one day till Hurricane season begins and no one is prepared

[Jeffersons Ghost]

What have we learned from Katrina?

AMID WIDESPREAD CRITICISM, GOVERNMENT PREPARES FOR NEXT HURRICANE SEASON

While the Senate has recommended the dissolution of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and every level of government has come under fire for its handling of Hurricane Katrina, government organizations are launching initiatives to deal with another potentially active hurricane season.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs said in an April report that officials at all levels of government were culpable and that they "did not appear to truly grasp the magnitude of the storm's potential for destruction... Katrina showed that the nation is still unprepared to respond to a catastrophe," the report concluded.

Other investigations by the House, White House and FEMA itself all concluded that much needs to be done before the next season of hurricanes originating in the Atlantic Ocean begins June 1.

FEMA, under the Department of Homeland Security, is charged with coordinating preparation and response to natural and man-made disasters. The Senate panel's primary solution was the dissolution of FEMA and in its place, the installation of a National Preparedness and Response Authority, which, like FEMA, would fall under DHS but unlike the embattled agency would have a direct link to the president and could use that link in times of crisis.

White House homeland security adviser Frances Townsend responded to the report by telling reporters, "As we're heading into this hurricane season, now is not the time to really look at moving organizational boxes."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/hurricaneprep_05-09-06.html

I'm no super-scientist, all I know is that my flowering plants now bloom out of season and the weather gets harder to live with every year. Are these side-effects of global warming? We are the majority and we can do something if we all pull together:

http://www.truemajority.org/ExxonToastsThePlanet.html

[Ezlivin]

1. Wait 'til a killer storm hits a Red state

Then we'll see a flurry of action.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

3. i predict florida and bye bye jeb the vote thief, afterwards.

[Ezlivin]

13. I agree. Too bad my friends and family live there.

My parents have been living in Tampa since 1956. They are only 2 miles from the water at an elevation of 15 feet.

My high school buddy, now a geologist, lives down in West Palm Beach.

Honestly I don't know of a "safe" place in Florida, particularly after seeing what Katrina did.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

18. that's sad to hear... I'm 300 miles from the gulf where winds go 100 mph

when a storm hits MS, LA, AL or the panhandle of FL. those winds steady, not gusting and are spooky in my trailer.

[pointblank]

54. I think MS is pretty red

and they got hit pretty friggin hard if I remember correctly..

Im just sayin... :hi:


on edit: Louisiana is a red state according to the 2004 elections too

Perhaps you meant a red CITY? in that case...you would be correct, however I cant help but think that this administration doesnt give a shit about this country either way...red or blue...there is no money in being humane.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

58. Hear Hear to that point blank

[TallahasseeGrannie]

2. I'm ready

generator
10 flashlights
2 months of medications
plenty of water
canned food
radios and battery TVs
medical equipment backup
trash novels
chain saw ready to go
Bottle of Johnnie Walker Black X2

[BOSSHOG]

6. We are always ready

The one thing I fear most is complacency on my part. I can now say until the end of eternity that our home survived Katrina. Such a thought might lead me to do something stupid (like stay at home) the next time a big one comes heading towards us.

An interesting suggestion I heard on the radio is use your dish washer to store valuable papers that you might have in your house. Water proof and sealed. Great idea I think.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

9. That IS a great idea

and family pictures, too.

[aquart]

10. What an excellent idea.

[stop the bleeding]

15. I am ready - we all need to be safe in the Gulf States

the dishwasher idea is good as long as your house does not get washed away like some of them did last year.

We have all of our important docs all ready to go and we will keep them with us in a time of crisis, lets hope we don't have that time come upon us.

Be safe Boss and T-Granny :)

[BOSSHOG]

17. Thanks Teammate

Our safe deposit box was on the bottom row at our bank which was located about five miles east of Lake Pontchartrain in Slidell. The bank took on six feet of water and our box got flooded but the stuff inside came out fairly well. The most valuable papers were in very good condition.

[stop the bleeding]

27. WOW

you all got very lucky in an unlucky situation.

I have already started to surf my favorites for the Huirricane sites and blogs, man I hope this year is quiet, but my gut tells me otherwise.:hide:

[HeeBGBz]

50. If you find anything interesting

Please post it in the Weather group for us.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=328

This is my favorite companion website to the National Hurricane Center.
The Skeetobite site has the best storm projection graphics.

http://skeetobiteweather.com/

[Jeffersons Ghost]

65. THERE'S LOTS OF GOOD INFO HERE. thanks for links, I'm bookmarking

[stop the bleeding]

28. delete duplicate post

[tnlefty]

30. Could you please help me to understand something? I've heard rwingers

rant about that 72 hrs. worth of provisions until I could scream. Don't get me wrong I do think that doing all that someone can do to prepare is a great thing. The thing that I just don't understand is what if a wall of water smashes your house in and all of your provisions are washed away, or if high winds hurl them away, what then? And if evacs are possible are folks allowed to take that much stuff on a bus?

[uppityperson]

33. 3 days is a basic, basic, tide you over a couple days, thing.

you can stretch 3 days food/water to a week if need be, but do not expect anyone, anything for at least several days. Tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, bombings, uprisings, coups, etc. If your supplies get washed away, blown away, blown up, crushed, stolen, or you are nowhere near them, well, there you are.

3 days used to be the recommendation, but I think they upped it to a week. At least. Why do they rant about 72 hours? Or what do they rant?

[tnlefty]

34. The ones that I come into contact with and hear on c-span rant about

the 72 hrs. to deflect the pitiful response to Katrina away from Bush**, FEMA, etc., and "if those people had just had the 72 hrs. of provisions like they were supposed to", blah, blah, blah. Yet, I remember reading articles and seeing the photos of houses literally washed away, etc. When I've attempted to make them remember that part and that a person could've tried to have all of that, well they just can't take it and somehow still try to make it the fault of those who lost everything.

My husband became exasperated with a co-worker and rather forcefully asked him, "do you honestly think that these folks could've put those provisions in a plastic bag, inserted it up their asses?", then he swore, shook his head and walked away making his disgust just a little bit noticeable. I probably should've left this part out.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

35. I personally would have assumed the shelter

had water. Yet I can't say opening the Superdome was a bad thing, because it saved so many lives. I just don't understand why it wasn't stocked.

Your point about the busses is a good one. You really can't carry that much water. However the bus concept says to me they are going out of the danger area where water won't be a problem.

After Katrina our biggest question is whether or not we will EVER leave our house. We are about 25 miles inland from St. Marks. I don't trust public shelters anymore, altho my husband is a ham operator and often works them. I guess if a Cat 5 bears down we head to PA and family. We took a Cat I in '85, Kate, and it was chaos here for two weeks. That was NOTHING.

[uppityperson]

42. your husband is a hammer? nice.

ham radio operators with a generator are a good thing to have around.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

47. Yeah, he just

got a new rig in expectation of a big hurricane season.

[uppityperson]

38. Got it. The "if only they had prepared" ploy

I wonder how they could've carried those 72 hours of food and water up through the holes they chopped in their roofs? Yes, preparations help, but sometimes it is not enough. I met a woman who prepared, had several days of food and water, still ran out. She lived in her attic for a week. She is in her 60s.

[DoYouEverWonder]

31. Might want to unplug it first

Just in case.

[AnnInLa]

36. Am in Abbeville, Louisiana, and

I just bought my first generator....guess I'm no longer a virgin, huh? Another thing I did was phone my home insurer and make sure exactly what my home insurance covers. Took pics, put them in safe-deposit box. All of the usual precautions. Damn, I hate hurricanes. And, I'm beginning to hate that big, old tree that sits over my house.

NBC Nightly News just came on, and they are leading with New Orleans/Katrina.....saying that New Orleans looks as if Katrina just happened yesterday. Sigh.

[kineneb]

7. best of luck

and hang in there, all you folks in Hurricane Land. Love your collection, especially the trashy novels and the JWB.


(I knew there was a reason I stay in California...I just love the excitement of living in an ancient caldera, and those earthquakes...)

[riona]

26. Got to get Clorox

we're big on that here - and duct tape. Otherwise, you're good.

[hobbit709]

4. "What have we learned from Katrina?"

That unless you have ties to Halliburton, etc., it's "Operation YOYO" for the rest of us

[BOSSHOG]

8. An interesting Bourbon Street T-Shirt this season

FEMA EVACUATION PLAN
RUN MOTHERFUCKER RUN

Its so funny because its so true.

[stop the bleeding]

16. I remember when you all posted that here on DU

so true

[HeeBGBz]

51. Ooh, I want one of those

Truth hurts.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Watched the weather on CNN International

this afternoon. Sea temperature in the critical area where the hurricanes seem to start is already above 27 degrees so shouldn't be too long before the season starts.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

12. I live in Alabama and I know what those ultra warm waters mean

we may be running out of gas but future hurricanes have plenty of fuel.

[dipsydoodle]

14. I don't think anyone

is going to take too much notice of global warming until a hurricane hits New York. Then I guess they'll sit up and listen - when it's too late as usual.

[theHandpuppet]

11. Here's a great list by which to organize supplies

http://www.redcross.org/general/0,1082,0_91_4440,00.html

I always think a checklist comes in handy.

[bluerum]

19. Red Cross chapters across the country are positioning resources

and briefing personnel.

Not sure what the Federal Emergency Mis-management Agency is up to.

[Doctor Venmkan]

20. Who knows what FEMA's up too....

And really, who cares? Not me, because like several others in the thread, we know that Uncle Sam ain't riding in on a white horse to come rescue us if/when a disaster strikes.

Just remember two things:

"Chance favors the prepared and the equipped." And when the chips are down, you can only count on number one!

[rainbow4321]

21. TX is doing piddly little things

That may look good on paper but when the time comes this just doesn't seem like it will work at all. Free gas for evacuees...yeah, right, til the stations run out of gas.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/053106dntexfreegas.3d8d823d.html

Some gas stations will let motorists pump for free if their fuel tanks run low during a hurricane evacuation, state officials said Tuesday.

The free fueling plan comes after thousands of cars were left abandoned on the side of highways during Hurricane Rita last year, when more than 3 million people evacuated the Houston area and jammed roads for hours.

Most stations along evacuation routes ran out of gas, making fuel availability a priority in the state's revamped evacuation plan.

Motorists won't be allowed to fill their tanks completely and only vehicles with little fuel remaining will be given access to the free pumps, said Jenniffier Hawes, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. Drivers looking to top off will be sent to pay at other stations, she said.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-hurricane_31met.ART.North.Edition1.1875e894.html

With hurricane season starting this week, Dallas' top emergency official said Tuesday that he has yet to see many details from the state's revamped evacuation plan.

Kenny Shaw, director of the office of emergency management for Dallas, said that among the missing details is how his region is expected to handle an estimated 40,000 evacuees from Harris County in the event of a major disaster.

That number would cover the influx to a 16-county area around Dallas, not just the city, said Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry. She said there have been two meetings since April in North Texas that discussed the sheltering plan.

Mr. Shaw also said the state never gave him details about a new plan to track evacuees using scannable ID bracelets designed to helped families find loved ones during an evacuation.

[gkhouston]

24. those cars weren't abandoned during the Rita evacuation because

people couldn't afford the gas... people ran out of gas because there wasn't any gas there to buy! :grr: :eyes:

Who effin' cares if the gas if free if you can't get any?

[rainbow4321]

46. TX now says **no** free fuel for evacuees

Yep, we are SO prepared for the start of hurricane season..the left hand still doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Asswipes. See my post (#21) in this thread for the initial "free fuel" announcement.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/060106dntexevacfuel.1c2cbaf0.html


A free fuel plan unveiled to the public by a state official this week was incorrect and not approved by top emergency leaders, officials said Wednesday.

The plan was outlined Tuesday for about 500 people – mostly Harris County residents – at the Houston/Galveston Hurricane Workshop. But state officials said a day later that they were unfamiliar with the free fuel system described during the public presentation by Jenniffier Hawes, a regional liaison officer with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

"The information she presented was incorrect," said Rachael Novier, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry. "The situation is being dealt with within the division of emergency management." Hawes said Tuesday that under the free fuel plan – which was also explained on a large projection screen behind her – only vehicles with little fuel remaining would get access to the free pumps.

If motorists showed up to stations expecting free gas during an evacuation, "we could end up with riots in our driveways," said Scott Fisher, spokesman for the Texas Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association.

[gkhouston]

67. color me unsurprised

I doubt there will be sufficient fuel, at any price, during an evacuation.

[Ganja Ninja]

22. I'm counting on this hurricane season to be the ...

last nail in the coffin for Bush and the GOP. The war is going badly. People are bitching about the borders and immigrants. All it's going to take is for a couple of hurricanes to hit us and the people may just lose it.

If Washington DC gets hit by a big one it will just about be perfect. Imagine the sight of our nations capital laid to waste, all the great buildings, the monuments, everything turned in to one big disaster. What a metaphor.

Not that I want to see people suffer but for those who think Bush's poll numbers can't get any lower, just watch! If that happens you can wave goodbye to the GOP for many years to come.

[uppityperson]

23. what we've learned about disasters...

1. do not expect to be rescued or any help to arrive for 3-14 days.
2. be prepared in your house, at your work, small kit in your car if you drive one.
3. donate to salvation army as red cross is NOT a first responder.
4. communications will go down, cell phones won't work. Find a friend with a HAM license and a generator.
5. insurance companies exist to make money. That is all they exist for.
6. grass roots will help when the gvt can't
7. taxes go to the gvt to waste. Grassroots is all of us.
8. write your name on your arm with permanent marker
9. people are scared, but most people are good people

Best of luck.

[RebelOne]

25. My daughter lives in Hollywood, FL.

She said that the people who had roof damage in her neighborhood still have blue tarps on their roofs. It is hard to find a roofer, as they are all booked up. I feel sorry for them if another storm blows through.

[katty]

29. didn't Feds say.. yr on yr own? I'll take an earthquake here

anyday to a hurricane.

[DoYouEverWonder]

32. Oh please - 'no one is prepared'

I know the government is not preparted but most people can manage to do okay on their own.

[Swamp Rat]

39. Well, I still have one half a roof

Hopefully it will be done by the end of the week. Fuck! I've waited so long just to get this done... maybe I'll have hot water in my bathroom by next week too.

¡Muchas gracias a los inmigrantes que están poniendo un tejado nuevo en mi casa! :hug: Los gueros no pudieron. :eyes:

[HeeBGBz]

60. SwampRat, hopefully it won't do it twice in two years

Hoping the odds will be in our favor. However, even a Cat 1 would hurt.

[HeeBGBz]

57. I doubt it

People in Fema trailers amidst a debris field that would turn the coast into a blender. I took these photos yesterday.

I used to live in this house before I had my kids.



I lived in this one when I first got pregnant with my daughter.



The apartment I live in now had the roof collapse and they are still repairing this and that on it. The house where I was living during Katrina was only moderately damaged, but I was unable to keep living there because of other reasons.

Hopefully this time I will have enough cash to run away. I only had $30 to my name when Katrina hit. Even if I did, I'm not sure I would go. If my daughter and other family members have to stay at the VA, I will probably stay too. I will NOT stay where I rode out Katrina last year. We were too damn lucky. If there's one thing I have learned is that luck runs out.

[DoYouEverWonder]

62. My point is that despite the lack of government assistance

most people will live through the event.

Not that losing everything is something anyone would want to live through, but you're still living and breathing?

The headline makes it sound like we're all going to shrivel up and die because the government didn't help us.

[HeeBGBz]

63. That's the main thing to realize

You are on your own. Don't expect the government to show up. Be prepared to fend for yourself. I agree with you on that one.

[AnnInLa]

37. Add Bug Spray if you don't have a generator

After Hurricane Lillie, I was out of electricity for 2 damn weeks....and, it was SO hot. I did not have a generator at that time, and one sweats 24 hours a day. When you try to go outside on the patio at night, because it is too hot to sleep in the house, the mosquitoes eat you alive. The worse 2 weeks of my life. In fact, the first few days before the National Guard came in were scary as hell. At night, there was NO light anywhere in town...pitch black. And yet, you could hear people prowling up and down the streets. I took a chance on burning down my house by putting a candle in each window.

For Hurricane Rita, I borrowed a small generator, so I could run fans and fridge and coffee maker and radio. It was paradise, comparatively. I just last week bit the bullet and bought a damn generator. So, by buying the generator, I expect for the hurricanes to go somewhere else for the next 10 years.

[aikoaiko]

40. My preparation: full tank of gas

Seriously. The best thing people can do is leave the area when voluntary evacuations are called.

Of course, that is difficult for many people, I know.

[HeeBGBz]

52. I'll second that.

I was stranded for days because I only had a quarter tank of gas in my gashawg Caprice. The gas lines were 5 hour waits and you needed at least a half tank of gas to get gas.

Also a cell phone charger that hooks to the car ciggie lighter would have been great.

Bicycles! I would have given my right arm for a bicycle to make that 10-15 block trek to hot food on those scorching hot afterdays.

[katty]

66. yup, I have an old motorcycle ready to go&backpack of necessities

[bluefish]

41. It seems we are on our own

Everyone, please take care and follow advice in this wonderful thread.

[RagAss]

43. Katrina wasn't a hurricane issue....it was a broken levee issue...

I'm a Floridian...we've faced the mean season all of our lives and we'll get through this one.

It's amazing how everyone in America is suddenly a Hurricane preparedness expert......

[bluefish]

44. Good luck

We will all need it.

[HeeBGBz]

59. It wasn't a levee issue on the MS gulf coast

People tend to forget that Katrina is not all about New Orleans. There's 60 miles of MS coast that looks like this. Still.





Water and wind. Not levees.

[bluefish]

61. Thank you

n/t

[RagAss]

69. True...I stand corrected on the gulf....

...not really the hot political potato that NOLA is ..... the Gulf looked like an Andrew type hit....

[Canadian Socialist]

45. Living where I do

we don't get these sort of major weather problems. The most we get are blizzards (obviously in winter) and they are well tracked by Weather Canada. So, when a blizzard is coming our way, we stock up. But, even then, the infrastructure and help is so good, it's not really a problem. For example, a blizzard is predicted for next week. So, I go out and buy enough groceries for a few days. It hits. I'm stuck inside. But, we have weather-hardened power lines, and water. The most discomfort I would feel, is I can't go shopping for a few days. Or go to work for a day. That's it. I really am living in a good place. I feel for people that don't have these social protections in place.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

48. I've got to stick up for my state

Florida. I think they are as prepared as a state can be. And I know this because my husband is a ham who works at the EOC a lot. When we gets watches and warnings everybody knows the drill. We have evacuated huge numbers efficiently and while we get enormous damage, we have been fortunate with very little life lost.

[dysfunctional press]

49. i'm 110% prepared...

i live in chicago, my satellite tv service is all paid for, and we just got a new big-screen...

bring on the show!
:popcorn:

[halobeam]

53. Are you kidding me?

You sound horrible...

[dysfunctional press]

64. at least i'm being honest and realistic...

like i'm the only one who tunes in to watch mother nature's wrath in action- riggggght...

:eyes:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

68. With the way the weather has been going

Chicago just might get a tropical system this year!

[KamaAina]

71. Wasn't there some cheesy TV movie like that?

Where a hurricane formed in Lake Michigan and bore down on Chi-town? :rofl:

[datasuspect]

55. Readiness?

whatever danger comes up, you can pretty much rest assured that mandatory evacuations will be in place for ANY strength storm.

where i live, they at least solved one major problem: contraflow on the primary routes north.

sorry, if we get a major one here, i'm headed as far north (chicago) as is comfortable (and where i have relatives to stay with).

you can have two or more weeks without basic services.

after katrina, i think the numbers of people who "ride out" storms will be fewer and fewer.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

56. THANKS FOR ALL THE VOTES FOLKS...

you gotta love this DU crowd

[Pavulon]

70. I'm Ready..

Genset check
Window unit in box check
Radio check
Water check
Food check
propane check
12 ga w/buckshot check

Gas chainsaw

Beer 3 cases.

Been through several.