Needless to say, the newspaper there isn’t printing today (despite a mention on their site yesterday that they were going to try to use a printing press in Baton Rouge). But they have produced and distributed the entire paper online in PDF format. You can also view Newspaper front pages from around the world at Newseum.
It’s certainly a mess in New Orleans right now. And to think that if I still worked for my previous company, I’d probably be in New Orleans in October, though there’s a small chance the convention might not be held, as it was scheduled to be held at the Hyatt in New Orleans which was pummeled by the storm.
While it’s sad that there was all this destruction in that are, and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, it’s hard for me to feel sorry for the idiots who, despite plenty of warning, stayed around to watch the storm out. I watched plenty of footage on CNN of folks stranded up on rooftops, having to be rescued by Coast Guard helicopters. But I have ask: Why the hell are you still there? You knew this was coming, you had plenty of warning, so unless you’re part of the clean-up or rescue efforts or some other important official (some media is important, as are some government officials), you should’ve gotten the hell out of town a long time ago. This thing was a Category 5 storm as it moved across the Gulf — I would’ve left town a long time ago.
I also wonder about the idiot who drove his car into a road-turned-lake while a news reporter was on camera. He had to drop his microphone and run into the water to rescue the moron, pulling him through his car window. That clip got played a hundred times on CNN last night and wondered about the sanity of both the reporter for being out in that storm and the nit-wit who drove his sedan into the flood.
As usual, Wikipedia has a ton of links and information regarding the storm, its effects both physically and economically, and a bit of science about the storm as well. For journalists (and even the general public), Al has a bunch of tips and useful links.
Comments
I feel it. I live in Hopkinsville, in the western part of Kentucky, and we’re underwater because of Katrina right now. It’s amazing that she still had tropical storm status this far inland….we don’t see that too often. The little river that runs through town (aptly named, Little River) has flooded it banks the worst ever in town.
Of course, I work for the local media, so I was one of the morons who were out in it….but if we bring the story to people, hopefully they won’t get out in it either. The sad part is, some parents let their 10-year old go play in the water, and she got swept downstream and was found dead a few hundred yards away.
It is a mess….we’ll get it all cleaned up sooner or later.
Just one thing, Jake – many of the poor (literally) folks who stayed at their homes in New Orleans had no means to flee. They probably take the bus to work, or don’t have a job. Of course, there were the dumb thrill seekers, but they seem to be in the minority.
Even three days on foot, they could’ve gotten themselves to someplace that they could’ve gotten out of harm’s way (or somewhere, at least, where they could get a ride somewhere). I do feel sorry for the poor folk, but it’s hard for me to believe that there is NO way for them to get out of town knowing more than a couple days in advance that this monster was coming.
The people of New Orleans have had an uncanny knack of dodging the hurricane bullet over the past 40 years. And, after the bad floods of hurricane Betsy in 1965 the levies and drainage/pumping systems were greatly improved – especially in the impoverished ninth ward. I believe all of this led to a sense of false security. (And look at the people in Gulfport who stayed because their home lasted through Camille and now their homes are rubble.) You also have to remember that New Orleans floods every time it rains pretty hard – and it is dried out pretty quick because of the pumping system. It is very hard to explain to someone who has not lived through it how bad it can be. I can imagine how people thought they could ride this one out. A lot contributed to it, but I think that 40 years of good luck ended up being bad for a lot of these folks.
I saw a new channel, possibly Fox, which was interviewing a guy who had been rescued from his roof. He said that all of his family and friends had left town, but that he stayed because he didn’t want to leave his house. His next line was pretty telling when he said, “I was stupid, and I won’t be doing that again.”
While I am sympathetic to those who couldn’t have gotten themselves out of harm’s way, I feel no pity for those who had the means to, yet chose to be dumbasses.
I totally agree. I feel sorry for the people who didn’t have warning but seriously, the news said New Orleans would probably be flooded and if it was, the water had nowhere to go. They also told EVERYONE to evacuate. It makes me mad the people you see that are there on the news are pissed off. Hello? You were told to leave. You can’t get mad at people for your own stupidity. I understand that not everybody has a car but come on. Die, or stay because I don’t have a car. Hmmmmm, that’s a toughy. I’d start walking. Okay, I’m ranting now. Basically, feel sorry for the ones who didn’t know, not so much the stupid ones.
Fuck up number one: You live in a city that is totally dependent on man made walls to hold the water at bay.
Fuck up number two: You’re too fucking stupid to heed warnings
Fuck up number 3: Its all the Presidents fault (where the fuck was your LOCAL GOV?)
Please ask yourselves this: If the storm was strong enough to issue an evacuation order…why didn’t state officials coordinate with federal officials to evacuate hospitals…nursing homes?
Bottom line: Many (not all) deaths are because state/federal officals did not have a plan to evacuate.
Also, unless you’ve grown up in true poverty, you need to back off the “they were too stupid to leave” line of thinking. By in large, america could give a rat’s @ss about poor poeple, so why should the destitute trust a warning from “the man”? The poverty cylce in our country is an even bigger killer than Katrina.
We should all be judged on how we treat the less fortunate and weaker among us.
Peace and comfort to the Gulf States.
Im sticking with “they were too stupid to leave” They depend on THE MAN to pay there rent and feed there face, they damn sure need to get the fuck out when the hand that feeds them says so!!
Sounds like Heavy should have paid more attention to grammar in school rather than trying so hard to be an ignorant twit.
Did you mean “their”????
Heavy, are you saying its their fault? “they where too stupid to leave” is a stupid agument because most of the people living their cant afford a car so how in hell would they get out? In the end they had to walk out, and right now if they dont wanna leave then why should they, granted its bad for them, but having bush for a president was bad for half the world we still gotta put up with the decision, so just leave them alone. And as for the wall thing, the while city is technacally under the sea level, so its a stupid place to live and anyone with half a brain knew that this would know this would happen eventully, there was even a movie made about this exact thing happening in 2004 (suprisingly it also said the petrol thing would happen too) if there wasnt a high population of poor people it would of been fixed up sooner. As for the whole ‘the president should of done something’ part, i totally agree, mainly because ITS HIS JOB he is the figure head of the American people and more he should of been there with in a day to help sort things out, it took like 10 days before he did anything usefull for the people, and now he is apparently going to “pray” for those people i mean come on, they dont need prays, they need Bush to do something to get rid of all the dead bodys that are STILL THERE! And one of the other things that annoys me about all this is a quote from Bushes mommy: “The people are better off now because they where poor anyway” thats more or less what she said, the problem is that Bush seems to think the same, he has even been quoted making the odd joke or two about new orleans. As bush once said “I beleive that not only america is better off with me being president, but the whole world is.” where is lee harvey oswald when you need him?