Compare and contrast the response to Katrina and Ian

Let's review some history of the media and Democrat party (redundant). Remember Katrina? In 2005 New Orleans was devastated. It had a black Democrat mayor responsible for the local evacuation and safety. Louisiana had a female Democrat governor who should have had the rest of the state ready to respond as well as her neighbors. Who did the press blame? President Bush. Why? Because he flew over and looked at the devastation and didn't parachute into the eye of the storm. Makes sense right?

 
Let's contrast to Ian, the storm currently devastating Florida. Some in the mainstream media (not all are so stupid) can't blame Biden so they want to discuss "climate change" which they confuse with weather. That way they can continue to back Biden's inflationary plans for the green new deal (IRA) instead of fighting highest inflation in 50 years, shortages of fuel which could leave Europe freezing this winter, and chaos at our southern border with the sex and drug trafficking.

 
Because DeSantis was better at controlling Florida's economy while the rest of the nation locked down and shuddered at the latest pronouncement of Fauci and CDC (many of which have been proven wrong) the left has temporarily postponed their attacks on Trump (J-6 clown show was set aside) and moved on to DeSantis, like the ugly ladies of the View, the MSM talking heads and the Soros backed twitter bots.

Oh yes, and President Bush was called racist during rescue efforts during Katrina, because many died in the poor, black neighborhoods of NOLA. Four years later when all the data were examined, it turned out that NOLA with 65% black population showed 51% of the dead from all storm related causes were blacks, and it was the elderly that were most vulnerable. That should have been the take away from that disaster. It could have been applied to the pandemic, along with centuries of experience. But no. For holding on to power, Biden needed to control the whole nation, and particularly shut down the churches while leaving bars and tattoo parlors open. Governors (like ours in Ohio, a Republican) followed meekly, trusting one science, but not another. Mayors of blue cities allowed crowds for rioting but not open churches because George Floyd was a good cause (for BLM).

 
In NOLA during Katrina and aftermath many of the elderly died when the power was out. In Florida, I heard on an interview yesterday, all nursing home and retirement facilities have 100% secondary back up for power. (Those fleeing in electric cars were just out of luck.)

Hurricane Katrina Deaths, Louisiana, 2005 | Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness | Cambridge Core

Project Home Again

Here's a man who used his wealth for good before Obama could destroy it. Project Home Again is a nonprofit, housing development organization created by The Leonard and Louise Riggio Foundation shortly after Hurricane Katrina to build high-quality, energy-efficient homes for low and moderate-income NOLAns. The city and federal government bogged down in various plans to make it smaller, greener, more chocolate, more market friendly--and more bound up in red tape. Meanwhile, Riggio, founder of Barnes & Noble, just rolled up his sleeves. Project Home should have 100 houses by the end of summer.

Project Home Again

Ice storm misery and deaths

The governors, mayors, churches, local Red Cross volunteers and friends and neighbors have handled last week's devasting ice storm blamed for 55 deaths and the cold and misery of thousands, to say nothing of the loss to the economy and taxes of those states due to closed businesses. When we were at dinner Friday night we ran into friends from our old neighborhood whose daughter and 3 grandchildren had come "home" from another state that was still without power. A good reason to keep a full gas tank in cold weather since gasoline pumps need electricity.

The Democratic governor of Kentucky has, of course, praised President Obama even though I don't think FEMA has come through yet, and I doubt that Obama has visited the devastation. If Bush were still in office, we'd be hearing a different tune--Kyoto failed and therefore the temperature extremes and ice; the Guard was all out of the country, yada yada. Ah, hope and change. You've gotta love it.

Remember, it's up to the locals to ask for help from the federal government and to have their local emergency plan (and busses) in working order. That was the big mistake of Katrina, not a President vacationing in Texas. NOLA had an ineffective mayor and the state a poor governor.

Housing for NOLA with good intentions, bad design

Tulane architectural students are having a design competition for new housing in New Orleans, and the reality show is on the Sundance Channel (I haven’t seen it). There are a lot of bugs in the project, according to this Chicago writer.

One of the sweetest, little houses in Lakeside was designed by my husband--has 3 bedrooms (lst floor master), 2 full baths, kitchen, dining and living areas (great room) and a nice front porch. It has a HVAC system, and parking for 2 cars (a requirement here, even with small lots). I think its footprint is about 22 x 30, probably about 1,000 sq. ft. It looks to me to be perfect for a small scale, traditional NOLA neighborhood. The problem with student design is they want something different, something to make their mark in the world; the residents probably just want to go home!

From the story:

“Architecture School” is compelling on a number of levels. It depicts high-flown architectural concepts coming into contact with the practical realities of building a low-cost house. Instructor Byron Mouton tries to get the students to watch out for clichés and lazy thinking, with limited success. And the students and the instructors seem more enamored of their forward-thinking designs than the local residents.

“Ugly” is the verdict of one resident who lives near an existing Tulane-built home. Many residents want traditional re-creations of the narrow “shotgun” houses that they’ve always known, but the idealistic students naturally want to do something more adventurous.

Then there’s the matter of finding someone to live in these houses. One woman who applies for a home loan at Neighborhood Housing Services, the New Orleans non-profit that is paying for the construction of the Tulane houses, has $18.23 in her savings account.

The Iraqi refugee problem

Did you see the recent PBS show on the crisis in Syria, Jordan (and even U.S.) for Iraqi refugees? We did a lousy job covering the borders in Iraq after the 2003 initial victory. We don't do borders, not even our own. Now the place is overrun. Iraqis interviewed for the show had been run out by various groups. Some had been Saddam supporters. Some had worked for American companies and became targets for terrorists. Some companies will relocate a former worker, but not his family. That makes no sense--makes more terrorists! Seems it has a long history, as this 1998 story reports.

Just as I think we have an obligation NOT to run out on the people we went in to save, so we have an obligation to the refugees the war has created. It will be up to McCain or Obama to lead the way, and it won't be cheap--which is why McCain's "as long as it takes," makes more sense than Obama's moving target pull-out date. Democrats and Republicans alikeshould have a stake in seeing that the elected Iraq government succeeds, but that will be extremely difficult for Democrats who don't want anything started by Bush to turn out well. The MoveOnOrgies who have gained so much power in the party, are not going to go away. The moderates in the party may just have to swallow their anger and pride and try to be the "liberals" they claim to be instead of marxists and anarchists, the direction they are being pushed.

The PBS show wasn't balanced, but that would be difficult. It's a painful issue. Bush, of course, will get more blame for the pitiful woman refugee whose husband desserted her and the children after she was raped by terrorists than will the misogynist, Muslim male-centered culture. Like assigning blame to Bush instead of Nagin for the Katrina blacks who can't get their public housing back. It's old news that Nagin was and is unprepared to be the mayor of a major city. People need to be resettled. Period.

If Iowans were NOLAns

the flooding would be the President's fault, especially since he was attending a funeral today and not flying over the flooded cities. But being Iowans, even with 83 of their 99 counties declared a disaster area from flooding and 12 tornadoes, they are not accustomed to being made helpless and hopeless by government or Mother Nature. They've pulled together, sandbagged, rescued valuable art, library and museum collections, buried their dead, shared resources, comforted their neighbors, put disaster plans in place and they will rebuild. And yes, insurance and government aid will help--Iowa's our breadbasket (and increasingly our gas tank). But look out down below--New Orleans. That water will soon be in the Mississippi, and I doubt that your Mayor Nagin has done much to prepare, but at least this time you've got Bobby Jindal in the governor's office instead of Kathlyn Blanco.

4110

How do I look in New Orleans

We received some sort of cable upgrade (digital, music, + oodles more channels) shortly before we left for the summer, so last night I sat down with a piece of sugar-free peanut butter chocolate pie to explore and become reacquainted, since I don't watch much TV. I stopped at a familiar face while clicking through--Finola Hughes, was was doing soap operas back when my daughter was addicted to General Hospital in the 1980s. Goodness. She looks fabulous and hasn't changed a bit. But even if she had, I'd know that voice anywhere.

She hosts a show called "How do I look?" and for its 100th edition, they selected three school teachers from New Orleans whose lives had been up-ended by Katrina. Their stories were heart wrenching. All had very nice middle-class homes. Two of them had evacuated with their children, after first not paying much attention to the warnings (they were very accustomed to hurricane warnings) and the third had been preparing for a family reunion and didn't even know about it until one of her children called. At first, she wouldn't leave her home because of her pets, but was finally rescued by a neighbor with a boat after the levee broke. Later she had to leave her beloved dog behind anyway, as rescuers further down the line wouldn't take the dog. She cried. I cried, and held my kitty a little closer (the pie was history by this time).

With a Style group of consultants, Finola lavished them with three new outfits ($1200 budget I think she said), a massage, manicure, pedicure, new hair styles and make-up plus bunches of gifts. One of the teachers had lost 45 lbs. after the storm and was living in a trailer, still wearing clothes 4-5 sizes too large. She'd lost the weight because the storm had changed her thinking about what was important--living a healthy life for her children. One woman (with the dog) had formerly been accustomed to dressing really sharp and loved high fashion. She'd lost not only her home, but everything in her closet--damaging her sense of self as a large, attractive career woman. Another who had evacuated with her baby, then lived elsewhere for 4 months, was living with a relative in a cramped house with no space for her personal belongings. She was reduced to t-shirts and jeans, like the others. She was probably the most articulate voice for NOLA survivors I've seen on TV.

Each woman got an outfit for work (teaching), a transition outfit, and a dressy, on-the-town ensemble, all with the right accessories like jewelry and shoes. Truly, they looked fabulous, and the children of the school were the audience for the "reveal," and they were an adorable, appreciate group.

A fun, heart warming and hopeful message for all. Thanks, Finola and Style TV.

1445 Dear Rep. Elijah Cummings

Dear Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md),

I see the Black Caucus has finally emerged five days after the hurricane--to criticize the federal government’s response to the disaster in New Orleans. One of your members, Stephanie Tubbs from my state, said this is not about race--right now. Meaning it will be later. But I think it is.
Stephanie Tubbs, (D-Oh)
It’s about ethnic and party loyalties, and sometimes it’s a two-fer. Your Black Caucus has been afraid to criticize the Mayor of New Orleans who is an African American Democrat. I think he did the best he knew how, but wasn’t up to the job. I don’t know how he got this office, or what experience he brought to it, but he was certainly no Rudy Giuliani, and that’s what the city needed--several, considering the breadth of the disaster. It was the mayor’s responsibility to have a plan to get the poorest and most vulnerable to safety, not the President of the United States, not the military, not the governor. It was his responsibility to ensure that the security forces of New Orleans had radio frequencies that could work together. It was his responsibility to have search and rescue plans in place, and equipment on hand to repair levees. These are local issues, and the people of New Orleans have been taxed for that.

And Louisiana’s governor is a Democrat. Again, I’m sure she is a nice person and means well. She speaks beautifully, as many politicians do (our president does not), but does not appear to be up to the task of facing down hurricanes. She just cries and asks people to pray. Someone said today she hasn’t yet called in the Louisiana National Guard. Surely that isn't true. Gracious!

Too much emphasis on looters? Really? Does Rev. Jackson mean the guys stealing bread and milk for their families or the thugs who were killing, stealing, holding firemen hostage and keeping rescue boats and helicopters from bring people to safety? Why shouldn’t anarchy in the streets, streets that should be under local control, be pinpointed by the media as a huge problem in a city crippled by a storm and poor preparedness. Why should the people of New Orleans have had to endure such a high crime rate by these same thugs all these years?

I’m not surprised the Democrats are running and hiding from this with wild theories about global warming, troops over extended in Iraq, and President Bush being on vacation. But you can’t hide forever. You’ll need to roll up your sleeves and do some house cleaning, and I don’t mean flood waters and sewage.

Update: I was just listening to George Pataky (Gov, NY) and he says his National Guard was there in LA Monday night. Could that be or did I not hear him right? Just googled it. Yep. They were there.

1436 Disaster Blame

No one in the media seems to be taking the global warming drivel seriously, but it is awash in blame. 85% of a sprawling city living in and on its past is covered up, and "they" should have done something. USAToday comes this close <-----> to blaming President Bush with a long list:

lack of coordination is inexcusable
evacuation was haphazard
halting response from Bush on Tuesday (keep in mind that Tuesday morning the media was announcing that NOLA had been spared)
leadership void
puny efforts
what's the plan
woefully inadequate
was anyone in charge

The Wall Street Journal is also critical of the flaws and failures in the crisis planning, but with specifics that other cities can use:

1) "All the cunning of man cannot defeat the greatest fury of nature."
2) guidelines for coordination between state, federal and local agencies were incomplete.
3) The most vulnerable were not evacuated.
4) There was no search and rescue plan.
5) Conflicting radio frequencies for emergency units defeated workers.
6) Plans were in place for a category 3 hurricane.
7) Florida's plans in 2004 were far superior to Louisiana's, but other states had not learned from it.
8) Heavy equipment needed to repair breaches was not in place.
9) No fuel for emergency generators.
10) Federal gov't must wait for the governor to invite it in for diasaster relief.

However, Joel Kotkin's article in today's WSJ about the city itself is very informative. Not sexy and unprovable like global warming, but local decay seems to be in part the problem. He points out that New Orleans was once the premier city of the south with a vital economy, but Houston and Miami long ago surpassed it. He attributes active immigration from South America and the Caribbean as pluses for those cities bringing in trade, investments, services, and businesses with corresponding higher paying jobs for workers. New Orleans now sells its past--or did until Tuesday morning when the levees were breached. Kotkin said it was a city of underemployment, crime and poverty with a murder rate 10 times the national average, a city of least resistance.