Does anyone realize what a HUGE disaster this actually is?

[proud2BlibKansan]

One of my son's friends is a student at Loyola in NO. He had planned on staying and riding out the hurricane but his mother threatened to come down there and hog tie him to bring him home herself so he finally reluctantly agreed to drive home last Sunday. He has spent every day since he has been here calling back to NO looking for his friends who chose to stay there.

Last night he told me he thinks 20 of his friends have died. 20!! And this is a 23 year old kid. I said they have probably been evacuated and haven't had a chance to get to a phone. But he said he had already heard from several of his friends who were evacuated and they all agree that anyone who got out has probably contacted friends and family by now. This kids was crying; he thinks the number of dead will be staggering.

[randr]

1. Its like a dozen 9/11s in slow motion

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Good description

My son's friend admitted to me that he ignored 9/11. He was just a young kid in high school and didn't pay much attention to it. He asked me if it was this bad. I told him no I didn't think so, I think this is much much worse. He started crying.

Another friend of his was in the Superdome and came home (here) last night. The boys are describing him as shell shocked. My son said his parents are taking him to the doctor today. They think he is suffering from PTSD. My son said he is just not the same guy he was last time he saw him just 3 months ago.

[skooooo]

28. more like thousands of them...

[proud2BlibKansan]

39. Once the final death toll comes in

it will probably be more like thousands of 9/11s.

[Yupster]

43. You're thinking at least 6 million died?

Wow.

That's way more than I had even thought possible.

[peacetalksforall]

47. And this isn't Iraq - can't hide the deaths from the citizens back home.

Thousands and thousands and thousands of people have died since December 12 2000 - the day Rehnquist and the others put Cheney in office. December 12, 2000. Thanks to Harris, Baker, Olson, Meese, H. Boydon Grey, Greenspan, Fifth Avenue Rice, and then the the redux with O'Donnell, Hagel, Blackwell, the military tyrants and the WHIG group.

God help the citizens of this country. Let us hope that every buddy of Cheney and the regime live in infamy in the history books forever (including the books that will be rewritten by the religious right).

[Jade Fox]

2. Yes. This thing is not going away for a long time.

When tha actual body counts start to come in, we are all going to have
our jaws on the floor. When they drain NOLA, it's going to look worse
than anything we've seen yet. If we're allowed to see it, that is.

[daninthemoon]

15. We won't see any of it.

[Karenina]

41. We'll see enough.

NOLA was an international city visited by the world community. Those stories are OUT. Disaster relief experts WORLDWIDE are so appalled they are publicly shouting "Things that make you go HMMMM...." We cannot ever get truly accurate numbers, however the models will certainly be enogh to give pause.

[skooooo]

3. There's still a big reality disconnect going on, I think.

America is only just starting to realize what this is and what it means.

America is in shock.

[nookiemonster]

6. Disconnect? Absolutely!

I would venture to say that over half of this country's population can't even fathom the scale of this.

But, woohoo, it's Labor Day. Have a fucking picnic. :sarcasm:

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. I guess it really didn't hit my kid

until his friend got home and started trying to call his friends in NO.

[Arugula Latte]

34. I hate to say it, but I also think America is in denial

Lost a major U.S. city? Ooops. Can't be bothered by all the depressing coverage. There's football on, dontcha know... :grr:

[still_one]

4. but the ball games go on

[Systematic Chaos]

5. That is one of the things that infuriates me the most

n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. I brought that up to these kids last night

They are all big sports fans. But they said they think the country needs the diversion of sports and they are glad the NFL kicks off next weekend.

I don't agree.

[nookiemonster]

18. I don't agree either.

Diversion has been commonplace since 2000. WE NEED FOCUS!

[still_one]

20. why is this different than 9/11

at least there was a period of mourning?

[Carni]

31. No offense to New Yorkers but this IMO is WORSE than 9-11

911 was horrible... I am not saying it wasn't or trying to downgrade the horror of what New Yorkers went through, but that was at least contained and limited to a smaller area.

The numbers of dead in this deal I believe will be over 20,000

We're talking one city completely wiped off the map and a whole coastline gone then you have the impact of hundreds of thousands of poor people displaced in other states...in an already lousy economy and job market.

Throw in the oil and natural gas component not to mention the fact that there are three tropical depressions looming out in the ocean currently.

We have two more months left of the hurricane season.

WE are in for some very very deep shit.

[Sabriel]

8. It's more than the human factor, also

Shipping on the Mississippi has been completely disrupted. There was a piece on Wisconsin Public Radio about the impact it could have on local farmers, or anyone who ships via river.

[ohio_liberal]

12. Fishing too

Shrimpers/fishermen will be deeply affected. Especially when the feds start pumping the filth out of N.O. into the Gulf. :(

[rocktivity]

9. Good for his mother

Category 4 storm, category 3 levees--what part of that did he not understand?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Land Shark]

32. COrrection: Category 3 levees, category 2 or 1 when storm hit NO

the max winds in NO were 100 mph, so levees SHOULD HAVE HELD.

On the other hand, if you google Carville Salon levee and dynamite you will find the interesting factual history carville published on salon in 1997 of people dynamiting Louisiana levees to sacrifice one area in favor of another, and the response of locals to patrol levees with shoot on sight policies.

[XanaDUer]

11. I do.

Wait until the cholera, dysentery, typhoid, etc, start.

:(

[spooked911]

13. oh god, that is heartbreaking...

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Watching a 23 year old kid cry

just broke my heart.

[MojoXN]

16. That's awful...

I'm a college student myself. I'm as poor as most are, I don't have a car, or money for a plane or bus ticket, and no family in the deep South. If I'd have been at a school in N.O., I'd have stayed.

It's given me quite a few nightmares over the last few days.

We'll never know how many lives were taken, but it will likely be tens of thousands. America will never be the same after this.

MojoXN

[jarnocan]

17. several universities and colleges

are in that area.
"Presidents of colleges on the Gulf Coast estimate that more than 30 colleges and universities have been severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina'http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-050904students,1,5285673.story?coll=chi-news-hed I wonder how many.
there are estimates of over 10,000 in La alone, thousands in Mississippi and elswhere.
flags are flying at half staff for Rheinquist- DUH, and BU**SH** already hoping the 'enthusiasm' over the confirmations of Roberts as CHEIF Justice will be another distraction.
and they want to CUT taxes again in a time of unimaginable crisis. http://www.usalone.net/estatetax2.htm tell them NO and how you feel.
"In the shadow of the worst natural disaster and response to it in the nation's history the Republican National Committee announced their priority was to continue to push for repeal of the estate tax. It is estimated this would cost the budget $300 billion dollars over 10 years"
and here as well; http://political.moveon.org/estatetax/ We are in a crisis of historic proportions, and we can not afford their GREED!
http://impeachbush.org/ #1 ACTION - what we can do to help US and our world of pain.

[AlGore-08.com]

21. The lowest estimate that has been floated in the last few days is 5,000

Yesterday, Nagin was asked for an estimate and he gave a range of 5,000 to 20,000. The models had the potential death toll from a cat. 5 hurricane striking NOLA directly as 10,000 to 100,000.

[wli]

27. The trouble with the low estimates is the quality of the response.

The evacuation never happened. Rich white people drove away in their SUV's and everyone else stayed.

The storm "shelters" were death camps. They dumped people into them, underestimated their numbers (to help cover up the body count later), kept them from fleeing those shelters at gunpoint, and provided no food, no water, and no sanitation for 5 or more days. 20% or less of those in the shelters will survive.

FEMA is cutting local emergency communication lines and fending off responders (save the military) at gunpoint. There are even threads on DU suggesting that local water supplies were deliberately shut down. No one is getting in to help.

1 million or more are displaced. The lower classes die first. The middle classes who had enough to make it a week or so while on the run will either go down next in Superdome-style death camps or end up homeless across the country.

Given these things, 100000 sounds like the true lower bound, and the "relief effort" is likely to act as a force multiplier.

[FloridaPat]

23. One thing beling ignored is the oil situation. 20+ rigs down. Can't get

supertankers into NO anymore. Heating oil already to be up 30%. * is buying gasoline from Canada and Europe so we won't feel the full punch. But those countries aren't going to cut back on their oil use so we can fill up our SUV's for long.

This could actually be the beginning of the end of the US as an oil drinkiing country, and it won't be pretty pulling us off oil. And with our depleted treasury, if there are bidding wars over the oil, how long does anyone think the rest of the world will take IOU's. Also, don't for get Iran has that bousard starting in the spring. I think that means oil in Iran will be in Euros. How many more countries can we invade after this?

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. We are learning about the oil problem

every time we fill up.

[Olney Blue]

24. A sobering lesson for young college students....

will it create a generation of bitter cynics, or social activists?

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. My kid and his friends were already die hard liberals

This has just made them hate bush even more.

[Olney Blue]

48. There is hope for the future!

:bounce:

[Lochloosa]

25. We all new Friday and Saturday and Sunday and Monday

It took * till Thursday to figure it out....Now watch this drive..

[wli]

26. People are saying I exaggerate its significance. n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. It can't be exaggerated

No way.

[Igel]

29. I think thing's'll mostly work out.

I have lots of people I know and can't contact.

I know their first and last names. I'm not sure where they are.

I had their e-mail addresses in my address book--in Eudora. And in a computer file, with their phone numbers. The hard drive crashed, no backup for that info, so I couldn't contact them. I honestly didn't know most of the e-mail addresses. They'd have to contact me: but we weren't in that close contact....

A couple of months later, since I was no longer enrolled, my university e-mail address became inoperative. I had moved, so I had a new phone number. They could no longer contact me.

I imagine that many of the kids left their computers at school and Loyola's e-mail server's down. Cell phones might be the saving factor in all this, if all the kids have theirs, and they're charged, and have service where they are.

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. The kids have cell phones but

the towers in New Orleans are all down.

[pitohui]

45. right no cell phone service at all to 504 until today

and it's still very spotty

[Rabrrrrrr]

30. Just in case the kid doesn't know, Loyola in Chicago is taking

Loyala NO students.

Might not be what's really on his mind right now, but just in case he hasn't heard, I pass it on.

I was lucky, I only lost one friend and one fellow employee in the 9-11 attacks. I can't imagine what it's like to lose a score of them. My sympathies to the guy. 23 is too young to bear such death. Makes me now remember our even younger soldiers in Iraq, who are faring even worse situations.

Egads, I hate that asshole in the white house for what he's done to our country, especially our youngsters.

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. I will tell him - thanks

[Window]

40. DAYUM!!

#$$@%^&&*&^$#

[undeterred]

42. I just looked at the Tulane website

They have a place for people to check in if they are ALIVE. There are a lot of schools in NO- haven't really heard much about this in the news coverage.

[malaise]

46. I heard that many young people were

in serious problems at Xavier University and no one had checked them out for days. Lots of students from the Caribbean attend these colleges.

[pitohui]

44. please tell this man not to give up hope yet

many ppl evacuated to rural areas that were also hard hit, w. electricity, no ISP, no cell phone or land line, no way to communicate yet they can't get out because of lack of gasoline

i'm still finding ppl

we'll know more next wk

the size of the storm was so huge that places you never hear of, where ppl went for shelter, do not yet have power

also many of the students -- i think i read several hundred -- have been placed at loyola in chicago, maybe call there or check to see if they have a "i've been found" list of ppl there