Text 691, 144 rader
Skriven 2007-08-20 15:38:35 av Richard Webb (1:116/901.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Thom LaCosta (1:261/1352.0)
Ärende: emergency comms, was welcome to grammar school, was ...
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Thom LaCosta wrote in a message to Richard Webb:

TL> Richard Webb wrote in a message to Thom LaCosta:


TL> Don't get insulted...but what happened in New Orleans shouldn't be
TL> viewed as a model or example for much.  If the local folks had have
TL> prepared and acted accordingly, a lot of the problems would be
TL> different in nature. 

 RW> Agreed, however I still think since this was a large scale disaster
 RW> a lot of what was needed still would have been arranged for on hf.

TL> Sure...and the bulk of that only becase of the incompetence you the
TL> local government.

I'm just a civilian, but had you used "of" instead of "you in that last
paragraph I'd agree with that.

 RW> IF you said sitting in a parking lot getting filled with water
 RW> you'd be right on the money.

TL> Oh like the other busses that could have used to evacuate people? 

Amen brother!  YEt a lot of those people I worked with had to stay where they
were, there were patients in that hospital, and they needed people to care for
them until they could be gotten to somewhere adequate.

 RW> had any gas money" to GOd only knows what. IF it hadn't been so
 RW> stupid and sad after all the homeland security money spent to play
 RW> terror alert I'd be laughing behind my sleeve.

TL> I can't offer my personal thoughts on that....I would be taken to
TL> task for saying unkind things.

Hey I've been saying 'em.  I've always hoped my lack of faith in the native
intelligence of bureaucracies would prove to be overly pessimistic, but Katrina
showed me otherwise.
I scared off a guy from the Discovery channel who called me on the phone to
interview me for some doccumentary they were doing. Besides saying some not so
flattering things about my government he also got his feelings hurt.  THe
conversation went something like this:

INterviewer:  YOu mean you just couldn't go home at night and get away from it?

Me:  tHe hospital was surrounded by 17 feet of water.  DIdn't you see any of
the news coverage, or are you just dense?


 RW> YOu betcha!  YEt I carried one of their whiz bang 800 mhz trunked
 RW> portables with me for two days while deployed there. THe system
 RW> (the statewide trunked system) found itself overloaded with
 RW> traffic.  

TL> I wasn't there....but I'll bet ya a cup of coffee that a lot of non
TL> local stuff might have been lessened in there was a local comm
TL> system in place. 


Yep, and that's part of what super bus was supposed to do.

 RW> I'm a strong believer in the premise that my government will screw
 RW> anything up given half a chance, and citizens just have to fend for
 RW> themselves when the stuff hits the fan 

TL> Years ago we went through a farily severe hurricane....and the
TL> efforts of my boss and I helped get National Flood Insurcance
TL> started.  Cleaverly, we had built into the program an esclation
TL> cluase of sorts....the first time everyone was covered...but in
TL> addition to the aid, it triggered a series of studies to accurate
TL> define what were potential flood areas....Residents were encouraged
TL> NOT to move back into the flood plane....and the disencentive was
TL> dimiished coverage for a subsequentr claim....and even giving the
TL> commercial carriers the option NOT to renew a policy on something in
TL> the flood plane.

Yep, saw that with a whole little town in western Illinois along the
MIssissippi river after the '93 flood. I worked out of their fire station back
in 2001 which was on good high ground as comms for the flood control effort. 
THose people in that little town took their lessons to heart. AT one time that
village was primarily comprised of commercial fishermen and their families, but
it had become basically just another bedroom community and homes for weekenders
who wanted to spend said weekends on the water.  THe local moved inland away
from the potential flood danger, whole town, lock stock and barrel.

TL> Of course that logic would be a little hard to apply to a city that
TL> is below sea level.

YEs, and that's why they need a coherent evacuation plan.  Because NEw ORleans
is both a seaport and a popular destination for tourists wanting to sample the
cultural heritage etc. A coherent and competent evacuation plan needs to be in
place for the citizens of that city.

The real problem with an evacuation plan is that N.O. has a decent public
transit system, and many folks of all income levels use it to commute. Parking
in the quarter and the central business district is a problem, and there are
many reasons not to use an automobile on a regular basis.  Therefore, many
don't own one who otherwise would. Auto insurance rates are also high compared
to many cities.  Because of my audio production business my xyl and I  still
owned a van.


 RW> WHen it does, my radio
 RW> equipment is ready to serve my neighbors and my community, because
 RW> if they're waiting for their government they might be waiting too
 RW> long.

TL> From what I read about things down where you are....you might need a
TL> LOT of radios to backstop the 'gubmint'.

I'm near Memphis Tn. these days, and we're right on the NEw Madrid fault line.

OUr remote audio truck can do double duty as emergency comms post when it's not
doing its primary business.

TL> And I believe that if one tracked membership and activity in
TL> volunteer groups that "help" the government, you would see a
TL> downward trend.

I'd also agree with that assessment.

 RW> I'm not about grant money or any other happy shinola, I"m about
 RW> trained people getting the job done when it needs to get done. 
 RW> IT's nice if my government fulfills their responsibilities and has
 RW> the backups in place.  THen I'm more than glad to send messages to
 RW> uncle Fred or Aunt SUe telling them that JOe Shmo is safe at a
 RW> shelter or other alternate
 RW> location.  WOuld that those health and welfare radiograms were all
 RW> I had to deal with.

TL> You just need new government.


THat we do.  MEanwhile I help out the folks doing mission work and the
occasional medical missionary with a phone patch occasionally.

73 de nf5b


Regards,
           Richard
... Pre production planning prevents poor Performance!
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Radio REscue net operations BBS       (1:116/901)