Katrina and Opheilla a tale of 2 states.

[Robace252]

With another hurricane looming (granted its a lot weaker) this time off of my home states (North Carolina) coast I thought it would be interesting to show the diffrence between how this state handles oncomming storms. Though Opheilla is 2 days away and no where near as strong as Katrina was, think of when Louisanna began to react, when they ordered the National Guard in and when they decided that the Feds had to do it for them. Now lets look at the current situation in my state of North Carolina. With no disaster area given by the FEDS or any indication of a certain hit this is what our governor has done ON HIS OWN: from my home city website wral.com

Concerned about possible coastal flooding, Gov. Mike Easley ordered 200 National Guard soldiers to report to staging centers in eastern North Carolina. The governor also ordered a mandatory evacuation of nonresidents from fragile Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks, reachable only by ferry.

Also not on the website but reported by our Tiime Warner 24 hour news channel here he has also ordered power crews, ice and generators to be staged in areas, called in several thousand more National Guard Troops to be on 12 hour deployment status, several of my friends are on call as I type this.
He is also expected to order mandatory evacuations by tommrrow and will send out the National Guard already there to ensure all citizens know and have a way out if needed.
And just so you know, this is how Gov. Easly acts for every hurricane. I dont know how many of you know about a town called Princeton in NC. It was ravaged by floods a few years ago after a hurricane. The entire town was lost and they have had to rebuild it down the road. It was poor miniority community but you know what, the state sent in buses and transportation for all those that couldnt get out. Local churches helped out their members and the National Guard also helped evacuate people.
Now this shows how one state (North Carolina) acts and doesnt wait for the FEDS, our state takes action. And how another state (Louisanna) waits and waits and then reacts. Not taking the initative to do what they should do to help and protect their own people. Dont wait, just do it.
What do you all think?

[isabeau]

very interesting robace. louisiana had plenty of warning heck we all knew the hurricane was going to cause major damage. and these warnings were talked about days in advance. being the kind of layout new orleans was, the governor should have gotten on the ball right away and done the same thing your governor did. why didnt she? instead of holding press conferences every hour her or the mayor should have been calling out all the national guards they could get and all the school buses and every other major sort of transportation they could get a hold of. i have a friend who puts the entire blame on the mayor. i wont go so far as to agree with him, however everyone knew that this was to be a hurricane of castastrophic nature and new orleans could not withstand this type of hurricane. and btw robace stay safe if the hurricane gets near you. and once again hoorahhh for all you have done in mississippi my friend. the world needs more like you.

isabeau :cat:

[Red Jester]

Well, take into account that now that Hurricane Katrina has hit, awareness about the dangers are more common now. The public would be pissed off if your mayor did nothing.

[Robace252]

1st isabeau, hi again..I got your message and no our governor is not up for re-election, he was elected again in 2004. Red Jester this has nothing to do with him reacting because of Katrina, our Democratic governor has always acted for every hurricane the same way. He is pro-active on potential storms unlike Louisanna which was reactive to the known storm.
Also, isabeau I dont live on the coast I live inland close to the Virgina Border so storms usually dont affect me to much..except for Hurricane Fran which came right through the middle of the state. But usually we get some rain and tropical storm force winds, which as a survivor of many a hurricane and typhoons (my family lived at Kadena AFB, Okinawa Japan from 1979 until 1983 and there was no place to evacuate off an little island) also we lived at Tyndall AFB, Panama City Florida from 1983 until 1990. Ive been through my share and evacuated everytime possible. So Im always on the ready if I notice that the storm might be creeping up on us. I always pay attention.
Thanks again all.

[maniactickler]

Its good to know some states have competent state and local governments unlike Louisiana.

[MrMacphisto]

Well, take into account that now that Hurricane Katrina has hit, awareness about the dangers are more common now. The public would be pissed off if your mayor did nothing.

True... although I'd still argue that NC has a better state government than Louisiana. Granted, I'm biased... lol...

[unit5610]

I can't argue that both Carolinas likely have they're act together better than Louisiana. I don't think it's entirely because they have a more progressive attitude, though that's certainly part of it. In recent years, the Carolinas, especially NC, have had more legitimate scares and actual damaging hurricanes and have gone through this many times. Louisiana did get Andrew after Florida did but that was much farther from New Orleans. Also, I think every coastal state is very aware of the danger right now seeing what Katrina did not only to New Orleans but also to the Mississippi area. That awareness is a good thing of course but I think it is a factor.