This is the headline from this BBC report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210674.stm

I am proud to say that as a little old South African in a third world
country at the Southern tip of darkest Africa we had a devastating flood in
my little town in 2002.
The skies had not even cleared from the raging storm when the air force
choppers arrived in force.
They rescued those in need, brought in emergency personnel and special riot
police to prevent looting.
Although the flood put out water supplies, washed away our connecting roads,
power and sewerage systems, mighty teams of specialists arrived within hours
and all services were restored within 48 hours except the roads that took a
few days longer. The choppers brought in food until the roads were
reconstructed.

I felt very proud to be a South African at that time and was immensely
grateful for the smooth running and super national rescue effort that took
place seemingly so easily, like a well oiled machine.

What happened to mighty America...???
What did the Federal Emergency Management Agency do...???
Heads should roll for this debacle - it is inexcusable in a superpower with
all America's vast resources.
--
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D GE SRIII
BW XCR 30, Braun T1000, Sangean 818 & 803A.
Hallicrafters SX-100, Eddystone 940
GE circa 50's radiogram
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

John Plimmer wrote:

This is the headline from this BBC report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210674.stm

I am proud to say that as a little old South African in a third world
country at the Southern tip of darkest Africa we had a devastating flood in
my little town in 2002.
The skies had not even cleared from the raging storm when the air force
choppers arrived in force.
They rescued those in need, brought in emergency personnel and special riot
police to prevent looting.
Although the flood put out water supplies, washed away our connecting roads,
power and sewerage systems, mighty teams of specialists arrived within hours
and all services were restored within 48 hours except the roads that took a
few days longer. The choppers brought in food until the roads were
reconstructed.

I felt very proud to be a South African at that time and was immensely
grateful for the smooth running and super national rescue effort that took
place seemingly so easily, like a well oiled machine.

What happened to mighty America...???

Well, we're still here... and guess what? You're still in a third world country
that can't take care of it's own problems... do a Google on AIDS or a host of
other problems. And guess where your little third world country has begged in
the past? The USA. Guess where it will continue to beg in the future? The USA.

We'll be OK... I can't really say the same for South Africa.

What did the Federal Emergency Management Agency do...???

Exactly what they're supposed to do, considering the enormity of the problem.

Heads should roll for this debacle - it is inexcusable in a superpower with
all America's vast resources.

I guess we'll have to decide that issue. It certainly won't be up to you or a
third world country like South Africa to decide whether heads should or will
roll.

Have a pleasant evening.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

In article ,
"John Plimmer" wrote:

This is the headline from this BBC report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210674.stm

I am proud to say that as a little old South African in a third world
country at the Southern tip of darkest Africa we had a devastating
flood in my little town in 2002. The skies had not even cleared from
the raging storm when the air force choppers arrived in force. They
rescued those in need, brought in emergency personnel and special
riot police to prevent looting. Although the flood put out water
supplies, washed away our connecting roads, power and sewerage
systems, mighty teams of specialists arrived within hours and all
services were restored within 48 hours except the roads that took a
few days longer. The choppers brought in food until the roads were
reconstructed.

I felt very proud to be a South African at that time and was
immensely grateful for the smooth running and super national rescue
effort that took place seemingly so easily, like a well oiled
machine.

What happened to mighty America...??? What did the Federal Emergency
Management Agency do...??? Heads should roll for this debacle - it is
inexcusable in a superpower with all America's vast resources.

I think that basically you fail to grasp the enormity of the situation.
It will take time for enough resources to get there to make a difference.
This is not a little town but a large city with several 100,000's of
people that did not make it out in time. It's going to take years and
billions of dollars to rebuild that city and infrastructure and many
billions more to make sure it does not happen again.

FEMA had supplies in place the day before the hurricane made landfall in
the gulf but getting those supplies in or the people out became a
logistical nightmare with the city flooding. Early rescue attempts by
chopper were thwarted by looting and sniper fire. The city was not under
control of its own police force.

The order of blame in any delayed response should be on the city New
Orleans then the state, which have a first responsibility in the
disaster. The city and the state failed to have situation in hand giving
enough time for a federal response to take place. It's not surprising
that it takes time for large amounts of supplies and personal from other
states to make it there.

I've been listening to the international SW coverage from several
countries and although they convey the severity of the damage it is
hard to get an idea of the scale of the damage.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

dxAce wrote:

John Plimmer wrote:


This is the headline from this BBC report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210674.stm

I am proud to say that as a little old South African in a third world
country at the Southern tip of darkest Africa we had a devastating flood in
my little town in 2002.
The skies had not even cleared from the raging storm when the air force
choppers arrived in force.
They rescued those in need, brought in emergency personnel and special riot
police to prevent looting.
Although the flood put out water supplies, washed away our connecting roads,
power and sewerage systems, mighty teams of specialists arrived within hours
and all services were restored within 48 hours except the roads that took a
few days longer. The choppers brought in food until the roads were
reconstructed.

I felt very proud to be a South African at that time and was immensely
grateful for the smooth running and super national rescue effort that took
place seemingly so easily, like a well oiled machine.

What happened to mighty America...???


Well, we're still here... and guess what? You're still in a third world country
that can't take care of it's own problems... do a Google on AIDS or a host of
other problems. And guess where your little third world country has begged in
the past? The USA. Guess where it will continue to beg in the future? The USA.

We'll be OK... I can't really say the same for South Africa.


What did the Federal Emergency Management Agency do...???


Exactly what they're supposed to do, considering the enormity of the problem.


Heads should roll for this debacle - it is inexcusable in a superpower with
all America's vast resources.


I guess we'll have to decide that issue. It certainly won't be up to you or a
third world country like South Africa to decide whether heads should or will
roll.

Have a pleasant evening.

dxAce
Michigan
USA


The Ace hit it on the money when the subject of "the enormity of the
problem" was brought up. We had the chance of viewing local feeds (not
the network magazine) from the various areas of disaster. The total
affected area by Hurricane Katrina is in the THOUSANDS of square miles
--- not a few hundred.

So, where do you start? What with?

Tough questions to answer when life hangs in the balance.

John

On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 01:50:35 GMT, John Steffes
wrote:

dxAce wrote:

John Plimmer wrote:


This is the headline from this BBC report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210674.stm

I am proud to say that as a little old South African in a third world
country at the Southern tip of darkest Africa we had a devastating flood in
my little town in 2002.
The skies had not even cleared from the raging storm when the air force
choppers arrived in force.
They rescued those in need, brought in emergency personnel and special riot
police to prevent looting.
Although the flood put out water supplies, washed away our connecting roads,
power and sewerage systems, mighty teams of specialists arrived within hours
and all services were restored within 48 hours except the roads that took a
few days longer. The choppers brought in food until the roads were
reconstructed.

I felt very proud to be a South African at that time and was immensely
grateful for the smooth running and super national rescue effort that took
place seemingly so easily, like a well oiled machine.

What happened to mighty America...???


Well, we're still here... and guess what? You're still in a third world country
that can't take care of it's own problems... do a Google on AIDS or a host of
other problems. And guess where your little third world country has begged in
the past? The USA. Guess where it will continue to beg in the future? The USA.

We'll be OK... I can't really say the same for South Africa.


What did the Federal Emergency Management Agency do...???


Exactly what they're supposed to do, considering the enormity of the problem.


Heads should roll for this debacle - it is inexcusable in a superpower with
all America's vast resources.


I guess we'll have to decide that issue. It certainly won't be up to you or a
third world country like South Africa to decide whether heads should or will
roll.

Have a pleasant evening.

dxAce
Michigan
USA


So, where do you start? What with?


New Orleans is unique due to its lack of gravity assisted drainage.

"John Plimmer" wrote in message
...
This is the headline from this BBC report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4210674.stm

I am proud to say that as a little old South African in a third world
country at the Southern tip of darkest Africa we had a devastating flood
in
my little town in 2002.
The skies had not even cleared from the raging storm when the air force
choppers arrived in force.
They rescued those in need, brought in emergency personnel and special
riot
police to prevent looting.
Although the flood put out water supplies, washed away our connecting
roads,
power and sewerage systems, mighty teams of specialists arrived within
hours
and all services were restored within 48 hours except the roads that took
a
few days longer. The choppers brought in food until the roads were
reconstructed.

I felt very proud to be a South African at that time and was immensely
grateful for the smooth running and super national rescue effort that took
place seemingly so easily, like a well oiled machine.

What happened to mighty America...???
What did the Federal Emergency Management Agency do...???
Heads should roll for this debacle - it is inexcusable in a superpower
with
all America's vast resources.
--
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D GE SRIII
BW XCR 30, Braun T1000, Sangean 818 & 803A.
Hallicrafters SX-100, Eddystone 940
GE circa 50's radiogram
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx



So I take it that your country has totally recovered from that grand
disaster called aparthied?

Honus wrote:

"Lou W" wrote in message
news:QftSe.7753$ct5.4897@fed1read04...


So I take it that your country has totally recovered from that grand
disaster called aparthied?


Sort of like how we recovered from the Civil War?



My carpet bagger friends from New York City tell me all is well. Their
newly acquired houses are very nice and left in VERY good condition by
their previous owners. Labour is also dirt cheap, so cotton production
for the northern factories continues unabated and at GREATLY reduced costs.



mike 1870

Dear Mr Plimmer,

I hope that you have paid attention to the words of messers dxAce,
Steffes, Telamon and others. You need to turn your TV set off and give
yourself a break. The media will never tell you the whole story. They
only like to tell the bad.

America will rise up and do everything it needs to in order to ease the
suffering of those unlucky souls who found themselves in the path of
Katrina. Whether the disaster is the handiwork of a group of totally
misguided subhumans from the middle east, or a very unfortunate
collection of weather events which happen from time to time, we will
prevail. The people of America are a kind and benevolant bunch. When
the need arises we dig deep into our pockets and give with a warm
heart. Our motives for giving are true. We realize how fortunate we
are and we give to ease the pain of those who are less fortunate than
ourselves. Our generosity is worldwide and does not stop at our
borders.

Our leaders are Human. They are not wizards who will wave a magic wand
and the problem is gone. As the others on this board has told you,
this is a disaster of the largest proportions. Give those in charge a
chance to show what they are made of. Perhaps as the days go by you
will see that they have done a good job. This my surprise you, but it
will not surprise me.

There is no shame here in America my friend.

Regards,
Bob
N9NEO

Metro area population of greater New Orleans is between about two
million to two and a half million people,normaly.Katrina had an affect
on the population of New Orleans.
cuhulin

About a half hour or so ago,a guy in New Orleans on WWL said they have
eight large portable pumps (I suppose they are great big humongous pumps
that were trucked in and run on diesel engines or whatever) and they are
going to use those pumps to pump out water in some areas where their
main City pumps can pump the water on out of some areas of New Orleans.
cuhulin