all those countries which we (the US) have helped recover from disaster over the past few years?
Are they sending relief or food or workers to the affected East Coast?
If so, I haven’t heard of it.
Perhaps we should think about that next time they need help.
Just Sayin’
I feel for the folks on the East Coast who have had their lives disrupted by the storm. I hope that they get their power back in time to keep them from freezing , and I have nothing but sympathy for them. Their way of life has been seriously disrupted, and some folks have lost everything. I can only imagine what these folks are experiencing right now.
But:
Looking at the areas that flooded, and the very little sandbagging that was done to protect things, it occurs to me that many of the issues with flooding (and a significant amount of damage) in New York/New Jersey could have been avoided if proper sandbagging/barricading had been done (and assuming that they had materials available to do so).
Don’t just pile sandbags haphazardly….this gives no strength to your wall… Stack them in layers with one layer overlapping the next much like bricks…if you go more than three high, then you need a second layer behind the first, interlock those too… You have to sandbag all around the areas that need protection, not just part of them. A semicircle of sandbags does no good if the water can run around behind the sandbag wall. Covering the sandbags with plastic sheeting helps too.
While now isn’t the time to criticize the folks in the east coast for their storm preparations, it does appear that many of the flooded buildings and tunnels and subways could have been saved (or at least damaged/flooded less) if doors and other areas of water infiltration had been sandbagged or barricaded properly to prevent flooding into these areas. There was very little evidence of any storm water prevention/blockage in any of the pictures or video I have seen. Perhaps I missed them, but I don’t think so. It seems as if someone had used closely stacked K-rails or even sandbags and visquene to barricade the entrances to the tunnels and subways and air vents that the stormwater flooding could have been greatly reduced. Such preparations would have prevented or greatly reduced things like this. Such barricades might not have been watertight, but they would have reduced the flooding greatly. I’m not talking individual homes here, but rather larger infrastructure.
It does appear that there were very few portable generators in the urban areas, and fewer pumps, and nearly zero sandbagging. I realize that most of the time, they don’t need such items, but nature has a way of finding your vulnerabilities. Preparation is the key. And it appears that there was little of that.
Perhaps they will learn for next time. Folks in the South and the Midwest learn how to deal with floods and other examples of nature’s wrath, apparently the east coasters don’t. Sometimes, thinking about the New Yorkers and especially the citizens of New Jersey, I expect that they were thinking “this won’t be so bad… we are the chosen folks, it never gets bad here…”. Either way, it does seem that preparations that could have been taken, weren’t. And that led to significantly more damage that didn’t need to have happened.
Others have similar opinions.
Perhaps they will be better prepared next time.
Or not.
Or lack thereof.
Surely some of these people had the foresight to stock up on gasoline BEFORE the storm hit? Maybe fill the car’s tank as well?
I mean, really, if you have the containers it’s not like you can’t use it in your car over the next week or so if the storm had fizzled, so why not fill ’em up before hand?
5 gallons of gasoline will let you run yer gennie enough to keep your home above freezing and keep your freezer cold for about 4 days if you are smart with most generators.
Surely they could have purchased enough for that a day or two ahead of the storm?
I can hit a man sized target with a rifle at 500 yds 9 out of 10 times,
I can hit a man sized target at 25 yards 100% of the time….10 rounds , in under 10 seconds (including reload) with a 1911.
I can design (and build) a building, a bridge,a table or a bench or a drainage system.
I can operate nearly any piece of construction equipment in common use for the past 50 years, and repair them too, given the parts.
I can weld steel and aluminum, fab nearly anything out of metal, am a fair framing carpenter, can do tile and carpet. I am a decent plumber. I can fix nearly any mechanical device….. I have been known to repair COB electronics under a microscope.
I am a decent cook, I can handle a knife like a ginsu chef…. I can skin and butcher nearly any animal in North America.
Yet I can’t sew worth a damn. I can barely thread the needle 10% of the time. And let us not discuss my stitching.
Strange that.
Between Democrats and Republicans.
Honor and integrity.
THIS.
To many of you, this is no surprise. I’ve been waiting for the furor to die down and real facts to come out.
We now have them. More facts may be forthcoming, but the ones we already know are damning.
There are rumors that may be true that are even worse (scroll down), but until they become facts we can’t be sure.
Hopefully, soon, this ineffective man (I won’t call him a leader) will be gone soon.
If New York, New Jersey, and all the other blue states being trashed by this large (but not terribly intense) storm can do better than New Orleans at recovery in the aftermath.
While I sincerely hope that the damage is minimal, and no one is hurt, I wonder how they will recover.
They all have HUGE “entitlement” populations, their populations all vote for Democrats, and they are all sheep like when it comes to government.
While they are somewhat better at self determination than their N’awlins southern neighbors, they are still democrats, and statist.
At the Nappanee gunshow…
So, since the restaurant next door has all you can eat bacon for $8.95, we went.
Sadly, the Free Automatics were already gone…or it may have been a rumor put out by the Brady folks.
We did meet up with Og and entourage at the restaurant, and had an excellent breakfast while we discussed the shape of the world and how things were going and such….
Either way, after a large(ish) (>12,000?) number of bacon laden calories covered with a significant amount of potatoes and eggs covered with heaps of cholesterol laden (real sausage) gravy, (I stopped after 4 trips to the buffet, when I couldn’t swallow any more and by them people were staring anyway) we entered the gunshow.
Sadly, there were very few bargains (unless you wanted shotgun barrels).
I had taken the 788 with me looking for a scope that would fit the look-though rings, but could not find anyone who had the same idea of the value of used scopes vs (nearly worthless) FRN’s. So I didn’t purchase a scope. I did get a great deal on some 45-70 bullets ($60/1000– 405 grain hard cast flat point) and some ammo cases. I am told by people who know more than I that the prices on the more collectible firearms weren’t great.
I was saddened that we missed out on the free automatic weapons giveaway, but it was an entertaining Saturday morning. If you like used firearms, and collectible rifles and pistols, you should check out the Nappanee Indiana gunshow, held spring and fall only.
Especially when they tell the UN to butt out.
That is the kind of politician I can vote for.
If, of course yer the Prez.
(we all know how he was gonna vote anyway).
Strange that they protest that it is an undue burden for everyone else though, innit? (Even though you need an ID to function in today’s society)