Bush Issues Emergency Declaration In N. Carolina

[sabra]

http://www.nbc5.com/news/4940452/detail.html?z=dp&dpswid=&dppid=

Bush Issues Emergency Declaration In N. Carolina
Ophelia Now Category 1 Storm; FEMA Prepares

President George W. Bush has issued an emergency declaration for 37 counties in eastern North Carolina as Hurricane Ophelia continues to batter the coast with high winds and heavy rains.

The president's emergency declaration authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts.

Hurricane Ophelia is drawing closer to the central North Carolina coast, where forecasters think it might make landfall.

[Kagemusha]

1. Nice knowing you, N. Carolina.

You're really in for it now.

[lebkuchen]

6. What's worse? Bush's FEMA or no FEMA?

[Rockholm]

12. Trick Question Alert!

FEMA, of course.

[hlthe2b]

8. So, does this mean he ignores them while they wash away?..... or

sends in the paid Blackwater mercenaries to shoot them all? :mad:

Well, my NC colleagues, maybe you can throw Jesse Helms out in front? :eyes:

[UrbScotty]

2. Now if more blacks lived there... (nt)

[ladylibertee]

10. Hurry up !!! Cat (1) coming....SAVE THE RICH WHITE FOLKS !!!!!

[LostinVA]

13. I lived in Eastern NC for many years, many blacks do live there

That's mainly who was affected by Floyd, and this devil looks to be as bad -- only moving 5 mph... eek! Ophelia being "just a Cat 1/2 doesn't tell the whole story. This storm is moving way too slow.I lived in Wilmington, where the flooding afterwards is often worse than the storm surge, and they've received 15" from this. That is bad, bad, bad. This happened after Bertha and Fran, but this is rain FROM the storm, so Goddess knows what the usual after-storm flooding will do. Lots of poor people around this area of NC -- both black and white.

That area of NC knows how to handle hurricanes -- which is one reason why I moved -- they have too damn many!

[dweller]

3. is it 29 states now under doom?

err. . i mean 'emergency declaration'?

dp

[StrafingMoose]

4. Ophelia Now Category 1 Storm; FEMA Prepares - wtf?

Does USA have the custom to declare martial law at every hurricane? I thought that at worse the feds won't give a feck and let the locals organize instead of interfering like in LO... ?

[Be Brave]

5. I heard on the news that FEMA has pre-deployed an

overabundance of FEMA workers there.

[kestrel91316]

7. Uh-huh. Lookin' after their "base", no doubt.

[LostinVA]

15. I don't understand the talk of "rich white folks"

WHAT rich white folks? Do they live in the OBX area? In Wilmington? Sure. But most of these people are either poor or working class, who have lived there for many, many generations. Most of the rich, white folks don't actually live there most of the time, they just help drive up housing costs. I lived there for many years, and have friends in both Wilmington and OBX: fishermen/women, shrimpers, teachers, retail workers, cops, mechanics. There are also many poor blacks who live there, as well as migrant workers.

During my time in W8ilmington and its 'canes, FEMA, the NC NG, and local and national Aid organizations took damn good care of us. The people from this area know what to do -- it's the rich transplants who only live here occasionally who build wood and glass houses on the barrier islands. The old timers usually have houses who can withstand the wind, if not the flooding.

[kestrel91316]

16. Did I mention "rich white folks"??? His base is a lot more than that .....

in NC his base is the Christofascist right, whatever their financial condition.

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

9. 200 FEMA workers pre-staged in NC for a Cat 1

according to CNN... but read Brownies song published here in LBN, where he said he had 10 to 20 pre-staged in the Gulf Coast for a Cat 5.

Hey, it's all about real estate values.

[bdot]

11. This thing is a wimp.

So far 0.05 inches of rain. Stupid thing wouldn't come inland.

[LostinVA]

14. 15" of rain in some areas

I have contacts in Wilmington 10-17" of rain in the Wilmington/Wrisghtsville Beach/Topsail/Carolina Beach coastal corridor. That area floods VERY easy -- even a small storm will do it. After Bertha, which wasn't "that" bad, parts of this area were under 6-8 feet of water for days.