Hi,

I've just got back from a short business visit to New Orleans. It just stuns me that the richest, most powerful nation on Earth has done so little to help repair the damage from Katrina. I'm not an expert in US Federal disaster relief or anything, but surely more could be done. I was staggered by what I saw and felt ashamed that I (an Englishman, who really has nothing to do with this at all) could do no more than donate some money to one of the many charities.

I know that the scale of the damage is going to take years to sort out, but there just didn't seems to be any evidence of anything going on. Yeah, they've rebuilt/rebuilding the tourist parts, woo fucking hoo.

How does America sleep knowing that people are still suffering? Can someone reassure me that something is being done?

You may be aware of this, but most of those people were black.


But seriously, I was down there in October it was really sad, and I didn't even go into the east end of the city. This is far more complicated than just moving people back, many people have setup new lives and homes and meth labs in cities that sponsered them with the cleanup was taking place. People shouldn't have to go back if they don't want to.

On a big pile of money with their beautiful wife

The question is, why does New Orleans need to be repaired? The residents have filed their insurance claims and moved on. Many of them have found lives elsewhere in cities with a relatively lower probability of being covered with water, and many of which also offer more opportunities than New Orleans did. I think the thing about any kind of major natural disaster is that it tends to make permanent changes to the affected population.

I wonder if fewer had done that if they had had more support in reconstruction.

Why wouldn't they? They've already been moved to other cities which offer more opportunities than New Orleans did. How do we know they didn't have the opportunity to have their homes rebuilt, but simply chose not to?

i think about half the city has moved back, so i think your whole 'they've all left and its fine now' thing doesn't really work here.

In a big bed with my boyfriend. He has an electric blanket and feather pillows. Mmmm.

LOL. Honestly, the rebuilding of the Katrina destroyed areas wasn't up to us as a people - it was up to our government. And you very well know what they'd rather be spending their money on. It wasn't our choice, but anyone who speaks up about it is basically ignored. Destroying Iraq is clearly more important than rebuilding our own homes. It's fucked up, and we all know it, but until enough people demand fair elections and a government that acts the interests of it's people, there's nothing that we can do. So long as "Jesus Jesus terrorists terrorists terrorists Jesus Jesus Hey!" is in style, the rest of us are fucked.

I was able to park right on the street in front of Jackson Square on a friday night. Even with half the people back it's totally changed. From the main in-roads there are 4 or 5 blocks of abandoned houses before you start seeing rebuilding. Not people living there, just rebuilding. It's really shocking to see if you had been there before the storm hit. I can't blame anyone for not wanting to go back, or even rebuild their homes. It's inevitable that another hurricane will pass through there and I wouldn't want to go through it again if I were them.

I've always questioned why we as a government are pouring money into New Orleans. Are these new levees really going to hold during a big hurricane?

Why not?

because you said "They've already been moved to other cities" and you're ignoring about 200,000 people.

yeah we shouldn't even try, just let those fuckers drown.

right?

So basically from what I can gather here, the US Government has not done very much.

Great. I'm sure that the US people can be very proud of their government who would rather blow up foreigners than rebuild the beautiful city that is New Orleans.

It's a bloody shame.

'out of sight, out of mind'

Um, hello? The majority of us aren't happy. But we are basically powerless against a crooked government.

I know, I just forgot the stupid sarcasm arrow thing.

I usually have to jack off before I pass out, but then I sleep like a rock.

So you think it makes sense to pour money into the city even though it could be destroyed again this summer? If people want to live there, that is fine. But to pour millions of dollars into revitalizing a city that sits below sea level and is prone to hurricanes is borderline moronic.

Thanks for sharing. You do realize that your PM's main function for the last 7 yrs has been to lovingly tongue Bush's anus at every turn right? Yes the federal relief effort is slow-moving, ineffective, and I'm sure choked with bureaucracy; show me the gov't of a major industrialized nation that doesn't have the same problems. Plus you're talking about rebuilding 80% of a 200 yr old city, and it has been only a yr & 1/2 or so since the whole thing was under water. We all think it sucks too and we wish we were using our resources at home.