Offers Of Help Due To Katrina

Oldman · September 04, 2005, 02:45:35 PM

Late last night on CNN it was reported that friends and "foes" alike have offered to help us during this time of trouble.

Venezuela offered cheap oil.
Cuba offered Doctors Nurses.
Other countries offered various types of aid.

You Guess it! The people that run this country have not accepted any of it.

Is there anyone here who can help me understand why we are not accepting all forms of help?

Personally I'm not that prideful.

I don't know what our leaders are anylonger...

I will tell you this... I've grown damn tired of both the Left and the Right. Is there no one left in control that has a common sense central point of view? What the HELL has happened to us?

Olds

CLAREGO · September 04, 2005, 06:14:51 PM

OLDS i agree but yet suprised by the matter that other countries are offering help expecially cuba!!!!!!!!!!!!(thats kool)i might be a young buck here on this on but that ticks me off that they didnt accept it. why the hell didnt they accept it. as one of the strongest powers in the world are they afraid that will reflect on the sitiuation.. im neither party im register in the state of pa as an independent..anyway thats beside the point if this happened in other another country we be over there supplying are help...truthfully im sick and tired of the media alwyas getting at the bad points of it all seems the media goes more for the left than anything always shows the bad points its not just this sitiutation but the war we are currently in . maybe i speak stupid to some people. but this seems to be a opinion question. but why the heck did the government of the us even think twice about it. me personelly in that sitiuain would of been SEND IT OVER!!!!why cant other countreys help the us the only thing thats comes in my mind olds.... is security issues but still if there just giving us material whats the problem with this? cuba sending over people is a real concern to me thats just my opinion

Oldman · September 04, 2005, 07:24:05 PM

I just read in the paper that Canada's offer to help has been accepted.... [^] Thanks Folks~~!

Olds

MWS · September 04, 2005, 08:46:13 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Oldman
 I just read in the paper that Canada's offer to help has been accepted.... [^] Thanks Folks~~!

Olds

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That's what good friends do...help each other in times of crisis. We Canadians know you'd be there for us too. [:)]

Mike 

"Men like to barbecue, men will cook if danger is involved".
-John Wayne

Habanero Smoker · September 04, 2005, 08:47:10 PM

I'm not saying I agree or disagree with any of the posts above, but I just saw that the prez has finally realized the seriousness of this horrific disaster and has accepted help from the NATO.

Oldman · September 05, 2005, 02:47:49 PM

NOAA has taken some high resolution photos from the mid altitudes 70-80 thousand feet

http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/KATRINA0000.HTM

Here is a shot of 6 Flags New Orleans I'm hosting this one as I wanted to clean up the photo some- if your browser auto sizes then make sure to click on the button on the bottom right.
Click on Photo for much larger image.

Olds

JJC · September 06, 2005, 04:30:01 AM

The whole response of the Feds has been deplorable and completely unfathomable . . . and that's not dependent on what my party affiliation is. It took us only 2 days to start airlifting food and water to tsunami victims in Banda Aceh halfway around the world, but it took 5 days to start doing this in New Orleans??? A convoy of 18-wheelers with Port-a-Potties shows up at the Superdome today, not realizing that they aren't needed there? Non-essential personnel (hospital administrators, secretaries) are airlifted from Tulane University Hospital--where those with money and health insurance go for medical care--while a block away at Chairty Hospital (where 98% of the patients are black and indigent) they had 200 critically ill patients waiting on the rooftop for days after Tulane had evacuated their high-paid admin staff? The nurses there had to give each other IVs to stay alive and had to manually push ambus (air bags) for days to keep resirator patients alive because they had no electricity. Where's the communication and leadership? The whole situation brings into sharp relief just how much of a two-class society we really are. Or maybe that's what happens when you have neophytes in positions of authority. What is FEMA Director Mike Brown's previous experience with emergency resonse/preparedness? Zip. What was Mike Brown's most recent job before being appointed to lead FEMA? President of the Arabian Horse Association or some such. How much money did Mike Brown contribute the the Bush campaign? Mucho dinero. Is it any surprise that he's incompetent? He claims that lack of communication prevented FEMA from acting sooner, yet said in the same interview that he was getting his news from CNN and other news reports. Well, they were reporting on precise locations of refugees, problems, etc. by Tuesday AM, so why did it take until Friday for FEMA to do anything substantive in New Orleans? Could it possibly be because Mississippi--which did receive FEMA support much earlier--is a Republican state while New Orleans is a largely black Democrat city in a state with a Democrat governor? And how can our president say with any degree of credibility that Mike Brown is "doing a great job" as he said a day ago? If there's no accountability then how can things get better the next time? On the other hand, who has been the most effective player in the ermegency response so far? Lt. Gen. Russell Honore, a tried and true veteran of military/police action and a native of Louisiana. I guess it proves that you need to appoint experts to certain positions, not political cronies. In fact, Gov. Blanco of LA just hired the former FEMA Director--who is actually an expert in emergency response/preparedness--to handle the state's response. The first thing he did was meet with Mike Brown and Pres. Bush to straighten them out on how things needed to be done. Apparently Bush told Brown to do whatever the former FEMA guy wanted. Thank god he did that, but it's way too late for thousands of poeple who have died needlessly.

Sorry to rant and rave, and perhaps this topic will get too "hot" for what should be a smoking forum. I'm disgusted at our government's complete ineptitude at handling a completely predictable emergency with a week's notice and 4 years after 9/11. Believe me, I'd be just as disgusted if Bill Clinton, George Bush the elder, Ron Reagan, Jimmy Carter or anyone else was still Prez. And yes, we should accept help from anyone who is willing to provide it--humanitarian acts should transcend political differences, or does our government think that only applies to the Olympics, not to saving peoples lives?

For my part, I'm donating as much as I can afford to the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army. I wouldn't give a penny to any government-sponsored group . . .

John
Newton MA

Oldman · September 06, 2005, 05:04:53 AM

John I agree with much of what you have said here. There are no excuses.

I'm a Republican, but I'm angry. I'm not going to throw stones. However, somehow the average common sense thinking American has got to figure out a way to take back this country. We are just so out of hand IMO.

Olds

Habanero Smoker · September 06, 2005, 08:15:41 AM

John,
Your post I will say that I fully agree with. So many died needlessly. When there is an investigation on how this was handled, they should scrutinize the president's lack of action.

MallardWacker · September 06, 2005, 03:29:21 PM

I do agree that the FEDS were slow.....But have you heard the shear incompetence of the Mayor and Governor was leading up to this disaster? I believe they got the ball rolling towards this terrible response.

As I have watched this finger pointing kick off, you can tell the real leaders from the wanta-be's. All the Mayor, Governor, and N.O. police chief is doing is litterly throwing tantrums on national TV. (The police chief was a complete emabarassment) Instead of standing up and LEADING their people through this all they could think about is saving there own political butts and passing the buck. Instead of being a voice of hope, guidance and assurance to their people, all they have done with their words is to HELP INSIGHT the lawlessness, discontent and mass confusion. Instead of being a calming factor they have helped put gas to the fire. I wonder how many foks DIED do to their inability to act selflessly instead of being selfseving and selfish.

You may or may not like GWB, but at least he said there was mistakes made and least he is a voice reason, resolve, some form of hope and calm. No screaming, no hollering just trying to LEAD this country through the Nations largest natural disaster ever.

Nuff said, I'm out of the fray.

"Rack'm Jay Stew"...I'm out.

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

Phone Guy · September 06, 2005, 05:34:39 PM

I agree that it looked like it took time to get things going. I also think that all things considered things are looking pretty good. We do have a good leader. I think its easy to judge right now but in the end I think we'll see why things happened the way they did. Well we are praying for all those affected.

This is quote from Bush the day after the storm hit. 8/30/2005 at 9:04am

"This morning our hearts and prayers are with our fellow citizens along the Gulf Coast who have suffered so much from Hurricane Katrina. These are trying times for the people of these communities. We know that many are anxious to return to their homes. It's not possible at this moment. Right now our priority is on saving lives, and we are still in the midst of search and rescue operations. I urge everyone in the affected areas to continue to follow instructions from state and local authorities.

The federal, state and local governments are working side-by-side to do all we can to help people get back on their feet, and we have got a lot of work to do. Our teams and equipment are in place and we're beginning to move in the help that people need. Americans who wish to help can call 1-800-HELPNOW, or log on to RedCross.org, or get in touch with the Salvation Army. The good folks in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama and other affected areas are going to need the help and compassion and prayers of our fellow citizens."

It didn't take 5 days but it seamed like it. I think the first thing to do is try to rescue those trapped or hurt then get food and shelter where needed. I do think things have not gone perfectly but all things considered its looking better.

Habanero Smoker · September 06, 2005, 06:01:58 PM

Well GWB has called for a "probe"; and I repeat the investigation must include him. I saw nothing disgraceful about the actions of the Gov., Mayor or Police Chief; I saw people who truly cared, understood the seriousness of the situation, and showed some emotion; not just read a prepared speech that had been modified from other speeches taken from other disasters. It wasn't until they expressed their outrage that any action began, and GWB was there the next day. They had been saying there were mistakes made, much earlier than GWB.

To me it appeared that the lawlessness is an outcome of a lack of response after being told help was on the way. Let's not forget the overwhelming majority of people were assisting each other. You can only tell those that are lacking in the essential basics to survive just so many times to be patient before small groups will turn to violence. To this day I fail to understand why helicopters could not drop food, water and temporary self standing shelters to those people stranded on the over passes and highways.

I do remember in one of GWB's initial news conferences he stated that things take time and that this was not the worse natural disaster to hit America. Some may call it leadership, others would call it down playing and not having a grasp of the situation.

I'm sure there is enough blame to go around. I pray that in the future this country can respond immediately to a disaster.

MallardWacker · September 06, 2005, 06:13:20 PM

I thought I might replay, but I will stick to that fact I told myself I would only launch off in this water once. Too many other good things happening around here to get my feelings cranked up. Plus I like keeping my blood presure low.

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

Phone Guy · September 07, 2005, 12:20:18 AM

I also read this thread ...
http://www.klr650.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3013

Arcs_n_Sparks · September 07, 2005, 03:10:11 AM

For what it is worth, I am involved in Emergency Management (as the on-call emergency duty officer for where I work this past week, we took calls from NOAA this past weekend for support (and we are in California)). I will only say that there is plenty to be learned. On tonight's news, I saw over 100 N.O. school buses sitting unused in the water. I am very familiar with self-help plans, since most people understand that the higher up in the food chain you go, the longer it takes to make something happen. That says a lot about the time constant of various organizations response and responsibilities. As I always tell my people: "It is easy to be critical, it is harder to be constructive."

Arcs_n_Sparks