http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=23281&name=Netherla nds+offers+US+help+with+Katrina+floods "AMSTERDAM -- The Netherlands has offered the US authorities the services of a dike inspection team to help combat the flooding in New Orleans. (Link from a DailyKos comment http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2005/9/1/111514/4471/66#66)
The team is ready to leave for America if it is required, the Dutch Ministry of Transport and Waterways said on Thursday."
An additional question... What are you going to do with the refugees? Specifically the people evacuated from the dome in NOLA to the Astrodome? I mean that´s not a long term shelter. And what about the people without money to pay for rooms?
As for the refugees, many of them will be permanently resettled. The people of new Orleans are very poor as is, and it stands to reason that the great majority didn't leave because they either didn't heed warnings and offers of transport or else they never learned of the offers and were without personal transport.
The gov't and the relief services will supply housing. They will be in the Astrodome at least for several weeks. Consider, the children are already being enrolled in local Houston schools.
And I´m starting to get hopeful since according to Bloomberg.com they finally decided to let Vancouver's heavy urban search and rescue team into the USA.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=awhmdYLAa_1Q&refer=canada
And I assume that the USA has a lot available too so the German ones aren´t really needed. Still I´m wondering why Texas officials talk about having people taking shelter in the Astrodome probably for weeks. If that´s a true assessment then personally I would accept such housings from everyone who could deliver some in the next - say - 2 weeks.
Not to mention that "focusing on getting people out of New Orleans" only is totally stupid IMO. It is the number one priority, no disagreement here. But they really should be able to "multitask" so to speak. Rescuing people in New Orleans and elsewhere AND caring for evacuated people too. Leaving refugees stranded for days and weeks is insane!
Let´s talk about the Astrodome. From what I´ve read the Astrodome is/was a baseball stadium? How are 10,000 or 20,000 people going to live there for weeks? Tents on the baseball field? Toilets? Showers?
Wouldn´t it be easier to just throw gravel (is that the right word?) on a large field. Erect tents (If possible one tent per 1-2 families). Use some of those disaster teams to build/provide fresh water supply, electricity, waste water treatment and toilets/showers. Send an army mobile hospital for health care. Wouldn´that be a better solution than the Astrodome? And you even can "keep track of people" in these temporary camps.
Not to mention that people seriously sick should be in a hospital, not in some emergency shelter.
The one thing the Astrodome has though is air conditioning. Probably needed in Texas. Still, if you´ve got electricity...
Somehow I think the whole rescue and aid effort is horribly disorganized.
Unless they are lying, this is the situation as reported.
In that case I retract all of my earlier statements. :)
I was worried because the American media coverage I could view (using the Internet) did seem to indicate a worrying lack of coordinated aid efforts.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory2/3334317
Incredible!
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12533177.htm About 5,000 refugees made it by bus to Houston's Astrodome, but only 2,000 cots awaited them. Once again, thousands of people were subjected to discomfort and indignity.
If that´s true then it seems like preparations at the Astrodome weren´t as thorough as we would like them to be.
