Scenes from the aftermath of Galveston, Texas' 1900 hurricane. A Galveston Daily News reporter in 1900 said the story of the Sept. 8, 1900, hurricane could never truly be written. For many, no words could ever be spoken again about the deadly hurricane that reshaped the Gulf Coast forever




Clara Barton and the Red Cross established an orphanage for storm victims and helped acquire lumber to rebuild houses. /More than 6,000 men, women and children lost their lives during the Great Storm. Among the dead were 10 sisters and 90 children from the St. Mary's Orphans Asylum./The story of the 1900 Storm is one about the fate of people at the hands of nature.../

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Remember Camile? Wiped out the MS Gulf Coast. There was no FEMA. They state and local people rebuit it into a Casino Mecca. Fredrick wiped out parts of Mobile, it wasn't FEMA that rebuilt it.

STATE and LOCAL are responsible. FEMA was created to establish a clearinghouse for federal funds and assistance to the state and local authorities.
And these supplies will now have a chance to be used by the 16 states that bothered to apply for some of them.

Why do I feel that you're being, somehow, disingenuous?
And make me. You have a problem with me calling "a spade, a spade"???? ( Pun, perhaps intended)

Perhaps because you have a bigoted opinion or else have nothing to back up your arguments and believe if you just incinuate someone is a racist you win.

Hurricane Camille--Was the last Category Five Hurricane to make landfall over the United States before Hurricane Andrew did in August, 1992. Hurricane Camille landfall over Gulfport, Mississippi on August 18, 1969 with winds of 180 mph, and a record storm surge of 24.3 feet. It left about 250 people dead from Louisiana to Virginia, and was responsible for approximately $1.421 billion dollars in damage.

Hurricane Frederick--A major hurricane that slammed into Mobile Bay in Alabama with 125 mph after struggling to maintain itself over the rugged terrain of Hispanola and Cuba. The storm caused some $2.3 billion dollars in damage to portions of the Gulf Coast.

Now let's compare to Hurricane Katrina...

Hurricane Katrina--Started out modestly on August 23rd, 2005 in the Bahamas as a tropical wave that emerged from the remnants of a tropical depression that had been in the Caribbean. It gradually grew into the season's eleventh named storm and fourth hurricane prior to making landfall in South Florida as a minimal hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, and gusts up to 95 mph. After quickly crossing Southern Florida, Katrina emerged again over water in the Southeastern Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Keys, and strengthened to the 2005 season's third major hurricane before reorganizing into the most powerful storm in the Central Gulf since Hurricane Camille, and fourth Category Five Hurricane in three years with winds as high as 175 mph, and a minimum central pressure of 902 mb, or 26.64 inches of Hg. It became the fourth most powerful hurricane of all time ahead of Camille and behind Hurricane Gilbert (1988), the Labor Day of Hurricane of 1935, and Hurricane Allen (1980). After coming ashore as a Category One Hurricane in South Florida, Katrina struck two more times along the Gulf Coast. First in Buras, Louisiana with 140 mph winds, and then near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi with 135 mph winds. It created a 27 foot storm surge in Gulfport, Mississippi and a 22 foot storm surge in Bay St. Louis. Winds as high as 90 mph were felt as far east as Mobile, Alabama, which experienced its worst flooding in 90 years. To make matters worse, part of an oil rig broke away in Mobile Bay and hit a nearby causway possibly causing damage there. Waves as high as 48 feet happened offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Some 50 people were killed in coastal Mississippi including 30 in an apartment complex in Biloxi. Katrina even ripped off part of the roof of the Louisiana Superdome, where 10,000 people were staying in the facility, which was being used as a shelter of last resort. Extensive flooding occurred in New Orleans, which was actually spared the brunt of the storm. The 9th ward in the Crescent City was underwater as well as 80 percent of the city. People fled to their attics to escape drowning and some were rescued by helicopters and boats. So far, the latest death toll is at 1,833 (Louisiana-1582, Mississippi-170, Florida-30, Alabama-48, Georgia-2, Tennessee-1 with damage estimates now are up to $81 billion. Experts fear that the total cost for the storm could be $200 billion dollars, which would make Katrina the costliest hurricane and natural disaster in United States History.

Historic Hurricanes--Some Of The Most Powerful Storms On Record.

I don't know why you keep trying to compare these others to Katrina, which in comparison is like mole-hills to mountains.
Anybody who thinks that ANY state or local government could have responded adequately to Katrina by themselves raise their hand?

Furthermore, we DO HAVE FEMA.
It DOES have a purpose.
Brown SCREWED UP.

George Bush should not have utilized cronyism to employ a clearly unqualified man who lied on his resume to be in charge of FEMA during a natural disaster that obviously ranks among the top 5, with a lot of people calling it the worst in U.S. history.

In addition, he should have kept an eye on the ball DURING this natural disaster instead of letting incompetent Brownie do his "heck of a job".

THAT is what I criticize Bush for.
But to put things in perspective, Bush isn't in my top 3 as far as people/groups who need to be raked over the coals for this.
Bush is towards the bottom of the list.


I have no problem acknowledging that George Bush is criticized for many things which are often thoroughly irrelevant.
How DARE he wear boxers and not briefs!!!
< end mock outrage >

But let's not mix up the inane criticism to void the legitimate criticism.

His criticism for 9-11 isn't just being AT the school.
An aide whispers in his ear that America was under attack, and he SAT THERE for seven minutes.
That deserves criticism. There is NO excuse for that. Anybody can realize that you simply say "excuse me, I have to take care of something", and go.


I think there was a long list of things that went right.
There is also a long list of things that went wrong.

I think part of the problem is that the news typically covers the "bad" more than the "good".
Bad news sells.
Also, if you're up to your ears in the disaster and you need help, do you focus on the help you need and what isn't being done? Or on what is being done right?
Given today's "pundit" environment, I wouldn't be surprised if the news crews spent 10% of their time covering the "good" if you would have some people running around trying to insist that nothing was wrong.

Well first fator it for inflation.

And then tell me what your point was? Yes the MS Gulf Coast is far more developed than when Camille hit, mega million dollar resorts and hotels and casino's. And the fact it Katina hit the MS coast NOT NOLA. It was the levy failure AFTER the storm passed that devestated NOLA. The was relatively little damage directly from the storm itself. The dollar amount is a specious argument.


And you don't need to waste my time with descriptions of these storms, I lived through them personally. I travel through the areas affected regularly. I live on the Gulf Coast.

Who said by themselves? They are the first responders and are the boots on the ground NOT the federal government, NOT FEMA.

Which is NOT search and rescue. Which is not to set up shelters. It is a central clearing house for government financial assistance and resources which the state and local governments request.

And the difference would have been?

And the difference would have been?


And you have no idea the context of that quote do you?


And instead cause a mass public panic when there was nothing he could do, the responses are automatice.

You really think 7 minutes would have stopped the attacks, lessened the damage, prevent a single death?

The criticism goes to those who try desperately to make an issue out of it.

That would bring Camille to $9.14 bill (2005)
Frederic $4-8 bill (2005)
What's your point?

Or were you just throwing out whatever menial response you could think of?


The dollar amount is a very REAL argument in pointing out that people are just plain blind when they bring up OTHER storms and the responses to THOSE storms as some kind of measure of how "Katrina" could or should have been handled.

It's like trying to compare the impact of being "hit" by a car going 5 MPH, to a car going 50 MPH.

Your entire reply is filled with inane non-sequiturs.
It DOES NOT MATTER where Katrina hit. Katrina was worse than BOTH THOSE HURRICANES.
Quibbling over the "timing" of the damage is insanely stupid.
If the hurricane hadn't occurred, there would be NO DAMAGE.

Such a crazy quibbling is like saying that the Twin Towers didn't fall when the planes hit them.
We would obviously assign the blame to the deaths that occurred when the Towers fall to the terrorists.
But for some reason, you think it's important to point out the irrelevant...


It's not for you that I post the information on the storms.


I have proven you wrong on this claim so many times, using the DIRECT WORDS FROM THE FEMA WEB-PAGE, that it is just insane for you to continue to repeat that...
FEMA IS supposed to coordinate the out-of-state disaster response assistance. That is what FEMA says it is supposed to do.
And they STOPPED people from entering.
ANYBODY who looked at this disaster could see the problem was with too little response.


I keep pointing at the rotten apple, and you keep insisting on talking about oranges.