good points by all, but I started this thread to just show support for the area and its people in this time of crisis, sure there are many arguments political, social and whatever else, but please dont start a slanging match here, it wasnt what I intended.

anyway back to the topic.

my son got up at stupid o'clock this morning and I have been watching the news most of the night, I still cant believe the scale of the damage and loss to life, it is a true tragedy, and words can't express nor help the people this has effected so badly.

All mine and my families best to those currently contained in this nightmare

MB

Go to the news section now and read the idea for Sundays comp, its a great idea and indeed a very worthy one, as JMH says, give what ya can.

cheers all

catch ya laters

MB

An article written by my friend's fiancee, a reporter for a Florida newspaper, whose family's NO home was destroyed... Mother & sister evacuated before the storm, father stayed and was missing for several days, but has been found safe.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/01/Worldandnation/Silence_from_New_Orle.shtml

I'm so glad your friend's fiancee's father was found.

This whole thing is a nightmare.

Yeah, it's all very gut-wrenching.

My sister-in-law just sent me a link to another place to send donations, besides the Red Cross:
http://www.coffeecup.com/hurricane/

This site is taking donations of physical items, rather than cash. The goal is to make displaced people more comfortable. You can either send items or arrange to purchase them through Target or Amazon or whatever and have them shipped to these good folks, and they'll take care of distribution. They're in Texas.

I am in agreement with much of what you say. Help is far too delayed in coming. I can't even begin to imagine having to live through what I'm seeing on TV. I was around 20 miles from the epicenter of the Northridge earthquate in 94 & know how difficult it was not having drinkable water - but at least we still had water for plumbing & access to food in outlaying areas. Imagine being trapped in a flooded city with no means of transportation to escape.

It's not the time to point fingers of blame... but the time to take positive action.

Now is the time to visit www.cnn.com to see the long list of charties that are going to help our people rebuild. I've thrown my support to the wonderful organization Habitat for Humanity - based upon what will be needed in the coming years with thousands homeless in the region. They have already launched “Operation Home Delivery,” a three-phase response to help provide assistance and rebuilding opportunities in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.habitat.org/newsroom/2005archive/insitedoc010602.aspx

Read more at: www.habitat.org

Agreed - there were obviously some shocking breakdowns in systems and organisation at the start, but the priority is to get survivors to safety, and then to locate and identify the dead and get them to their relatives for decent burial. There will be time for an inquiry, reassessment of procedures, and if necessary, discipline or punishment of individuals or groups that failed to act appropriately, later.

I was greatly relieved to see on the news that at last the mass evacuation and relief now seems properly underway, and it was good to see all those poor ones who had been suffering in the N.O. Superdome and Convention centre finally being moved to safety and get the support they need.

Of course, recovering fully from this disaster will take a long time for people, both materially and psychologically, but at last now things are really beginning to move.

And I have to say I'm really proud of the spirit and actions of people like dbbowling (not trying to embarrass him or put any specific individuals on a pedestal, but his testimony was especially moving, and he and others like him were ready to act immediately) who were moved to do what they could, as soon as they could.

Events like this are humbling and a reminder that all the 'advancement', arrogance and petty politics of the human race are as nothing against the power of natural forces. But they can also serve to show how, even at the darkest times, human beings can be caring, supportive and giving if we allow ourselves to be moved by love of fellow man and (for those of us that believe in one) our Creator.

Im going to be running in the 2006 HP Houston Marathon in a few months from now on Janurary 15th 2006. This year i am running to help raise money for the refugees from New Orleans. The donations page is on my HP Marathon Webpage. If anyone would like to donate to any of the 20+ charities...your welcome to do so.

http://www.active.com/donations/fundraise_public.cfm?key=DBBowling

That's fantastic, DBB! What an excellent idea.

As an interesting side fact, I only just discovered today there was a "Katrina" in 1999, but that only got to Tropical Storm status and passed further south around the Gulf of Mexico.

I didn't realise they "recycled" the same names as frequently as that, but I suppose with so many tropical storms every year there are only so many names to go around. In view of the events of the last week, it was still a bit weird doing a search for "Katrina" and finding something that said: "Tropical Cyclone Katrina, while not as intense as the two concurrent cyclones Ron and Susan father east, certainly became the longest lived cyclone of the Southern Hemisphere. Katrina wandered along on a contorted track for over three weeks across the Coral Sea and South Pacific. One fatality was reported in Vanuatu when a man fishing from a reef was swept away. 200 homes were destroyed on southern Guadalcanal and 450 homes lost on the islands of Rennel and Bellona."

If only her namesake this year had been so weak. And sadly, I see the hurricane season is still far from over, with at least a couple of other possible medium-to-severe ones forecast before the year ends...

Yeah, the names go on a six-year cycle, but if it ends up being really devestating, the name gets retired.

http://www.weather.com/newscenter/topstories/20050601hurricanenames.html

SCIENTIFIC DOCUMENTARY: Inside Hurricane Katrina
Channel: Sky One 120
Date: Tuesday 6th September 2005
Time: 21:00 to 22:00
Duration: 1 hour.
As the US comes to terms with the recent devastation, this special explains the anatomy of hurricanes, investigates 'storm surges' and reveals why the states affected were at risk.
(New Episode, Widescreen, 2005)

ha, didn't take them long

That's nothing - just wait 'til the "major motion picture adaptation" a la Titanic, U571, Blackhawk Down or a million other dramatic retellings (ie: complete fictionalising) of real life events...

do they still have the world's longest bridge?