HURRICANES!

[Skulhedface]

I've been watching the Weather Channel for the past few hours and as it looks, the city of New Orleans may be the Lake of New Orleans as of this time tomorrow.

I don't live that far from it. It hasn't gotten here yet, but I may be swimming in my front yard tomorrow :(

[ziggytrix]

eye of the storm passed just to the east of new orleans they just said on the radio.

good luck skullheadface. don't die.

[thebiggameover]

cnn is rocking the video.....

[Skulhedface]

After all the hype, after fighting lots of traffic, after dealing with every backwards yokel in town buying their 5th set of batteries and peanut butter...

...and all we got was a slight drizzle and 40 mph winds. Sheesh.

[Esuohlim]

Oh no now where will women flash their boobs for beads? :(

[Slinky Ferret]

For beads? Why?

[Pub Lover]

Shrove Tuesday. :posh

[Supafly345]

Slinky ferret doesn't know of mandatory US customs.

[Cosmo Electrolux]

For beads? Why?
During MArdi Gras in New Orleans, women will flash their boobs for strings of plastic beads....

[Zomboid]

They do that at "big valley jamboree" here in Canada, too...

[Cosmo Electrolux]

In Alabama, women are assigned cast iron bra's and are forbidden to acknowledge that they even possess breasts.... Jesus will give you cancer if you see naked breasts in Alabama.......

[Slinky Ferret]

For beads? Why?
During MArdi Gras in New Orleans, women will flash their boobs for strings of plastic beads....

Now I understand doing it to get a comment from a singer at a festival, but for strings of tacky beads?

:lol

[Girl Drink Drunk]

Man, that's really said what's going on in New Orleans.

[Supafly345]

Sober virginity is an excitement cocktail where you come from I am assuming.

[Pub Lover]

In the UK they eat pancakes instead.

Pancakes > Boobs

>:

[ziggytrix]

which is why you have a picture of pancakes in your avatar huh

[Pub Lover]

Fine.

Pancakes = Boobs

:rolleyes

As far as I know they look the same too.

[Slinky Ferret]

Ok next stupid question is why do people stay in their homes when a hurricane is heading right for them?

It's like the British staying in their houses during the Blitz.

[Cosmo Electrolux]

Ok next stupid question is why do people stay in their homes when a hurricane is heading right for them?

It's like the British staying in their houses during the Blitz.

Stupidity...pure and simple. There is no reasonable explanation for it. These people knew that a catagory 5 hurricane was headed directly for them. However, I did read that many New Orleans residents were forced to ride it out because they were too poor to evacuate....no car, no funds for procuring a rental....


so, you'd get your tits out for a concert, but not for plastic beads? Even really colorful ones?

[Slinky Ferret]

so, you'd get your tits out for a concert, but not for plastic beads? Even really colorful ones?

No I wouldn't ever do that plastic beads or no plastic beads!

From what I've read it is the poor that are most affected. If this is the case why are there no emergency shelters? Underground bunkers?

See this is what happens when you don't have any underground lairs.

Seriously though I really hope those people are okay. :(

[Dr. Boogie]

I hear that looting in some areas is so bad that officials were forced to declare martial law.

[blackwar12]

The poor are tough, they will survive.

[GAsux]

I think a lot of the fatality issues resulted from flooding, etc. I don't suppose an underground bunker would be very desireable in that case.

[Cosmo Electrolux]

so, you'd get your tits out for a concert, but not for plastic beads? Even really colorful ones?

No I wouldn't ever do that plastic beads or no plastic beads!

From what I've read it is the poor that are most affected. If this is the case why are there no emergency shelters? Underground bunkers?

See this is what happens when you don't have any underground lairs.

Seriously though I really hope those people are okay. :(

it IS the poor who are suffering the most. From what I understand, there are thousands of people trapped in the Superdome with overflowing toilets, no air conditioning, no food and no drinkable water...and unable to leave. I've even heard rumors that there have been several suicides, but that's unfounded. New Orleans had pumps installed in the city in case of a levee breach to pump the water back into the river, or lake...but the pumps failed, and the keeps flowing. The Army has attempted to sandbag the levee, but so far has been unable to fix the breech. I've also read that 70% of Louisianas National Guard Units ( who patrol the city in times like this to stop looters, etc.) are in the Middle east.

[Chojin]

KATRINA WANTS US TO DESPAIR, BUT SHE WILL SEE THAT WE ARE UNWAVERING IN OUR RESOLVE. USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

[Cosmo Electrolux]

taken from the "Young Republicans guide to Natural Disaster recovery"

[kellychaos]

I think a lot of the fatality issues resulted from flooding, etc. I don't suppose an underground bunker would be very desireable in that case.

With the city twelve city below sea level, I doubt that basements were ever a viable construction.

[Skulhedface]

At any rate... now they're being evacuated out of the New Orleans Superdome and moved all over the state. We have an influx here even.

The levee's busted and most people are saying it's basically going to be about two months before New Orleans is really habitable again. Some evacuees have gone as far west as Houston.

Since UNO is closed we have a bunch of college students coming here and finishing out the semester. However, the most aggravating thing about it...

I listen to talk radio. It beats regular radio, because my vehicular CD player is technology, and technology is my kryptonite. But at any rate, what seemed most frustrating is that while everyone in the state is helping refugees from as far as Mississippi, a good 75% of the phone calls being made were in reference to football season.

As if it's the end of the world not because homes and lives were lost, but because there might be one less LSU and Saints game this year.

(EDIT): Amazingly, with all the damage in New Orleans (local news puts the city as 80% flooded), the French Quarter is surprinsingly intact. So there will still be boobs here come February.

[Esuohlim]

twelve city below sea level

[Studio8]

Fuck Fuck Fucking shit.
I was north of my home for the storm and when it passed, I lived in darkness and heat for a couple of days and now I'm in Dallas with family. My house is fucked, my roommates and improv teammates (i.e. the most people important people regarding my immediate future) are scattered across the country, and everyone has a different plan for regrouping.
Some people are talking serious moving, some people are in a rush to get back to New Orleans to rebuild. I don't know what to do.

I'm still in disbelief about all of this, especially now that people are shooting at rescue chopters and looting EVERYTHING. It's like the scum of New Orleans thinks they can take it over.

[Skulhedface]

Well, New Orleans isn't gonna be opened to live in again for at the VERY least another month. They have nine pumps to pump all the water out of the city, and IF all nine were working at 100% capacity, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it'd take 21 days to pump ALL the water out of New Orleans.

Now the biggest story is that people are getting shot and carjacked in Baton Rouge when they stop and fill up with gas.

They say tragedy brings out the best in humanity, but it doesn't let you forget that there's still scum out there.

Oh yes and apparently Rush Limbaugh is saying that the reason New Orleans isn't getting as much help as it needs from the National Guard is because they have more important things to do in Iraq.

How... touching.

[Slinky Ferret]

:( Okay today I saw a map of new orleans and I now understand why under ground bunkers are a seriously bad idea. :(

:( There's some really scary pictures on the news. British reporters getting threatened and all sorts. You guys must have seen the footage thousands of times by now but 4/5ths under water? Thats just crazy.

So what happens after the water is pumped out? How long does it take to rebuild houses? Are all the houses there made of wood or do they have red brick like over here (cheap pink tat if build from 90s onwards)? :( I guess it doesn't matter what its made of it will still get washed away.

[sadie]

you sure are chatty lately. :)

[Skulhedface]

No matter how you slice it, they can't even begin to rebuild New Orleans for another month at least. Realistically speaking, it might take them about a month and a half to two months to pump all the water out, unless they manage to get all nine pumps fixed and maintained at 100% for three weeks.

Most of the buildings in New Orleans are of brick and wood, but you can imagine with a category 5 hurricane, if the buildings aren't made out of adamantium there's gonna be shit torn down.

Yes, New Orleans is 80% underwater. It's a big city, it's below sea level, and if you want to be technical, even the tallest houses in the city have water up to the windows. Admittedly, though, Gulfport and Biloxi suffered MUCH worse, both cities having been turned into gigantic parking lots. Some riverboat casinos were found blocking interstates as far as miles away.

I hear tales that if New Orleans is to be rebuilt it's supposed to be rebuilt Seattle-style, a city on top of a city if you will, to prevent such a thing from happening again.

The National Guard is sorely needed as far west as Baton Rouge because looters and carjackers have become a BIG problem. The local college campus is recommending that students travel in groups.

Here's another "Worst in humanity" story: A hotel in Shreveport had allowed evacuees to stay in their empty rooms but promptly kicked the evacuees out of the rooms when people showed up to claim their reservations.

Seems to me this'd turn into a massive PR fiasco. They could've just not let the evacuees in in the first place, or at the very least told them they could stay until the reservations were to be honored, or maybe you know, told the people that DIDN'T lose everything that they couldn't accomodate them and give them an apology. I'd think the evacuees would need the room a little more than a vacationing pack of brats, but hey... that's just me.

[Studio8]

Now there's fires. And the looting has spread to Baton Rouge and the Northshore. Fuck.

[Girl Drink Drunk]

I here that the United way and Pay Pal are pretty crooked, so I would advice that money be donated to the Red Cross. I myself, will donate $10.

[the_dudefather]

i hate how the news here keeps using ironic references to things such as

"this car, which a few days ago would have been driven, is now empty"

or

"it seems no-one here knows where to go from here, including this railroad track (shot of twisted railroad)"

its all very ironic

[DSBurroughs]

Did anyone else here about these Christian nut jobs who were saying that they saw an image of a fetus in the radar of the hurricane, and so it must be god's way of punishing people for allowing abortion? Or that since there was supposed to be some kind of gay pride gathering in the French Quarter the day the hurricane hit, it was god's way of pushing homosexuality?

...Cuz I did. And I thought it was lame.

[xbxDaniel]

Some kids at school talked about the fetus thing, but it was pretty fucked up, they were saying that it was a curse on New Orleans from the lord.

[Skulhedface]

Well while we're discussing outlandish theories maybe it's because Bush sucks. Divine retribution.

It's the explanation I feel best with.

[Chojin]

If it was a curse on New Orleands from THE LAWD, chances are it had a lot more to do with it being the most dangerous city in the nation and a lot less to do with dead babies.

[kellychaos]

I saw an image of a feces in the hurricane. Holy Shit!

[Skulhedface]

With all the looting going on in the aftermath, it looked less like divine retribution and more like a fabulous prize jackpot bonanza.

God is a game show host.

[Matt Harty]

NINJA LOOTER

[sadie]

from what i understand, the french quarter was one of the least damaged areas of new orleans.

[Cosmo Electrolux]

the French Quarter is the oldest area in New Orleans, and the highest too.....

[Slinky Ferret]

Can someone explain why they want everyone out? If people want to stay there can't they be given food and water. I know pumping the water out is going to take some time but surely its a choice. Some people are trying to return to normal or are clinging on to all they have left.

What I don't understand is why the looters are taking televisions? What use is a huge television when there is no electricity?

[Studio8]

They want people out because everything is gross and people are dying. Looters want television sets because they are not smart people and just want free stuff.
I know everything.

[DamnthatDavid]

Aye, the land is covered in water. Many houses still have dead trapped within them, turns out, the living are more concerned about rescuing the living before plagues set in.

[kellychaos]

Can someone explain why they want everyone out? If people want to stay there can't they be given food and water. I know pumping the water out is going to take some time but surely its a choice. Some people are trying to return to normal or are clinging on to all they have left.

What I don't understand is why the looters are taking televisions? What use is a huge television when there is no electricity?

Sewage, dead bodies floating, ecoli bacteria, dmaged gas and electrical lines, ect.

I.E. The usual stuff after a major catastrophe. :/

[Slinky Ferret]

:/ I'm so not with it some times!!!!! Doh!

I just keep thinking of people sitting on their porch watching people sailing by.

[Jeanette X]

I work at the local Rite Aid, and my manager said that 48 Rite Aids were destroyed, and that 2 of them can't be rebuilt because the land that they were on is now permenently swampland.

[Girl Drink Drunk]

I am sorry to here that.

[Skulhedface]

Bumped for this Rita bullshit...

While watching New Orleans get put underwater by Katrina was fun since I was on the west side of that storm and caught nary but a drizzle, unfortunately I'm on the east side of this big mufugga in south central Louisiana so this one will probably be the one I should've been paranoid about.

Now I think I know how Florida feels.

[kellychaos]

The hurricane is SO not my friend! >: