Katrina

How come people don't listen to the government? When you are asked to be evacuated, you are to be evacuated. I can understand if you are sick, old, or disable, and unable to do so yourself, but other than that, why take the chance?

On the other hand, what does one do if there are no means to get out? No car/rental car, no bus/plane ticket, no gas, ...

Could this be the reason for such a disaster?

"the levees that ring the city have led to the rapid decay of nearby
wetlands during the past century, removing a crucial buffer zone that once
protected the area from hurricanes. Hurricanes quickly lose force when
they hit land, but New Orleans is now vulnerable to violent storms because the
land around it has been rapidly disappearing. Today, New Orleans is almost
completely exposed to the Gulf of Mexico" said Val Marmillion, a consultant for
the America's Wetland group, which is lobbying for the Louisiana coast
area.

"There are almost open water conditions around New Orleans now," Marmillion
said. "Because of wetland loss some areas of Louisiana are no longer protected
at all."
Wetlands act as a "speed bump," slowing down storms almost
like dry land does, said Kip Patrick, spokesman for America's Wetland. "They
take some of the brunt of the force of the hurricane, weakens the storm like any
land mass would."

By Bob Sullivan, Technology correspondent, MSNBC - Aug. 29, 2005

The failing levees allowed the waters of Lake Pontchartrain to inundate the streets of New Orleans on Tuesday. The breach apparently is still not fixed as of today!

Our President, cuts short his month long vacation to oversee the recovery effort. Did I hear that right? United States President has a month long vacation? I don't even get a week long vacation, and our President in the midst of the war with terrorism, nature disaster is on vacation? I am speechless.

Biloxi, a Mississippi city is completely flatten by the hurricane Katrina.
New Orleans is literally a swamp at this point.

Help is on the way. Is it really? How can the most powerful country in the world respond to emergency so incompetently? un-organized, slow with no plan? Bureaucracy is the problem. The second when the emergency status is declared, there should be no obsticle between the help and the needy. The State should not blame the Federal government for lack of better preparation and plan, and Federal should act IMMEDIATELY without any stupid evaluation while it is a TRUE EMERGENCY! Is there no direct communication line from the lowest branch of our Gov. to the highest branch even when there is no electricity? I would surely hope that the most ancient way of communication has not been lost already. Plus if United States of America's government cannot rebuild a communication system quickly, that is truly unbelievable.

What if this is not a nature disaster? What if this is actually a terrorist attack? What kind of the emergency system we have here?

How can people loot, rape, or kill in the middle of all these? Are we not human? Are we not civilized? Are we so primitive still?

As an American, I am ashamed, speechless, troubled, scared, ...
If our system does not work, that is like the foundation of the house is not secure, which means the country is not secure, which means we as Americans are not secure.

Help is on the way, I can only do what I can by donating. Even whenI donate, there is always the fear of this: did my donation really make any difference? If the money is not used to help the people, but is wasted for all the stupid paper work, then what is the point?

It is a troublesome time. The nature is going crazy, the world is going crazy, the people are already crazy, and the gas price is totally out of control.