Asymmetrical Information

My heartfelt wishes and prayers for the folks who have endured and survived this natural cataclysm.

This will yet again seperate the men from the boys as we watch how the various public officials handle this terrible situation.

So far the Gov. of Lousiana is not showing very much in the way of inspiration or leadership and her citizens are and will suffer for it.

I also think the the press is doing their usual inept job of trying to explain what things mean. If they stuck to reporting the facts instead of opining on them we would all be better off.

I just heard an ABC NEWSWOMAN talking about how she and the rest of the press corp would be leaving for Washington with the President.

The guy who was interviewing the newswoman asked her if the Presidents flight would take him over the N.O. area to view the devastation.

She replied 'Air Force One can fly low but probably not low enough so that the President could see stuff like the breeched levees'. (not verbatim)

This is from the ABC Radio Cheif Correspondent -- a woman who has repeatedly shown that she is clueless.

The constant drum beat of the MSM about gas and oil prices is probably adding to the upward pressure in the market by fueling speculators feeding on the MSM mishmash of economic thought.

One need look no farther than Paul Krugman and his accomplices at the N.Y. Times to see this at its' finest.

He is the 'Ellsworth Toohey' of today almost to a 'T'.

I believe that, as with the fog of war, The Chaos of Calamity must be viewed from the distance of time to understand what has truly happend.
It is too soon to make any prognostications as to what changes to "life as we know it" will occur.

So, regarding your upcoming camping trip, as my Amsterdam hotel host Richie says "you can do anything you want in my hotel including wrecking things as long as you pay by 9 O'clock the next morning.

So Jane just be thankful that you can still look forward to your trip, just pay -- it's only money and that is one of the only things you can do with it.

thedaddy

This scares me to death.

I live in northern climate where temperatures can get to -30f. If a disaster happened like this in our area during these freezing temperatures, everybody would perish.

New Orleans and Mississipi:
1 million people homeless
1 million people without jobs
80% of the city under water.

It's incomprehensible. God speed.

I'm glad we have a president who refused to give in to the Democrats who have been yammering about releasing oil from the strategic petroleum reserve this past year. Now that we actually need it it's there and it's full. Thank-you President Bush!

He is the 'Ellsworth Toohey' of today almost to a 'T'.

Nah. Ellsworth Toohey didn't have a blogosphere fact-checking his rear end.

Nonetheless get ready for Mr. Krugman enlightening the rest of us benighted souls about how much of a boon this is going to be for the regional economy.

I am pretty sure that this hurricane will have a big effect on the price of natural gas for months to come, since a fair percentage (30%? Not sure) of US natural gas comes from the Gulf of Mexico. Those in northern climates might want to start getting their woodpile in order now, because as Jane pointed out oil products (like heating oil) are going to go up in price as well as natural gas.

In addition, the number of houses and other structures that are going to have to be fixed or replaced is bound to have an effect on the price of wood products, cement, and other building supplies.

The insurance cost is going to be much bigger than that of hurricane Andrew, which was notable.

Whether all of this will trigger a recession isn't clear.

Politically, there's going to be a lot of fingerpointing; this was close to The Big One that people in southern Lousiana have been worrying about for years. Why were the levees around New Orleans in such poor shape that failure happened, why are hospitals being evacuated because 4 years after 9/11 their generators were still on the ground floor or in a basement instead of above the flood line, why is the response from the city, parish and even State level in Lousiana so confused, ill-coordinated and even ineffective, why aren't there more boats in the New Orleans area to get people off of roofs...lots of hard questions to ask, and a lot of the answers lie in corruption/incompetence/politics.

Last and very much not least:
The human cost is going to continue to mount, I fear, for days if not weeks. Reports I've received from parts of Louisiana tell me that rescue workers are just moving the dead to one side in order to get to the living in some places; there's no time right now for any other course of action, that's how grim it is.

Some of the rural parishes south of New Orleans haven't been really heard from yet, but a storm surge of 15 feet of water or more is a terrible thing to contemplate. Some people are simply going to be listed as "missing" and their fate unknown to us, maybe ever.

My hat is off to the Louisiana National Guard and all the other folks who are out there dealing with this emergency despite the poor and even ineffectual leaders nominally in charge of them.

My heartfelt wishes and prayers for the folks who have endured and survived this natural cataclysm.

You should have stopped there. Why the hate? How did that screed help anyone?

Jane, wouldn't this be the best time to short oil stocks? Yes, supplies are constrained -- both of petroleum and distillates. But demand will be constrained even more.

1. The price of gasoline is NOT inelastic. Higher prices will ultimately damp demand.

2. The poor citizens of Louisianna, Mississippi, and Alabama are going to use a whole lot less gasoline for at least the next month, a lot of airplanes won't be flying, and many power plants won't be smokin'. This has to result in a significant drop to petroleum consumption in the affected areas.

How that will play out in the markets is unkown.

I predict that the death toll will dwarf the loss of life on 9/11. And that the damage to property will be far more extensive.

The burden of dealing with disasters falls first and foremost on local people- the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana. They have fumbled badly. Many experts predicted an even worse disaster than we got – they said beforehand that New Orleans would be totally underwater, not just mostly underwater.
"All indications are that this is absolutely worst-case scenario," Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, said Sunday afternoon.
The center's latest computer simulations indicate that by Tuesday, vast swaths of New Orleans could be under water up to 30 feet deep. In the French Quarter, the water could reach 20 feet, easily submerging the district's iconic cast-iron balconies and bars.
Estimates predict that 60 percent to 80 percent of the city's houses will be destroyed by wind. With the flood damage, most people who live in and around New Orleans could be homeless. From wwltv Sunday, August 28th

How can the Democratic governor of LA say, “Our forces can’t get to the city because the roads are impassable”? This is outrageous. Scientists knew that the city would be flooded and that boat and helicopter rescue would be needed. They knew that it was insane to put thousands into the Superdome without a 10 day supply of food and water and without portable toilets. The Coast Guard, a federal agency, has saved the most lives. Martial law should have been declared in NO Monday night- hospitals are in desperate shape, nurses bagging ventilators by hand because hospital emergency generators have failed, lights out, operating by flashlight, while looters run wild in adjacent buildings and doctor/nurse parking lots. There are pictures of policemen looting stores. Some say looting is OK if your need is great- where is the need for beer?

Louisiana has tolerated unsafe, obsolete hospitals in New Orleans. There will be more superstorms. The federal government reduced funding for the Army Corps of Engineers for next year- I’d say that the Corps could have managed the levies better, and that the whole system of levees needs to be reviewed. We can’t finance military imperialism in the Middle East, which doesn’t work anyway (how can you talk about staying the course and noting the good news in Iraq when our forces have never been able to secure the Baghdad airport road?) without curtailing vital social services at home. There will be more superstorms, maybe this year. A regional system is needed because incompetent city and state governments won’t deal with the next one either.

Maracucho--you had me right up until the end.

thedaddy opined

So far the Gov. of Lousiana is not showing very much in the way of inspiration or leadership and her citizens are and will suffer for it.

Our President was showing inspiration yesterday in his respond to the disaster.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050830/480/capm10208301856

Right wing-nuts in the blogosphere use this tragedy as an excuse to beat up on Democratic politicians. Why am I not surprised?

maracucho sniped

How can the Democratic governor of LA say, “Our forces can’t get to the city because the roads are impassable”? This is outrageous. Scientists knew that the city would be flooded and that boat and helicopter rescue would be needed.

More generators and amphibious vehicles would help. Too bad much of the equipment is in Iraq.

From an August 1 article, LA National Guard Wants Equipment to Come Back From Iraq

JACKSON BARRACKS -- When members of the Louisiana National Guard left for Iraq in October, they took a lot equipment with them. Dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators are now abroad, and in the event of a major natural disaster that, could be a problem.

"The National Guard needs that equipment back home to support the homeland security mission," said Lt. Colonel Pete Schneider with the LA National Guard.

New Orleans has lived on the edge of flooding disaster for its entire history. The scope of the possible disaster just increased year by year as the population increased and the city sank further below sea level. Apparently the city never had any plan in place for a massive failure of the levees, no pre-positioned supplies, boats, fresh water supplies, places of refuge. Certainly no disaster drills for this eventuality. If the equipment the National Guard had was taken to Iraq, then it was not really equipment that could have been counted on for local use. Much of the post-Katrina loss of live can be attributed to this lack of local leadership and planning, which has continued for decades.

God Almighty, what horror.

So many questions I want to ask... but the trauma these poor souls have undergone and continue to undergo will preclude my ever asking.

The Governess of Louisiana continues to show her people nothing and their suffering increases by the hour.

They would be better off with out her, then at least someone else could take charge.

Mary Landreaux the Senatoress isn't showing much either.

thedaddy

The Governess of Louisiana continues to show her people nothing and their suffering increases by the hour.

They would be better off with out her, then at least someone else could take charge.

Mary Landreaux the Senatress isn't showing much either.

thedaddy

Jamie,

I echo your sentiment. It is unfathomable to calculate the human suffering right now in that part of OUR country. The helplessness..the suffering and loss of life. Of course it's being played for politics now--exactly what news event isn't? The hurricane itself was an unstoppable force of nature. My heart is aching for those who were unable to evacuate, because in the real world, it is about haves and have nots, and the poorest always catch the wrong side of the whip.

The subsequent flooding of Lake Ponchatrain? That's a different story:

From the US Army Corps of Engineers site updated on May 23, 2005:

>>>"IMPACTS OF BUDGET SHORTFALL. In Orleans Parish, two major pump stations are threatened by hurricane storm surges. Major contracts need to be awarded to provide fronting protection for them. Also, several levees have settled and need to be raised to provide the design protection. The current funding shortfalls in fiscal year 2005 and fiscal year 2006 will prevent the Corps from addressing these pressing needs."

http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/pao/visitor/index.htm

This is outrageous, expecially in light of the multiple Gulf hurricanes the year before and the well-publicized and acknowledged vulnerability of New Orleans.

--Cobra

Cobra, if you're trying to imply that you know that had funding shortfalls in FY2005 not occurred, the levees would have held, you are just acting like a jerk. Perhaps that's not what you are trying to imply.

There will be plenty of time to excoriate Bush (along with every pork-barrelin' member of Congress who thought his vote buying scheme was a higher priority, which is to say just about every member of Congress; we haven't lacked for dicretionary domestic spending, in case you didn't notice) if that turns out to be the case. This will be investigated in due time. Can those in danger be given aid, and the dead be buried, prior to advancing the partisan cause?

Jane: I was wondering if I could get your help on something, since you've got a pretty decent readership.

In my financial maturity blog, I wrote a post about how 1 million disaster victims are going to have bad credit, or go bankrupt because of this disaster.

I would like to generate some awareness that creditors mechanically report to credit bureaus such as Equifax and TransUnion and Experian.

I am wondering how the creditors and credit bureaus are going to treat these catastrophe victims who have been displaced from their jobs and homes.

Could you talk about this in a post? I will understand if you don't think it's appropriate for your blog theme.

These credit problems are going to be another huge mess to clean up.

One million people bankrupt or bad credit?

Thanks for the consideration

The price of gas is going nuts back east:
$3 gas in South Bend.

Gas is $6 in Atlanta, if you can get it. (read the comments to the post.)

There's too much blame to go around... It'll have to wrap around at least a couple of times.

It's patent that New Orleans, in the sense of the government thereof, could have prepared better for this; building for a fast-moving 3 rather than for, at least, a slow-moving 3, when you're a city largely below sea level on the Gulf Coast - well, it's not the local government I'll refrain from questioning.

I only know two people in New Orleans personally. One evacuated; the other did not. We haven't heard from him yet. His reason for not going: "It's my house. My dogs and I are staying right here." This was when Katrina was a 5 and had N.O. directly in her crosshairs, when the mayor gave the unprecedented mandatory evacuation order, when the NWC was giving out that apocalyptic damage(=total destruction) statement, and while he had both time and ability to leave. He may or may not have had the foresight to take a crowbar into his attic, if that's where he ended up. He may or may not have had the foresight to fill up every container he could get his hands on with essentially-free tap water and tie the containters to something on the second floor or in the attic. If he's having to be plucked off his roof while an immobile elder or a helpless child whose parents didn't think there was enough risk to warrant sleeping in the Superdome is dying in an attic, the time he wastes is blood on his hands. That - forgive me - is what I'm never going to ask anyone who came through this hell.

Let the blame games begin! First, in a democracy, we get the government we deserve. In a federated democracy, the local citizens get the local government they deserve. To reduce the notion just a bit more, in a free society, each adult can take as much or as little responsibility for his/her own well being as they choose.

Apparently, the local and state government did not stock pile nor were local or state assets allocated to levee improvement nor was there anything approaching a mass evacuation plan other than shut down in bound lanes of I-10 and use both sides of the freeway to leave. Parenthetically, unless those high water vehicles left behind in Iraq run in thirty feet of water, I am not sure they add much to the equation. As best I can tell, rescues are by boat and helicopter.

Should those citizens who didn't put back their valuable papers, a supply of drinking water and non-perishable food items and who either didn't heed evacuation warnings or plan a way out of the city (or away from the coast in the case of Mississippi and Alabama) have valid grounds for complaining that their local and state government should have done a better job looking out for their individual interests than they themselves were willing to do? Likewise, these same citizens should ask themselves why they've tolerated their government, or lack thereof, for all of these years.

The punch line is that, like people living on the San Andreas fault, there are some disasters that are planned for mainly by wishful thinking. That is human nature. We can blame whoever we want up to a point, but beyond that, there is a massive human tragedy that requires a commensurate response.

jane: Thanks!

I'm going to see if I can get a hole of the 3 major credit bureaus today to see what they've got to say about this issue. I'll search for some press releases as well.

I'll let you know!

This hideous outcome, in terms of loss of life, was largely set in stone the moment that so many people did not evacuate. To the degree that this occurred due to an individuals' decision, there probably wasn't much that could be done; one can't forcibly remove thousands of people as a hurricane bears down. To the degree that people didn't leave becasue they didn't have the means, that is a failure of government. I don't have any idea where the dividing line lies.

Can those in danger be given aid, and the dead be buried, prior to advancing the partisan cause?

Apparently not, if this thread is anything to go by--people are actually using the hurricane as an excuse to attack one of Louisiana's two senators. (The other one's a Republican, so presumably not relevant, or something.) This would be ludicrous if it weren't so sick--I'm not sure what executive authority a senator has.

I've got no problem with critiquing the disaster preparedness plan... after we get through the humanitarian crisis we're seeing now. I hope I was clear on that point. Right now is when we need to be as open and flexible as possible, to change the plans immediately where they're flawed, to support them fully where they're working; there's no going back to before the levees broke.

And while my personal knowledge of one non-leaver with the means and opportunity both to evacuate and to recover afterward if he were to suffer total loss makes me furious with him, I will never ask any other survivor of this tragedy why they didn't leave. Anyone who, in hindsight, does the calculus differently from the way they did it Sunday morning has plenty on his/her mind without any help from an unscathed outsider like me.

Judging by "thedaddy"'s references to "the Governess" and "the Senatoress," I suspect he has some ... issues with women in authority.

Hi,
I just found your blog while searching for news and analysis of the hurricane tragedy.
Just an hour ago, around 2.30 pm EST, CNN interviewed an expert who said that the US economy will get a boost from all the reconstruction in the affected areas.
BSM
India

You morons are so ridiculous it is unfathomable. Over half the helicoptes of NO Natonal Guard are over in Iraq Google "Louisiana National Guard" stupid self-centered dolts. Conserve your Compassion you will be needing it when the nation hangs the fucking traitor in the whitehouse. We will be coming after you fucktards too.

You sweet talker, you.

Dear 'What a bunch' ...

Bring it, baby.

But first get that prescription filled!

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