Katrina Echoes Mexico City's 1985 Disaster(poor hit hardest, no gov. help)

[rainbow4321]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MEXICO_EARTHQUAKE_ANNIVERSARY?SITE=NJBRI&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


For Mexico City, Hurricane Katrina had strong echoes of the earthquake 20 years ago that toppled buildings, hit the poor hardest and shook Mexicans' faith in government.

The skyline is soaring as the capital marks the 20th anniversary Monday of the earthquake that killed at least 9,500 people and leveled whole sections of the city. But some scars are still visible and scientists say the city may be unprepared for the next quake.

"That the poor were the ones that couldn't evacuate (from New Orleans) is something that caught our attention," said Luis Wintergerst, the city's director of civil protection. The 1985 quake also hit the poor hardest, he said.

In the quake's aftermath, civic and neighborhood groups sprang to the rescue, disgusted with the government's weak response. They gave birth to a spirit of grass-roots involvement in public life and politics that remains a source of national pride.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. ten years later they voted that government out

this is what is building here

That said, in Mexico City efforts were done from the word go to help and rescue. I can't say the same thing here

Oh and I still remember that day, coming home and turning on CNN and then calling my parents, all circuits are down... my god you have no idea how hard that was

Oh and the Mexican Red Cross was in the midst of search and rescue. I still remember one young First Aider, he was called "rat." he was small, rather small, and he crawled in those buildings looking for victims, for 72 hours straight, they had to pull him out of the General Hospital... his heroism has been noted by mamy... at the time we had no paramedics... or confined space rescue specialists or anything like that. He did this with his hands. He also was part of the rescue team that pulled many of the miracle babies out of the General Hospital.

[Horse with no Name]

2. I thought of this when this happened

There was one difference...the citizens were allowed to rescue their own, and in New Orleans, they weren't allowed to.