I think they should let the evacuees from Gustav go home to New Orleans.

[madfloridian]

We survived three hurricanes close up and personal in 2004. We were in our home. It was hard, there was no electricity, we had trouble finding ice, the radios only had canned Clear Channel crap...but we were home.

We had a place to sleep and we had food. There were trees downed everywhere, but the work went on around us for days and days...chain saws, everything. We had to be careful driving around town, and we were. It was hot, sweaty, noisy from generators and chain saws.

Residents Asked Not to Return to New Orleans Yet


Despite orders from Gov. Bobby Jindal for evacuees to stay put, Debra Peterson and her granddaughters waited in their car to return home to New Orleans from Slidell, La.

NEW ORLEANS — A day after this city narrowly averted full-scale devastation from Hurricane Gustav, city officials expressed relief but asked residents not to return to their homes until power could be restored and widespread damage repaired.

As of Tuesday morning, 1.4 million households in Louisiana were without power, with most of the outages — about 300,000 — concentrated in the greater New Orleans area, Gov. Bobby Jindal said in a televised news conference. As flood waters and tidal surges continued to subside, city and state officials struggled to get electricity to hospitals and sent thousands of emergency workers onto streets to clear debris and fix downed power lines.

Our whole city nearly was without power for days and days. They worked on the downed power lines and removed the trees slowly.

People with insurance or their own money to pay motel bills might not want to return. But let those who do want to go home do so.

This person expresses how I would feel if I could not return to my home.

But many residents were already clamoring to get back in. At a shuttered Shell gas station in Slidell, just a few minutes outside of New Orleans, dozens of residents who had been turned away after trying to cross a bridge into town gathered and waited on Tuesday afternoon. Burton Cosse, 59, a carpenter who fled to Mississippi to stay with friends as the storm lashed the coast, was growing frustrated as he waited with his dog, his car, and his boat. He said his house was just on the other side of the bridge.

“It kind of just takes a little bit of your dignity away, like you’re not that smart,” he said. “If you’ve got high waters, and it’s dangerous, fine, just tell me that. But leave me be. I’m a smart person, don’t lock me out of the country. That’s what they’re doing here.”

Houma resident Jay Anderson took a break after cutting up a large tree blown down by Hurricane Gustav.

A neighborhood can look like this and still be livable.

I say let them go home if they want to do so.

[CC]

1. I think they are doing a real disservice by

not letting them go home. Next time they need to evacuate how many are going to remember that they weren't allowed to go home and decide to stay? Geez people is it so hard to think ahead?

[madfloridian]

2. It's like a power play to show they are large and in charge.

It is not a good idea.

I remember when Jeb said he would not let anyone into Florida after each hurricane.

We were really angry, because our kids live out of state....what if we needed them?

[MercutioATC]

3. Access to disaster areas is controlled for a reason.

Unless basic services have been restored, the area is a danger to people.

If a week goes by and they don't have a good excuse, I'm with you. For now, I think it's reasonable that they're removing trees from the roads, fixing downed power lines that could electrocute people, etc.

[cobalt1999]

4. Sorry, they are guaranteeing that people will NOT evacuate next time.

I evacuated once during Hurricane Opal and wasn't allowed back home afterward. I vowed unless there is a Cat 5 headed directly at me, I'd not evacuate again.

If they want people to get out, they need to let them back in or they are just fucking themselves for the next hurricane.

[MercutioATC]

10. Then they'll die there.

Their decision.

[cobalt1999]

12. Thanks to a government that doesn't make evacuations simple & easy

There are two parts to a successful evacuation: Getting people out & letting them back in.

Everyone denied access to their homes by the government is going to less likely to leave next time, and, yes, more people will die because of that.

[MercutioATC]

14. They had special traffic flows and free busing to get out.

They'll have the same to get back in, once it's safe.

Let one kid step on a live power line and the legions of DU complainers will be screaming for blood.


They'll be allowed back in once it's safe.

[madfloridian]

15. That's my point...it was not safe here for months!!!!

But we were in our homes.

[MercutioATC]

17. I must have missed you evacuating two million people...

Do you have any idea how much bitching there'd be if the return was a free-for-all?

[madfloridian]

20. That is not what I wrote.

Not at all.

[cobalt1999]

18. That choice should be up to the citizens, not the government

The government can say if they think it is still dangerous, but leave it up to the citizens whether or not to take that risk.

All is takes is one time when you are trying to get home and not being allowed to. You obviously have never had that experience.

[MercutioATC]

19. And, as I said...who will get blamed when a kid steps on a downed power line?

If they're not allowed back in a week, I'd be asking questions...but two days??

[cobalt1999]

22. Same people that would get blamed when people stay during a hurrincane.

The government said it was dangerous and to get out, if they don't listen, then it's on them.

Same thing on the return.

[MercutioATC]

24. But if the government's not set up for an orderly return, they bear liability.

It hasn't even been 48 hours yet. This argument will be valid after 6 or 7 days, but less than two??

[cobalt1999]

25. No, they are NOT liable.

Not any more liable than for the people who refuse to evacuate during "mandatory evacuations".

The government can not force you to leave your house, they shouldn't be allowed to force you from returning to it.

In the long run, they are causing more potential death than they would ever save.

Keeping sightseers away is one thing. Keeping citizens from their own property is another.

Experience it once yourself, then you'll have some comprehension.

[malaise]

7. We have hurricanes here nearly every year and no government

would dare tell us if or when we can return to our homes.

[madfloridian]

8. That's just it . It does take weeks and weeks.

We had 3 hurricanes in 6 weeks...we were home. We survived.

Let them go home.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Right and wrong, reaching for the manager's hat

You want to control access to avoid looters... but once the area is safe, you want those people back home

There are good, and very valid psychological reasons for that, one is the fact that next time they will evacuate...

But also if they are allowed into the cleanup it helps to create a sense of community and self reliance

As a manager I can tell you... I wanted those residents back home ASAP... with a generator if possible, helping me clean up and rebuild

[MichiganVote]

5. This has nothing to do w/downed trees and lines. Its about the RNC.

[MercutioATC]

11. The RNC is delaying them??

Pray, explain how.

[MichiganVote]

16. IMO they will not take a chance on anything happening to the population

b/c of the RNC. Its either that or they have far less confidence in the levees than they are willing to admit.

Downed powerlines and tree limbs? Pfft...business as usual in Michigan all winter.

[MercutioATC]

23. Maybe it's just because the storm hasn't even been over for two full days?

Water levels behind the levies are still high. I'm sure there are still downed trees and power lines.

Maybe it's O.K. to give it a couple of days to clean up the mess and make things safe?

[ginnyinWI]

32. They may simply be wanting to avoid the pictures.

If they can keep pictures out of the media, people won't remember Katrina so much.

[malaise]

6. I posted the same theme this morning

but many disagreed with me. WTF does private property mean if the so called architects of 'limited government' can keep you away from your home.

[madfloridian]

27. I missed that. I feel strongly about this.

I remember that Jeb was threatening not to allow anyone into the state after the storms. We just panicked.

There is no reason for this.

[Selatius]

9. It's like they're trying to ethnically cleanse New Orleans of minorities.

Make life so miserable for the poor people that they dare not return again. Then all those abandoned properties can be sold to developers, who will throw up expensive condos and shopping centers and big-box stores.

The developers get what they want; the city gets higher tax revenues when property values go up with all these upper-class developments; the levees will be upgraded to defend rich people; and the city turns Republican when enough upper-class people relocate in and around these new condos and shopping plazas. Everybody wins! :sarcasm:

[tsuki]

13. I, too, have survived many hurricanes. But it is better now than in the

50's, 60's and 70's. Then, we could be a month without power, now it is sometimes less than a week. There is a co-operation among power companies. After Opal, there was a mile long convoy from PECO (I think that is spelled correctly) that head toward us.

In my area, we got the guys from Rockingham County, FL. They had us up in four days. There trucks were everywhere.

We survived, in place.

It is one reason why many do not evacuate.

[madfloridian]

26. Not until Friday?

"With 1.4 million households in Louisiana still without power, and heavy rain and tornados still a threat, Bobby Jindal, the state's governor, insisted Gustav remained "a very, very serious storm".

Roadblocks were erected to stop residents getting back into the city and no date was set for when they would be lifted.

Officials in neighbouring areas cautioned that they would not allow people to return until as late as Friday."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2669507/New-Orleans-evacuees-told-its-too-early-to-return-after-Hurricane-Gustav.html

Life is full of risks. Just let them go home if they want to.

Does anyone know where funkybutt is now? She lost so much during Katrina. Is she still posting at DU.

[Catherine Vincent]

28. Funkybutt, Bosshog and SwampRat.

Have either of them checked in?

[madfloridian]

29. I thought I saw swamprat...but now that you mention it..

I am not sure. Search is not working well the site is so busy.

I have not seen funkybutt in ages. Worries me.

[madfloridian]

30. And another...merh is there, I think. I tried a search but archive search not working.

I don't see any of them.

[madfloridian]

31. The NYT changed the article name, added a paragraph that was not there before.

This was the title in the OP from the NYT when I posted it.

"Residents Asked Not to Return to New Orleans Yet"

This paragraph was not there.

"Mayor C. Ray Nagin said Tuesday night that most residents would have to wait until just after midnight on Thursday morning to return, because power and medical care were not back to normal. A curfew will remain in effect at night."

I don't see the word "update" in the article.

So the link I posted in the OP has completely changed now from what it was then.

Wow.

[LivinginLA]

33. The state police

and National Guard left the entrance of the Twin Span from Slidell to New Orleans last night at 6:00 p.m. so there is nothing stopping people with their own transportation from returning. My husband's boss went home to New Orleans East last night. We returned to Slidell Monday night and really wished we had stayed put until the next day. Although we have power, not all of Slidell does. There were alot of trees down on power lines. The sewer system is still overwhelmed to the point we have been asked not to flush our toilets.

[backscatter712]

34. They still have to give time for Blackwater to loot!

Can't have those poor minorities returning to their homes before that happens, can we?

[George II]

35. Call off the naysayers and Nagin bashers!!

New Orleans residents are free to go home!

[madfloridian]

37. Good. But I was not bashing Nagin at all. He has a tough job.

I just do not believe that people should be kept from going home unless it is really really dangerous.

[George II]

38. Your post was sensible, reasoned, and logical. The rest of the posters?

They've used this discussion to bash everything from the local government, RNC (don't mind that, they need to be beaten at any turn!), Blackwater, etc. etc. etc.

As a matter of fact, the Nagin administration has done an excellent job organizing the evacuation, keeping things moving, keeping people from feeling despair, and making sure there were few deaths or serious injuries.

To top it off, a few hours ago they agreed to allow the residents who want to to return to New Orleans, with lots of warnings and advice.

Great job all around! Let's hope some of the posters in this discussion appreciate it all.

[EFerrari]

36. They were asked to wait one more day while officials

worked on getting power to the parish.

Which means also clear roads and flushing toilets and outside lighting and a/c and open stores and gas stations and avoiding grid lock on the highways.

Of all the things to criticize Nagin for, this isn't one of them.

[madfloridian]

39. I was making a point. People should not be kept from their homes...

unless there is truly danger.

I did not bash Nagin.

Good lord.

[EFerrari]

40. Well, it was his decision. Who were you disagreeing with?

And, not having light, water or food or enough patrols doesn't sound all that safe to me.

If it were my home, I'd be pissed as hell. But, you have to see their point. They don't have the means to guarantee even minimum public safety.

[madfloridian]

41. I was trying to be fair....but since no one will let me be sensible.

Then I say I think the whole bunch made the poor people of New Orleans a political football.

This is ridiculous. It is getting damned near impossible to post anything at all here with someone jumping down my damn throat.

They should not be kept across a barrier from their homes if the area is not dangerous.

It is wrong. We went through hell here in 2004 with 3 hurricane eyes over us. We were in our homes, and that mattered.

SOOOOO get effing mad at me I just don't care. I posted sensibly.

Defend the indefensible and don't allow questioning.

[EFerrari]

46. Um, I'm not mad in the least.

You seem to be reading something into my post that isn't there.

[madfloridian]

42. I say the sky is blue today....who wants to argue???????

That is about the size of this board today.

Just argue and disagree. No matter what.

[dixiegrrrrl]

43. I am with you, madfloridian.

Some folks who are offering opinions do not live in heavy hurricane areas and don't get to experience the situation, but those of us who have lived thru these storms got a real fast learning curve about them.
There is no way to measure the increased anxiety of being forcibly kept away from your home and neighborhood after a storm, worrying if anyone was around to turn the gas off or cover holes in the roof or windows to keep your belongings safe from water or if someone came by and made off with your possessions.
Much much more peace of mind when you can return quickly.

I lost one home in Opal, but was able to return to it the day after and at least get my cat, some clothing, so I could continue my job. even tho I had to bed down at a friends for 6 weeks after.
I have been thru forest fires, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and one tornado and have never had to suffer the threat of bodily harm from a hired thugs like the folks of New Orleans did.
It really worries me that there are people who do not get the importance of that.

[madfloridian]

44. Thanks for getting it.

Our neighbors moved from Miami when they lost their home to Andrew. We often talked of the emotional impact.

People can handle things so much better if they are not forcibly kept from viewing their home and belongings.

It is often done for the convenience of the authorities, and it takes a terrible emotional toll on the victims. It is happening more often now.

[garthranzz]

45. THEY ARE LETTING US IN! ALL PARISHES BUT ORLEANS AT 6 AM TODAY &

ORLEANS OFFICIALLY AT MIDNIGHT.

BUT WE CAME BACK AT 7 PM.


Bush-(Jindal)-Nagin-Broussard

Stupid twits

[dysfunctional press]

47. NONE of those people will ever evacuate again....

and a storm WILL hit the city...and the levees WILL fail.

time is a tyrant.