I got a couple of emails from german friends in the last couple of days talking about the desaster in New Orleans.
All of them stressed out that this was the consequence of Bush's policy of not signing the Kyoto treaty.
Usually I am in the front line when it comes to Bush bashing ... but in this case? Give me a break. I did a little research and found out that our "beloved" enviromental protection minister started this discussion in an article for a newspaper ... and a lot of other german publishers jumped on that train.
Let me say it in the most simple and polite way possible ..
THAT IS FUCKING BULLSHIT
Facing hurricanes is simple the price you have to pay if you choose to live on the coastline in a tropical area. Period. We can talk about the fact that americans seem to like to rebuild every year power lines .. and not putting them underground like in other parts of the world ... yes ... these are home made problems ... or the fact that a lot of people live in mobile homes ... that are not made to face strong storms ... also a local problem ...
New Orleans is a topografical and urbanistic joke. The city is circles on all four sides by water ... the city itself is between 2 and 6 meters under sealevel ... even on regular days the pumps have to work 24/7 to keep the city alive.
If you leave the city a few miles you will be surrounded by poverty. The housing is a joke ... no wonder that these "buildings" could not stand a storm like Katrina.
Oh .. and here is a statistic with the 20 strongest storms in the US ... I wonder when the global warming started to create severe hurricanes in the early 20th century. I really wonder why most of them took place before the global warming was a topic on the agenda.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/climate/canes.htm

Mist .. .ich versuche hier schon den ganzen Tag einen grossen Text zu posten .. aber das klappt nicht ...

Ich bin ja bekennender Fan von Reality TV Formaten ... und hier läuft etwas im Fernsehen ... atemberaubend ...
keine Angst .. keine neue Form von Big Brother .. obwohl .. das läuft hier auch ... nee .. the amazing race.
Da starten sehr unterschiedliche Teams (z.B. normale Ehepaare, langjährige Freunde, ein paar professionelle Wrestler, Clowns etc ...) zu einem Rennen um die Erde ... auf dem Weg bekommen sie von dem Veranstalter immer neue Aufgaben gelöst ... und am Ende der Etappe muss das letzte Team ausscheiden. Das letzte Team gewinnt eine Million Dollar.
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race7/show/ep11/race/story/?id=1

So ... Katrina ist jetzt also im Golf von Mexico ... mit Kurs auf New Orleans ...
Als der Hurricane hier war wurde er als ein Kat. 1 eingestuft .. d.h. Windgeschwindigkeiten zwischen 75 und 95 mls/h .... jetzt ist es ein Hurricane Kat. 5 ... mit Windgschwindigkeiten von knapp 190 mls/h ... und New Orleans liegt auch noch unter dem Meeresspiegel ... das klingt wirklich nicht gut ...
Heute habe ich mir mal die Schäden angeschaut, die Katrina hier verursacht hat ... am Freitag waren ja im Grossraum Miami /Fort Lauderdale ca. 1,8 Millionen Menschen ohne Strom/Telefon ... und das bei Temperaturen nahe 40°C ... man hofft, dass 90% der Leute bis Dienstagabend wieder Strom haben ... und entsprechend wird in der Stadt gearbeitet.
Nach dem Sturm waren ca. 15.000 Ampelanlagen ausgefallen bzw. komplett verschwunden ... Strassenzüge sind komplett überschwemmt ... sogar heute noch .. 3 Tage nach dem Sturm sind einige Strassen wegen dem Wasser gesperrt ... ich war in Homestead und Florida City .. ländliche Gegenden ... dort sind Felder, die vor ein paar Tagen noch bebaut wurden in Seenlandschafen verwandelt worden. Florida City ist zum Grossteil noch ohne Strom und das Amerikanische Rote Kreuz verteilt dort unten Essen. Die Nationalgarde verteilt an verschiedenen Stellen in der Stadt Eis und Mineralwasser ... damit die Leute sich etwas Kuehlung verschaffen können.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Hurricane Katrina churned through Florida's densely populated southeastern coast Thursday with sustained winds of 80 mph and lashing rain. Two people were killed by falling trees.


The storm strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane just before it made landfall along the Miami-Dade and Broward county line between Hallandale Beach and North Miami Beach. Weather officials said flooding was the main concern as the storm dropped 10 inches of rain in Key Biscayne.

Rain fell in horizontal sheets, seas were estimated at 15 feet and wind gusted to 92 mph, toppling trees and street signs. Florida Power & Light said more than 412,000 customers were without electricity.

An overpass under construction in Miami-Dade County collapsed onto a highway, authorities said. No injuries were immediately reported.

Late Thursday, Katrina was centered in northwest Miami-Dade County, heading west at 6 mph. An estimated 5.9 million Florida residents were in the storm's projected path.

The storm proved fatal for two people who ignored warnings to stay inside until the worst was over. A man in his 20s in Fort Lauderdale was crushed by a falling tree as he sat alone in his car, while a pedestrian was killed by a falling tree in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Plantation.

"The message needs to be very clear. It's not a good night to be out driving around," National Hurricane Center director May Mayfield. "The back side of the core of the hurricane has yet to come. It's not over yet."

The usually bustling streets of Miami Beach, a tourist haven, were largely deserted as the storm pounded the area. The city is hosting celebrities and partygoers in town for the MTV Video Music Awards. MTV called off its pre-awards festivities Thursday and Friday.

"It's like a ghost town out here," said Mark Darress, concierge at The Astor Hotel in Miami Beach. "I see the random, not so smart people, riding scooters every now and then."

Tourists and others hoping to get out of town before the storm were stranded as airlines canceled flights at Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports, which both closed Thursday night.

Three mobile home parks in Davie sustained considerable damage, according to the Broward Emergency Management Agency. "A lot of roofs are off," said Dennis Myers, a spokesman for the agency.

When the eye of the hurricane passed over the National Hurricane Center in west Miami-Dade County, forecasters ran outside to experience the calm at the center of the storm.

In an oceanfront condominium in Hallandale, Carolyne and Carter McHyman said heavy downpours once again pelted their windows after the eye passed.

"It's been horrible," Carolyne McHyman said. "Basically all our windows are leaking. We just keep mopping up and taping the windows, mopping up and taping again."

Before the hurricane struck, Floridians wary of Katrina prepared by putting up shutters, stacking sandbags in doorways and stocking up on supplies.

At a supermarket in Hollywood, Cassandra Butler hefted two five-gallon bottles of water as well as a 24-pack of smaller bottles into her shopping cart Thursday.

"It's not that I'm worried. I've been in south Florida all my life," Butler said. "But this is a feature of life down here, and you are smart to deal with it."

At a Home Depot in Miami, Jose Guerrera, 68, loaded 4-by-8 sheets of plywood onto a metal cart. He and his family huddled in their Coral Gables home as Hurricane Andrew screamed by in 1993 and he has been boarding up the house during hurricanes ever since.

"I have to protect the doors and windows," Guerrera said. His wife, meanwhile, was shopping for water and food. "That's her problem. She's gotta take care of the food. I take care of the work."

Water management officials lowered canal levels to avoid possible flooding, and pumps were activated in several low-lying areas of Miami-Dade.

Dozens of surfers and spectators lined beaches from Palm Beach to Miami-Dade counties to take advantage of the massive waves on the normally placid seas, and long lines didn't seem to be a problem at most area gas stations, supermarkets and hardware stores.

"This is the best of both worlds because it'll bring great waves, but it is not at all dangerous," said surfer Kurt Johnston, 22, of Davie.

Katrina was the second hurricane to hit the state this year — Dennis hit the Panhandle last month — and the sixth since Aug. 13, 2004. Katrina formed Wednesday over the Bahamas and was expected to cross Florida before heading into the Gulf of Mexico.

After crossing the peninsula, the storm could turn to the north over the Gulf of Mexico and threaten the Panhandle early next week, forecasters said. Bush encouraged residents of Florida's Panhandle and Big Bend areas to monitor the storm.

Katrina is the 11th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. That's seven more than have typically formed by now in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane center said. The season ends Nov. 30.

Nun ist es offiziell ... ich bin mitten in einem Kat. 1 Hurricane ... Windgeschwindigkeiten sind jetzt über 74 mls/h ....

Die Brandung wird höher ... der Regen wird stärker ... und der Wind ist heftiger .... aber - noch - ist es nicht beängstigend ...

Ich habe gerade Pi Diddy gesehen ... nee .. nicht auch der Strasse ... soweit ich weiss, kurvt der hier immer mit seinem Bentley rum ... sondern auf der Beachparty von MTV, mit der die Partywoche anlässlich der Video Music Awards gestartet wurde.
Die drehen übrigens auch am Rad ... MTV hat tolle open air parties geplant ... .und jetzt droht alles abzusaufen ... ;o)


http://news.yahoo.com/fc/Entertainment/MTV_Video_Music_Awards/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050824/ap_en_mu/mtv_awards_storm_1;_ylt=AqIXTjznJyEXTnoUkCWm8CP8I5sv;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Seit ein paar Minuten ist es offiziell ... die Ostküste Südfloridas steht nicht mehr unter einer tropical storm watch .. sondern nun ganz offiziell unter einer Hurricane Warning ...
wie sagte der Typ vom Wetter gerade .... " it is official .. you have to expect hurricane condition within the next 24-36 hours ... TAKE ACTIONS NOW!

So ... jetzt machen sie aber richtig Terror ... die letzte Wettervorhersage hat verschiedene Computermodelle für den Sturm vorgestellt ... im "worst case scenario" wird der Sturm noch etwas über den warmen Wasser kreisen ... ich richtig mit Regen vollsaugen ... und dann hier bei Windgeschwindigkeiten von jenseits 120 km/h Wassermassen von bis zu 60 cm runterkrachen lassen. Wie gesagt ... worst case scenario ... aber wenn man sieht, dass in tiefergelegenen Gemeinden Freiwillige schon Sandsäcke vollpacken .... ist das schon ein komisches Gefühl ...