Big Easy

[nsps]

At least the budget part. yes.

"Each year since 2001, the Bush administration has slashed Louisiana's requests for flood control funds. Congress did only slightly better in its final budgets. Whatever the reasons, less than 2% of the Army Corps of Engineers' $4.7 billion budget this year was set aside for three crucial New Orleans levee projects. Now it's hard to fathom why such urgent needs were such low priorities."

Sorry if I was unclear, but I was asking about the part that said scientists thought they had 5 years before a hurricane struck. I haven't seen that anywhere, and didn't see it here. Just curious how the scientists came to such conclusions.

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

Sorry if I was unclear, but I was asking about the part that said scientists thought they had 5 years before a hurricane struck. I haven't seen that anywhere, and didn't see it here. Just curious how the scientists came to such conclusions.

Can't find that part. I'll keep looking.

[Jake]

Heh. Awesome.

Disaster is a great leveller. In a reversal of usual roles following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, India has offered a comprehensive assistance package to the US, the world's largest relief donor. The offer was formally communicated to the White House by Indian ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, on Saturday.

Tapping into its experience in combating large scale disasters, India's three-pronged package attempts to export a combination of materials and expertise. Apart from a $5 million contribution to the American Red Cross, India has offered to fly across Army medical teams to New Orleans. Army, rather than civilian, relief teams are being offered keeping in view the worsening law and order situation in the city.

India reckons water purification will be urgently required in a city where contamination would be rife, causing water-borne diseases. As a leading producer of bulk drugs, India is sending across a large consignment of medicines. After attending to numerous large-scale disasters, including last December's tsunami and last month's Mumbai flooding, India now has acquired considerable expertise in combating such large-scale disasters.

Bets on how quickly Dubya will say "we dont need help from any durn foreigners" are now being taken.

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

wrong forum.

[General Fuzzy McBitty]

Heh. Awesome.

Bets on how quickly Dubya will say "we dont need help from any durn foreigners" are now being taken.

The state of Qatar offered us a 100 mill.

[Marek]

Hey even fucking Afghanistan offered to donate money.

A couple of days ago Holland sent a frigate, two helicopters and F16s from Aruba to help out. It blows my mind that such a thing could ever happen.

[eleK_triK]

My friend, cyptic_illusion, lives near Lockport, Louisiana, which is southwest of New Orleans(click the link so you can get a sense of how close it is). I was able to reach her on the phone several days ago, and I was relieved to hear she was alright and that her home was intact. Her friend, bobbysan, actually lives in New Orleans, and had a hell of an experience, so my thoughts go out to him. We were all worried about him, but thankfully, he came out of it okay. Definitely give his journal a read if you want a personal, albeit brief, account of what was going on over there.

[ysbreker]

Paypall is blocking donations to the red cross. well atleast the donations that were made via the something awfull paypal account.

Here's where the real problem begins. Now I have absolutely no qualms with Paypal raising a red flag when $30,000 flows into an account in less than half a day, to an account created hours earlier. Instead of saying, "gee, our company is making $1,188.37 from somebody (they charge 30 cents per transaction, there were 1284 transactions total = $385.20, and they charge 2.9% per transaction, there was $27,695.41 donated = $803.17), let's close them down without any notice," perhaps they should have employed a living, breathing human being to contact us and investigate before they froze the account without warning.