# OK, Here I Go.... (Hurricane related) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 31, 2005, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399 "2005-08-31T07:37:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/81 "2005-08-31T15:29:19Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > **glee** : > > _“Katrina was our tsunami.”_ > > is very different from > > “_Katrina was as bad as the tsunamis that broke out in the Indian Ocean last year._” > Very different. Yes, that’s true. Probably the full scale of this tragedy is hard to appreciate from outside the State, let alone abroad, so I hope I have not upset anyone with my attempts to analyse the situation. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/82 "2005-08-31T15:29:50Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > Oh yeah… New Orleans serves a purpose for the nation too… all that oil refinery shit… so it’s not like the whole is city is there for no reason. Don’t forget the port. … Eleusis, to change theh subject slightly … have you ever run into folks who are proud they’ve never run from a hurricane? That’s a part of the culture down in New Orleans. People remember when this weatherperson or that one made emotional pleas to leave the city … and these weatherpersons become running jokes for a while. New Orleans locals will be aware of Margaret Orr’s reputation as an alarmist. Just so happens that Margaret Orr was right this time. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/83 "2005-08-31T15:33:48Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Yes, that’s true. > > Probably the full scale of this tragedy is hard to appreciate from outside the State, let alone abroad, so I hope I have not upset anyone with my attempts to analyse the situation. At risk of lighting a new fire… If you see the videos, it really does look like tsunami aftermath for a 100 mile stretch of beach. And that means a lot to a poor state like Mississippi. If you saw the video of the Casino boat sitting ON THE ROOF OF THE HOLIDAY INN… and recognize that those casino boats garner half of our education funds… it wouldn’t be so funny. Thank you, that is all. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/84 "2005-08-31T15:35:31Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > Nobody made that statement in THIS THREAD. > I stand by my “Fuck You”. Why don’t you post what you mean, instead of spraying off random insults? You stated that ""NOBODY EVER SAID it was as bad as the “tsunami”. Now you wish to qualify it? Incidentally I assumed, from the level of emotional incoherence you display in this thread, that you hadn’t even read post 17 (whether it applied or not). If you are going to post further, please make sensible points and reply to others. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/85 "2005-08-31T15:36:07Z")
Well, here: > **[Home](https://www.wlbt.com/)** > > WLBT News - WLBT.com - Jackson, MS Just so you know I’m not full of shit… ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/86 "2005-08-31T15:39:12Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > [Gov. Haley Barbour](http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mississippi31aug31,1,4677599.story?coll=la-headlines-nation): “I can only imagine that this is what Hiroshima looked like 60 years ago.” > Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway: “This is our tsunami.” > > Yes, your town was decimated. However, let’s compare: > [Hiroshima](http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml): 135,000 deaths (and about twice as many over time) > [Tsunami](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4189883.stm/): 220,000 > [Katrina](http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050831/us_nm/weather_katrina_dc_71;_ylt=At.R1Mw9koFSU_bNf7MGCJ4bLisB;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl): 100 > > I’d like to also add that those in the path of Katrina had warning. They knew a hurricane was headed their way. Same cannot be said for the victims in Hiroshima and Southeast Asia. > > I don’t want to downplay the fact that cities were razed, and that hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of lives adversely affected. I only wish elected officials would tone down their hyperbole; Katrina is not on the scale of devastation of either the tsunami nor the bombing of Hiroshima. That’s post #17. WTF is it supposed to display? That the “powers that be” have yet begun to attributed the number of deaths??? ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/87 "2005-08-31T15:40:21Z")
… if you think it’s 100, you are sadly mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/88 "2005-08-31T15:41:30Z")
And YES, I still think you’re an asshole, **glee**. What do you want from me? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/89 "2005-08-31T15:43:06Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > Yes, I’m sure that \*some \* insurance company would sell flood insurance to anyone in NO who wanted to buy it. > > But the premiums would have been sky high! After all, underwriters are not dummies. > > Would you pay 10% of the value of your property, year after year, for flood insurance if you lived in NO? > > (Note: Quoted percent figure pulled out of my ass.) If I heard correctly on NPR this morning, the **only** insurer of flood damage was the Federal government. No transcripts yet up on the sight to check myself. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/90 "2005-08-31T15:44:49Z")
I’ve seen clips of rescuers (they’re military or National Guard) in boats trying to get people to leave their flooded houses and they’re still refusing. What about them? I consider them as dumb as a box of hammers, too. There was a shot on the news this morning of rescuers telling a guy on the second floor of a flooded house that he had to leave and come with them and and he said he wasn’t leaving. There was another of a family that was in their attic, and had broken a hole through the roof for air and light. The rest of house was completely underwater. They were also refusing to leave. They prefered living on open joists and insulation to going to a shelter. 😕 I just don’t get the line of thinking that goes into staying in your house, especially when you have several day’s notice that this huge storm is coming. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/91 "2005-08-31T15:45:10Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Probably the full scale of this tragedy is hard to appreciate from outside the State, let alone abroad, so I hope I have not upset anyone with my attempts to analyse the situation. **Eleusis** … the above is pretty a much a concession that he doesn’t have a point of reference from which to speak relevantly about the issues at hand. Best to just shrug it off. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/92 "2005-08-31T15:47:30Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Probably the full scale of this tragedy is hard to appreciate from outside the State, let alone abroad, so I hope I have not upset anyone with my attempts to analyse the situation. > [@Eleusis](#): > > At risk of lighting a new fire… > > If you see the videos, it really does look like tsunami aftermath for a 100 mile stretch of beach. And that means a lot to a poor state like Mississippi. If you saw the video of the Casino boat sitting ON THE ROOF OF THE HOLIDAY INN… and recognize that those casino boats garner half of our education funds… > > it wouldn’t be so funny. > > Thank you, that is all. I should have made it clear that my apology did not extend to you. 😛 More seriously, you have no idea about poverty. How can you compare the economic status of Mississippi with the subsistence level in countires hit by the tsunami? And why do you say above that “it wouldn’t be so funny”? Does something about this tragedy amuse you? Are you suggesting something sick about my attitude? As for your ignorance over post 17, it contains a tsunami quote, which I used in reply to your wildly inaccurate claim. Thank you for proving that you hadn’t read it (nad still don’t see what I’m saying). ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/93 "2005-08-31T15:53:01Z")
**bordelond** - Thank you, I’ll take it as such. Ooops I guess not. I’m gonna post and post until I get it through to **glee** the fucking dicktard. Fewer deaths than Hiroshima? So it’s no longer a tragedy? WTF are saying? Clarify yourself before you call ME OUT you fucking pragmatic prevaricator. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/94 "2005-08-31T15:55:54Z")
> [@](#): > > How can you compare the economic status of Mississippi with the subsistence level in countires hit by the tsunami? I didn’t, Einstein. Who brought up the tsunami? Why are you such a fucking tool. Actually I think I AM done with you, you worthless turd. You like to compare OUR tragedy to YOUR tragedy and say yours is worse. Well I don’t think the tsunami really even efftected you. So bye bye. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/95 "2005-08-31T15:56:06Z")
I made post #17. Later, in response to **Airman Doors** , I admitted that my first thought was a comparison of loss of life. Hurrican Katrina will cause nowhere near the casualties of either Hiroshima or the SE Asian tsunami. Yes, you twit, 100 is not the final number, but I also doubt it will go into even 4 digits. I have also conceded that the Mayor and Governor may have been speaking in terms of damage. I tend not to give politicians the benefit of a doubt, so I assumed the worst from them. Biloxi and NO are destroyed, maybe beyond repair. If these cities are to come back, they may have to be built from scratch. In that way, they match the damage from the tsunami, and to a lesser extent, Hiroshima. (Hiroshima had that little problem of lingering radiation that I don’t think will effect NO or Biloxi, but I digress. I’m sure the Governor’s speech writer was otherwise occupied and didn’t vet this comment.) ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/96 "2005-08-31T15:56:23Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > **Eleusis** … the above is pretty a much a concession that he doesn’t have a point of reference from which to speak relevantly about the issues at hand. Best to just shrug it off. I hope you can distinguish between my apology to you and others if I have brought politics in too early to a tragic situation, and my responding to insults and ramblings from Eleusis. As for a ‘point of reference’, I agree that I have no idea how easy it was to get out of the city, or that flood insurance didn’t apply. Nevertheless I know that New Orleans is below sea level, and that San Francisco is on an proven earthquake fault. I don’t see why I can’t make comments based on that, and other factual information. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/97 "2005-08-31T15:57:25Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > They prefered living on open joists and insulation to going to a shelter. 😕 The Superdome is pretty much a mob-rule situation right now. It’s not really a safe place to be. > [@BiblioCat](#): > > I just don’t get the line of thinking that goes into staying in your house, especially when you have several day’s notice that this huge storm is coming. Gotta stamp out some ignorance here: Notice was 48 hours, at best. Until late Friday afternoon, storm tracks were centered over the Pensacola, FL area. Katrina made a surprise move west, and meteorologists didn’t get news up of the new path until late Friday evening. Most people didn’t see the news until Saturday morning … or even later if they avoided newscasts. A few areas started voluntary evacuations Saturday mid-morning. “Mandatory” evacuation of New Orleans wasn’t called until Sunday morning. Even as the Friday evening storm tracks showed a turn towards N.O., that was still not the time to evacuate. Why not, you ask? Because there was still much time for the storm to turn again – and frankly, last-second turns have happened so often over the past 30 years that people have come to count on them. If N.O. evacuated every time a hurricane came into the Gulf, they’d be evacuating twice a year. Also, recall that New Orleans has withstood many less-direct hurricane hits before. A huge, painful evacuation effort took place in 1998 for Hurricane Georges, which landed 50 miles east of the city. Georges did little damage to N.O. A lot of people were left wondering “Why did we leave again? Won’t do it again.” It seemed to many folks that the Georges evacuation was for naught. People who stayed behind for Georges swelled their chests and pointed out the Chicken Little weathercasters on TV (Margaret Orr made her reputation when she predicted Georges would “Katrina-ize” New Orleans). ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/98 "2005-08-31T16:01:18Z")
> [@Eleusis](#): > > You like to compare OUR tragedy to YOUR tragedy and say yours is worse. Well I don’t think the tsunami really even efftected you. When I first heard the quotes, I felt that was what the Mayor and the Governor were doing. I’ve conceded that I _may_ have misinterpreted them. When I can read minds, I’ll make a definitive statement whether or not I’ve misinterpreted them. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/99 "2005-08-31T16:07:13Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Also, recall that New Orleans has withstood many less-direct hurricane hits before. A huge, painful evacuation effort took place in 1998 for Hurricane Georges, which landed 50 miles east of the city. Georges did little damage to N.O. A lot of people were left wondering “Why did we leave again? Won’t do it again.” It seemed to many folks that the Georges evacuation was for naught. People who stayed behind for Georges swelled their chests and pointed out the Chicken Little weathercasters on TV (Margaret Orr made her reputation when she predicted Georges would “Katrina-ize” New Orleans). I could find it easy to argue either side of this issue. I’m always teaching my children build good habits. Just because something bad doesn’t happen the first time (like when my children burn candles in their bedroom and they don’t burn down the house) does not mean it will never happen. I personally feel the risk outweighs the ‘reward’ of staying, but that’s a personal decision. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399/100 "2005-08-31T16:10:57Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Nevertheless I know that New Orleans is below sea level, and that San Francisco is on an proven earthquake fault. I don’t see why I can’t make comments based on that, and other factual information. First off – of course you can make any comments you like. Thing is, though, such factual information is usually oversimplified, or incomplete. For instance: **New Orleans is below sea level** – much of it is , but not all of it. Most of the surrounding, populous suburbs are also above sea level. Also, existing levee and pumping systems had held many past hurricane storm surges and other flooding vectors at bay for many years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-here-i-go-hurricane-related/319399.md?page=6)