The low life imbeciles who left pets behind in the Houma area to survive Hurricane Gustav.
From Hurricane Katrina dot org website:
in places like Terrebonne, LaFourche and St. Mary’s Parishes have been trying to work through the system to find out information. When no information could be obtained, individuals made their way to Houma on Wednesday 9/3 and again on 9/4.
Animals found include the following:
A pitbull, crated in a garage, dead from lack of food and water
A puppy, locked in a garage, no food or water
3 pitbulls, no food, 1 no shelter, 2 in kennels, all chained
7 cats with no food outside a house, no idea how many inside
3 Catahoula dogs, loose
2 yellow laborador dogs, loose, now tied to telephone pole
Dead dog and puppy were photographed, live animals were left food and water, and neighbors were left with more food in case residents do not come back within 2 days.
I am nauseated that people would treat their pets this way. I wish there were some way to keep these numbnuts from ever owning an animal again.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Friday, September 05, 2008
Gustav Annoyances
We stayed home for the storm. There were some annoyances we wanted to avoid, like trying to get back home. While escaping highway gridlock and over zealous authorities, we were held hostage by other minor irritations..
Aaron Broussard - King of Jefferson Parish
What an obnoxious little gnome this guy is. Even though there were originally 20 Parishes affected by Hurricane Gustav (Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Lafourche, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. James, Terrebonne, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana) Broussard insisted on parading his little gang of minions out at least twice a day for an hour on live TV to talk about every minute happening in Jeff Parish. All other Parish Presidents passed along status of things via WWL radio or call in's to local TV, including LaFouche Parish, which saw Gustav's eyewall.
Ray Nagin. Need I say more?
Jackie Clarkson - Brown-Nose-at-Large, City of NOLA
Orleans Parish was the other entity that insisted upon having all of the elected officials appear on stage while Nagin and company blathered on about how well everything was going. Clarkson seemed to be attached to Ray-Ray's hip during every press conference. She busted a gut everytime Ray said something "humorous". Ugh.
Press Coverage
I got this message from a lot of folks from out of town....all they're covering is New Orleans.
more on the talking heads here
Gustav came ashore a near Houma
Although I will admit that the video from the Intracoastal Waterway in New Orleans WAS pretty damn dramatic footage. Thank God it didn't cause a lot of damage.
Geraldo....blech
Whiners
Craig over at Metroblogging puts it well:
Speaking of bite me — it’s been pretty easy to tell who stayed during the storm and who evacuated. Those who stayed have been patient and shown a good sense of humor as we’ve come back up to speed this week. They’re just glad to have someplace to go that has power and a/c and is serving a semblance of a normal menu. A lot of them don’t have power at home yet, so they’re pretty much just happy to show up. But a lot of those who bugged out are just coming back — and they expect (they sometimes DEMAND) that things be just like they were a week ago, before the storm kinda threw everything out of whack for awhile.
The whiners evacuated as they were told to by the "authorities". However, the minute the winds died down they insisted on coming home, not understanding that things were not as they left them. The minute they got to their houses, they wanted all of the comforts of daily life, not understanding that things were not as they left them. They whined on the radio, they whined on TV. They whined at everyone who would listen. Aside from those who desperately needed electricity and running water, I have no pity on these whiners. Do like the rest of us have done and PREPARE for the conditions you were told about.
Aaron Broussard - King of Jefferson Parish
What an obnoxious little gnome this guy is. Even though there were originally 20 Parishes affected by Hurricane Gustav (Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Lafourche, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. James, Terrebonne, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana) Broussard insisted on parading his little gang of minions out at least twice a day for an hour on live TV to talk about every minute happening in Jeff Parish. All other Parish Presidents passed along status of things via WWL radio or call in's to local TV, including LaFouche Parish, which saw Gustav's eyewall.
Ray Nagin. Need I say more?
Jackie Clarkson - Brown-Nose-at-Large, City of NOLA
Orleans Parish was the other entity that insisted upon having all of the elected officials appear on stage while Nagin and company blathered on about how well everything was going. Clarkson seemed to be attached to Ray-Ray's hip during every press conference. She busted a gut everytime Ray said something "humorous". Ugh.
Press Coverage
I got this message from a lot of folks from out of town....all they're covering is New Orleans.
more on the talking heads here
Gustav came ashore a near Houma
Although I will admit that the video from the Intracoastal Waterway in New Orleans WAS pretty damn dramatic footage. Thank God it didn't cause a lot of damage.
Geraldo....blech
Whiners
Craig over at Metroblogging puts it well:
Speaking of bite me — it’s been pretty easy to tell who stayed during the storm and who evacuated. Those who stayed have been patient and shown a good sense of humor as we’ve come back up to speed this week. They’re just glad to have someplace to go that has power and a/c and is serving a semblance of a normal menu. A lot of them don’t have power at home yet, so they’re pretty much just happy to show up. But a lot of those who bugged out are just coming back — and they expect (they sometimes DEMAND) that things be just like they were a week ago, before the storm kinda threw everything out of whack for awhile.
The whiners evacuated as they were told to by the "authorities". However, the minute the winds died down they insisted on coming home, not understanding that things were not as they left them. The minute they got to their houses, they wanted all of the comforts of daily life, not understanding that things were not as they left them. They whined on the radio, they whined on TV. They whined at everyone who would listen. Aside from those who desperately needed electricity and running water, I have no pity on these whiners. Do like the rest of us have done and PREPARE for the conditions you were told about.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Evacuation issues
This was originally published in the Times Picayune, but was deleted by the TP.
Next time, we won't leave
Posted by James O'Byrne, staff writer, Times-Picayune September 02, 2008 8:11PM
The next time, my family will stay. I'm sure that Gov. Bobby Jindal, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Mayor Ray Nagin, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard and all the other public officials mean well. I'm sure they thought it was a good idea to panic people into leaving. I'm sure they believe it's in the public's best interest to stay away while they clean up.
But the evacuation of the metro area in advance of Gustav, and the subsequent policies regarding re-entry, will guarantee that in the next major storm to strike the region - which may occur in a matter of days or weeks - many more people will be at risk. The slightest bit of vision, combined with an open ear to the anger and frustration of this hurricane-weary citizenry, would make the government officials responsible realize that they helped to make this happen.
Under Louisiana law, it is still legally not possible to forcibly remove people from their property and make them leave in advance of an approaching storm. So every evacuation becomes an implicit contract between the officials and the public. You tell us the truth, and the risks as the scientists and forecasters see it. We'll try to make good decisions for the sake of our families.
When that contract is broken, as I believe it was in the case of Gustav, then the tradeoff is that fewer people leave the next time. Here's three rules that public officials must follow if they want people to evacuate in significant numbers again:
Rule No. 1: Don't exaggerate and force a panic.
It is not supposed to be the business of public officials to panic people with disinformation, misinformation, or downright lies. To call Gustav "the mother of all storms" 900 miles wide, as Mayor Nagin did, was demonstrably untrue, and an insult to Katrina and all who suffered through that storm. Gustav had hurricane force winds extending 50 miles from its center. Katrina, by comparison, had hurricane force winds extending 105 miles from the center. It was 50 percent more powerful, and carved a path of destruction more than twice as wide as Gustav.
Mayor Nagin on Saturday night, while foreshadowing his plan to call for a mandatory evacuation on Sunday, proclaimed that everyone should "leave now." It worked, but how shocking was it that Interstate 10 east and Interstate 59 became complete gridlock, and a place of suffering for people trying to escape the storm? At the time Nagin made his breathless proclamation, the National Hurricane Center had already issued an advisory describing how forces of shear and dry air were inhibiting Gustav's strength, and how all of the computer models -- all of them -- were showing the storm moving west of New Orleans.
To one degree or another, this pattern repeated itself across the metro area. Public officials succeeded in panicking the populace into fleeing - this time. But such a tack will not succeed as well the next. There are those who will say that people must heed the warning to leave, because even though Gustav missed New Orleans, the next one might not. It could be so much worse the next time, they argue. That may be true.
But the one commodity that is absolutely essential in communication between officialdom and its populace in times of crisis is credibility. It was cast aside this time in favor of hyperbole and exaggeration calculated to induce panic. The fact that it worked so well this time almost guarantees that the next time it won't.
Rule No. 2: Don't respond to people's criticisms and complaints about how things went by telling them this is how it's supposed to be.
Sixteen hours to Birmingham, 23 hours to Tuscaloosa, 14 hours to Pensacola. In many cases, these horrific journeys were made with infants and the elderly, trapped on the interstate, blocked from exiting for hours and hours, with no hope of food, gas or bathroom facilities. Yet when public officials, standing in their air-conditioned Emergency Operations Centers, were questioned about what went wrong, they responded that everything worked well, and this is how it's supposed to be. Back to that contract. If people don't actually have to leave, and they are telling their public officials that this evacuation did not work well, the correct response to that message is not, "You're wrong, it did." Because if there is no hope of improvement in the time it takes to get out of harm's way, then the next time many thousands won't go.
Rule No. 3: You have to let people return to their property as soon as humanly possible.
Yes, I know that in many cases, there is still some modicum of danger on the streets, what with tree limbs and power poles and all manner of difficulties, just as it's dangerous to live here in the first place, dangerous to evacuate, dangerous to return on highways clogged with angry and frustrated citizens.
News flash: We know it's dangerous to live here. We accept the possibility of no gas, no power, no readily available food. We're Katrina survivors. We'll figure it out.
But if the enduring image of Gustav is a U.S. soldier with an M-16 denying a citizen the right to return to his home, then you can pretty much write off the next "mandatory" evacuation. Leaving your home in advance of a storm is an extraordinarily stressful, difficult, traumatic and expensive proposition. The one thing that must be honored is that people must be allowed to return to their homes as soon as humanly possible.
As a journalist, I spent the past two days driving around reporting on the storm. And by Tuesday afternoon, this city was as safe as it needed to be. Indeed, all those tree branches and debris would be picked up and stacked neatly on the curb by lunchtime on Wednesday if people had been allowed to come home.
I fully appreciate the risks of letting my family stay. But I have to weigh that risk against the alternate risks, of getting trapped in an endless evacuation traffic jam, of being stranded on a highway far from help, of not being able to return in a timely manner, to secure our property and come back to as much of a normal life as possible.
New Orleans is my home. I love it, and I choose to keep living here. But if you are a public official who wants me to leave for the next storm, then you have to hear what I am telling you. It's time to rewrite the contract.
•••••••
James O'Byrne
Posted by James O'Byrne, staff writer, Times-Picayune September 02, 2008 8:11PM
The next time, my family will stay. I'm sure that Gov. Bobby Jindal, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Mayor Ray Nagin, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard and all the other public officials mean well. I'm sure they thought it was a good idea to panic people into leaving. I'm sure they believe it's in the public's best interest to stay away while they clean up.
But the evacuation of the metro area in advance of Gustav, and the subsequent policies regarding re-entry, will guarantee that in the next major storm to strike the region - which may occur in a matter of days or weeks - many more people will be at risk. The slightest bit of vision, combined with an open ear to the anger and frustration of this hurricane-weary citizenry, would make the government officials responsible realize that they helped to make this happen.
Under Louisiana law, it is still legally not possible to forcibly remove people from their property and make them leave in advance of an approaching storm. So every evacuation becomes an implicit contract between the officials and the public. You tell us the truth, and the risks as the scientists and forecasters see it. We'll try to make good decisions for the sake of our families.
When that contract is broken, as I believe it was in the case of Gustav, then the tradeoff is that fewer people leave the next time. Here's three rules that public officials must follow if they want people to evacuate in significant numbers again:
Rule No. 1: Don't exaggerate and force a panic.
It is not supposed to be the business of public officials to panic people with disinformation, misinformation, or downright lies. To call Gustav "the mother of all storms" 900 miles wide, as Mayor Nagin did, was demonstrably untrue, and an insult to Katrina and all who suffered through that storm. Gustav had hurricane force winds extending 50 miles from its center. Katrina, by comparison, had hurricane force winds extending 105 miles from the center. It was 50 percent more powerful, and carved a path of destruction more than twice as wide as Gustav.
Mayor Nagin on Saturday night, while foreshadowing his plan to call for a mandatory evacuation on Sunday, proclaimed that everyone should "leave now." It worked, but how shocking was it that Interstate 10 east and Interstate 59 became complete gridlock, and a place of suffering for people trying to escape the storm? At the time Nagin made his breathless proclamation, the National Hurricane Center had already issued an advisory describing how forces of shear and dry air were inhibiting Gustav's strength, and how all of the computer models -- all of them -- were showing the storm moving west of New Orleans.
To one degree or another, this pattern repeated itself across the metro area. Public officials succeeded in panicking the populace into fleeing - this time. But such a tack will not succeed as well the next. There are those who will say that people must heed the warning to leave, because even though Gustav missed New Orleans, the next one might not. It could be so much worse the next time, they argue. That may be true.
But the one commodity that is absolutely essential in communication between officialdom and its populace in times of crisis is credibility. It was cast aside this time in favor of hyperbole and exaggeration calculated to induce panic. The fact that it worked so well this time almost guarantees that the next time it won't.
Rule No. 2: Don't respond to people's criticisms and complaints about how things went by telling them this is how it's supposed to be.
Sixteen hours to Birmingham, 23 hours to Tuscaloosa, 14 hours to Pensacola. In many cases, these horrific journeys were made with infants and the elderly, trapped on the interstate, blocked from exiting for hours and hours, with no hope of food, gas or bathroom facilities. Yet when public officials, standing in their air-conditioned Emergency Operations Centers, were questioned about what went wrong, they responded that everything worked well, and this is how it's supposed to be. Back to that contract. If people don't actually have to leave, and they are telling their public officials that this evacuation did not work well, the correct response to that message is not, "You're wrong, it did." Because if there is no hope of improvement in the time it takes to get out of harm's way, then the next time many thousands won't go.
Rule No. 3: You have to let people return to their property as soon as humanly possible.
Yes, I know that in many cases, there is still some modicum of danger on the streets, what with tree limbs and power poles and all manner of difficulties, just as it's dangerous to live here in the first place, dangerous to evacuate, dangerous to return on highways clogged with angry and frustrated citizens.
News flash: We know it's dangerous to live here. We accept the possibility of no gas, no power, no readily available food. We're Katrina survivors. We'll figure it out.
But if the enduring image of Gustav is a U.S. soldier with an M-16 denying a citizen the right to return to his home, then you can pretty much write off the next "mandatory" evacuation. Leaving your home in advance of a storm is an extraordinarily stressful, difficult, traumatic and expensive proposition. The one thing that must be honored is that people must be allowed to return to their homes as soon as humanly possible.
As a journalist, I spent the past two days driving around reporting on the storm. And by Tuesday afternoon, this city was as safe as it needed to be. Indeed, all those tree branches and debris would be picked up and stacked neatly on the curb by lunchtime on Wednesday if people had been allowed to come home.
I fully appreciate the risks of letting my family stay. But I have to weigh that risk against the alternate risks, of getting trapped in an endless evacuation traffic jam, of being stranded on a highway far from help, of not being able to return in a timely manner, to secure our property and come back to as much of a normal life as possible.
New Orleans is my home. I love it, and I choose to keep living here. But if you are a public official who wants me to leave for the next storm, then you have to hear what I am telling you. It's time to rewrite the contract.
•••••••
James O'Byrne
Oh, Ray-Ray
Ray Nagin is so screwy. As we were listening to the radio yesterday, we caught a telephone interview from WDSU.com between Nagin and Eric Paulsen. In a "did he really say that" moment, we heard a few gems:
..... this was the worst storm in the history of Baton Rouge. That’s what we’re missing here. God was smiling on us. It kind of made a happy face around New Orleans, but then it took off through the rest of the state.
....no one will be turned back if you have identification card that you live in the metropolitan area. Now if you’re coming from out of town, if you’re a Tampa Bay fan, we’re turning them around. We don’t need them in our stadium anyway (chuckles). This is just today. Tampa Bay fans can come in tomorrow
..... this was the worst storm in the history of Baton Rouge. That’s what we’re missing here. God was smiling on us. It kind of made a happy face around New Orleans, but then it took off through the rest of the state.
....no one will be turned back if you have identification card that you live in the metropolitan area. Now if you’re coming from out of town, if you’re a Tampa Bay fan, we’re turning them around. We don’t need them in our stadium anyway (chuckles). This is just today. Tampa Bay fans can come in tomorrow
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Gustav is coming.....
Four thirty on Sunday night. Apparently the first bands of the storm are passing over us, but I can't tell. With boards on all of the windows, it's like being in a cave.
We went out searching for ice earlier this morning. We rode from one end of Gause Blvd. to the other. After ten or so stops, we came up with nothing. On our way back, we were stopped at a redlight by a Rite Aid that was just closing and there was a pile of BAGS OF ICE, free for the taking!!! It was wild. We pulled in and got six bags as two other people took the rest. What a great suprise. So I think we'll be okay when the electricity goes out.
I have still been hearing blue jays and cicadas throughout the day. I think (hope) that's a positive sight.
Gustav is still a strong storm, but the winds are slowing down. Now if we can just make it jog to the west a wee bit more.
Doing my final cooking chore (chicken wings). Loaded with candles, bread,sandwich meat, pnut butter, snacks, gin & tonic beer and water. I think we'll be okay. Oh yeah! and a few 7 year old xanax pills to get us thru that horrible sound of the wind. I hate that part.
The cats are still pretty laid back and I'm hoping that continues.
See y'all on the other side.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
It's in the wait
Ray writes about what we on the Gulf Coast have been doing all week. Waiting.
We originally had plans to evac to Hammond, but that was for Saturday thru Monday. THAT turned out to be no good. So much for planning ahead, huh? Then I tried for hours to find a place as far north as Memphis....nada.
So, we will hunker down with our five cats (got some tranquilizers for them) the same as we did for Katrina, here at home. And wait.
Let's hope Gustav leaves the whole state alone. There isn't any section of south Louisiana that didn't feel the affects of Katrina & Rita and people are just getting on their feet.
Watching the non stop local new reports last night there was one humorous thing: the Sheriff of
Terrebone Parish, where Gustav is supposed to hit (as of now) told residents that there will be curfews so they'd better stock up on liquor and cigarettes now. I kid you not!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Katrina Three Years Later
Groundskeepers of Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery place 1464 white flags, etched with hand-printed names of those who lost their lives during Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the federal levees. (Photo from T.P)
We can never forget what happened across the Gulf Coast on that Monday morning in 2005.
People choose to live where they do for their own reasons. They choose to live with the threat of tornadoes, landlsides, massive blizzards and earthquakes. Here is why the people of New Orleans - and the rest of us residing on the Gulf Coast - choose to live here.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Helping the Animals
If you can, please do:
St. Tammany Humane Society seeking storm refuge for animals
by The Times-Picayune Wednesday August 27, 2008, 11:32 AM
The St. Tammany Humane Society is seeking emergency foster homes for numerous dogs and cats in preparation for the arrival of Gustav.
The Covington-area shelter, which is prone to flooding, has 92 dogs and 60 cats not enough vehicles or volunteers to transport them to safety, the organization said in a news release.
The facility on Harrison Avenue can take in water during a heavy thunderstorm, so a hurricane brings the threat of real damage and danger, the release said.
The organization is asking the public to provide temporary foster homes for the animals beginning Thursday and bring them back Wednesday after the storm has passed. The shelter also is interested in any transport programs available, the release said.
The shelter is no longer accepting animals, and the parish Department of Animal Services has already closed due to hurricane preparedness, according to the release.
For information on fostering an animal from the St. Tammany Humane Society, call 985-892-PETS(7387).
St. Tammany Humane Society seeking storm refuge for animals
by The Times-Picayune Wednesday August 27, 2008, 11:32 AM
The St. Tammany Humane Society is seeking emergency foster homes for numerous dogs and cats in preparation for the arrival of Gustav.
The Covington-area shelter, which is prone to flooding, has 92 dogs and 60 cats not enough vehicles or volunteers to transport them to safety, the organization said in a news release.
The facility on Harrison Avenue can take in water during a heavy thunderstorm, so a hurricane brings the threat of real damage and danger, the release said.
The organization is asking the public to provide temporary foster homes for the animals beginning Thursday and bring them back Wednesday after the storm has passed. The shelter also is interested in any transport programs available, the release said.
The shelter is no longer accepting animals, and the parish Department of Animal Services has already closed due to hurricane preparedness, according to the release.
For information on fostering an animal from the St. Tammany Humane Society, call 985-892-PETS(7387).
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Unscientific Poll
Latest from New Orleans CityBusiness Poll:
Q: Three years after Katrina, why is the New Orleans area not fully recovered?
responses here
Q: Three years after Katrina, why is the New Orleans area not fully recovered?
responses here
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