Hobo Jungle
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P&R Pete
Rack em! and Katrina's legacy
What a view from the engineer's seat! Thanks for sharing.
I am thinking of all the lives lost, homes and properties and layouts and family momentos lost... and the realization that a great deal of the loss of life was preventable and the ones that died during this week AFTER the storm passed was mostly criminal negligence or dereliction of duty.
the scale of this is just numbing.
The worst (beyond the HUGE loss of life) is only beginning to get reported...
We have an immediate effort to help who we can where we can,but there must be a solid forward looking effort to reconstruct as well. The entire region is a integral, vital part of our economy and lives. It must be cleaned up and rebuilt better than it is and was. not just a bandaid but a big push.
One of the awful parts is that communications is so thoroughly smashed and crippled (like phones and cell towers and switches) that MANY MANY PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA IF THEIR RELATIVES ARE SAFE OR LOST OR EVEN AWARE AND WILL BE THIS WAY FOR WEEKS AND WEEKS TO COME.
Railroad reference: Amtrak NOW (5 days late)has "3" trains taking in total! out about 1,950 people a day.
If we had a first class modern passenger rail instead of handme down tracks and fifty year old technology, we could have EVACUATED many of the people who were lost, and many of those who went thru a hell week.How were thousands of elderly,nursing home patients and so on going to be transported? The plans were they weren't! No car, so, no leaving....sorry! Ridiculous and useless and criminal!
We must have modern efficient rail, not only for New Orleans but other major cities as well.
An evacuation that relies on millions of cars and gridlock (like happened in earlier Florida hurricanes) and 12 hours or more stuck in traffic (as in New Orleans) exposes the utter futility of the "mass transit' scheme that sells cars for GM and carnage and death for Americans when a crisis hits.
We have to do better, and the losers(politicos and lobbyists) who porkbarrel projects and give the auto companies and oil companies break after break that hurts the rest of us have to be REPLACED and shamed and sidelined.
I am not going to stay mum to avoid ruffling the sensitivities of the incumbents and seat warmers.
There were FEMA people who objected to aid or turned BACK convoys of boats,trucks etc, because "permission hadn't been given"or other nonesense. One of the operating ideas was that to give aid in certain locations inside NewOrleans would be to encourage people to STAY. To deny them was to "force them out!"
How utterly inhumane and stupid. Even the Nazis let the Red Cross operate in stricken cities after battles.
The FEMA goons did not. Red Cross was repeatedly forbidden to drive in supplies on Tuesday Wednesday Thursday,and Friday. Ask their regional reps on the ground.
Some of the things done by the political appointees (not the professionals or first responders) was CRIMINAL.
Without names.....
RR Rocky,in shock and awe and sadness.
I am thinking of all the lives lost, homes and properties and layouts and family momentos lost... and the realization that a great deal of the loss of life was preventable and the ones that died during this week AFTER the storm passed was mostly criminal negligence or dereliction of duty.
the scale of this is just numbing.
The worst (beyond the HUGE loss of life) is only beginning to get reported...
We have an immediate effort to help who we can where we can,but there must be a solid forward looking effort to reconstruct as well. The entire region is a integral, vital part of our economy and lives. It must be cleaned up and rebuilt better than it is and was. not just a bandaid but a big push.
One of the awful parts is that communications is so thoroughly smashed and crippled (like phones and cell towers and switches) that MANY MANY PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA IF THEIR RELATIVES ARE SAFE OR LOST OR EVEN AWARE AND WILL BE THIS WAY FOR WEEKS AND WEEKS TO COME.
Railroad reference: Amtrak NOW (5 days late)has "3" trains taking in total! out about 1,950 people a day.
If we had a first class modern passenger rail instead of handme down tracks and fifty year old technology, we could have EVACUATED many of the people who were lost, and many of those who went thru a hell week.How were thousands of elderly,nursing home patients and so on going to be transported? The plans were they weren't! No car, so, no leaving....sorry! Ridiculous and useless and criminal!
We must have modern efficient rail, not only for New Orleans but other major cities as well.
An evacuation that relies on millions of cars and gridlock (like happened in earlier Florida hurricanes) and 12 hours or more stuck in traffic (as in New Orleans) exposes the utter futility of the "mass transit' scheme that sells cars for GM and carnage and death for Americans when a crisis hits.
We have to do better, and the losers(politicos and lobbyists) who porkbarrel projects and give the auto companies and oil companies break after break that hurts the rest of us have to be REPLACED and shamed and sidelined.
I am not going to stay mum to avoid ruffling the sensitivities of the incumbents and seat warmers.
There were FEMA people who objected to aid or turned BACK convoys of boats,trucks etc, because "permission hadn't been given"or other nonesense. One of the operating ideas was that to give aid in certain locations inside NewOrleans would be to encourage people to STAY. To deny them was to "force them out!"
How utterly inhumane and stupid. Even the Nazis let the Red Cross operate in stricken cities after battles.
The FEMA goons did not. Red Cross was repeatedly forbidden to drive in supplies on Tuesday Wednesday Thursday,and Friday. Ask their regional reps on the ground.
Some of the things done by the political appointees (not the professionals or first responders) was CRIMINAL.
Without names.....
RR Rocky,in shock and awe and sadness.
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P&R Pete
Cheeses H. Rice, welcome back! Worried the hell out of us.
You and yours all in one piece?
Pete, I've been down on the coast helping with my guard unit. One of the things that has been hampering operations in both states are roving looters. One Blackhawk pilot was shot in the leg while making a recovery and I spoke with a civilian Huey pilot who was assisting removing patients from a hospital when he started getting shot at. A group of army engineers was shot at yesterday, and when the State Police returned fire, eight looters were dead.(about time) Martial law has finally been enacted for the coast.I don't understand what anything POLITICAL has to do with us being shot at while trying to help.
Running that red block Charlie.
Good to see you back Jon,getting shot at sucks when you are only trying to help. Taking those kind of people down is about all you can do. I hear a lot of fingerpointing and all going on and really there is plenty of time for that later. Everybody needs to stick together like our parents and grandparents did in WW2 and keep this country great we can do it. A lot of mistakes were made all around but dwelling on it will not help anyone. Jon maybe some day we mite get to serve together, bring your german beer maiden with you. Chief 
Tramp!! Great to hear from you as well!!!!!! An excellent point on the passenger trains! With the rising price of fuel it would be an excellent alternative. I would opt for some enterprising person to start it up and not have it government funded though. How do you feel on that matter?
Running that red block Charlie.
highrailjon wrote:Word, Chief!! It's sickening how the media is trying to turn this disaster into a political football. They need to put down their cameras and pens and pick up a shovel and help, or shut the **** up.
I definitely second that motion! The media is worse than a pack of rabid dogs. They need to leave the people trying to help alone. They may have screwed the pooch to start with, but trying to take the stick out of their hand when they are fighting off the gators is not going to help at all. Now is not the time for finger pointing. It's the time for getting all the help possible to the people that need it.
Jon, Glad to see you're back safe.
Too (O)ld for (n)scale by (30)years.
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