Hurrican katrina....answer these questions and the winner gets 10 pts?

Question

1) why were new orleans and its citizens not better prepared for the arrival of hurricane katrina

2) what were the biggest problems created in new orleans by hurricane katrina

3) how would history judge the successes and failures of the local and national government in responding to katrina

4) does this storm reveal anything about who we are as Americans?

5) does the after math of the storm suggest anything about what should be changed in this country?

Answer 1

1.  Because Hurricane Katrina was not charted to hit New Orleans too hard.  If the levees had not broken, the New Orleanites would have just a few trees and possible minor flooding from rainwater to fix.

2.  Flooding, emergency evacuation

3.  Probably as well as it could have gone.  If you're prepared to dig a ditch but get the order to dig a canyon, what are you going to do?

4.  Well, some people were ignorant a**es about it all, and some opened up their hearts and wallets to the people of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans with volunteering and donations.

5.  The media needs to be fixed to focus on all parts of a disaster area, not just one accidental one.  Saying Katrina hit New Orleans is like throwing a watermelon at an ant and expecting it to hit only the ant.

Answer 2

1.  Because they are ignorant enough to live below sea level, they are ignorant enough to think that they can survive any storm.

2.  Destroyed homes and much of the crime from NO migrating to Houston.

3.  Well, the one thing that is not said on a national scale is that though it was too slow, FEMA's response was the fastest in history.  And the mayor's incompetence has been swept under the carpet.

4.  Yeah, we bail out people who are too stupid to realize that living below sea level is a bad idea.

5.  Yeah, building below sea level should be illegal, and our tax dollars should stop being used to bail out the stupid.  Just like the mortgage bail out.  We are paying through the nose to bail out the stupid homeowners who KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING!

tickled....ARE YOU KIDDING???  We are the most caring compassionate country in the world.  We step up (on a governement and on an individual level) more than any other country on the planet in the face of disaster.  However, when the victims of disaster start looting, my compassion ends, and when they run right back to live in the same stupid area, my compassion ends.  And there are a LOT of areas in the country where natural disasters are rare or nearly non-existent, and they are some of the CHEAPEST places to live.  GET A CLUE!

I like pi...Funny, I live 3000 miles away from NO, and I would have been gone no matter what the government said.  The weather reporters were saying get the h**l out.

Answer 3

1) they are prepared but NOT better as you described. The residents perhaps did not anticipate or failed to realize that the hurricane can wrought that wide devastation.

2)  Flood and destruction of properties, it exposes  that a great nation as USA  is not actually prepared in times of great contigency as Katrina.

3) Caught unprepared but successfully risen to address the obstacle.

4)  That despite technological advances,  America has yet to have an equipment that would predict this kind of weather disturbance.

America can also be liken to a bamboo tree - tall, tough and resilient.    

5) The storm aftermath gave a lesson not only to the Americans but to all , to really prepare.  To the leader, be on on guard on giving hope that would eventually turn false.

To update Weather Monitoring System equipment.

Cheers!!

Answer 4

1. They were a disaster plan was in every phone book and it was a very good plan. Mayor Nagan never ordered its execution he ignored it.

2. Blaming everybody else for mistakes made by the city government.

3. A failure because the federal government had to bail out an entire region because local officials failed to act before the storm.

4. Yes we are a nation of whiners and complainers

5. Yes local officials should held accountable for what they do or fail to do such as if a storm like this arises again and an evacuation plan is ignored and someone dies as a result the mayor should be charged with homicide.

Answer 5

1. Though it is below sea level, no arrangement for the storm water drainage and for breach of levees was not taken care of! A poor urban planning with no foresight on impending natural disaster! No meaning to have a disaster management cell with huge funding and training, after allowing it to happen with full fury!

2. First the terrific loss of property coupled with cut off supply of water and electricity which all comes under the purview of the disaster management with city planning cell, right from the day one of construction of the city!

The horrible inundation by the downpour not leaving the city for a month, showing poor drainage and management of crisis!

3. US had more of these in history earlier too, but this being latest all look into this seriously! People memory fade away fast and the next may be in the anvil to arrive to enough forget this!

4. American have failed in many fields including the civic participation in large scale in national disasters! Of course the ways and means to act fast and to help the people in crisis is again needs planning, funding and training, so I can't blame the people either! The fault shows how much the Americans are tolerant to the Government's inaction and are not prepared to force them to leave office!

5. America needs a big economic and political change!

Answer 6

1. Because they were fools just like the people who live in flood plains and wild fire prone areas who can't, won't and don't take precautions or make plans to take care of themselves and insted gamble that the government will, somehow, take care of them.

2. You saw the TV and watched the news...

3. The verdict of history is already in: How many inditments of state or federal oficials have been handed down?

4. See answer to question 1.

5. Whats the opposite of the answer for question 1.

Answer 7

1.they weren't prepared b/c the storm was downplayed and the evacuation notice was not mandatory originally, nor enforced, nor prepared for in any real way.

2.flooding, winds, lack of available shelter, lack of preparedness overall.

3. both were a dismal failure. If it were not for the individual people and organizations, it would have been far worse fo the residents.

4. we are selfish and greedy and self-centered. We do not understand the great need there is still today and we do not care, ultimately. The 'why build in a flood plain' syndrome....as if hurricanes, tornados, fires, etc are not prevalent in every other corner of our country. Where exactly can these people live that would be both 'approved' and affordable for some of the poorest people in this country. we are also selfless and extrodinarily giving in some ways. I have met no kinder, more wonderful people in the gulf coast....all willing and wanting to lend a hand in any way they can....it is simply few and far between.

5. we should care more, we should do more, we should require more of our local and federal government. We should understand that--when loosing a home, a family, a lifestyle, a job, a child, all of your belongings, etc...that there is a greiving period and a great sense of loss. We should understand that it takes years to 'get over' that loss.

Answer 8

I lived in New Orleans for nine years. Hurricane Katrina put 7 and a half feet of flood water in our house, ruining it. My wife and I evacuated about 1pm and the storm came in that same night.

1. First thing to understand is that people weren't really given good notice. We rely on the government to tell us when things are really bad and they didn't send out the evacuation call until the night before the storm came in. A lot of people in New Orleans have grown up with hurricane scares, but the hurricanes almost never hit the city. They've become accustomed to evacuating for the weekend and then coming back to find everything's okay. Over time, they just didn't worry so much.

2. The doctors packed up and left town. Home prices and rents went sky-high. The smell from all the mold and decay (a result of flooding) is so terrible that many people get horrible headaches from breathing it in.

3. The government didn't do sh**.

4. It revealed that the government was not competent to respond to an emergency situation. On the other hand, the American citizens that were not harmed by the storm, once again showed how much they can love and care for strangers. America is its citizens. Where the government failed, the private citizens opened their arms and their hearts and helped a large number of strangers. Americans can sometimes be cruel to one another, but when the chips are down, we're all about love and spreading it. We have reason to be proud of ourselves.

5. People need to be more discriminating when it comes to handing out government jobs to their friends. Politicians need to care about getting the job done right and need to audit the actions of their agencies so that money doesn't get wasted and so people can get the necessary help in the most efficient and expedient way possible. The biggest thing the government can do is make it AS EASY AND STRESS-FREE AS POSSIBLE for people to...

a) Report their need for help.

b) Apply for the help they need.

c) Avoid confusing and / or conflicting instructions when applying for help.

d) Have knowledgeable, helpful people they can call and ask questions when it comes to receiving help.

e) Learn what help is available to them and not available, and if not, why.

Answer 9

Under designed levees.

Answer 10

1 because they were not expecting a category 5 hurricane to hit land at all, and they had levees to with stand category 2 herricans built in the 1960`s, and they thot that all the water would go to the flood channels, lakes, streames, and the rivers to divert the water, 2 flooding, because they built a city -8 feet below see level, over crowding, some what of evacuation, at long perieds of time, people not listening to evacuating, 3 the people of new Orleans thot they Had the recourse's to coupe with the storms in the area`s plus FEMA didn`t know the story first hand, 4 that we should stand to gether, but that depends on what the world thinks about us as Americans, couping with a horrible storm 5 funding and responding & having a plan to be sure of the saftey of the people of new oleans and recourses available for huge desasters like this

Answer 11

1)  First off, to those who say it should be illegal to build below sea level: America would not have grown to the power it is today without the city of New Orleans. During the 1800s, New Orleans was one of the single most important cities in the US. Learn about history before you blast people by calling them stupid. The citizens were prepared the best citizens could be. Like all humans, we think we can stick it out. The state government seemd to go into a state of shock from it though

2) The biggest problems would be the crime. People that rely on crime to get by have moved back, but the people that could move away did.

3) I think history will judge the state was wrong in their actions following Katrina. And it has already redefined the role of Government. In 2006, because of everything that went wrong, the President signed a new bill allowing the federal executive branch the power to intervene in a state of emergency without the pre-written permission from the state executive branch (something that was needed before katrina because of laws preventing presidential action without request inacted by congress).

4) The storm revealed that Americans should choose their leaders wisely. State governors and state legistlative. If you disagree with the Presidents actions, then the President also. Also, it shows that people will believe and point fingers at whoever they want.

5) Reaction should be changed. I think the power of the national guard in instances like this should be raised. If the commander of the states national guard (the armed commander, not the politicians) see its time to intervene, they should be given the power to do so, then be judged accordingly. Also, states should be closely watched at how they spend their emergency prevention funds. Lousiana was given money to build up their levees, but where did it go? The levees were built to withstand level 3 hurricanes, but the corps of engineers said a level 3 hurricane could demolish them. The state was given enough money to upgrade their levee to a level 4 several years before the storm.