Ike vs. Katrina
September 13, 2008 8 Comments
by twit
UPDATE: Readers are encouraged to visit the Red Cross website to learn more about how they can help the survivors of Hurricane Ike. This post has been updated to respect the magnitude of this disaster and the need for Americans to work together to respond to this crisis.
The government response to Hurricane Ike is impressive.
CNN reports on September 13, 2008:
The force of 1,500 people is made up of paramedics, Texas military, heavy equipment and mobile command centers. The force lead by Texas Military Col. John F. Nichols said this is, “the first time that so many agencies have come together to create such a mass strike force.”
The massive deployment of over 700 vehicles traveling to the effected areas will help clear roads, assist anyone injured and rescue those in need. The force is part a larger force of search and rescue members consisting of helicopters and ground search and rescue teams.
hmm… what is different this time? wild speculation after the jump…
UPDATE: We cannot forget the injustices that happened in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and this video is offered in remembrance of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and with a prayer that history does not repeat itself in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike:
update: The Houston Chronicle reports on September 14, 2008 that FEMA is fucking up the disaster response so badly that there are even first responders that do not have access to food and water:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency came under fire Sunday as emergency workers were left undernourished and dozens of trucks or water and food had yet to be set up at distribution centers around Houston and surrounding communities.
… Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it was the fault of state officials who handed his department the “unexpected challenge” of having to prepare distribution points in addition to delivering supplies, something the state had committed to doing, he said.
Two local members of Congress from both political parties had a different take.
U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Houston, said he was told before the storm by FEMA officials that there was food and water already staged at the Ellington Air National Guard base.
“Now it’s on the way? That doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said. “I don’t know what happened …The storm’s been over for 30 hours.
update: MSNBC reports on September 15, 2008:
HOUSTON – A humanitarian crisis unfolded Monday along the Texas coast as thousands of Hurricane Ike victims clamored for food, water, electricity and gasoline — and found nothing much to go home to except streets littered with piles of debris, spewing sewage, and floodwaters crawling with snakes and alligators.
In Houston, tensions were rising among more than 1,000 who had spent several nights at the George R. Brown Convention Center because most of the city is still without power. They complained that they couldn’t get information about how to get food and clean clothes.
update: via Reuters on September 15, 2008:
In Galveston, shocked and bewildered residents staggered through the streets as food and water grew scarce. There was little sign of any federal relief efforts.
and taking the prize for the most bizarre statement yet during this crisis:
“I have asked the president and the administration to just treat us as fairly as they treated Louisiana back during Katrina,” said Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
The Church of the Apocalyptic Kiwi 
What jump? Why do people always think there’s a “jump”?
my apologies for the lack of clarity – the link to “read the rest of this entry” (aka “the jump”) is visible if you are not arriving directly at this post. If you click “home” you will be able to see it.
Ike Vs. Katrina …Viva la difference, and a look at what’s not being reported.
EVACUATION- Prior to Ike’s arrival, when asked to evacuate, most people did. Those that didn’t understood that “they” would be… and still are….. on their own……and that’s the way “they” want it.
LOOTING- what looting? Were Texans we don’t loot from each other in a time of need, we give. Have you seen any reports of looting? I haven’t.
HELP – We help one another and ourselves. We don’t demand that others help us. The story I hope the “news” picks up on is this: when a call went out that out first responder ARMY reservists were running out of water, ice and food… our citizens organized and took them supplies… buy the tons. In turn the overflow of supplies was diverted by our citizens out to our needy living in assisted care facilities, to the homeless, ETC. I really hope this story gets out to the public. You really need to see what Houstonians are like. I saw an 80 year old woman dragging an oxygen tank behind her, with curlers in her hair…hand a uniformed reservist (with tears in his eyes) a homemade pie.
WHEN HELP ARIVES- We don’t shot at them, we embrace them, give them supplies to help them do their job. So they can help those that need to be helped more than we do.
POWERES OUT- Time to cook everything you have and invite your neighbors over.
WATERS UNDRINKABLE- so what…well make do with what we have and when we get more… we will be thankful.
FEMA ASSISTANCE CHECK- rest assured that the only people that will apply for assistance will be the ones that really need it and ALL the Katrina evacuees that are still here.
CLEAN UP- we’re almost done. Don’t get me wrong, we had flooded neighborhoods, houses are gone, trees down, etc… When I went outside at first light, I saw my neighbors going door-to-door checking on one another and each of us helped others to get trees off of houses, clean out the street gutters so water could flow out, ETC. The debris field in my neighborhood was staggering and no one thought we would ever recover. Two days later, it’s done. We came together as a community, and cleaned our community. Next you will see our community rebuild its self. What we will not do, is wait for someone else to rebuild it for us.
It’s time for our country to face a fact… the only Katrina victims left are the ones that won’t help themselves and are living off of your fat.
c,
as far as I can tell, those ignoring the mandatory evacuation orders have endangered the lives of first responders and the disaster response teams. They are not “helping themselves,” they are causing the government to have to spend untold amounts of resources due to their stubborn refusal to care at all about the lives of people trying to help them or the costs involved by their insistence on staying in the squalor despite having the option to leave.
That’s the difference – Texans are quickly being provided assistance with evacuation but are refusing, requiring far greater expenditures of resources. Katrina victims wanted to leave and were ignored.
Texans refusing evacuation assistance aren’t helping themselves, they are causing great danger and great cost to those who are trying to help keep them safe and alive.
Martial law is coming, by the way. The selfishness of the Texas folks refusing to evacuate is going to have y’all marched out of there under penalty of death:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080916/D93803500.html
http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/1166431,ikeside091608.article
You are a disgrace to this nation.
I can see from you post that you missed the point and that “self-reliance” is a foreign concept to you. Your links don’t even substantiate your claim of requirement the monetary expediters to save a group that doesn’t want to be saved. Nor do they cite any looting, requests for assistance. I quote from you own link:
“know that officials believe they are doing good in mandating an order to leave an area such as Bolivar; but they are not necessarily right to do so. In fact, if ‘they’ were to stop and think in terms of the victims, they would realize that what they are doing is so very wrong. Intentions, good or bad, does not replace a lifelong commitment to what you have built ad worked for. I was a victim of Camille, Frederick, Elena, and finally Katrina. The others damaged severely but we overcame. Katrina demolished but we’ could have’ overcame! F.E.M.A.; State, City, and County officials forced their demands and ordinances upon ordinary citizens without means to fight them. I lost my rights to handle affairs in my own best ways and interests. Consequently, I was ‘forced; to lose all that I ever owned and worked for in my life. I am today 66 years in age, homeless and without future hope as a result. I could have overcame if meddlesome officials who could not and have never fended for themselves in disastrous situations; had left those alone that could- everything today would be alright. I would have my home restored and livable on my own without their help. They condemned a perfectly good home and ordered it destroyed. Why? Because they didn’t feel it up to societies standards of life. My home was nice! It was comfortable! It was livable and acceptable! LEAVE THOSE PEOPLE ALONE! Come back in a year and witness what some one with will and determination can and will do–WITHOUT your meddlesome interference; good intentions or nit! That is all I have to say, thank you!
What you’re not getting is this: if I was told I wasn’t going to get help and I told you I don’t need help, why would you send it. They don’t want help. They want to be able to leave the island, go get supplies and return back to there home. The issue…if the leave they will not let them back. That’s wrong. I know people on the island, they will hunt and fish to get the sustenance they need and would complain a minute that they had to do it.
We are not like Katrina “victims” we do for ourselves. The people on Boliver Island are a breed like no other. They will stay put and the people that are trying to save them can put their efforts elsewhere. If Ike can’t move them do you really think that the US / local government will?
I may be a disgrace to you, but it’s this kind of disgrace that built this country. Not the looting, shoot at your own countrymen responders and suck the welfare system dry scum that Katrina produced.
The real difference is that Texans are quick to talk, slow to action. i believe the local term is “all hat, no cattle.”
I am not sure where in Texas you are, c, but you’ve got your facts confused.
first of all, there have been looting arrests:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6003901.html
100 in Houston alone. just because you can’t see it, does not mean it’s not happening.
As for not wanting or needing help, if that was the case, why would every help center in the city be filled to the gills and have lines of people waiting for government handouts as more aid was coming in and new centers were being opened.
there are 34,000 hurricane refugees staying at help centers in houston.
and i call bullshit on your “citizens supply tons of food and water to reservists” line. no way. total and complete bullshit. i would need a link or a picture or something to believe that the residents were rescuing the rescuers and even then it’s a tough sell.
why would texas be asking for federal aid if you people can handle it?
Only those who need assistance will apply for FEMA aid? again, bullshit. Here’s a story about a Texan who scammed $10,000 off of FEMA following Katrina:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-02-12-katrina-fraud_x.htm
here’s some more about texans defrauding the federal government in the wake of katrina:
get off your fucking high horse, texan.
almost done with cleanup? are you out of your mind? i’ve seen the pictures, my friend and you people will be cleaning up for years. Houston may finish up and re-open relatively soon, but most of Galveston is still missing or in piles.
i know texans like to think they are super tough and better than the rest of us or something, but i am afraid in this case you are completely full of shit.
Wow…so much racism hiding behind such clever grammar.
c,
you say:
but MSNBC is reporting that there is a mass poisoning of the land and sea in the area:
http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/16/1407336.aspx
you also take issue with government action based on:
and you say:
but it is reported:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26695458/page/2/
You can’t rebuild if you are dead. If you stay and get sick, that medical care will cost the government a lot of money. You say that you are 66 and are homeless. By my calculation, that means that you qualify for Social Security payments on account of your age and Medicaid and/or Medicare on account of your difficult circumstances. It means that you are receiving “welfare” that keeps you alive and healthy so you can spew your racist shit for another day.
Also, if your home was condemned by the government, my understanding is that the fifth amendment guarantees that you be compensated for your loss. I’m not sure why you find it so offensive that the government is trying to protect people. That is why we have law enforcement and fire fighters and FEMA. We pay taxes for the government to provide services so avoidable suffering and death can be prevented.
Like I said, you can’t rebuild if you are dead. I don’t condemn your commitment to self-sufficiency, I do agree it is part of what makes this country strong. But what you are advocating is not self-sufficiency. It is suicide.