Katrina + 7 Months

[Nimstug]

Hello,

I have a brother-in-law who works for an Indianapolis based construction company and has been recently assigned to projects in New Orleans. I invite you to go to www.photobucket.com then type in the username casinopat3 and password winner to see what is (or isn't)left. These pictures were taken last Friday March 17.

Nimstug

[not good]

That sucks...(seriously)!

[YamahaDude]

Thanks for sharing.

Weeds are gonna' be wayyyyy tall by the end of the summer. That'll really make it difficult.

Can't imagine how long this cleanup will take.

Chris

[Garvin]

I understand that they haven't fixed a lot of the damage in Fla from the hurricanes almost 2 years ago. due to being very short of manpower. A lot of "blue roofs" when you fly over. I don't know where they will get people for New Orleans. Re Florida, we had what seemed like armies of workers leave here to get the work in that state only to return in a short while because the rate for tradesmen was so low and by the time they were paying for housing,food etc they felt they couldn't make any money.Not sure why the marketplace doesn;t work to increase the pay but a friend I have in FL says for less skilled people she and others get hispanics off the street and pay them a daily amount.

[not good]

Funny you should mention the low wages and day labor that is doing the actual rebuilding of these places, you are correct & how true. Considering in my neck of the woods there are several good licensed contractors (small business owners)always seemingly looking to find the next good paying jobsite. There are many that have tools will travel to find it too as long as the pay is there (risk/reward). Kind of makes a guy wonder what or where in the heck is all the billions in federal disaster aid going and why in the heck would it take so g-dang long?

Lest I forget, that's right, its being managed by FMEA, with oversight by our get nothing right current government and likely being subcontracted to Haliburton to pocket the lions share and distribute the pittance in pesos. With that I'm bettin 10 years minimum and a trillion more borrowed taxpayer dollars later, should be about enough time and money to finally keep the lawn mowed down there.

[bigfish1965]

I've a friend from here in Canada down there. They're running all the new telephone and cable wires. He's told me some stories.
Recently they did an entire neighborhood of homes. Only trouble is all the homes are to be demolished. They kept telling the guys higher up..'Hey these homes are coming down...why are we running cable to them?'
"Just do what they (FEMA) tell you to do," was the response.

[JKitterman]

You should not have given out the password as people can now change and edit the pictures. If you just go to photobucket and search the username, the album comes up.

I think this link will get you to the album. Get the password changed.

http://photobucket.com/albums/h319/casinopat3/

[unlogged Rod Holder]

My son participated in a mission trip to the hurricane ravaged area of Mississippi on spring break with other students from Goshen College sponsored by a local church in Goshen, Indiana. I was amazed at the amount of clean up that was still to be done there and after six months. With no house left to live in most of the residents of the area had to leave. They could not get a FEMA trailer on their property without a serviceable well and septic system. There was no place for anyone to live while doing clean up. My son spent considerable time doing chainsaw work cutting up downed trees. Without actually going down there, the full scope of damage is hard to fathom. I was really proud of his volunteerism to help those in need.

As far as New Orleans: things there are a political quagmire. Mayor Nagin has told home owners the city would not stop them from rebuilding even though there would be no guarantee of being safe from flooding for at least two years. The idea of spaces being converted to green space wasn't sitting too well with many folks. Are these people crazy?? The mayor did say he was encouraging owners to take the buyout money being offered. What insurance company would offer flood insurance in an area like this which has now proven itself as very vulnerable to flooding. If it is government offered flood insurance, then the beaurocrats running the program can't be real bright either. That whole ninth ward should just be leveled and turned into a forest with the potential of being a swamp if the levees fail. It was touched on in earlier posts about how little actual money reaches the people at the bottom actually doing the work. Seems there are multiple layers of contractors and sub-contractors. Everyone has to get a cut and a good many contractors are getting pretty good cuts of the pie for just arranging for workers to do a job. I read a book when I was a college freshman titled, "All the King's Men". Though fictional names in the book, it was about corruption in Louisiana (Huey Long). Many years have gone by but things down there haven't appeared to change much. I have sympathy for those poor folks who lost their homes but I think it is very foolish to rebuild on land below sea level and only level #3
hurricane rated levees. One more form of denial. Nope, won't happen again. Yeah, right.

[KP]

>The idea of spaces being converted to green space wasn't sitting too well with many folks. Are these people crazy??

>That whole ninth ward should just be leveled and turned into a forest with the potential of being a swamp if the levees fail.

>I think it is very foolish to rebuild on land below sea level and only level #3 hurricane rated levees. One more form of denial. Nope, won't happen again. Yeah, right.

We're not talking an affluent neighborhood here. Many of these "Crazy" people have no where else to go. What buyout do you think they are being offered for their destroyed lives? Not enough to be able to afford to live anywhere else...that's how much. Real estate on high grond down there is not exactly going down in value. It's more than tripled and still climbing.

Some of these folks still have jobs. If they leave, they leave their job too. With all the influx of immigrants being encouraged by the big companies responsible for cleanup in the south, the locals need to stay put just to put food on the table. They will get more money from the insurance companies if they stay put and rebuild than if they take the buyout. Some people don't want to go back but don't have much choice. It's not like they are getting the kind of care and support we're throwing to the people in Iraq. Our governments priorities are in cleaning up other messes.

It's easy to not understand the strife of others from the comfort of your secure life. And I'm not talking you specifically, just the meaning. I think it's great your son volunteered to help. The friends and employees I have down there are overwhelmed by the kindness of others. Our government might not have the right focus, but caring individuals like your son certainly do.

[not good]

Good example of volunteering by an American and another prime example that if we want to make this place great once again, the people need to rise up and take it back, this gentelmens son is a prime example of a "how to." Also meaning your government, which by the way, was originally established for the people, by the people and most importantly "elected" by the people.

Get my drift...

[davedd]

Great pictures.Makes a quite life in Canada very nice.The experts talk about worse hurricanes.The US has fires,floods,mud slides,tornados,iraq war maybe iran.9 trillion in debt.All this in a few short years with bush.Whats next.

[rock2me]

>Great pictures.Makes a quite life in Canada very nice.The
>experts talk about worse hurricanes.The US has
>fires,floods,mud slides,tornados,iraq war maybe iran.9
>trillion in debt.All this in a few short years with bush.Whats
>next.

davedd,

Since you came out swingin'... I believe our next step should be taking over Canada. It shouldn't take but a few minutes, anyhow. We could get more oil and natural gas with just a few well placed warheads.

The reason you do not need to spend on a military is because of the good old USA. Your existance is made possible by our good graces, a simple 'Thank You' will suffice.

[KP]

What's the matter Rock? Truth hurts???

But hey, if you want a good laugh, read this link:

http://www.satirewire.com/news/feb02/warship.shtml

Sorry Dave. It is pretty darn funny. But unfortunately your obervations have merit. You ought to see what it's like on this side of the fence.

[mums the word]

>Great pictures.Makes a quite life in Canada very nice.The
>experts talk about worse hurricanes.The US has
>fires,floods,mud slides,tornados,iraq war maybe iran.9
>trillion in debt.All this in a few short years with bush.Whats
>next.

Funny you should ask, but likely what's next the way RH see's it is this:

Higher gas prices, higher home energy costs...blah,blahblah, a return to stump beating by talking head politicians about social issues versus what really matters (see remainder of forwarded message below), a mid-term election that won't mean squat might as consider it like a bird huntinig trip with some new and some old sets of fighting cats and dogs out on point - to top it off they're all spoiled, reckless,lazy and out of touch with their "masters," or as they like to call us constituents, an on-going quagmire war that doesn't resemble the Nam at all but more similar to draw a sort of comparison to the like of the Iran/Iraq war and war waged in Afganistan once fought and eventually lost by the former "Super Power" Soviets who spent their way into bankruptcy as a result, a high chance percentage of surgical strikes taking place on Iran's nuke infrastructure (c'mon Isreal step up to the plate #### it...and where are those U.N. Kooks anyway, cut off their funding and kick them outta here, scandalous it should be obvious what to do), a hostile dictator Kim Yul Junk (sp.)of N. Korea who will see an oppurtunity to raise some more #### with us having our backs turned every which way but loose, a new Chineese naval base in Venezuela, who knows maybe even a covert base in Cooba secretly flying a red flag just down the shores from Gitmo (time to call on the Canadians for a little vacation destination espionage on this one), P'oD Chineese for messing up one of their biggest exporters of oil- that would be Iran (remember those surgical strikes), a bunch of over eager communist revert Russians that are secretly & eagerily awaiting a pay back and an oppurtunity to hit pay dirt by jumping on board with the 1.3 billion commi China Men all for the sake of remembering who by in large put them out of business in 80's (which was a good thing by the way, except for leaving behind a few our own "weapoons of mass destruction"...too bad the peace couldn't last and the map to get them back was no good, or is to some conflict is just too much of a profitability lure), [As a side bar this is a very bad thing going on with China & Russia already conducting massive joint millitary beach landing assaults with air, land and sea millatary resources - of course the United States D.O.D. was allowed to participate at least for one, albeit as an observer, feel free to look this one up if it hasn't been already cyberdusted]. More botched up management of hurricane clean ups (plural) resulting with more Americans getting left behind in the wake as you know wise old weatherman says count on this one, Throw in another "unexpected" earthquake or a volcanoe or some other unforeseen natural disaster for good measure and another oppurtunity for FMEA to shine, a raging federal budget and trade deficit going further and further out of control, more illegal immigration looked at with blind eyes, more exporting of good jobs to imbalanced global trade "partners," for the sake of global profiteers, more selling off of American infrastruce that will get approved behind double closed door this time, more erasure of the constitutional rights of American citizens set forth by our founding forefathers of the republic, more propoganda about income levels going up along with employment (check the IRS figures it's a skewed mean which in reality is only a wider distribution of wealth taking place, yes that's right the rich are really getting richer and you guessed it the middle class are getting knocked down a few more notches...check the recent govt. IRS stats or easier than that your wallet after payday), more educated workers losing jobs at GM, Ford, IBM or Dell, etc. and to put food on the table going to wurk for America's largest $8.00 per hour employer while they compete for what's left of the "good jobs," more employee funded healthcare initiatives for the sake of increased shareholder profits (those dang global profiteers again..arrggg), increased healthcare costs and prescription drug coverage costs, provided with a take it or leave it altimadum the stagnation of your working wages or reductions in pay likely on the way in the form of less bene's, an ever inflating real estate bubble, more corporate welfare to the tune of billions handed out in a house of cards energy policy and the like, less taxes for all today and more for the common man tommorow + interest, disbanded social security programs (too bad we can't elect not to participate in this dead end deduction...what a joke), a new kidney dialysis machine for Osama possibly even made in America...nahh I take that back, the made in America part anyway (what ever happened to that character anyway...hmmm????), finally push the hot button again and likely we'll lob a few warheads to the north, just for good measure and because we can(just kidding)!!!

Last but not least, this post will get dusted before 1 or 2 people get a chance to read it...

Believe what you want, but sure as the sun rises in the East, history of mankind has shown there is always for better or worse an equal and opposite reaction for every action, inaction, management and mismanagement of the recent pasts including the 90's too, as well as what we choose to do today and for the future.

Bring back that Ross Perot character whereever he may be, he had some valuable points a while back at least economically, that have come to fruitation today...no way he could of predicted terror and a war as I'm almost certain he didn't belong to the PNAC think tank, or at least his name & signature isn't on the series of future foreign policy initiatives set into motion way back in the late 90's.

RH

[DuckCrusher]

>Great pictures.Makes a quite life in Canada very nice.The
>experts talk about worse hurricanes.The US has
>fires,floods,mud slides,tornados,iraq war maybe iran.9
>trillion in debt.All this in a few short years with bush.Whats
>next.


It never fails that when a natural disaster or a war is mentioned...some candy #### canuck sticks his finger in the eye of Uncle Sam. When you all can get Queerbec straightend out, we might listen.

[Marble Eyes]

.

[INmitch]

Yep dave all those fires, floods, mudslides, huricanes are Bush's fault. Shame on you. This needs dusted.

[RH]

>Yep dave all those fires, floods, mudslides, huricanes are
>Bush's fault. Shame on you. This needs dusted.

It's as if your in some sort of denial of the truth and putting words in someone's mouth. No, no one said he caused them, that's like saying Saddam was behind 911, quit confusing the facts of life and natural events brought on by "mother nature". It's just his ability or better stated inability to multitask and properly plan, with proper planing for the future being the key. The only thing he has caused related to weather is his own sort of avalanche in how the countries state of the union has been handeled. Don't give me remember 911 BS either, he managed to turn that into a debacle as well and a crutch to prey on weak Americans who have trouble thinking for themselves. Yes terrorism is real, it sucks, its been around for years (look at N. Ireland) and so a pat on the back and good job said defending us against the inevitable. BY the way seen Osama lately, heck he's almost like the former UNcle Sam that is syaing I need you, instead he stares us in the face everyday and says I got you (ever consider there is reason why we can't catch the guy...it would be bad for businesshe's sort of an evil Icon). C'mon give the people what they want, let's get the Icon SOB for principle, then dang it move on by taking some leadership initiative in managment on how to address the rest of the issues at home and in the globe, including the play it by ear war in Iraq. If this country was a business and the citizens shareholders the CEO would of gotten the oust by now. In fact all levels of management including congress and senate no matter which side of the aisle should get a pink slip and a buyout too.

[bigfish1965]

Man I did not even see that left turn coming. Heading along there all fine..then BLAM!