Mayor Ray Nagin ordered an immediate evacuation Sunday for all of New Orleans

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Fire in the French Quarter...

[lord of the mark]

Car ownership in the US is not driven only be income, but by geography. Whilel i expect many poor residents of New Orleans lack cars, I would expect the proportion to be considerable lower in Biloxi or Gulfport, as those are small cities, where car ownership costs are relatively low, and transit is probably very limited.

When I first lived in Jacksonville, FL, i wondered why there were so many ads for discount auto parts chains, emphasizing that they were open 7 days a week. Till I realized that that was how poor folks managed to own autos - they bought cheap old ones, and fixed them themselves. Which meant the price of parts was a very large portion of their ownership costs. And having the auto parts store open 7 days a week, was their equivalent of having an auto repair shop open 7 days a week. If they needed a part on Sunday, and they couldnt buy it, and at a discount price, on Sunday, that meant they werent going anywhere till Monday.

[Dis]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
Car ownership in the US is not driven only be income, but by geography. Whilel i expect many poor residents of New Orleans lack cars, I would expect the proportion to be considerable lower in Biloxi or Gulfport, as those are small cities, where car ownership costs are relatively low, and transit is probably very limited.

When I first lived in Jacksonville, FL, i wondered why there were so many ads for discount auto parts chains, emphasizing that they were open 7 days a week. Till I realized that that was how poor folks managed to own autos - they bought cheap old ones, and fixed them themselves. Which meant the price of parts was a very large portion of their ownership costs. And having the auto parts store open 7 days a week, was their equivalent of having an auto repair shop open 7 days a week. If they needed a part on Sunday, and they couldnt buy it, and at a discount price, on Sunday, that meant they werent going anywhere till Monday.

exactly. most people own cars in my city. Even poor people. They often neglect other important things so they can ride in a car with a booming stereo (yes even poor people have these). But they live in slums.

The people who do not own cars are older mexican immigrants, druggies who choose drugs over tranportation, and people who are too stupid to figure out how to save $1000.

[techumseh]

To the Astrodome!

They're going to move the people from the Superdome in New Orleans by bus to the Astrodome in Houston. It's a 7 hour bus ride and many of the folks in there are elderly and ill.

But on a more basic level, it's no solution at all. In fact, it's moronic. They're just gonna store these people until they figure out what to do with them. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up a first class riot on their hands.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/08/31/New_Orleans20050831.html

[techumseh]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
Car ownership in the US is not driven only be income, but by geography. Whilel i expect many poor residents of New Orleans lack cars, I would expect the proportion to be considerable lower in Biloxi or Gulfport, as those are small cities, where car ownership costs are relatively low, and transit is probably very limited.

When I first lived in Jacksonville, FL, i wondered why there were so many ads for discount auto parts chains, emphasizing that they were open 7 days a week. Till I realized that that was how poor folks managed to own autos - they bought cheap old ones, and fixed them themselves. Which meant the price of parts was a very large portion of their ownership costs. And having the auto parts store open 7 days a week, was their equivalent of having an auto repair shop open 7 days a week. If they needed a part on Sunday, and they couldnt buy it, and at a discount price, on Sunday, that meant they werent going anywhere till Monday.

Quibble all you want, the point is that the estimate of hundreds of thousands of people without cars in the affected area is reasonable.

[techumseh]

Originally posted by Dis


exactly. most people own cars in my city. Even poor people. They often neglect other important things so they can ride in a car with a booming stereo (yes even poor people have these). But they live in slums.

The people who do not own cars are older mexican immigrants, druggies who choose drugs over tranportation, and people who are too stupid to figure out how to save $1000.

The ramblings of a fool.

[Dis]

Originally posted by techumseh


The ramblings of a fool.

**** off. Have you ever been to Las Vegas. I suppose you know more about my city than I do. Come here, and you will see how many cars there are. And yes I realize Las Vegas is not the gulf coast.

But guess what *******. I lived on the gulf coast also. Have you been there?

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Re: To the Astrodome!

Originally posted by techumseh
They're going to move the people from the Superdome in New Orleans by bus to the Astrodome in Houston. It's a 7 hour bus ride and many of the folks in there are elderly and ill.

But on a more basic level, it's no solution at all. In fact, it's moronic. They're just gonna store these people until they figure out what to do with them. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up a first class riot on their hands.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/nation...s20050831.html

It's better than keeping them in the superdome...what else are you going to do with them? FEMA says they have plans for temporary housing, but it will take time to set it up...

[Dis]

all he can do is critisize. He has no useful ideas for himself. The astrodome is not that bad an idea. For a temporary solution, it's an excellent idea.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Irony of the day: They can't get water to fight the fire.

[Chemical Ollie]

Aren't there a lot of empty military barracks, now that all the troops are abroad? There you have beds, lockers, showers, cantinas etc. Must be a lot better than sleeping on the floor of a sports arena.

[Edan]

Originally posted by Dis

The people who do not own cars are older mexican immigrants, druggies who choose drugs over tranportation, and people who are too stupid to figure out how to save $1000.

These days, who needs to save $1000? We've got credit cards to spend spend spend....

[Dis]

I hereby admit I was wrong (only the second time - the other was when I was wrong about Jessica Lynch- remember her?).

The mayor of New Orleans has now said the death toll in his city is in the thousands. I really did not think it would be that high.

But I still blame Fox news. They said New Orleans had been spared. I figured I could watch them for this kind of news since it's not really a biased story. I haven't been happy with Fox coverage. I've actually preferred MSNBC coverage for once (I normally hate MSNBC).

Thousands of deaths. That's just amazing. Andrew was more powerful, but really didn't kill that many people (at least not compared to this one). Did the waters really rise so fast? How did so many people die in New Orleans? Why didn't the Mississippi coast evacuate better?

[Dis]

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
Aren't there a lot of empty military barracks, now that all the troops are abroad? There you have beds, lockers, showers, cantinas etc. Must be a lot better than sleeping on the floor of a sports arena.

I don't want anyone who's been wading in raw sewage sleeping on my rack.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Koyaanisqatsi
Irony of the day: They can't get water to fight the fire.

That makes no sense-- I can see flooded equipment failing but lack of water should never be an issue. The fire trucks I used ALWAYS had two forms of water intake-- one was for hydrants while another would give just as much supply of water in any place with a water depth of more than 2 and a half feet. Ponds, brooks, even an irrigation ditch could serve.