Monday, August 29, 2005

Katrina and the Unfortunately Named Oceanic Phenomenae

Anyone else think that "Katrina and the Waves" are collectively walking around with bags over their heads right now?? Yowch. Don't think they will be doing a reunion tour of the south anytime soon.

Here is my rant for the day: people who, despite three days of warnings from everyone from the President (well, OK, to be fair, I try to tune him out too) to the governors of several states to the nerds who study weather disasters with every second of their geek-laden lives to the National Guard to Miss Cleo the psychic, refuse to believe that "MANDATORY IMMEDIATE EVACUATION" applies to their ignorant asses DESERVE TO GET SWEPT OFF THEIR ROOF IN A 20-FOOT WALL OF SEWAGE-SOAKED WATER.

Kudos to the, oh, MILLION other people who were smart enough to get out of harm's way; but there are inevitably those who retort with the "rassin' frassin', I lived through the great storm of nineteen-ought-whoozawhatzit and dadgummit I kain't leave thems chickens here all alone" mentality and then, sure enough, are the ones jamming up 911 at the peak of the hurricane's strike pleading for emergency personnel to come by in a magic kayak and rescue them despite 150 mile an hour winds.

Chalk it up to Darwinism in my book -- these people deserve whatever they get. It infuriates me that emergency workers will inevitably lose THEIR lives at some point rescuing these morons from the roofs of the 2-room tin-panel covered shacks that their owners were SURE were going to withstand winds going three times the speed of cars on their street.

I can understand that some natural disasters don't give you time to prepare - tornado, meteor strike, alien attack, etc. -- but they've been tracking this hurricane since it was making windsocks flutter off the coast of Africa two weeks ago!!! When terms like "catastrophic loss of life," "toxic cesspool" and "30-foot storm surges" get bandied about for three days in advance of said disaster, PERHAPS YOU SHOULD LISTEN.

I will now descend from my soapbox and go back to hoping that the hurricane at least does some good, like knocking down the Britney Spears museum in White Trashton, LA or wherever it is she hails from.

9 comments:

tom said...

I feel bad for the poor tourists in the Superdome. Great vacation, eh?

Tess

Tess said...

I didn't mean to post as Tom. That's my troll name. Or rather, my husband's name.

Tess

Tess said...

Why does it say I posted at 10:02 AM? As near as I can tell, it's 10:02 PM eastern time.

Sorry, don't mean to clutter up your comments.

Tess

Kristen Gill, Marketing Manager said...

Oh goodness girl...I have been saying this all day! Survival of the fittest...Here are some of my favorite stories/quotes of the not-so-fit:

Charles Curtis, a Biloxi resident who works in a casino that is now split in half, said he and his wife stood on top of their refrigerator as the water rose around them.


People used axes, and in at least one case a shotgun, to blast holes in roofs so they could escape. Many who had not yet been rescued could be heard screaming for help, police said.

"I said, 'Linda, is that a tornado?' and the next thing I knew, we were in the dining room, and it was trying to suck us through the window and pull us out. We were just holding on to each other to stay in place."

mistyblue3 said...

ha! You're funny, and I agree w/ you. It's their own damn fault for NOT leaving

Mel said...

Tess -- I have the time stamp all screwed up so you can't really tell when I post (like, maybe sometimes, I should be doing something more useful...like...working??)

tom said...

Okay, evidently 3 comments weren't enough. I found this link on Slate.com. It gives an interesting take on who couldn't leave and why.

http://www.slate.com/id/2124688/

Tess

Resolution Gal said...

WHAT?!?!? You mean I won't get to take my children and grandchildren and their progeny to the Britney Spears Museum out in Podunk, LA?!?!?

Damn, damn, double-damn. I KNEW this hurricane was bad news.

(KIDDING. I am in now way making light of the fact that people have lost their lives in this. Nor do I want to visit that (cough,cough,choke) "museum". LOL!)

Mel said...

Let me clarify for the 100th time. I am speaking of the people who are NOW saying "damn, I should have left." NOT the people who couldn't. I have serious issues with them calling for a mandatory evacuation, and then not having the means to get those people out who have no cars, are sick, elderly, etc. -- the logistics there were NOT thought out, but there were certainly people who are now admitting to the media that NOT evacuating when they clearly had the means to was the worst mistake of their life.