Avoiding Another Katrina

the president cut and run from new orleans. he needs a trillion dollars to waste on this useless war

I was born and raised in San Diego County and my former home and property were destroyed by the fire as well as the neighbors and friends I have known my whole life. The main difference between this tragedy and Katrina is that conservative San Diegans and their leadership did not sit on their hands and wait for the Feds to act before doing something. Simply, they helped themselves and took care of each other. New Orleans leadership just pointed the finger of blame and made it political despite having ample warning to evacuate. Now the Liberals are trying to make this disaster political as well--it is how they maintain their power.

I'm really enjoying the new and ever elevated levels of ignorance of those who compare these fires to Katrina in any way. The infrastructure of southern California is still intact. We'll see how they do after an 8.5 earthquake comes along. Shame on all of you who've engaged in this non-issue.

S

Yes, even a child can understand that a flood is different than a fire. The issue is the level of assistance provided. There a people all over CA, like the world is about to end. The people in NO had to beg then and are still begging for assistance today. Did you read my point about the insurance?

TO dgu56: "Oh, come on. Flood or fire, the way to handle it is to get people out. New Orleans failed in this, San Diego didn't." Really? Be serious. Granted, different communities, different behaviours, different results. But still you have to acknowledge that standing on solid ground vs. standing in a quagmire is TOTALLY different. It's so "human nature" and predictable to immediately start ranting about how we are better than them. Yes, the government failed in many, many ways in NO. The Mayor was acting like a child. However, we would be seeing many more government failures in SD if the ground was saturated with floating debris and dead bodies. They're both horrific incidents, but I still say it's ridiculous to draw comparisons.

I think it's interesting that people in NO whose insurance companies won't honor flood damage have no recourse but Bush himself is providing help to those in CA with no policy at all.
Get ready people... we don't know our history. This revolution will be televised. Get the blades and the baskets ready Marie!

comment: as i read through your coments--you are very angry with New Orleans..or at least have nothing nice to say about them-a bad experience there?(no not asked as sarcastic---just inquiring) I was fortunate enough to get to know in both states, good hard-working folks who are living life. In both states I dealt with working class peoples---and in both states, it was these people who wanted better lives, and I didnt hear complaining from any of the people I was with. I am just glad that in Socal that people are getting out--theyre safe...I dont think either of us can imagine it unless we have been in it. And as an after thought here, maybe you are right about some of your points, but in the end, does it matter? What matters is help happens...in a timely way....so that everyone can begin to move forward to living their lives. We cannot prevent every disaster, but lessons can be learnt from past ones.

...and yes, there is a certain amount of looting going on right here in southern Cali, at the burn sites. Humans are humans, no matter where the disaster occurs.

ssbn777 - what a specious, Troll's "argument." Interesting that in actuality, the poorer the person, the more likely they are to fight to preserve the few possessions they have. You can fight a fire - you can't fight a hurricane, nor a flood. A little thought prior to yammering would have saved you from appearing a doltish idiot...especially mentioning supposed incidents during Katrina's aftermath which turned out to be false. Tool.

w

This isn't California's first major disaster and Californians always pull together in time of need, helping each other out no matter what your "background/race" is. I remember the 1989 Lome Prieta earthquake, no looting occurred, neighbors poured out to help save others out of the rubble. California has many different disasters that occur and so the state is always going through training to be ready as it may hit at any moment.

TO ssbn777: That is a low-blow and ill spoken for you to say. The truth is the local and national governments have learned from Katrina and Rita and had disaster plans restructured to avoid similar results. Would you happen to know that majority of New Orleanians are blue-collar workers? Have you even been to New Orleans and met the people? They are no different in helping out their neighbors and each other as Californians are. Oh and guess what?? Most New Orleanians had emergency food and water during huricane season. It was that there was NO response from the local and national govenerments after 3 days, whereas I see that the California fire victims received asisstance (shelter, FEMA money, etc) within 3 days. And you telling us the government response didn't make a difference?

No, SoCal does NOT have a fatalistic attitude towards earthquakes. Building codes are updated all the time to increase protection gainst them, engineers here at UCSD have an earthquake testing lab that is huge so that they can better attack the problem, and in the last few years CA spent billions retrofitting bridges and highways to increase earthquake resistance. The attitude out here is to try and make things better. When I lived in New Orleans the people there always complained about not getting enough "help."

I live in San Diego. Luckily my home is not in any danger but I have family and friends who have been evacuated and do not yet know the fate of their homes. I also flew to New Orleans a few days after Katrina to deliver supplies and to transport hurrican victims to Texas and California. I would not wish either of these disasters on anyone. People rose to the challenge to meet the immediate threat during Katrina and people are rising to the challenge here. Sure, things go wrong and fingers can be pointed, but in times such as these it is amazing to watch the determination, brotherhood and humanity we Americans have to offer.

Comment:"When I lived in New Orleans, I noted people there have a fatalistic attitude about hurricanes. It is what it is. Out here there's a fighting attitude. More of a get'er done attitude." Doesnt not Socal have same with earthquakes? I too have had opportunity to live in both places---yes two very different worlds....in the same country. Does that mean one is less than another? Or should it be---we help all our brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors---because we are all Americans...together?

MillerM84, please stop excusing bad behaviour on poverty. Listening to you make apologies about the looting and stealing and leaving old people to die in New Orleans because these "poor" people were losing everything is sickening. Character is not based on money. Never was, never has been. Like I've pointed out several times, the New Orleans cops, a third of them anyway, deserted their jobs and some even joined the looting.

Oh, come on. Flood or fire, the way to handle it is to get people out. New Orleans failed in this, San Diego didn't. If San Diego left the people in harm's way you'd have every bit the loss of life that New Orleans had. And as far as the number of hurricanes coming through New Orleans, they have a hurricane SEASON there. Every single year they are at risk of a hurricane. There was NO excuse not to be prepared.