This will be the only political statement I have to say about Gustav....

[Aviation Pro]

...Three years, you fucks. You've had three fucking years since Katrina to shore up the levees, resettle the displaced, and pour a major effort into recovering a great American city. Instead you motherfuckers squandered the time and now you're faced with a storm that may be more powerful than Katrina.

Let me be clear, New Orleans is gone. The levees will be completely compromised and you sons-of-bitches are crowing about evacuating the city in a timely manner. It doesn't wash, fuckwits.

You are complete utter failures, and should be run out of America at the first possible moment.

[Booster]

1. But, but, but....we had to spend all of the money in Iraq.

[TXDemGal]

2. K&R n/t

[Mind_your_head]

3. Time for tar and feathers and/or the noose?

[MadrasT]

22. We are WAY beyond tar & feathers. n/t

[Mind_your_head]

23. Yes I know

Impeachment will be off the table until someone's head is served upon a platter - and it won't be "John, the Baptist's" head this time either!

[malaise]

4. What's more Gustav will be lying side by side on America's

TV screens during the convention.

[Solly Mack]

5. I know...and my tummy is in knots over that

because from everything I've read in the news...it's still not good enough

[Richard D]

6. But he's .. . .

. . . a POW.

[DemoRabbit]

7. A guy on CNN

...just said what you said... albeit, he was calmer about it ;)

I hope I'm wrong, but I fear this will be DEVASTATING to the New Orleans area. I have family in Cuba and am worried about them tonight... tried to find out now...

[kestrel91316]

13. I was just in NOLA. I was so happy. I had a wonderful time and

loved it and planned to come back as soon as I could.

I am sick about this. SICK.

Those of you who pray, please say a good one for this truly remarkable and lovely American city.

[Breeze54]

8. They have rebuilt the levee's and added extra's BUT only for a CAT 3 !!

:eyes:

NO is NOT gone and that's a pretty crappy thing to say!!

We have NO members here... can you get MORE morose? :eyes:

Stop trying to predict what's going to happen!! :grr:

Maybe they'll be spared... I hope so!!

[KharmaTrain]

21. And Those New Levees Are Already Leaking

I was in NOLA in March and saw work on the levees and walls along Lake Ponchetrain. The real problem is the InterContinental canal...where a big storm surge, like the one with Katrina could put the lower 9th back under water. What a shame that would be considering all the volunteer work to help restore the area, but it was far from being what it once was. I still saw a lot of empty lots and houses that still hadn't been knocked down (with the X's still visible).

There is one difference in that many of the newer homes have been built higher...with the ability to withstand up to a 15-20 foot flood...so we could see less damage than many here are predicting.

What people in NOLA point out, it wasn't the hurricane that destroyed the city...actually the levees did hold up against the initial winds and waves, it was the big surge that came up that Canal that did the most damage to the lower 9th and Lakeview.

I'm very concerned about the city getting clobbered again, but I think the folks there are a lot smarter...and I hope most are able to get out before it hits. The question is where do they go? Baton Rouge looks like it's gonna get whacked hard.

For my DU brothers and sisters in the Crescent City...be safe and please get the hell out, if you haven't already. I'd rather hear stories of a false warning or "it wasn't as bad as we thought" than to see helicopters swooping down and picking people off of rooftops again.

[billyoc]

9. Own your failures.

[barbtries]

27. nevah!

not those republicans, no. failures are the stepping stones to medals and promotions.

[frogcycle]

10. if this plan in some form or other had been embarked upon 30 months ago

http://www.dbc3.com/NOLAPlan/

there would be a sloping floor to the western end of Pontchartrain to dissipate a storm surge, and earthen berms to prevent cresting. There would be perpendicular levees to prevent any breaches from taking out the entire city. There would still be a long ways to go to make it permanently safe, but we would not be looking at going back to square one.

[kestrel91316]

11. Pitchforks. Torches. Guillotines. n/t

[Whoa_Nelly]

12. K&R! Rec this thread!

:kick:

[NoPasaran]

14. No one could have foreseen there would ever be another hurricane

[yellerpup]

15. In solidarity.

:kick:

[lonestarnot]

16. I never got a drink on Bourbon Street! And I wanted to eat some

crayfish and shrimp creole with Swampie! :cry:

[XOKCowboy]

18. New Orleans will never die...

No fucking way.

[lonestarnot]

19. I hope you are right.

[orleans]

17. k&r n/t

[lastliberalintexas]

20. People along the Gulf are getting hurricane fatigue

I really don't know how much more people on the Gulf coast can take, and I have no idea how Floridians and Caribbean islanders have dealt with these storms for so many years. Bloody amazing.

But back to my point, whether New Orleans is physically devastated or not is almost immaterial at this point. Gulf coast residents are drained, stressed, anxious, edgy, and just plain old tired. Over the last 3 years I've heard a number of people discuss leaving the area, and some who actually have. In the end, the emotional toll is going to be far worse than an physical damage the storm does. :(

[barbtries]

26. a friend who came to NC before i did

came by way of FL. she will never go back. ivan kicked her out of florida for good, and left her with nothing but a foreclosure on her credit report.

[Usrename]

24. !

[cobalt1999]

25. Timely Evacuation plans and orders are the responsibility of city/state governments

So the Federal government doesn't have anything to "crow about" yet.

The only thing we can say so far is Nagan learned from his past mistakes. I don't think he learned enough though. The evacuation should have been ordered yesterday, so they are still fucking up.

[SammyWinstonJack]

28. I wonder, wasn't three years enough time to construct a few of these?

:shrug: Probably not when newspaper is more available and CHEAPER!