IRENE was a three yesterday now she is a TWO. Doesn't mean you guys won't catch holy Hell when it arrives. Taking the nonchalant, "It's no big deal, we are tough and have seen worse" is what Mayor Nagan said just before he dove under his desk.

As your own mayor Bloomberg has suggested, better safe than sorry.

We can joke about the over zealous reaction Monday morning when everyone comes out safe. For now, beware and be prepared.

Our prayers are with you guys.


franc

 

batten down the hatches east coasters....she's comin' a big blow....be safe...don't get in over your head......and I mean over your head...

 

Make sure you have comprehensive coverage on your car. If possible go with the lowest deductible offered. Hopefully you can still do this. Many insurance companies have a moratorium in place right now in the affected area's and can not write new coverage or change existing coverages but it's worth a try. Comprehensive by the way covers water damage and flying objects that may hit your car. My car is in the garage and I'm still nervous!

 

While I realize you are the go- to "expert" for nearly every subject discussed on this forum, I think I can enlighten you as to why the feds took the hit for a lot of the destruction caused by Katrina in New Orleans.

The Federal Government, that is to say the Army Corps of Engineers, designed, built and where in charge of inspecting and maintaing the levees built by them to protect the New Orleans area.

During the mid-fifties in the Corps, in their infinate wisdom dug a channel from damn near the center of New Orleans connecting to the Intracoastal Canal and the Gulf of Mexico. This was done to accommodate federally connected corporations and oilfield supply companies. It provided quicker access to the Gulf by hours eliminating the 21 hour route down the Missippi River.

In September of 1965 Hurricane Betsy barrelled into New Orleans. There was wide spread damage but the channel dug by our federal government funneled the tidal surge into the city collapsing levees and flooding only the eastern side of the city. A cry went out by the residents of the city that this federaly built channel needed to be closed. The interest of the people was over ruled yet again locally and nationally because businesses would have to relocate and jobs would be lost. The politacaly connected would win out again.

Forty years later we have Katrina. The 'hundred year storm". The tidal surge again is funneled into the city. The levees built to contain drainage canals of the city are collapsed by the tidal surge through Lake Pontchatrain to the north and west of the city.

Testimony by levee experts from Holland and through out the world varified that the levees were indeed under built. Army Corps of Engineer employees testified that levee inspections consisted of visually inspecting from their trucks to and from lunch. If a leak was discovered a report was filled out and sent up the chain of command. Get the picture?

So now, nearly six years to the day our new levee systems are nearly complete. The channel to the gulf is filled in and our beloved city is safe from tidal surges thanks to billions of O U R tax dollars. And I know it's true because the head of the Army Corps of Enginees told us so.

If you live any where near a structure designed and maintained by the Corps of engineers, be wary.

Understand, there were more people just like you whose lives were changed forever, than the people on whom the media focused.

I pray for the people along the Atlantic Seaboard. It's not just the storm, it's all the unknowns. Secure your belongings and if you can leave. I hope it doesn't take four weeks for you to get home like us.

 

I amhardy anexpert. Just another smuck with a somewhat reasoned opinion.

Too bad your explanation is not what we saw in the post Katrina media frenzy. Where was the loud voice when the years of mistakes you explained were heaped upon the man who had nothing to do with them?

What caused the disaster was years of hoping it wouldn't happen. What caused the pain and suffering was the incompetence of those on the ground when the inevitable did. Not FEMA and not Washington DC.

In their arrogance the governor of the State and the Mayor of the city told DC to hold off. Bad choices in a city full of people who apparently have come to depend on the Government for everything. Including their sense of self preservation.

The eastern seaboard is very different. Most of the folks on the coast are hardworking, tough, and self aware. They will do fine, in spite of the goverment.

roadster with a stick

 

I agree....with your first seven.. ah six words.

 

Start another thread in the politics section you cranky old bastards , too many personal blows for the "cars" section; although this thread doesn't really belong here anyway.

 

Then you shouldn't have called me one.

But thanks for your well reasoned post. Seriously.



Downward Spiral is right though, if you wish to duke this subject out, start a thread.

If you just wish to just flame, this isn't the place.

roadster with a stick

 

thank you all for the advice! 70mph winds may or may not damage my car but i dont really wanna find out, i'd rather be safe than sorry, afterall i have bad crossfire luck (if any of you remember i hit a deer and had a traffic light fall on my car within 2 monthes of each other) so if it does get bad enough i will move to a near-by parking garage and throw a cover over my car. I plan on staying with my family and getting through it...

-Jason

 

I agree with ya. This country is experiencing mass hysteria and hyposis from a brain washing media that is driving fear in the weather and the economy. I'm worried for the future of this country because the media is even messing with out economy with constant fear mongering with gloom and doom.

 

Will OCP become a reality?

I'll buy that for a dollar!

 

Couldn't agree more. When I read the original post I thought geeze this doesn't belong here. Then, after reading the entire post I realized that this kid always comes to this thread to learn and seek advice. The fact that he came here seeking advice at this time speaks volumes of just what a great forum this is. He values the advice he gets here.
Unfortunately, there are regular posters who always manage to bring their political views into the mix. There is a political thread for that purpose and I suspect it was created to deflect those who are obsessed, and provide a place to vent. I don't think this forum needs a political thread. It degrades the site IMHO.
The few times I've gone there it was nothing but a parroting of the evening news and the old party line. Let'em call in to am talk radio or Craig's List rant and rave section.

 

Just like it was in New Orleans.

Seriously what I don't get is why some people feel that any manner in which one attempts to mitigate or avoid disaster is a negative thing, and sitting around, doing nothing is somehow more noble. If you head for the hills and nothing happens - you had a nice road trip. If you sit home and end up getting plucked off the roof of your house by a helicopter after 3 days...

And, of course, the people who refuse to do anything to be prepared for the worse, then end up looking to those who did prepare, for help and resources.

 

He sold the black one???

 

One thing for sure, you'd never want to lay any of the blame on the people who were told to evacuate and refused to do so.

... and when it happens again, you'd never want to blame to morons who decided moving back into a city below sea level was a good idea.

After Katrina, they should have leveled the whole city and made it into a nice ocean front park.

 

OCP...They'll fix you,,,,They fix everything..................

 

The winds won' hurt your car, it is the debris inthewinds that will ding it. I am sure you get that. Apparently the concept escapes others here.

This is not a "panic" on your part although some would make it so. You just want to keep it safe and pristine. For those in Texas or Kansas or anywhere the storm is not,the comfort of piety is convenient.

Find a safe place, a parking garage, a storage garage, maybe even Texas, and stop the worry.

 

Agreed. It was not the fault of the Corps of engineers that people wanted to live in New Orleans, some five feet under sea water. And after two hundred years of historic failures to some of their projects, folks ought to get a clue.

Today the Big Easy defiantly lives. Again. Mother Nature really doesn't care.

Much of Lower Manhatten is on rubble fill. It is just high enough for normal tide swings and average storms. Nothing is inherently wrong with that. But folks who live there are on borrowed land. And today borrowed time. Common sense dictates they should leave for a bit.

If they don't the agencies of our government will put people at risk to help them. hopefully it comes out well. If it doesn't, that failure would not be the fault of the responders.

 

My posts were not intended to be political but advice and comments on how to handle and react to the current situation. Basicaly not to depend on the government for your safety because historicaly the government fails here. Besides it is not their job to protect everyone from stubborn stupidity.

The authorities were warning, quite properly, everyone in unsafe areas to leave. Many here were suggesting such warnings as over reactions. Shall we repeat the stupidity of those in previous disasters?

If we cannot learn from history, we are destined to repeat it. The politics of Katrina taught so many, so little. One cannot speak of that disaster without invloving the politics. Because that frankly WAS the disaster of Katrina.

 

CNN is showing live video from Kill Devil Hills on the website. There is a Black Crossfire riding the storm out in the parking lot. Curious to see how she does...