Anyone else worried as Californians file into the stadium?

[CoffeeCat]

I am very concerned about our fellow citizens in California.

Although I am concerned for their safety and for their homes
and possessions, and I extremely nervous about how they will
be treated as this disaster unfolds.

I can't help think about Katrina.

If the fires subside, everything may be ok. However, what if the
fires exacerbate and more people need assistance and shelter? I
see that the Qualcomm stadium is now housing people who have no
place to go.

I pray that those people will be ok and that arrangements have been made for
food, water and other essentials. The memories of the people in the New Orleans
stadium are just too fresh in my mind.

I wonder where Bush is? Is he making arrangement to have the National Guard
invade, cordon off major cities and install a military presence?

I apologize if I'm being an alarmist. I'm just concerned and I don't trust
this administration to lead a parade--let alone a state that is facing
a major disaster that has rendered many people dependent on outside sources.

I hope the people of California are not let down by our government.

[Critters2]

1. I thought about this as I watched CNN this morning.

I'm not sure I'd go to a stadium as a shelter. I guess if I were truly desperate, but if I could find ANYWHERE else, I'd do it.

[The Wielding Truth]

2. First thing I thought of, but these are rich whites. Different story. nt

[monktonman]

4. Now, now, be careful with that shit.

Please dont let that bleed into this tragedy.
The real difference is that the people in California
have food and water at the stadium.
Not everyone in California is rich and white.

[stranger81]

9. have you ever been to our state?!?

If you think all of the affected SoCal areas are rich and white, then you didn't visit the right places last time you were here.

[AZBlue]

10. If they were so rich, they wouldn't have to take shelter in a stadium.

The rich could afford a hotel room somewhere else or stay with friends or leave town. It's the rest of us (me included) that would wind up in the shelters and stadiums.

[shanti]

30. exactly!!

n/t

[Arkansas Granny]

50. That's a very good point. I wish more people would consider that.

[NorthernSpy]

59. if you're really rich and your house burns down, you go to one of your other houses...

People end up camped out in a stadium because they have nowhere else to go.

[Wiley50]

89. Yep, the Truly Rich Choppered away from their threatened homes

never saw the stadium (Good thing. They'd want to keep others from their reserved box seats)

The just rich got limos to pick them up outside the stadium

The well-off middle had friends and family pick them up

So, it gets down to Katrinaville for those left over

[Riktor]

97. People fail to see this situation for what it really is...

San Diego County is like the Titanic.

It's big, it's luxurious, and it houses a large number of well-to-do white, conservative industrialists. These folks live in their cavernous cabins high above the waterline, unconcerned of what lay below.

Unbeknown to wealthy, the middle class are enjoying their modest, if expensive, accommodations a mere deck below. Their cabins are little smaller, a little closer together, and lack the amenities of their wealthier shipmates.

Further down, in the belly of the giant ship, you have the third class passengers. They crammed into the ship's hull like sardines, not for the luxury the ship provides, but because they need to get from point A to point B, and this was the ticket they bought.

The moral of this story should be obvious. If the ship hits an iceberg, the First Class passengers aren't the only ones who are going to drown.

[slackmaster]

103. That has to be one of the worst analogies ever posted on DU

I just rearranged my deck chairs. Everything is fine here in South Park.

[Riktor]

115. Of course, as one neighborhood is a represetative sample

Your mastery of statistical inference is surpassed by none. Perhaps, then, you should call up a few of my fellow graduate students from Escondido. With your amazing prowess of logical deduction, you should have no problem convincing them they are either rich or not homeless.

[Lurking Dem]

11. I'm sure the folks

from the Indian reservations, the Mexican immigrants, and the resident poor really appreciate that comment.

[aquart]

12. You think military families are rich?

And university staffers are rich?

Well, we are. Americans ARE rich compared to most of the world's population.

And we very likely deserve to suffer for what we've done to Iraq. Happy now? It's good that you reserve your "compassion" only for the truly deserving. Now who does that remind me of?

[haele]

16. Err - it's a different story because only a part of the county is affected -

And most of the county is "on standby" so that people are looking for something to do to feel as if they are in control of the situation. The entire city is still standing and close to "business as usual", instead of paralyzed and powerless in the middle of devastating flooding.

Also the rural area in San Diego County is not all rich white folks. There are a lot of family homesteads and family ranches in the county, where people have lived out in the middle of nowhere for generations and didn't need to make a lot of money. And most of the "color" in North county is - brown.
There are plenty of poor or working-class minorities at Qualcomm. The difference is not "red" and "blue" or "black and white" - it's "working infrastructure" verses "non-working infrastructure".

Biiig difference.

Haele

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

21. for fucks sake!

Do you really think "The OC" and the misc MTV "reality tv" shows set in California are real?

A few miles from the coast and your in Anywhere USA!

[ronnykmarshall]

22. Bull fucking SHIT!

[BeHereNow]

23. That is an idiotic thing to say.

Obviously you have no actual knowledge of
the demographics in the area.

BHN

[The Wielding Truth]

28. Got the info from CBS. My fault for watching. Hope you

fend well in this scary situation. I pray that you will not be abandoned like NOLA victims. I have also been out all day and the piece I saw was yesterday. It was concentrated in a well to do neighborhood. I saw a bit of footage.

[brentspeak]

49. You "saw a bit of footage", eh?

And it was "concentrated in a well to do neighborhood"?

Well, that settles it, then: We should all feel confident about posting angry B.S. because of what we saw on a few seconds of television!

:thumbsdown:

[The Wielding Truth]

99. What I saw was early and I guess it was just confined to

Malibu. That's what I saw as the area. I apologize for not double checking the situation. I really didn't realize the the fires had spread because I had been away from all media for the day.Bad post.You are right, I should have investigated and updated what I thought was a malibu fire.

I am so sorry that I responded so flippantly to such a increasingly tragic problem.To any person who is struggling from this situation I apologize.

DU, sorry to have posted so hastily.

[LynneSin]

24. Most 'rich whites' probably have some other place to go other than Qualcomm

try not to be too judgemental

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. Half a million people evacuated?

Not too sure of this

We are at the point that you will have people from all demographics at evac centers

As well as housed in private residences

[aquart]

74. Over 300,000 household got reverse 911.

If each house had at least 2 people...I think half a million is a conservative estimate. Everyone who could went to a friend or relative. The next choice was hotels and motels. Then the evac centers. There is no good way to count.

There are also people just wandering the streets. And, thankfully, they are also being helped:

"Alpha Project distributing masks, food, water to hundreds of homeless wandering the streets without direction and shelter 24 minutes ago from web"

On a side note: "Vonage customers do not get reverse 9-1-1 calls.. Roadrunner/TimeWarner customers DO get reverse 9-1-1 calls. 39 minutes ago from web"

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. You'd like to back that statement?

Damn some folks have NO FUCKING CLUE!

[Bluebear]

31. Yeah, rich white flesh burns differently.

They do not scream as they burn, they do not mourn the photographs, memories, animals that they lose.

[ContraBass Black]

40. No point in typing it again, I'll just post a link.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3038604&mesg_id=3039075

[JuniperLea]

56. This proves you don't know shit about California...

Your post is totally ignorant.

[roguevalley]

76. I personally don't care how much money anyone in this kind of

distress has. they are my countrymen and I fear for all of them. There is no amount of money that can replace heirlooms lost or animals and people killed. The only thing that matters is other people, the people you love. God bless California and her suffering people, animals and land.

Roguevalley, born in California, raised in Oregon, feeling bad for my country and countrymen in Alaska

[JuniperLea]

86. Thanks, rouguevalley...

Now that is the kind of response I would expect from a kind person like you.

:hugs:

[roguevalley]

114. hugs back, sweetie. I am so very sorry for everyone. I saw a

cnn report of a lady firefighter who got burned. Her mom was so shocked and upset. the girl told her mom she was sorry. so awful. I can't find words.

[huskerlaw]

82. Are you serious?!

California only has rich white people?

Have you ever BEEN here?

:rofl:

[begin_within]

95. Do rich people sleep on cots in public stadia? Or do they get hotel rooms?

[ecstatic]

100. not rich, hence the stadium... but the racial dynamics will certainly

play a role in how the evacuees are treated and the sort of rumors that will fly regarding what is occurring inside the stadium.

[krispos42]

3. False flag terror operation?

That's what worries me. Military funding is on the line right now.

Do you put it past Bush?

[monktonman]

6. ummm natural disaster?

I wouldn't put anything past bitch and his boys
but when is a duck just a duck?

[aquart]

8. That's simply idiotic.

Seriously.

[krispos42]

33. You misunderstand

"somebody", in the chaos at the arena, smuggles in a bomb or something. Maybe a small one, but enough to blame on an "Al Qaeda terror cell".

Isn't the warrentless illegal wiretapping bill coming up soon, too?

[aquart]

85. I understand perfectly.

YOU don't get that terrorism is an INSIGNIFICANT threat. You think a bomb can kill more than a fire? Or a flood? Or a hurricane? NO TERRORIST EVER DESTROYED A CITY.

It is shocking how many so-called "progressives" have become right wing dupes. You scream and rant about how awful they are and then parrot everything they want you to say.

Now go away. We are dealing with REAL problems. Over half a million Americans are out of their homes. And some can never go back.

[krispos42]

104. You understand nothing, apparently.

Terrorism in and of itself, barring WMDs, is largely an insignificant threat. The effects of terror attacks are psychological and political in nature, for the most part.

The right-wing response to terrorism is a significant threat. We know what they want to do. Imperial presidency. Fascism. No guarantee of rights for anybody. No oversight. No justice. Privatization of government services. A sharp, virtually impenetrable wall between the elite 'haves' and the rabble 'have-nots'.

Osama didn't take away habeus corpus, the neocons did. Osama didn't negate the 4th Amendment, the neocons did. Osama didn't dimish the 1st Amenement, the neocons did. Osama didn't make military commissions, the neocons did. Osama didn't make us invade Iraq, the neocons did.

And we know how they get it. Constant and relentless fearmongering. Virtually complete ownership of the media that promotes the fearmongering. A network of mindless syncophants pumping megawatts of spin, lies, and idiocy throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. A useless war in Iraq that lets
Bush claim "I'm a war preznit" and the expanded powers thereof over and over again.

We also know what BushCo has done to get in the position they are now. What they have done they desperately want to keep buried for fear of being held accountable.

If they feel that they can get the Congress to bow to their will on the continued occupation of Iraq, war with Iran, media ownership, military commissions, warrantless domestic (i.e., unconstitutional illegal) wiretapping of telephone and internet services, and other issues by riding a public panic about a terrorism attack in a stadium crowded with fire refugees, why wouldn't they?

It is a fairly common belief that the Bush Administration deliberately let 9/11 happen. So what is so far-fetched about Cheney having some Green Beret-turned-mercenary neocon fanatic or two smuggle a few backpack bombs into a stadium full of refugees?

[enid602]

51. Greece

But remember, many in Greece blamed the recent spate of wilfires there on angry developers who were protesting anti-development requlations. I.E., setting fires for political reasons.

[earth mom]

73. I wouldn't put it past * Co to "fan" the flames.

And I don't expect them to do much-IF ANYTHING-for the displaced citizens from the fire. :mad:

[aquart]

5. The evacuated areas are being patrolled for looters. Two have been arrested.

Safe havens for pets and large animals are being provided. Also, notices go up with contact numbers whenever help is needed for food or transport and hopefully people respond.

CalFire sites give info on fires and the available help to fight them.

Qualcomm Stadium is only taking sealed items, but the people in the parking lot are not nearly so fussy.

Twitter is an excellent blog if you want to keep informed. <http://twitter.com/nateritter>

You will see that the big corporations have begun making large donations of money and goods for the comfort of the evacuees.

This will NOT be Katrina.

[BobRossi]

7. Nah....

Rich white folk. They will receive emergency rations of Perier, caviar, smoked salmon, and watercress sandwiches. They will each be given king size beds and the maid will place a mint on the pillow each night.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. You really don't know this area, do you?

And you are just MEAN

No better than babs to be quite brutally honest

[Marrah_G]

38. I don't care if this gets deleted.

You are a complete and total asshole.

Fuck off.

[Catherine Vincent]

72. I think that poster was being sarcastic. n/t

[Marrah_G]

90. Doh.... I can't tell anymore.......

:blush:

[knight_of_the_star]

41. Take your overinflated head and shove it up your ass you monster!

Honestly anyone who could react that way to the suffering of other human beings, no matter how rich or poor, is no better than the men who swung at Nuremberg.

[roguevalley]

77. it could have been sarcasms, sweeties. at least I hope so.

[kskiska]

43. Actually, CNN reported

that there are massage therapists and a gourmet buffet at the stadium. A far cry from the Superdome.

[Marrah_G]

46. Because People from surrounding communities rushed down with food to help

Average people from surrounding cities couldn't rush to the superdome with food and supplies.

Also it was alot of lunchmeats and such. It wasn't a gourmet buffet.

There was one massage guy who took the day off to try and relieve people's stress.

Rich people are not sleeping on cots in the stadium





Edited: took out snarky remarks meant for different poster.

[kskiska]

57. You have to wonder why they're exaggerating

when comparisons to Katrina are inevitable. Wonder what the fallout from this disaster will be.

[Le Taz Hot]

58. CNN????

Well, it must be true, then. :eyes:

[tinrobot]

70. Don't forget San Diego is just north of Mexico.

There's a very diverse community there. Not everyone is rich and white.

Sorry to bust your bubble.

[Bluzmann57]

13. Well, in this case, the state seems to be involved

and I think the feds may have learned something from the Katrina fiasco. Also, I imagine that since most of these people own their homes, rather than rent, they have some sort of fire insurance. Let's hope that the people out there are ok and that no more harm befalls them.

[roguevalley]

78. if any blame is decided, it should be on Schwarzenneger for not

implementing the recommendations from the 2003 fire, the dimwit.

[Grandrose]

14. Different circumstances...

Different socio-economic class of people, with a different city, state and federal government response and concern for their well-being!
They will definitely be treated better and with more respect.
Furthermore, it's not the first fire emergency they have experienced.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. You're right, and based on the Cedar fire experience

this is gonna be bad... the disaster is JUST starting

[GodlessBiker]

27. Every time I check on CNN, 100,000 more people have been evacuated.

It's very scary.

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. We are now at definitely a level three disaster aka federal

and quickly reaching the point where a humble administration would ask for international help and activate them plans

[Baby Snooks]

53. 500,000

The media has reported that 500,000 residents in the San Diego area have been evacuated. Quite frightening when you think about it.

[begin_within]

96. Not everyone in San Diego county is rich!

[malaise]

15. Yes but I'm even more worried that

these jets may hit each other in this dense smoke. What a horrible disaster this is for California residents. I'm beginning to think the hurricanes I've survived were mild.

Add.

[flashl]

17. My prayers are with all the souls under distress. n/t

[rocktivity]

18. Yep--like it or not, this is Katrina redux.

Let's see if Bush or FEMA have learned anything--aside from keeping the media away.

Which way are the fires moving? Toward the sea, or--gulp--north, south, or east?

:headbang:
rocknation

[AZBlue]

34. Mostly toward the sea I believe.

That certainly the way the winds are moving and wind seems to be the most critical factor in these fires.

[Gormy Cuss]

26. Qualcomm has cots,supplies, power, plumbing, and dry land and working roads surrounding it.

The Superdome didn't. I hope that the Qualcomm experience is held up as a reminder that stadiums can be good short term emergency shelters when government and disaster agencies are paying attention.

Schwarzenegger is making good with the photo ops so if it doesn't continue to work well as a shelter HIS face will be linked to the mess.

[DemBones DemBones]

36. The only rich white person I see in that photo is Ahhnold.

Hard to believe people think everyone in CA is rich and white. No, wait, a lot of people believe shit about places they've never been.

[Gormy Cuss]

42. I'm sure there are plenty of white people at Qualcomm, but probably not any other rich white people.

The rich have better options.

[DemBones DemBones]

65. The rich do have better options. My point was that

not everyone in CA is rich or white, as some have been asserting.

Many rich white people worked hard to get rich, they weren't born with silver spoons in their mouths.
There's no sense resenting the ones who were born with silver spoons in their mouths, either. They're all going to die, just like us, and some of them live very unhappy lives despite their money.

[Le Taz Hot]

60. Uh huh.

LTH,

Fresno, CA

[DemBones DemBones]

66. Are you agreeing or being snarky? Living in Fresno,

don't you resent people stereotyping Californians?

[Le Taz Hot]

87. I was responding to your comment:

"No, wait, a lot of people believe shit about places they've never been." People stereotype Californians, Fresnans and all rural dwelling residents (I understand from a recent post that they're "dummer than dirt").

Anyway, I don't mean to hijack this thread with this issue -- I was just cyber-nodding in agreement.

[DemBones DemBones]

105. That's cool.

I wasn't sure how you meant "Uh huh," considering some of the snarky posts in this thread, and all over DU lately.

The stereotyping that goes on here is terrible but also laughable. The sad part is that it doesn't all come from trolls.

[Midlodemocrat]

48. The lack of flooding is the major issue, I think.

I think those folks will be okay once the fires shift or burn past the area.

In NO, the flooding was the biggest issue.

[Gormy Cuss]

52. I hope so. I agree that the lack of flooding is a huge difference.

But there are so many ways that the Superdome situation was a mess I'm not sure it would have been much better without the flooding. The disaster agencies and gov't officials knew about the thousands there and that the situation warranted much more concentrated attention. It was a disaster on a magnitude rarely seen but I still shake my head dumbfounded at how many ways we failed the people of NOLA and all over the Gulf.

[Bluebear]

29. The port of San Diego has closed, no water exit possible evidently

[ContraBass Black]

37. Doesn't that leave fire to the north moving south and west,

Fire to the east moving west, fire to the south moving west and north, and a city on the edge of the ocean in the middle of all that without a functioning port?

Just lovely.

[Elspeth]

39. That's a cheerful way to look at it. (But true)

Ah well

[ContraBass Black]

45. Winds possibly too high for safe aircraft landing too.

My favorite person is there. Subtracting her from the sum of humanity would greatly diminish it.

[Elspeth]

63. I had a friend who flew in this morning.

She said it was odd. But then, she is the queen of understatement.

[NorthernSpy]

61. Why? That seems like sealing them all in...

:scared:

[roguevalley]

79. having lived with forest fires every summer for most of my life, I

always thought with dread what it would be like if a fire ever started to burn down a major city, not just neighborhoods. I wonder if it will take a few of these in the drought areas to wake up legislatures and others to the environmental catastrophe we are facing here? What a terrible, terrible thing to have to happen before we all change. I fear for the state. I hope only the best for them.

RV, been there, done that a few times.

[NorthernSpy]

88. could they maybe hide in subway tunnels until the fire is over?

I don't know anything about San Diego, but I saw a map of the situation, and they seemed to be surrounded by mountains and fires.

It's bad enough as it is. We can only keep hoping it won't burn a whole city.

Surely, there's just too much concrete in the way for that happen, if San Diego is anything like most cities!

[roguevalley]

113. big fires create their own wind. I would hate to be in a tunnel when

the fire sucked out the air. This is so appalling. God bless California.
:cry:

[slackmaster]

102. There's nothing stopping people from swimming for it

:eyes:

[bklyncowgirl]

109. Is that closed for normal business or could rescue boats get in there to take people out?

This is frightening but short of actual fires cutting off the port from the stadium & other refuge areas,it's hard to believe that the Navy or the Coast Guard couldn't get ships in there to take people out.

[Initech]

44. Only a matter of time before the Blackwater serial killer show up.

:scared:

[Riktor]

94. Unlikely

The SDPD hasn't been scattered like the NOPD was. We are currently capable of policing our own without the help of a murderous state-sanctioned gang of sociopaths. Chances are, they'll just deploy Blackwater to watch the borders while the SDPD oversees the return of evacuees.

[madokie]

47. I don't know if it'll make any difference but I'm worried sick myself

considering that most of us folks in this country are only one disaster away from not having anything something like this sure hits home. and chucklenuts mr mcDufus isn't thinking about them at all, I believe that with all my heart. I'm ready for a President rather than a pResident

[theboss]

54. My guess is that the government of CA is about 1000x more competent than that of Louisiana

We'll see though, I guess.

[huskerlaw]

84. You would like to think so

but we do have a Republican governor...and our federal assistance still comes from FEMA.

[comtec]

108. While I HATE the governator

he seems competent, at least as far as putting people with abilities in charge.
He may be however I think the photo op was probably the best thing he could have done.
I'm sure it raised moral there, and right now thats what those poor people need.
I'm from the bay area and I have family in Palm Springs and bits of LA, and I'm worried about them.
My sister was living in SD a couple years ago, as is family of friends of mine.
There is no way I'll be unaffected by whats happening, and I'm worried about the * response, which will be bad.
The rest of the country LOVES to piss on us, call us names, and the like, ignoring the value of the California ports.
I'm worried what this is going to do to the ports ability to operate, and I don't want to think about the refineries down south.
They are saying many of the fires are going to burn to the ocean.
There are countless people and animals in the way in addition to factories, and refineries.
The toxic chemicals and such that will and are being burned are hardly in anyone's consciousness right now.
MOST people in California are middle class,working poor.
We work and work and work and we still are barely making it. These houses out of the cities are the only affordable housing anywhere.
When you live away from the major cities, the price of hosing drops dramatically.
I've worked with people in Silicon valley who are living in Tracy, that's a 3 hour commute, each way with traffic!
These are not the über rich, these are working stiffs trying to make a good home for their families!
These are people who want to live in safe neighborhoods, who have just lost E V E R Y T H I N G!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so to those who are ripping on California, go fuck yourself!

The rest of us have work to do!

I don't even want to think about how many people are going to have to declare bankruptcy because their insurance will NOT pay out (there are people in OAKLAND who are STILL waiting to get insurance payments from the Oakland fire in 89!!!!!!!)

This is truly an evil thing that has happened.

[hiphopnation]

55. read this from crooks and liars

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/23/la-wild-fires/

i'm not too worried about them...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2115991

[aquart]

62. Something nice you might want to read:

" Qualcomm is pleasantly overwhelmed with donations. You can stop now. Stay classy San Diego! 22 minutes ago from web" from Twitter.

[Elspeth]

64. We've got a really nice community down here--even if our politicians suck

:)

[Riktor]

93. I agree

I haven't lived in SD that long, but people here are extremely nice.

[gateley]

71. I heard earlier that the people at Qualcomm were making the best of it - attitude

will go a long way in determining how the situation plays out.

[defendandprotect]

67. No, you're not alarmists -- Bush will "Katrina" the entire nation soon ---

That's why I don't understand people who aren't worried about leaving this guy around for another year in the WH -- ???!!!

[CoffeeCat]

81. That's exactly what I'm thinking...

I'm waiting for the other cowboy boot to fall.

Where is the chimp? He's not around anywhere. Usually, he
makes an appearance, to feign interest in a big disaster.

He is nowhere. When that man is out of sight, I worry that
he's thinking or cooking up some plot. We all know how he
loves to capitalize on disasters and use them as opportunities
to cue the Fascism.

I'm really wondering what he is doing. I don't trust that man
AT ALL.

The fires may gradually die and we may have seen the worst of
the situation. However, with that psycho at the helm, all bets
are off.

The man can, and will, screw up anything.

[jhain]

68. Yes. My stomach hurts n/t

[tinrobot]

69. They're not cut off like those in New Orleans

Water, sewer, and electricity all work, and the stadium isn't surrounded by water.

[earth mom]

75. I hope Californians are not let down by * Co. But I expect they will be.

A good indicator of future behavior is to look at past behavior. It doesn't look good. :(

[AntiFascist]

80. The winds are subsiding so the worst may be over....

The So Cal fires, as devastating as they are, are not close to the order of magnitude of the Katrina disaster. I could say other things about the order of magnitude of what we have done in the Middle East, but I better leave well enough alone.

[huskerlaw]

83. The biggest difference is

that the entire region isn't crippled, as the Gulf Coast was during Katrina.

Though there are many places on fire in SoCal, unless it's bearing down on your neighborhood, you're still free to go about your day. In other words, we have ways to send in help. The entire city of Los Angeles proper is unaffected, as are the vast majority of its suburbs, and we're only 3 hours away from San Diego. We can send supplies, help, and volunteers (and of course, many organizations are). I believe the news said yesterday that there were more volunteers at the stadium than there were people seeking shelter. That balance may have tipped a bit as more evacuations were ordered, but you get the idea.

During Katrina, people did not have the ability to help until days later. It's not the same scenario here, thank god. So while it is definitely creepy, I don't think we're even remotely close to having a repeat of that nightmare.

Also, we aren't experiencing the mass power outages, lack of sewer system, or availability of medical care that caused so much of the horror in New Orleans.

[Raine]

91. That's right

the INFRASTRUCTURE in New Orleana was destroyed and in Southern Cal it's individuals homes etc. I'm in Los Angeles County and everything is as usual except for ashes drifing around and smoke abscuring the sun somewhat. I have electricity, water etc.

[Riktor]

92. Furthermore

San Diego is being attacked from the outside in, whereas New Orleans was torn apart from the inside out.

San Diego proper is still up and running, the government is still in the city, we still have cops, we still have firefighters, we still have jobs, stores are still open, and, shit, I just went out to dinner in La Jolla. Those who have lost their homes can still rely on a structurally sound social network; there are plenty of San Diegans willing to take care of the displaced for the time being.

New Orleans was another story altogether. Everything was completely destroyed while the authorities were completely crippled by their inability to organize under such conditions.

[YvonneCa]

98. Not worried here...

...because I know my city. And I've been talking to neighbors who are there due to evacuation. They are all grateful they are okay, thankful for the firefighters and community support, and hopeful to return to their homes. If they can't, we'll take them in.

And, by the way, I don't trust Bush, his management of FEMA or anything else, and I can't wait to have a competent President I DO believe in. PEACE.

[slackmaster]

101. Wrong forum

:tinfoilhat:

Seriously, the situation here is completely different than the Katrina evacuations.

We have a largely functional city that is able to provide for the displaced. Our reverse 911 system did a fantastic job of getting the word out on evacuations.

Nobody is being forced into any evacuation center.

I hope the people of California are not let down by our government.

Our county and state governments are doing just fine because they are competent.

Just keep the feds out of here for crying out loud.

[krispos42]

107. Oh, Jeez, that's right!

you're down there too!

Quick, Slack, flee to Minnesota! No wildfires here! I'll inflate the air mattress for you!

:-)

[slackmaster]

110. Thanks for the offer, I am making my stand here

I've managed to stay home from work and get full credit for it for two days. Right now I really don't know if I will be going to the office today. It was like a mausoleum there yesterday morning when I dropped in to pick up some paperwork and check on things.

About 90% of our staff (read remaining staff after the 10/9 decimation layoff that took out a fellow DUer) was not there because they got evacuated, or have children who are out because schools are closed, or other grim reasons.

My mom spent the afternoon at my place yesterday. The air is much worse at her home in Poway. She lives about two blocks south of one of the mandatory evacuation areas.

In spite of having hundreds of thousands of people displaced, the area is actually functioning pretty well.

[krispos42]

112. Okay, take care

May the FSM protect you with his noodly appendage! :-)

[Beerboy]

106. Not so much.

They'll be just fine. They're concentrated into deportation centers now; the demographics of crucial districts are now well-in-hand the year before the election. It seems business-as-usual to me.

[knitter4democracy]

111. I'm trying to get my cousin and his family to come back here.

I know flying out is expensive, but we can take care of them once they're here. They won't be breathing that crap, either.

One cousin apparently was already evac'd, but we haven't heard from him. He's a survivor, granted, but it's still very worrisome.