New Orleans

[rory]

Any members from New Orleans?  Or anyone know anyone from there?  Looks like it's going to be another nasty one.   Is it time to abandon the city altogether?

[Longshanks]

Apperently their trying to crack down on the looting this time, as it was rife the lastime!

[mannix]

Its a bit of a kip in fairness and how they were allowed to rebuild is a mystery considering its close or below sea level.

[thejuice]

2 million people evacuated. Poor people. I know its hard to abandon your home but I don't think they should be too quick to return. With the way the weather systems are going it might be a regular occurrence, the Mayor told people that if they dont leave they're as good as dead. while one resturaunt owner said this;

"In some ways it's good that people are being given a chance to prepare but I think it's also an overreaction," he said.

"The rain has been stopping and starting and you can feel the pressure so you know a storm's on its way. It's feeling quite gusty. I've put some tape up in preparation around windows but that's it."

[thejuice]

Apparently its been down-graded, i think New Orleans has been missed by the main part of the hurricane,

[Hardy]

Why is the weather in Louisiana headline news in Ireland? RTÉ's lunchtime news had about fifteen minutes on it, including recordings of local news programmes over there. Surreal. Is there a reciprocal arrangement in place and when will they be carrying our weather forecast?

More to the point, when did RTE last do fifteen minutes at the top of the news on bad weather in unfashionable places like India or the Philippines?

[spectator]

how they were allowed to rebuild is a mystery considering its close or below sea level.

I think you'll find N.O. wasn't rebuilt, apart from one or two schools which served as useful PR backdrops for GWB's mug on primetime news

Talking of whom, I see George "Heckuva Job Brownie" Bush is wisely steering clear at the mo ...   

Or anyone know anyone from there? 

Big shout out to Martin & all at Ryans on Decatur - fanatic Tyronie from Moy, who shows live gaa and premiership if ye're ever stuck.

2 million people evacuated. Poor people. I know its hard to abandon your home but I don't think they should be too quick to return.

Many haven't returned since Katrina. I think the ones who were lucky enough to get back will be resigned to occasional future temporary evacuations, assuming Fema and the Fed gov don't abandon them again.

[dodgy umpire]

is it not all because of the levees not working properly? im not too well researched on the subject

[mannix]

And really who gives a shit?
do they give a damn what happens outside louisiana?
Do they care if Ireland was washed into the sea?
No. We must have little to worry about when a kip in the usa is our headline story.

[magickingdom]

And really who gives a shit?
do they give a damn what happens outside louisiana?
Do they care if Ireland was washed into the sea?
No. We must have little to worry about when a kip in the usa is our headline story.

i give a shit and am delighted new orleans seems to have got away with it, i'm pretty sure may people in louisiana also give a shit about what happens outside louisiana. finally i was there a few years ago and it aint a kip

[magickingdom]

Why is the weather in Louisiana headline news in Ireland? RTÉ's lunchtime news had about fifteen minutes on it, including recordings of local news programmes over there. Surreal. Is there a reciprocal arrangement in place and when will they be carrying our weather forecast?

More to the point, when did RTE last do fifteen minutes at the top of the news on bad weather in unfashionable places like India or the Philippines?

dunno, maybe because its not normal weather? had you the same problem with the tsunami coverage a while back?

[spectator]

is it not all because of the levees not working properly? im not too well researched on the subject

The levees have & are being being refurbished to avoid soil erosian from their bases in extreme conditions - a fundamental flaw which lead to their failure during Katrina - but it'll take a few years yet to refurbish them all.

The main problem as regards rebuilding is the extremely slow release of funds from the federal goverment.

Obviously, the poorer communities are very dependent on these funds to have their neighbourhoods rebuilt before they can return from wherever they were evacuated to. The city's housing stock shrank after Katrina causing the cost of renting to skyrocket, pricing out many people from returning to live in New Orleans.

No matter how much the levees are reinforced etc, it's be a brave soul who'd return to live somewhere like the lower ninth ward, considering its obliteration during Katrina.

These USA Today articles outline explain the rebuilding problems further ;

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-28-rebuild_N.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-13-katrinapoor_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

[Hardy]

Why is the weather in Louisiana headline news in Ireland? RTÉ's lunchtime news had about fifteen minutes on it, including recordings of local news programmes over there. Surreal. Is there a reciprocal arrangement in place and when will they be carrying our weather forecast?

More to the point, when did RTE last do fifteen minutes at the top of the news on bad weather in unfashionable places like India or the Philippines?

dunno, maybe because its not normal weather? had you the same problem with the tsunami coverage a while back?

No. Thousands were killed. It was news. This was a forecast of a storm. Not even news until it happens. We got fifteen minutes on the lunchtime news, ANTICIPATING the f****n thing"! And, as it happened, well it didn't.

I'm sure this wasn't the only major hurricane/typhoon that will threaten a heavily populated area this year. Will we get week-long previews of Pakistan's annual flooding that kills thousands every year but usually gets two lines in the news after it happens?

[Declan]

I'm sure this wasn't the only major hurricane/typhoon that will threaten a heavily populated area this year

Typhoon Nuri hit Hong Kong 10 days ago and the place was shut down for a day - did this make 15 mins on the main news??? Doubt it

[thejuice]

Ah now come on, a major western city possibly getting destroyed by hurricane is a big news storey. I do care what happens in Louisiana and I'd say if Ireland suffered a similar fate there would be a international whip around for funds to help us out and the US would contribute greatly I would imagine.

People in New Orleans and Louisiana will go back to devastated homes but people here are complaining about 15 minutes of it on the news, just change the channel for f**k sake.