Hurricane Katrina Batters the Gulf Coast

So, what steps have the various levels of government taken to ensure a significant and competent response to disasters of this nature? And what steps have people taken to be less stupid? I say little on both counts.

The biggest news story of 2005 and will continue to be a major news event in 2006.

Extremely significant... claimed many lives and showed how incompetent Bush and the rest of his cabinet is. I see some people are posting comments saying Bush isn't responsible for the disaster itself, but thats not the point. It was the reaction to the storm... if we reacted quicker so many more lives could have been saved.

Significant on a few levels: (i) it showcases what inept leadership at all levels of government leads to (ii) shows how the welfare entitlement state has created an underclass of human dodo birds who are inacapable of taking care of themselves and expect big government to facilitate every human need beyond the billions already given to them (iii) that the federal insurance entitlement FEMA funds stupid living arrangements and sets the dominos up for these "disasters" to occur.

*** A lot of you are rating this thing based on one man, George W. Bush. You're blaming him for fairy tales he's never done*** This was a terrible thing. People lost their homes and money. but it's not as devestating as the tsunami back in 2004. And it really ticks me off when you guys say this is bush's fault. Whats up with that? It's not his fault that a big disaster happened, it's no ones.

President Bush plays pick-the-job with his idiot neocon buddies and this is what happens. Believe me, this is just the tip of the iceberg, the FEMA/idiot Brown situation is just the first that has been brought to light.

Having been closely (very closely...too closely) brushed by 3 'canes in 2004 we feel the pain not too far west. I wish I could contribute more than cash... Probably the most significant single event (the Supreme Court issues are more continuing events) this year to affect the country.

It was significant because it helped many people to see how totally inept and unfeeling the Bush administration is. One thing's for sure: if the folks trapped at the Superdome had been white and upper middle class, Bush and company would have been down there pronto!

Yes, it was a tragedy, and my heart (along with just about all other americans') was broken for the people who sustained such teriible losses. I am, however, growing tired of hearing all the bashing of the government, and accusations of nothing being done. There's more to take into account than most people realize. it's not like they could just load up a pontoon boat and go grab people. i understand wanting action to be taken quickly, and i agree that it is terrible to think of what people went through, (and are still enduring as i type this little message that will ultimately have no effect), but i almost wish that people who don't know the whole of it would stop bashing those that do. and as for the looting and lawlessness that has broken out in New Orleans... well it's hard to sympathyze with a man carrying a flat screen tv out of an appliance store when he's got no where to plug it in, and families are starving. What am i trying to say here? the looters can stay there and loot. ... Read more

I wonder how would President Bush like it if he had to walk in waters that had sh*t in it... if he had to do such a thing instead of being in Air Force One he would want the National Guard over here in the U.S instead of in Iraq. Sweet New Orleans has fallen! And it's terrible! Houses are trashed and for most familys there is no way to get out. People and their pets are going to get sick. It is almost 90 or 95 if not 100 degrees. The dirty water will begin to stink in the hot sun. All of this is going on and if they can find dry land not enough buses are going out and not enough people are getting food and because of this people are stealing and even the police are being knocked down. And there is no help because the National Guard is in Iraq throwing their time and energy away! This is a major blow to the looks of America. You can be sure that other nations are saying This is Great and Tall America and she can invade our nations but she can't take care of her own states or citys or t... Read more

When things get beat up like this and people die, I'd say its a pretty big event. UPDATE: I think certain people messed up bad with the evacuation plans. UPDATE: Alot of people dropped the ball on this one. All the finger pointing in the world ain't gonna fix. Go make a donation or something. I just wish these bungholes would stop shooting at the rescue workers. UPDATE: I don't care who or what you are trying to bash, but there is still NO WAY YOU CAN GET A HELICOPTER TO PICK YOU UP BY SHOOTING AT IT!

It's heartbreaking. I waited to write this to see how things went a little more, hoping that a little light would come to this situation, but there's no positive side to this tragedy. It seems as soon as Katrina had finished ramming through New Orleans, people were already pointing fingers. Not just the victims, but people who felt that it was an opportune time to show their political opposition in a bad light. Both sides b!@#$ and moan about the Democrats/Republicans responsible for the loss of lives, vying for airtime and trying to get in soundbites, while there were still people trapped in/on their homes, watching bloated bodies float by. Familes are separated, not knowing if their loved ones are even alive or not, but on TV it's all about the shortcomings of the Republican or Democrat party. It's all about Could've, Should've, Would've, but frankly that doesn't do much good for the people down there right now. Yeah, I know most of us can't really do much to help. I don't... Read more

My heart goes out to everyone and everything that has been affected by the hurricane. This hurricane did much more damage then what most people anticipated. The first time I saw the flooded waters all throughout the city my mouth dropped. I wish the response with help arrived at a more efficient time as many people have been suffering.

So sad how so many people use this ENORMOUS TRAGEDY to their political advantage. None of these clowns are going to take responsibility and continuously point fingers at who did wrong before and after shifting focus away from the help that these people need. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are making this any better for anybody, and I for one as a moderate feel there is a big lack of leadership in this country. Instead people get too extreme, self righteous, and one sided and that is why we are so sadly devided in this country right now. Regardless of your political position, people should not be taking sides or pointing fingers. New Orleans is a fantastic city and hopefully when it gets rebuilt it will come back a better one, just like Chicago did after the great fire and San Fransisco after the 1906 earthquake.

***While not nearly as serious, Hurricane Floyd in 1999 was severely mishandled and what was said to Mr. Clinton on this one?The response was very slow and major flooding insued, but folks seem to have forgotten that one.Update for Djahuti:The only thing Clinton built up was pardons for child mollestors and criminals.(OM)A terrible tragedy with lost lives and property.On the otherhand, you have raping, pillaging and looting, which was pretty much how New Orleans was to begin with.The thugs and gangs who are armed and harming innocents should be shot on site!Lets call things how it really is/was.The local government, including the mayor of New Orleans, did a poor job of overseeing the preparation and protection of the citizens.I will also put alot of blame on the fools who ignored the mandatory evacuation.For those who say that alot of the people left were poor and had no way out, the local government should have done a little better job of arranging the evacuation, whether it be school... Read more

This is a terrible,horrible situation.My prayers and condolences go out to all of the victims,rescuers and families with loved ones involved.Yes,I have friends there.Thankfully,they are alive.I am sending a donation to help these people.That said,I would add that this Disaster is NOT actually a natural one.There was a program on PBS last night where they explained just how much was contributed to this disaster by manmade conditions.The leaders and planners of this city DID try to get help beforehand.This was NOT entirely a Suprise.I hate to bring it up just now,but Clinton built up FEMA and Bush tore it down.I also can't help but wonder how many lives might have been saved had not our Manpower and Money been tied up in Iraq.The scariest thing is- how disorganized,incompetent and slow our current Government proves to be in the face of a real disaster.UPDATE:I have been volunteering at a local firehouse where we load and unload truckloads of items donated by people and organizations for ... Read more

You hear about hurricane's almost everyday, and while almost all of them cause some kind of destruction, it usually isn't to this magnitude. Watching all the footage on the news, and me living in Canada, it makes me thankful that I'm not right in hurricane territory. It's horrible watching all these people suffering. We had Hurricane Juan in Halifax about a year ago, and that affected me because it's about an hour away from where I live. Then, we had White Juan, the huge blizzard. But, seeing all the destruction that Katrina left, it makes Juan look like a rain storm.

My hearts & thoughts go out to these people. My husband is currently working down in Gulf Shores to help the victims of Katrina & he said it's 100 times worse than what the media is showing or telling us. :( What a sad situation! Too bad our President is a moron. A deaf mute monkey could run this country better than him!

OK, all you Bushaholics Listen UP!! Katrina galvanized the south's opinion of this right-wing administration--they are all carpetbaggers--Bush is not a true Southerner, he purposefully mispronounces nuclear and other cute little words, hopefully this is the end of his political career--even if he had no authority to mobilize any relief to New Orleanians, how hard is it to figure out to drop water out of a helicopter or airplane? What planet did he and Rove step off of? Hopefully the U.S. has witnessed his political suicide--oh and by the way--he IS the only idiot left on this planet that doesn't believe in global warming. What an ass. AYankee ass at that.

I have just spent the weekend with my good friend from Houston who is visiting London...he knows New orleans well and he can't quite believe what he is seeing. My thoughts to anyone connected with the disaster...at last the administration has allowed outside aid to come in, so let's hope this suffering is sorted out soon.

I think it is time that Mayor Ray Nagin take some personal responsibility for his city. He knew well in advance that the storm was coming. He could have evacuated his residents that did not have vehicles to a safer location other than in the path of the storm. The protection of any community does not always fall back on the shoulders of the federal taxpayer. New Orleans is the 23rd largest city in the USA and is not a poor city; yes it has poor people but the city has money and the mayor has dropped the ball here and he is not being a very good leader. The city had years to fix its levees and failed to do so. Mr. Nagin and mayors prior to him have messed up and now are pointing fingers away from themselves to anyone but themselves. It is time for Mr. Nagin to accept personal responsibility. The people of New Orleans also need to accept some responsibility. You don't say your hungry then steal a TV and rape a young girl. The city is not known for it's peaceful nature. I can really under... Read more

UPDATE: I have relatives who live in the greater NO area, they left for Baton Rouge in time to escape Katrina. They are honest, hard-working people with a young daughter. What awaits their return to their home is unthinkable. All they've worked for, all they've accumulated, if it didn't fit in the trunk of their car, it's gone. Blame Bush? Whew. The mayor of New Orleans, the governor of Louisiana, abdicated their responsibilities to protect the poorest of their constituents (along with all the other constituents) long before Katrina became a tropical depression. There was no emergency plan in place. There was no help because there was no plan, no organization and no leadership. All that has to start on the local level, the federal government provides money and military personnel, ready to obey orders. Until this incredible example of government cowardice and incompetence, I had assumed that every major US city had a basic disaster preparedness plan. New Orleans, which sits o... Read more

Ah, Katrina.....in you blew, and away you flew. But what might we salvage from your laborious destruction? Certainly not integrity, as that precious commodity was in short supply from every institution that mattered. A better grasp of environmental science? Doubtful, as most people can't even SPELL environmental, let alone cobble together a practical, conceptual definition of the word. A more-responsive government? In the seven months it'll take for this event to filter out of the conch shell that is the American consciousness, one fact will prove appallingly irretrievable: the raw sewage the gutted Gulf currently finds itself awash in will NEVER rival the fetid issuance from Washington's bipartisan spigot. Borrowed billions will be blithely round-hounded into troughs for the overfed while the state works its custodial magic (dingy mop and sawdust in hand) in areas of REAL concern. Serious alternative energy exploration? Hardly, as it took decades of genius to stick 75% of the country'... Read more

Man, this has been quite a bad year hasn't it? The worst natural disaster in our nations history. This is a sad sad event, I as a grown man, admit to tearing up when I watch the footage. Especialy the ones with the crying mothers holding their babies that have no food, no diapers, nothing. They had actuall footage of people just dying of dehydration and exhaustion right on the street! They said I think about 7 people commited suicide while in the superdome, and dozens other just died in their sleep. The looting, the people who tried to shoot down a helicopter, everything. It is jaw-dropping, shocking, saddening. I truly can not believe that this is happening in America. This disaster struck on Monday, the help came today, FRIDAY.

I don't like to do a lot of finger pointing, but if there ever was a case for pointing some fingers, this would be it. Four days after the levees broke, New Orleans residents are still waiting for buses to get them out, for fresh water, for food. Others are succumbing to dehydration. According to a report I heard this morning, at one shelter, of the 1500 people waiting for aid, 100 are already dead. In America. I have no idea wtf could possibly going on in terms of our emergency response. AndrewSullivan has this to say: THE MESSAGE TO AL QAEDA: I have to say that one of the worst potential repercussions of this calamity and the Bush administration's response is to show how utterly unprepared this country still is for some kind of terror attack, how little coordination there is between local and federal authorities, how evacuation plans are chaotic, how we have a president divorced from reality, and a Congress more interested in doling out pork than protecting the country. The me... Read more

The media will ultimately get this story wrong. Scientists have been telling New Orleans/Louisiana politicians (and anyone in Washington who pretended to listen) that New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen. (Below sea level and surrounded on three sides by water?) People have a right to know that politicians have looked the other way to these scientific models for years. . .but the media won't give this the attention it deserves. . .there's too much suffering going on. Don't blame Bush (he's too stupid to understand the science anyway) or any one person- there is a tangible anti-science backlash when politicians (all of them) don't like what they hear from those clearly smarter than they are. The facts were ignored- now people are dead. Let your politicians know- or keep treating scientific knowlegde and findings with disdain yourself and enjoy letting others make the wrong decisions for you. Ignore science? Pay the price.

I saw New Orleans native Winton Marsalis playing his trumpet while footage of the horrific tragedy were shown...

While it is apparent that on a lives lost scale, this does not measure up to the tsunami of South East Asia, (despite the bleatings of some ratings hungry media outlets) this is a disaster of considerable magnitude, which seems to be worsening by the hour. And IJR: Poor timing for that kind of comment, man.

I actually shed a tear yesterday. I was just a little overwhelmed with sadness. Most of these folks were indigent types, chronically poor and did not have a whole lot to begin with. Now they have nothing. People are watching as others die from lack of attention. Must be a traumatic hell I cannot imagine. I have decided that my band will be working to fill our Tip jar for this cause. I feel good knowing that while Im not the kind with deep pockets, I can finally use my God given talent and turn it into a direct gift for someone. Like the drummer boy did for Jesus. For any of you who brough politics into this..Ive got two words for you and Im sure you would not like them. IJR, your I can be a real jerk sometimes meter just went way up.

I am deeply sorry for the hundreds of innocent victims who have died and those who are still suffering. Yet I am amazed that people were actually using energy to loot at a time like this. It would seem pretty evident that the most important thing right now would be to help the survivors escape this torment. And as far as placing the blame - there will be plenty of time and not far down the road to take all those who are allegedly in charge to task. One thing is for sure though; if this is the best we can do in a disaster we certainly have a long way to go to prepare for a major terrorist attack. Maybe it's time to re-think the idea of protecting and defending our own shores first.

Wow, it's not only NO and Mississippi that's suffering, it's all of America, and the blame falls solely on one man's administration: Bush. United Airlines just got 3 Billion, Iraq has been getting hundreds of Billions, but how much help did he give New Orleans? It sure wasn't in place before the disaster, in which floods were widely predicted to happen. People couldn't afford to leave because of gas prices, I mean come on. Virtually little was done to make sure people could get out. The Louisiana Guard is virtually all in Iraq, boy that really helps, huh? Looting and killing is rampant, this is just an embarassment spiralling out of control. Now gas prices are almost 4 freaking dollars, can you believe that? The Hurricane is being used as an excuse now. Bush needs to resign, enough is enough. UPDATE: To all those who think I'm some liberal opportunist trying to bash Bush, just look at the facts, and see how this terrible incident was just exacerbated by his administration. It's embaras... Read more

This might be the biggest story of 2005, and possibly the biggest story since 9/11/2001. The effects of Hurricane Katrina will effect so many lives in this country, for a period of time that is currently unknown. The long term effects on one of America's oldest cities will be huge. New Orleans as it was previously known could be a very different place once it is finally cleaned up, and how many lives will be drastically altered because of this storm.

First of all, I find it atrocious that people use this as another opportunity to Bush bash. Some people have absolutely no shame. Justify it with whatever facts you want, I find it appalling. This is, without doubt, the worst natural disaster in the history of this country. If a bomb had gone off in the middle of the area, it wouldn't have had a tenth of the effect as this. New Orleans has essentially been wiped off the map, and areas in Mississippi and Alabama have been devastated. What we see beyond the violence and crime of a chosen few, is the heart of America once again coming forward. Medical workers in New Orleans have chosen to stay behind, on their own accord, to help with the sick rather than be bused to Houston. People from Florida have come to Louisiana with barrels of gasoline, selling it at cost. Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Baton Rouge have set up shelters, and even Detroit has offered help. I urge everyone to give a little to the Red Cross to help out. If everyo... Read more

Horrible devastation. I met some people who were here, staying with some friends until the storm left. They said their house is high ground but across the street is a whole different story. The scariest part of it is some of us, who would normally be helping by contributing to this, are poverty stricken due to gas prices being so astronomical. Not only are gas prices through the roof, but our food is too. I can handle this part, but just wishing I could contribute money is very hard. I don't know what to do to help. Right now, we are living off the dust of our cupboards, trying to make money stretch due to the gas prices. The scary part is it's going to get worse before it gets better. Which makes you wonder, with this economy the way it is; how long before it all gets rebuilt? Reading IJR's post, maybe it would be easy for you, I am not sure, but my husband and I were discussing this last night, and if we had to evacuate due to something similar, I am not sure we would have any plac... Read more

I just wish everyone could have gotten out. There's nothing you can do to stop the destruction of the storm, but did everyone really have to suffer in their attics like that? I don't think we need to blame the Administration, and not FEMA, or Red Cross, or anyone! Let's just be better-prepared next time ... pointing fingers and assigning blame might make you feel better, but does jack squat to help fix the problem. I sure hope that EVERYONE has or will donate to Red Cross or some other organization. Even $5 per person or even per family would be a TON of support for these people, and would help restore things more quickly I think. You probably have that much change in the cupholder of your car or under your couch! I personally like the American Red Cross vs other institutions because it's not afiliated with the government, so I feel that more of the money makes it to the people who really need it ... just make sure you donate, whoever you give to.

Already the worst natural disaster in the US since the Great Tornado Outbreak..(1974-300+ dead). What is so shocking is that this is actually worse in Mississppi than Camille! I never thought that was possible..and it may be deadlier tin LA than Audrey (1957..500+) dead. The destruction is probably even worse than Andrew...unthinkable. I have been following hurricanes for a long time..and read much of these storms..the Katrina death totals may be as high as Lake Okeechobee, (1928 1800+). Although this disaster pales in comparsion to the tsunami, for the United States a death toll from a modern hurricane over 100 or 200 is incrediably high and a death toll over 1000 was absolutely unthinkable until now. What makes Katrina so bad was the 32 mile plus eye which caused high winds over a more extensive area than a Charley which had only a 5 mile long eye, very tightly wound and compact, as was Camille and Andrew...Katrina looked very much like Allen did. The wide area of 100+ winds probably... Read more

This is a sobering moment in our nation history... Katrina has literally transformed the landscape. And I think once the full scope of this thing is realized it will go down as the most tragic and costly disasters in our history.... and you people assigning personal blame, or biblical justification for this just baffle the hell out of me ....

Unbelievable. My old apartment in the garden district must have water coming up to the stairs. Boy, life is fragile. I wonder how many people who lived within a radius of 3/4 of a mile of my old home have died. If and when I go back in a few years, I wonder how different things will look. For those of you who have never been there, N.O. is a terribly cool city with a feel all its own. And the Gulfport/Biloxi area about an hour east (which took the direct hit from Katrina) was some very peaceful, clean seaside real estate ... and that is even with the presence of those completely out-of-place looking casinos. It has a very natural, southern aura about it. This has really been an enormous tragedy.

Living on the Gulf coast and having 4 major hurricanes that wreaked havoc with the state of Florida last year and a tropical storm that caused extensive flooding to my area a couple of months ago, I had started to breathe a sigh of relief that Hurricane Katrina was moving away from us and out farther out into the Gulf of Mexico, that was short lived as I watched in growing horror as the storm grew in intensity and was barreling down on one of the most vulnerable areas around the Gulf, the low-lying areas of New Orleans and Biloxi. Immediate emergency procedures were put into actions with police, National Guard, the Army Corps. Of Engineers were deployed in an effort to help evacuate or find shelter for over a million people in a short amount of time. The time for swift action was now and the rest were left to pray. Nothing can fully prepare you for a storm of this magnitude or the devastation that has been left in its wake. Several hundred people are dead; tens of thousands are with... Read more

With lives lost estimated towards the thousands, according to the New Orleans Mayor, this could possiblly one of the most devasting natural disasters in American history.

This has been one of the worst things I've ever seen. I live very far from New Orleans, way up here in northern Louisiana. But it's caused all kinds of heartache among people here who have relatives down south that they can't locate, plus gas becoming unavailable in towns real close to ours. We feel compassion for these poor people coming up from that area, but can only help a little. I've donated some money for food, and am praying for people. I hope we never see anything like this again.

Absolutely horrific. The devastation and damage caused by this storm, both in terms of lives and cost, is remarkable. Even more remarkable is the amazing coordination currently being undertaken among the appropriate entities to expand the efficiency and effectiveness of the rescue effort. Thousands of refugees are expected to come over here to Houston to seek shelter. With thousands feared dead, this is a natural disaster unlike any other in modern American times. And IJR, I'm incredibly disappointed at the insensitivity of that comment.

I couldn't even begin to imagine the depth of devastation and damage Katrina has done to Alabama, Louisana and Mississippi. We hear the stories on the news and see how people's homes have been destroyed but the impact is so tremendous that it's hard for me to process (though that doesn't seem to hault the conspiracy theorists...I suppose President Bush and Fox News summoned Hurricane Katrina). Unfortunately nature isn't going to stop doing what its been doing for millions of years just because we inhabit the planet.

Katrina is a very big story here in the US, very tragic. This enormous storm will probably go down in the record books as the most expensive one in history monetarily. We cannot also forget the lives that were lost and changed by the storm. New Orleans will probably never be the same again. Storms of this magnitude have a tendency of shifting settlement patterns around. When Hurricane Andrew passed through Miami back in 1992, there was a mass exodus of people from SW Dade County, where the storm flattened entire neighborhoods, to unaffected areas further north. Only last year did South Dade experience its first year of sustained economic growth since Andrew. The magnitude of these storms simply cannot be underestimated. New Orleans has a very long road to recovery. The flood waters alone won't be receding anytime soon, thus impeding recuperation efforts. Its going to take a Herculean effort to rebuild the infrastructure of this large city. Entire neighborhoods are currently unlivable d... Read more