San Diego Fire and Hurricane Katrina?

Question

Could someone please tell me why there was such a different outcome at Qualcomm Stadium than there was at the Louisiana Superdome

"Wealth enables people to get to h--l out of it whilst the poor are stuck with it. I do not think colour directly comes into it but riches and poverty do"

I appreciate the assumption that we are all wealthy here in San Diego, but that isn't the case. Try again!

"Just found out today that half of those people were NOT really victims of the fire. And in Louisiana Superdome, many people could not even get to the Dome because of the flood situation. Many people had time to go to evacuate to Qualcomm stadium. I don't think it has anything to do with race--just circumstance"

I guess you have to define "victim". I know that we didn't have over 5000 people go there just to hang out. Yes, they had tome to evacuate because they "cooperated" with law enforcement.

"I think the big thing is that no one is trapped at Qualcomm."

I find it unfathomable that if the stadium were some how surrounded by fire or water or whatever, that these people would resort to raping, stealing, and assaulting eachother. I guess we would'nt really know unless we locked them up in there. Ok, I thought about it, it wouldn't happen.

Answer 1

Understand that these are two very different disasters and this hardly the same thing. Many areas of San Diego County are functioning normally. The entire metropolitan region of NOLA and then some were evacuated; only about 20% of SD County was ordered evacuated and judging by the lack of traffic jams and the fact there are hotels with vacancies, not everyone left. This disaster was not nearly on the same scale as Katrina.

I've seen some people try to compare Qualcomm to the Superdome. Realize that people at the Q were tailgaiting and some describes it as being on a picnic or large party. These people had more than enough free food, water, and essential supplies unlike Katrina where the people were starving, had no water, no electricity, and nowhere to go to the bathroom. Even if there was a shortage there is a Coscto right next door to the stadium that was open. There are 2 major malls, several shopping centers, and numerous restaurants right next to the stadium that were all open and within walking distance or a few trolley stops away. The city around the stadium was functioning normally, unlike Katrina.

Also people were not raping and killing each other at the Superdome, that is a myth and completely false.

This disaster is NOT ON THE SAME SCALE of Katrina by any means so do not try to make comparisons. I live in pacific Beach and except for smokey skies and a few days off work life was pretty normal and there were actually more people out partying b/c they had school or work off. There are so many factors on why the outcome was different at the Q vs. the Superdome and it is not even fair to compare the two, it's like comparing apples to oranges.

Answer 2

Interesting difference, isn't it.

Not sure, but many more people had their homes destroyed by Katrina, and this made it a much bigger disaster. Here in San Diego, the duration was briefer. And, they knew going in that there was a very high likelyhood that there would be no damage to their houses. Also, there was a similar incident several years before, so there was some experience that helped save lives. People had some idea what to expect and what to do. Plus, fire is covered by insurance. Almost everyone with losses will be completely covered. Not so with Katrina. It was not pleasant in San Diego, but not even close to the human/economic and financial disaster of Katrina/Rita, which was much worse.

In my opinion, it had nothing to go with race, wealth, or anything like that. New Orleans was a much much worse situation. The insurance coverage will be an important factor Everyone in San Diego will be able to rebuild and it will be covered. The devastating losses in Katrina make it a much worse problem. In some ways, this San Diego situation was for many people a chance to take a week off to stay home. No worse than that. Since all the schools and colleges were closed, there were plenty of volunteers to help out. It turned into a big festival, almost. For a few people it was very terrible in San Diego, and for most it was a week off. This is very different than Rita/Katrina.

I also doubt that our City/County/State government is run any better than anywhere else, because it isn't. In this specific case, we had some practice a couple of years ago, so it probably LOOKED like it was organized. There was fighting going on and missteps, just as you would expect. We are really lucky it wasn't worse.

Once a fire like this starts there really is not much they can do except watch it burn. If the wind didn't change, it would have burned everything all the way to the Pacific and it almost did this time. At least fire is covered by insurance. That is one of the key differences between this disaster and Rita Katrina.

BTW, Rancho Santa Fe is a very wealthy neighborhood, if not THE wealthiest neighborhood in the US. They have very strict requirements for properties to protect against fire, such as fire sprinklers in the building and required fire breaks and plantings to protect against fire and to make sure people can survive fire in their houses if they cannot leave in time to escape. Those protections worked. I am not going to hold it against them.

I am glad San Diego did as well as it did. I am especially delighted that the children who had to stay at Qualcom Stadium enjoyed themselves with what became a festival atmosphere.

What a relief that it was not worse.

Answer 3

Just found out today that half of those people were NOT really victims of the fire. And in Louisiana Superdome, many people could not even get to the Dome because of the flood situation. Many people had time to go to evacuate to Qualcomm stadium. I don't think it has anything to do with race--just circumstance.

Answer 4

I think the big thing is that no one is trapped at Qualcomm. You can leave, drive around, go to a hotel or whatever. Also, supplies and donations are coming in easily. During Katrina, people were surrounded by water, making it hard to get help in or to get people out. In addition, the people here in Southern California were given direction and have cooperated with police and fire authorities, making the evacuation fairly painless.

Answer 5

1. The color of the majority of its occupants.
2. The general wealth and hipness factor of the populace.
3. A better run state government.
4. The previous experience of the Katrina disaster.

Answer 6

Wealth enables people to get to h--l out of it whilst the poor are stuck with it. I do not think colour directly comes into it but riches and poverty do

Answer 7

Nobody was raped. Nobody was shooting guns. Nobody was going to the bathroom on the floor.No fights.People were cleaning up after themselves. Rich or poor you still should act with dignity.

Answer 8

The same thing that seperates man from animal...the ability to reason.