republican believes in less government and therefore does not wait for the government to come rescue them, they help one another. The democrat believes in more government and so, doesn't even bother to help themselves let alone their neighbor. They sit and wait for someone else to come do what they should have been doing for themselves all along.
Am I pissed? Hell yes! Bunch of lazy SOBs who've whined and snookered the federal government into wasting billions of my tax dollars -- all to placate those who wouldn't do for themselves.
I would like however, to thank all of those who came to help rebuild our infrastructure. It's REALLY amazing to see power trucks from Quebec! Thank You!

Answer 10

Pissed off ain't the word for it friend.

I basically despise more than half of the US population for their callous disregard. I would like it added to the list of criminal negligence attributed to GWB when finally we have the courage to try him and his cronies. And I no longer believe that Americans are basically good people. Some are, but most deserve whatever bad thing happens because of theworld they are manufacturing.

Just read some of the answers here The people who live there are to blame because they chose to live in hurricane country? They should just rent?

Screwwwwwwwwwwwwww that. That means all those midwesterners are to blame when tornados tear down their homes? That means if the chemical plant down the street gives your family cancer, it's your fault for living there.

The guillotine was invented for people like this.

You know, I live in this country, and I will continue to do so. But baby, it ain't my country. It belongs now to brick headed barbarians with no sense of decency or civilization and the downfall of the current government (which is NOT the one we signed for) will be the best thing that could ever happen for us and the rest of the world.

Answer 11

Yes. Here's an excellent Washington Post opinion article that clarifies and condemns the U.S. government for the current situation in New Orleans:


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/24/AR2007082401209.html