Let's suppose - Hurricanes, FEMA, and possibilities

[brokensymmetry]

Let's suppose that the upcoming hurricane season - which will soon
be upon us - once again produces some large storms.

Let's say that we get two major hurricanes along with some minor
ones. The first one hits the Eastern Seaboard, around the Carolinas.
The second one hits Texas, close to Houston - or, perhaps, western
Louisiana, a couple months later.

As nearly as I can tell, FEMA would be completely unprepared for
all this; likewise the rest of the infrastructure. Gasoline would
skyrocket to $5 per gallon, and numerous locales would not have
it available at any price.

In short, the New Orleans debacle would be replicated on a larger
scale - though perhaps with less loss of life, since there would
likely be less flooding.

So - is such a scenario possible, in your opinion?

What effect might it have politically?

Other thoughts?

[greenman3610]

1. the gulf coast is unprepared for another hit

and the east coast is more vulnerable than ever, with
all the development on the beaches.

Australia has seen 2 cat-5 storms in the last month -
We may before long be looking at Katrina as
"the good old days".

Shame that it's come to this, but nature is
finally talking in the only language that Joe Shithead
understands.

[heartofthesiskiyou]

2. Disagree with the premiss

ANY hurricanses the repubs are going to be all over it. They aren't going to fall into an entirly preventable miss step. Chimpy will be on the plane the next morning, landing this time. They preposition at the first sign ect. etc. I'm hoping for no hurricanes of any significance.

Even a direct him on Houston refineries they'll pull out all stops. They'd even open the reserves before they let 5$ a gallon happen in THIS election. Even the oil companies will come to *'s aid and not try to exployt. It would even suprise me to see the oil companies take a temporay hit in profits rether then make the repukes look bad. I'd bet money on this.

[brokensymmetry]

3. I don't doubt they'll try to do all this...but

can they pull it off?

The famous (infamous?) Brownie probably wasn't
trying to make a mess of the New Orleans situation,
but he did so. Of course they'll pull out all the
stops - but if they're not competent...

[heartofthesiskiyou]

5. There ARE compitent folks still at FEMA

They'll drag the politico's out of the way. Also I'm kind of "faith based" on this one. I think mother nature is going to cut us some slack for this election and not do too much damage less give them a "see bush is a good guy" arguement.

Go mother, you can do it.

[greenman3610]

4. Large areas of the world, including the US, are now uninsurable

"Vast areas of the world are becoming uninsurable as
global warming triggers devastating and costly rises in
sea levels, as well as droughts, floods and increasingly
violent storms.

"Experts fear that some nations, especially those in
the Caribbean, parts of Asia and the Pacific, face
greater economic hardship. They believe insurance cover,
vital for attracting inward investment to develop tourist
resorts and protect homes and businesses, will become
prohibitively high. In some areas it may disappear
entirely as insurers protect themselves from multibillion-
pound claims.

http://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/1-25/Note%2000022.txt

[brokensymmetry]

6. That sounds like the insurance companies are betting

on worse and more numerous storms.

Which doesn't sound good for much of anything.

[greenman3610]

7. exactly. Insurance companies are on a collision course with

Energy companies.

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003583.html

[rainbow4321]

8. Military shores up hurricane response(oh, sure..cuz of Nov 2006 elections)

No doubt someone has the political aftermath in mind with midterm elections this year.

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MILITARY_HURRICANES?SITE=TXSAE&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-05-06-14-27-10


Ahead of the hurricane season that starts June 1, the Pentagon is buying cellular and satellite phone vans, cutting paperwork to speed delivery of aircraft, troops and supplies to stricken areas and already is sending military officers to Gulf states

Yet military officials fear falling short of the public's expectations when the next storm hits, given that the scenes of New Orleans' devastation are still vivid and frustration with the federal response still raw.

"The expectations of our citizens ... have gotten so high that regardless of the responder - local, state, National Guard and Defense Department - folks will be disappointed that they can't get everything they need right away," said Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. Northern Command. "We have to manage expectations."

"We weren't aggressive going forward, we need to be more anticipatory," said Lt. Gen. Joseph Inge, deputy commander. This year, he said, "because we're watching, we may know before they (local authorities) do that they have a potential problem."

[brokensymmetry]

9. Great link!

That's good information - thank you.

It's interesting that they express concern about multiple disasters,
and I guess that's what I'm considering - two hurricanes, one on
the Eastern Seaboard, and the other in the Western Gulf.

Still, it sounds as if they're working on dealing with
challenges of that magnitude.