Damn idiots who will invariably blame the government when they almost die. Get the fark in a bus line and go to whatever shelter they are sending the other umpteen thousand poor people to.

Just so everyone knows:

Breakdown of those who stayed in Katrina revealed that the only good predictor was age. Not race, or even income. The elderly were unlikely to leave.

Free transport including your pets are being offered. Anyone who stays this time deserves anything mother-nature throws at them! I sent large donations to the stranded victims of Katrina. I will not consider any donation for anyone standing in Gustovs path hoping for a government payout!

panfried: Free transport including your pets are being offered. Anyone who stays this time deserves anything mother-nature throws at them! I sent large donations to the stranded victims of Katrina. I will not consider any donation for anyone standing in Gustovs path hoping for a government payout!

Ummmm, yeah. THIS.

Out on a smoke break complaining he does not have the money to leave. STOP SMOKING.

I smoke. If it were a toss up between a smoke and an extra $5 to put in the gas tank to get away from a hurricane? My money is on gas.

Just foolish. This is going to be Katrina the 2nd. And of course it is going to be the gubments fault.

This really pisses me off.

Yes, you do have the ability to get the fark out. Don't be so stupid.

Start. Walking. Now. You can get out. Nothing's stopping you.

Harry says "Hi".

They are evacuating people by train, by bus, and I'd bet you could find people to carpool with. There's absolutely no excuse this time, and you're right, they won't see donations from me, either.

However, an acquaintance from Live Journal is evacuating to Dallas, and I'd be more than happy to help her out if she needs something while she's here.

Hell, why not stay, I hear sex at the superdome during the storm gets pretty hot.

At least they're going on the record saying, "You won't hear complaining from us."

Oh wait.

They are shipping people out for FREE on buses up shelters further north. Who the fark can't afford a free bus?

Occam's Chainsaw: Start. Walking. Now. You can get out. Nothing's stopping you.

Walking? They are busing people out for free. Do you have any idea how much water a family would have to carry along with their basic needs to walk 300 miles or so inland? Where would they stay once they got there if they can't even afford a car?

hillbillypharmacist: Just so everyone knows:

Breakdown of those who stayed in Katrina revealed that the only good predictor was age. Not race, or even income. The elderly were unlikely to leave.

Well Medicare was over extended anyway.

My grandparents do this shiat too. Then they expect some member of the family, it was me last time, to haul ass down there and make sure they are still alive and help with all the insurance. *sigh* I swear next time I'm packing up their stuff, drugging them, and moving them up north with the rest of us once and for all.

panfried: Free transport including your pets are being offered. Anyone who stays this time deserves anything mother-nature throws at them! I sent large donations to the stranded victims of Katrina. I will not consider any donation for anyone standing in Gustovs path hoping for a government payout!

Then whatever you do, don't donate money to the RNC. They're considering using the convention as a donation event for Gustav victims, which will likely include the people too stupid to evacuate NOLA.

Gwendolyn: Occam's Chainsaw: Start. Walking. Now. You can get out. Nothing's stopping you.

Walking? They are busing people out for free. Do you have any idea how much water a family would have to carry along with their basic needs to walk 300 miles or so inland? Where would they stay once they got there if they can't even afford a car?

I was going for the absolute extreme case. I know about the buses and trains. There's absolutely NO excuse for staying around for this one, unless you're chained in some psycho killer's basement.

dj4aces: Then whatever you do, don't donate money to the RNC.

I qouldn't give money to those lying, thieving scumbags at gunpoint. And the same goes for their equally odious counterparts at the DNC.

I don't understand people who won't leave. Perhaps it's a death wish. Perhaps it's arrogance (the storm won't beat me). I understand not having money, but obviously they must be bussing the poor people to some sort of shelter. I doubt that they would just leave them on the side of the road and say "good luck." So it doesn't seem reasonable to stay. Besides, the one guy who said he'll be working doesn't realize that when the storm comes through, it's going to be shut down anyway. Last time, even though the french quarter was up higher and got less flooding, there was still no power and a lot of damage, keeping places closed. Not to mention that they probably won't let people back in the city for days.

gopher321: Harry says "Hi".

Excellent reference!

Freedom to do as one chooses sometimes comes at a high price.

I am going to be really really really really pissed if all the houses I built get washed farking away. We were going to head down for another trip in october once it had started to cool down.

Damnit.

I blame bush for their stupidity

Occam's Chainsaw: Start. Walking. Now. You can get out. Nothing's stopping you.

There's free buses, dude. If the only option really was for these people to walk 300 miles, then it would be understandable that some stayed. I'm in good shape and would consider staying rather than trying to walk 18 hours a day, carrying the gallon of water I'd need each day.

How many of these types of stories are going to be green-lit?

/just asking

Hmmmm.... I guess I wonder when the welfare checks will be delivered this time? Is there mail service on Labor Day? That obviously has nothing to do with people sticking around.

If you have to rebuild, build everything hurricane-proof with a floodable 1st story.

I'm thinking concrete. Lots of concrete. And the ability to block your sewer connection to stop back flow. And a large tank (oh - like, say, a BATHTUB) to store fresh water. With a bit of planning, you could survive long enough for the water to recede again.

Of course, LOTS of buildings would have to be done this way. I have a sneaking suspicion if you had the only inhabitable house after a disaster, you wouldn't have it for very long in NO.

same 2 links went green?

skribble: same 2 links went green?

I blame Bush.

I don't get it either, why not take the bus ?

Perhaps some are thinking of looting when it has just passed over, making a quick buck before the choppers move in?

FTA: "If I left, I'll probably lose my job," said Jeremiah O'Farrell, another dishwasher who is staying put."

/Who's dishes would he wash now anyway, everybody's leaving...
//And I bet Gustav will do the dishes for him, although Gustav gets a bit clumsy and tends to break things from time to time...
///Darwinism, a textbook example in the make

Looks like Cheney got a little antsy with the Halliburton-built weather machine again.

Well the post-storm looting is way better those first couple of days. Tough to give up a chance like that.

Let me explain something to ya.
It's not how hard the wind is blowing.
It's what the wind is blowing.

Just saw on one of the news channels that 330,000 people are either too afraid to leave, or want to "ride out the storm".

Do insurance companies payout when their clients disregard the mandatory evacuation order?

They've had plenty of warning to leave. If they stay, give them fishing poles if they want to eat. Give them buckets so they can collect rain water to drink.

One thing is for sure, they're not likely to get a FEMA trailer to live in again.

Who am I kidding...of course they will!

My neighbor is an out-of-work civil engineer who FEMA has used for a half dozen flood projects in the past three years. Very good money. He works about half the year in different spots, making more than what he used to make at his full time job.

He loved being in NO after Katrina. Room & food paid for, plenty of cash for beer, work wasn't all that taxing - a lot of standing around doing nothing.

He's really looking forward to going back.

The local wether guy, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, reported no deaths in Cuba. How do they do it?

Break down the levee and let Mother Nature create Lake Orleans.
Seriously, people. You're below sea level. Get the fark out!

I wish Sam Kinison were still alive. He'd be having a field day with this.

I bet Heineken guy is staying.

You know they're staying...

stickindamud: The local wether guy, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, reported no deaths in Cuba. How do they do it?

He meant no *real* people.

Gwendolyn: Occam's Chainsaw: Start. Walking. Now. You can get out. Nothing's stopping you.

Walking? They are busing people out for free. Do you have any idea how much water a family would have to carry along with their basic needs to walk 300 miles or so inland? Where would they stay once they got there if they can't even afford a car?

That's nothing. When I was a boy every morning I'd walk to the lake to collect water for all my street, in barefoot without a bucket to pee in.

DFWPhotoGuy: I am going to be really really really really pissed if all the houses I built get washed farking away. We were going to head down for another trip in october once it had started to cool down.

Damnit.

why don't ya'll build them somewhere else this time? seriously, if it gets majorly destroyed. get a farking clue close the farking place down and build somewhere else. only have businesses and rich farkers who can aford to rebuild. Same goes for those idiots that are not farmers living in a flood plain.

stickindamud: The local wether guy, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, reported no deaths in Cuba. How do they do it?



Most excellent reporting

/approves

lenfromak I bet Heineken guy is staying.

If he's smart he'll take along a photographer this time and cash in on his celebrity. Sadly, he could probably sell the photos to Getty or to the AP for a serious amount of cash.

Been out all night with the traffic here in Ms.

Roads are clogged but moving. I-55 is (I think) now contra-flow above Jackson.

Last report showed the hurricane force winds extending out to 75 miles from center, and the TS force winds out to 200.

Our guy's best estimate is that eye will pass over Houma.

If anyone stays in NO, my condolences.

Someone needs to stay behind and shoot the looters.

It sounds like they have busses and trains to get people out this time and are letting them take pets. Unlike last time there is no excuse.

What I don't get is why they are still rebuilding single story wood framed buildings there. They should be building with reinforced concrete, two stories with the first story as garage and storage. I vote for only allowing people to rebuild in that manner.

Unsung_Hero: If you have to rebuild, build everything hurricane-proof with a floodable 1st story.


This. My uncle lives in NOLA, he moved there in the 70s. Builds floats for a living. His workshop is a almost 4 story warehouse, his home is on the 5th story. He's never needed to leave, and has water marks on the wall from all the storms. Post storm cleanup for him is simply hosing things out...

Only different prep he's done since Katrina was to buy a couple of rifles (SKSes - or whatever the plural of 'em is) and some barracade beams for his warehouse door.