09-03-2005, 09:41 PM
I have long called New Orleans one of my favourite cities in spite of the horrible crime rate and how dirty the city is. The amount of culture found in that city made it worth the visit for me.
I have to admit that I never made it to Bourbon Street (in fact I was avoiding it in favour of local places to hang out) but the other parts of the city that I made it to made me want to come back as often as I could.
The one thing that has always stood out in my mind was when I was talking with a local over 15 years ago and he pointed out that the city was below sea level and likely to be submerged with just one good storm. It seems that all the locals knew about this but nobody seemed to care or put any preparations in place. Now that this tragedy has happened we have an excellent view of the worst that can happen.
When I look back at disasters over the past decade I think of the ice storm in Quebec, the tsunami in Asia and of course September 11. In all of those horrible occurances I remember the overwhelming support that people gave each other and how people from around the world responded with aid and good will. I also look at how the residents dealt with their problems and have gone on with their lives.
I can't imagine things getting much worse than they have in New Orleans though. The report I heard on the news today said that fully half of the New Orleans police department had resigned rather than face the gangs and riots happening in the city.
I only hope that the problems of NO can be solved quickly and the process of rebuilding (or relocating) can start and people of that region can begin to heal from this wound that has been inflicted upon them.
I have to admit that I never made it to Bourbon Street (in fact I was avoiding it in favour of local places to hang out) but the other parts of the city that I made it to made me want to come back as often as I could.
The one thing that has always stood out in my mind was when I was talking with a local over 15 years ago and he pointed out that the city was below sea level and likely to be submerged with just one good storm. It seems that all the locals knew about this but nobody seemed to care or put any preparations in place. Now that this tragedy has happened we have an excellent view of the worst that can happen.
When I look back at disasters over the past decade I think of the ice storm in Quebec, the tsunami in Asia and of course September 11. In all of those horrible occurances I remember the overwhelming support that people gave each other and how people from around the world responded with aid and good will. I also look at how the residents dealt with their problems and have gone on with their lives.
I can't imagine things getting much worse than they have in New Orleans though. The report I heard on the news today said that fully half of the New Orleans police department had resigned rather than face the gangs and riots happening in the city.
I only hope that the problems of NO can be solved quickly and the process of rebuilding (or relocating) can start and people of that region can begin to heal from this wound that has been inflicted upon them.
Gullible isn't in the dictionary.