I hope that members of the NY, NJ and CT delegations spend some time during their floor speeches reminding people how some Republicans from Texas worked hard to try delay / minimize / stop money for those impacted by Sandy before voting for money for those impacted by Harvey.

I agree but only to a point.   I lived in Texas for a few years growing up and  I am still in touch with some old aquaintances there who wanted to secede when Obama was elected .  They delight in calling anyone who does not agree with them "socialist libtards."    

BUT NONE OF THEM LIVE IN HOUSTON.   Houston is the Bluest city in Texas.  The mayor is a Democrat.  The previous mayor was openly gay.  Harris county voted for Hillary by 54% in the last election.  Harris County also voted for Obama. 

 My daughter moved to Houston three years ago and I've visited frequently since then.  Houston is a beautiful world class city.  It is home to the largest medical complex in the world with over 60 major medical and research institutions.   It is like nothing you have ever seen - miles of fabulous gleaming buildings.  Thousands and thousands employed.  World class research was happening there, research that will save lives.  People come from all over the world for treatment.  

All the people we have met in Houston were welcoming, kind and gracious. My daughter loves it there.  I've never seen her happier.  If you can stand the summer heat it was a wonderful place to live. 

The 30,000 in shelters is just the tip of the iceberg.  I've read that 85% of the city is under water. I hope that is an exaggeration.   My daughter's circle is not that large but she already knows of over a dozen friends and colleagues who have been flooded out of their homes.  This will be a disaster unlike any we have seen in our lifetimes.  It will be the poor and those living paycheck to paycheck who will be the most severely impacted.  They should have all the help they need.  It makes me very very sad.   This fabulous, wonderful , world class city may never be the same. 

Obviously you give them the money, but I don't have a problem with reminding Ted Cruz that he's an *******. 

Christie called them out on it today.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/08/christie_blasts_texas_gop_hypocrites_urges_swift_f.html

I would urge all of the NJ congressional delegation to support relief aid...and, ask each one when voting to repeat Christie's statement for the record.  If you love our country, you should be willing to help those in need...but calling out hypocrites like those Texas politicians is o.k. in my view.

Miles of gleaming buildings is one of the many reasons why they are under water this week. Houston is an example of urban sprawl run amok.  City planners have allowed for thousands of acres of wetlands to be obliterated by human development.  There is simply nowhere for water to go.

sarahzm said:

I agree but only to a point.   I lived in Texas for a few years growing up and  I am still in touch with some old aquaintances there who wanted to secede when Obama was elected .  They delight in calling anyone who does not agree with them "socialist libtards."    

BUT NONE OF THEM LIVE IN HOUSTON.   Houston is the Bluest city in Texas.  The mayor is a Democrat.  The previous mayor was openly gay.  Harris county voted for Hillary by 54% in the last election.  Harris County also voted for Obama. 

 My daughter moved to Houston three years ago and I've visited frequently since then.  Houston is a beautiful world class city.  It is home to the largest medical complex in the world with over 60 major medical and research institutions.   It is like nothing you have ever seen - miles of fabulous gleaming buildings.  Thousands and thousands employed.  World class research was happening there, research that will save lives.  People come from all over the world for treatment.  

All the people we have met in Houston were welcoming, kind and gracious. My daughter loves it there.  I've never seen her happier.  If you can stand the summer heat it was a wonderful place to live. 

The 30,000 in shelters is just the tip of the iceberg.  I've read that 85% of the city is under water. I hope that is an exaggeration.   My daughter's circle is not that large but she already knows of over a dozen friends and colleagues who have been flooded out of their homes.  This will be a disaster unlike any we have seen in our lifetimes.  It will be the poor and those living paycheck to paycheck who will be the most severely impacted.  They should have all the help they need.  It makes me very very sad.   This fabulous, wonderful , world class city may never be the same. 

sarahzm said:

I agree but only to a point.   I lived in Texas for a few years growing up and  I am still in touch with some old aquaintances there who wanted to secede when Obama was elected .  They delight in calling anyone who does not agree with them "socialist libtards."    

BUT NONE OF THEM LIVE IN HOUSTON.   Houston is the Bluest city in Texas.  The mayor is a Democrat.  The previous mayor was openly gay.  Harris county voted for Hillary by 54% in the last election.  Harris County also voted for Obama.

After Sandy, many religious nuts said it was God's punishment on the wicked North. I'm sure we'll be hearing the same on wicked Houston.

Search on  "sandy god punished".

we'd argue this isn't the time for politics but for demonstrating your values clearly and non-judgementally. 

I have a conservative friend from Houston, who told me that he didn't want to pay a nickel for rehab of our transit system/trains.  Hard for me to keep my mouth shut now.

Houston notably welcomed thousands of refugees from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

And, after Sandy our local area's utilities brought in crews of Texas line repair workers to help restore power and communications. The crew that helped restore our power did more than they were obligated to by reinstalling our mast.

Well, I am still pissed at the Texas senators and representatives who didn't think that New Jersey was part of America.  I however did donate to help all the displaced animals that seemed to be forgotten in              tragedies like this..Help if you can..https://www.austinpetsalive.org/hurricane-harvey-evacuations/

I saw on TV that Cruz is defending his refusing Sandy aid. He's saying the Sandy aid was a pork barrel.

Did god also blow up the fertilizer plant in West TX?  Seems to me like that one was 100% man-made.

BG9 said:

sarahzm said:

I agree but only to a point.   I lived in Texas for a few years growing up and  I am still in touch with some old aquaintances there who wanted to secede when Obama was elected .  They delight in calling anyone who does not agree with them "socialist libtards."    

BUT NONE OF THEM LIVE IN HOUSTON.   Houston is the Bluest city in Texas.  The mayor is a Democrat.  The previous mayor was openly gay.  Harris county voted for Hillary by 54% in the last election.  Harris County also voted for Obama.

After Sandy, many religious nuts said it was God's punishment on the wicked North. I'm sure we'll be hearing the same on wicked Houston.

Search on  "sandy god punished".

@sarahzm - That 85% is an exaggeration.  I don't doubt that there is some 85% statistic about the storm, but it isn't water coverage of the city.  My sampling of ~100 friends and family members yields the majority (maybe even 85%) with dry homes and power.  Yes, the devastation is widespread and very serious, but the media loves sensationalism and that drives ratings. See mommyrock's earlier post about that also.  She is there 'on the ground' so to speak and her statements echo what I'm hearing from my friends and family.  Just hoping and praying that it doesn't get (much) worse, because there's more rain (and possibly more dam releases) coming.

Many of the people being rescued have lost everything.  These are not flood zones.  They have no flood insurance.  They had homes and possessions and lives and jobs and for many all  that is gone.  I despise the hypocrisy of their politicians but I think as a nation we should do everything possible to help them.  

I suspect hundreds if not thousands of small businesses have been lost.  Think of the millions of hourly workers who will not be paid for weeks or months.  Some large companies will continue to pay their employees but many will not.  So even for many whose homes are dry this storm will be devastating.

this disaster isn't about Ted Cruz, Houston'ites being jerks or disagreement with their viewpoints. We need to get the political bs out of the rhetoric and help these people.  Donate money, send clothes or reach out in other ways.  Much of the city will never recover.

When we can, turn your anger toward fighting Climate Change.

FYI-Joel Osteen will not open his dry, above water 16,000 seat church to Harvey Victims-think about that.  Supposedly there are mattresses there but the doors remain closed, church vehicles are blocking entrance to dry parking garages and loading docks.  Houston Mosques have opened their doors

MsSumida said:

this disaster isn't about Ted Cruz, Houston'ites being jerks or disagreement with their viewpoints. We need to get the political bs out of the rhetoric and help these people.  Donate money, send clothes or reach out in other ways.  Much of the city will never recover.

I'm not donating money. Just about every time when there is a crisis and donations due to the crisis the money does not get to the recipients in time or at all. When questioned then they tell by the time the money is "available" its no longer needed for that cause, but thank you we'll use future crisis.

Besides, its time out govt stepped up, for real. They had no problem voting for multiple multi-billion dollar Iraqi rebuildings, with congressmen lining up to be first to vote. Yet, for Americans, to rebuild America, they may hesitate? As they did with Sandy? 

Grenfell being an example:

But as much as £20m has been donated by private individuals and businesses to charities and appeals.
Of those donations less than £800,000 has been given out so far.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40610825

Again, people should keep in mind that cities like Houston, Dallas and Austin are blue islands in a sea of red.  No one hates Texas Repugbicans more than Texas Dems.

BG9 said:

But as much as £20m has been donated by private individuals and businesses to charities and appeals.
Of those donations less than £800,000 has been given out so far.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40610825

The article is a good argument for giving money and not goods. 

Regardless of climate change or anything else, in our increasingly densely packed world high impact disasters are going to happen frequently. Yet it seems like in many ways we need to reinvent the wheel every time.

FWIW, folks should remember, especially Republicans, that the Trump budget proposed cuts to FEMA, the Weather Service and the National Flood Insurance Program. This is what you asked for when you supported Trump, but now GOP senators from TX want a bail-out when the inevitable happens.

Just this morning:

Hahaha said:

FWIW, folks should remember, especially Republicans, that the Trump budget proposed cuts to FEMA, the Weather Service and the National Flood Insurance Program. This is what you asked for when you supported Trump, but now GOP senators from TX want a bail-out when the inevitable happens.





http://time.com/money/4918458/trump-budget-targest-disaster-response/

Like this:

He and others also said that a new federal rule stemming from Katrina — which requires a wide range of health providers to establish emergency plans — had led to significantly better responses among nursing homes.  They also highlighted lifesaving contributions of organizations and assets funded with federal hospital preparedness program dollars.  President Trump has proposed cutbacks to that program and two other medical preparedness programs overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services.  Those programs helped establish emergency medical task forces that have dispatched ambulances, personnel and equipment from across the state.

It's not so much re-invent the wheel. It's getting people to understand that extreme weather is inevitable no matter where you live in this country (floods, hurricanes, drought, wild fires, tornadoes, blizzards...) so better to have solidly funded disaster relief programs and an equitable process for distributing funds. It may be Houston TX today and anywhere else tomorrow. Seems pretty simple to me.

ska said:

Regardless of climate change or anything else, in our increasingly densely packed world high impact disasters are going to happen frequently. Yet it seems like in many ways we need to reinvent the wheel every time.

I am sure you will start hearing people try to peddle the line that the impressive citizen response in the rescue efforts demonstrates that we really do not need "big" government.

Yeah. Like the unimpressive citizen response of religious peddler Joel Osteen.

ska said:

I am sure you will start hearing people try to peddle the line that the impressive citizen response in the rescue efforts demonstrates that we really do not need "big" government.

every time I have scrolled down MOL thread titles, I kept thinking this title made me feel slightly sick. Fortunately, the posters reclaimed the thread by offering constructive comments.

"I do not begrudge suffering people anything but.... 

ska

 Aug 28, 2017 at 01:59pm

I hope that members of the NY, NJ and CT delegations spend some time during their floor speeches reminding people how some Republicans from Texas worked hard to try delay / minimize / stop money for those impacted by Sandy before voting for money for those impacted by Harvey."

Thankfully, the nation has learned from past disasters--Andrew, Katrina, Sandy, etc etc -- and came together to offer  help - not immediately begin to play the political blame game.

mtierney said:

Thankfully, the nation has learned from past disasters--Andrew, Katrina, Sandy, etc etc -- and came together to offer  help - not immediately begin to play the political blame game.

Ummm.... it is YOUR party that politicized disaster relief in the first place. No doubt Senators Cruise and Cornhole will set all fiscal concerns aside to care for their voters but the real test of this new found consensus on making disaster relief non partisan will be the next time there is a disaster in the Northeast or California.

did you feel more or less sick when your GOP members voted against aid for Sandy recovery? Because if the likes of Ted Cruz hadn't actually done that, this thread wouldn't exist.

mtierney said:

every time I have scrolled down MOL thread titles, I kept thinking this title made me feel slightly sick. Fortunately, the posters reclaimed the thread by offering constructive comments.

"I do not begrudge suffering people anything but.... 

ska

 Aug 28, 2017 at 01:59pm

I hope that members of the NY, NJ and CT delegations spend some time during their floor speeches reminding people how some Republicans from Texas worked hard to try delay / minimize / stop money for those impacted by Sandy before voting for money for those impacted by Harvey."




Thankfully, the nation has learned from past disasters--Andrew, Katrina, Sandy, etc etc -- and came together to offer  help - not immediately begin to play the political blame game.

mtierney said:

every time I have scrolled down MOL thread titles, I kept thinking this title made me feel slightly sick. 

Lots of posts on MOL have made me sick over the years (as you well know).