MexConnect.com Forums: General: Living, Working, Retiring: On The Subject of Retirement Places: Page 2

Forums > General > Living, Working, Retiring

1 2 View All

Bubba

Aug 31, 2005, 7:11 AM

Post #26 of 46 (1499 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Kip] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

I really started this thread to express my gratitude that we had retired to Lake Chapala instead of our other choice which was the gulf coast but I wrote that before realizing just how horrendous this event was. I don't think that I have seen anything remotely this bad and I lived near the gulf when Camille wiped out the Mississippi coast in the 60s. Most of my family and friends live on or near the Alabama gulf coast and all survived but a small adjustment in the storm's path would have wiped them out. God knows how this thing will end up but it keeps getting worse.

Georgia

Aug 31, 2005, 7:15 AM

Post #27 of 46 (1490 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Kip] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

...and why were those poor folks who everyone knew could not evacuate themselves, helped to evacuate by the government? Why were military planes not flown in to evacuate tourists stranded at the airport - they had fewer resources to get through the aftermath than people who lived there? It was no secret that the storm was huge and was bearing down. Typical government mentality: pick up the pieces afterward instead of preventing the need to do so.

Kip

Aug 31, 2005, 7:18 AM

Post #28 of 46 (1489 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Bubba] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Bamaboy, I was pretty sure you hadn't seen the news. It's way beyond anything that anyone ever imagined and it just keeps getting worse.
kip

Kip

Aug 31, 2005, 7:52 AM

Post #29 of 46 (1475 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Georgia] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

I'm not a great fan of the government but I think the sheer enormity of the whole thing was a big part of it. The interstate was a parking lot and when the people finally got up here, a whole lot of them couldn't even find a room. The churches and shelters are overflowing, some poeple are living out of thier cars at rest stops.

So many people thought that they could ride it out like all of the other storms in the past....nobody figured on anything like Katrina.

Hind sight is always 20/20. In any case it's tragic and will be for a long long time.
kip

julian3345

Aug 31, 2005, 8:01 AM

Post #30 of 46 (1472 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Bubba] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

It should be added here that the Loma Prieta earthquake in SF did very little damage to the main "gay" neighborhood, the Castro district, which is across town from the worst hit (in SF) areas of the Marina. The largest number of human casualties were people from every walk of life who happened to be on a collapsed freeway in Oakland or in a demolished building in Santa Cruz. Joan

MG Rabon

Aug 31, 2005, 8:13 AM

Post #31 of 46 (1465 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Marta Randall] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Quote

But Florida and the Gulf Coast, people. Honestly. Those hurricanes just line up and whap whap whap -- and you gotta know they're coming

Yes, it does LOOK that way now that the weather patterns have changed. During the previous 50 years however, their incidence wasn't nearly as frequent. New Orleans, for example, hadn't been hit by a major hurricane in many, many years. The devistation from a hurricane occurs in a fairly narrow band, while over here outside of Pensacola we did have high winds, lots of rain, and high tides - it was nothing like the devistation that New Orleans saw. In the 100+ years my family has been in the area, our homes have been seriously damaged exactly ONCE.

Compórtate bien, y si no puedes, invítame!
MG Rabon

Bubba

Aug 31, 2005, 9:16 AM

Post #32 of 46 (1434 views)

Shortcut

Re: [julian3345] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Kip:

I am 63 years old and have seen many hurricanes pass through the area. A lot of us who grew up on or near the gulf coast tend (or tended) to take hurricanes somewhat lightly, treating them as adventures. I remember many people being killed during Camille while holding a hurricane party in a beach front apartment house in Pass Christian. You are right that, while I had watched the hurricane coverage on television I had no idea of the horrible news to come. Just imagine having to evacuate an entire city the size of New Orleans.

We were lucky we couldn't afford waterfront property in Bay St. Louis as, had we the resources to buy there four years ago, we probably would have. Now that beautiful little city is just gone.

What Joan says about the area damage in SF during the Loma Prieta quake is true. What counted there was that the Castro and where we lived on Russian Hill were neighborhoods built on solid ground whereas the Marina was built on bay fill and, thus, sustained tremendous damage. For many years, San Franciscans were warned of the dangers of living on bay fill and people from New Orleans were warned of the catastrophic storm to come some day. We don't really listen until it's too late.

Here at Lake Chapala we casually walk by condemned buildings in downtown Chapala without giving a thought as to the fact that this is an unstable area prone to earthquakes and one could occur at any time.

Marta R

Aug 31, 2005, 9:35 AM

Post #33 of 46 (1422 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Bubba] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

It's useful to remember that the final death toll from the Loma Prieta ('89) earthquake in the Bay Area was 63, well below the 300 expected deaths. Over 3,500 people were injured and 100,000 buildings damaged. In Louisiana & Mississippi, the toll is not yet taken but they're talking about the hundreds.

In contrast, the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed between 170,000 and 220,000 people, and devastated land in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, the Maldives, Somalia, Myanmar, Malaysia, and others. Entire islands were swept clean of towns, ports, everything. The farthest tsunami-related death happened in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Countries like Sweden and Germany lost over 500 citizens in the disaster.

In Bagdad this morning, close to 700 people were killed in a stampede triggered by rumors that a suicide bomber was abroad.

That it happened on "our property" makes it seem more alarming.

Marta

MG Rabon

Aug 31, 2005, 10:20 AM

Post #34 of 46 (1403 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Marta Randall] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Yes Marta, when viewed on a global scale, our disasters are usually (thankfully) small in comparison.

Compórtate bien, y si no puedes, invítame!
MG Rabon

Bubba

Aug 31, 2005, 10:21 AM

Post #35 of 46 (1403 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Marta Randall] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Good point, Marta.

An essential difference between the mostly poor fishermen, farmers and merchants who lived in the path of the tsunami and Americans who build their "vanity" properties on barrier islands along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts is that those living in areas affected by the tsunami must live there and the well-to-do Americans who can afford to live on barrier islands want to live there regardless of that fact that they are building their castles on sand.

Americans are a piece of work. My mother-in-law grieves for Americans filling up their SUVs every time she fills her little French car with $6.00 a gallon gas in Tours.

Gringal

Aug 31, 2005, 10:26 AM

Post #36 of 46 (1400 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Bubba] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Americans' notions of what they want are formed by seductive movies of romantic homes in waterfront locations, not to mention the daily "tsunami" of television commercials assuring them that a monster SUV will increase both their social status and their sex appeal.

MG Rabon

Aug 31, 2005, 10:39 AM

Post #37 of 46 (1392 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Gringal] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Oh no, you mean all I needed to do was buy a Hummer? Wow! I could have been important and sexy all these years. Darn ;-)

But seriously, sitting on my balcony watching the sunset, IS romantic. It's not something taught to us by the movies, it was taught to the people who make the movies by experiencing it. Granted maybe the movies are as close as many people will ever get, and is therefore a taste of what they don't have, but once you've experienced it yourself, you're hooked.

All the big screen tvs, nice gardens, pools, and fountains, in the world, can't replace a nice view...at least to these eyes.

Compórtate bien, y si no puedes, invítame!
MG Rabon

Gringal

Aug 31, 2005, 10:54 AM

Post #38 of 46 (1383 views)

Shortcut

Re: [MG Rabon] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

No argument there about what is, in fact, romantic. Enjoy. My point is that some folks blindly go after things they should think better of - like barrier reef homes - because of the subliminal influences from the images they have absorbed from childhood on.
What red-blooded American hottie could resist a man in a Hummer?

dtracy8671

Aug 31, 2005, 10:56 AM

Post #39 of 46 (1380 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Georgia] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

You are entirely right, Georgia, regarding using military planes for evacuation. Just exactly where was the government, and why are the people that are now stuck in the Super Dome going to be transported to the Astro Dome in Houston? Makes absolutely no sense as they cannot live there indefinitely. Why doesn't the government transport them to a closed military facility where they can at least have a bed, a bathroom and a kitchen for cooking?

As for GREED during catastrophic diasters, my co-worker's wife just called and stated she went to get gas in Waxahatchie (sp?), TX today and the price was $3.30 a gallon. Who knows where all of this will end, but Bush better get his act together and become a president of the people, instead of trying to be a dictator! His oil buddies are wealthy enough!

I pray that the people of the south can make it through this nightmare and be healed down the road.

Uncle Jack

Aug 31, 2005, 11:08 AM

Post #40 of 46 (1374 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Gringal] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

What man in a Hummer could resist a red-blooded American hottie?

uj

MG Rabon

Aug 31, 2005, 11:15 AM

Post #41 of 46 (1365 views)

Shortcut

Re: [dtracy8671] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Quote

she went to get gas in Waxahatchie (sp?), TX today and the price was $3.30 a gallon

She better buy all she can, that price will skyrocket SOON.

Gas.... I wish. All the gas around here was bought up before the storm hit. The supply to the area was via barges from Mobile, of course I probably don't have to tell you that we have yet to get another delivery. Reports are filtering in that some gas is being trucked into town, but the supply is spotty, by the time you hear about a station with gas and actually get there, it is gone. Luckily the power came on when it did, my generator runs on gasoline. I'm also lucky that I have a diesel truck with 90 gallons of fuel onboard, so I'm ok for a while. I can at least drive to Houston, so I can fly to Morelia. I bet I better take an alternate route to Houston however.

Others might not be so lucky.

Compórtate bien, y si no puedes, invítame!
MG Rabon

sfmacaws

Aug 31, 2005, 11:42 AM

Post #42 of 46 (1352 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Bubba] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Quote

For many years, San Franciscans were warned of the dangers of living on bay fill and people from New Orleans were warned of the catastrophic storm to come some day. We don't really listen until it's too late.

All those houses were re-built in the Marina on the same bay fill and they will rebuild NO as well. Even bigger McMansions will go up on the gulf coast and the dance will go on.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Marta R

Aug 31, 2005, 12:45 PM

Post #43 of 46 (1330 views)

Shortcut

Re: [sfmacaws] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

There's some consolation that the building codes in San Francisco mandate that those re-built Marina District houses have better quake protection than was required before. But I don't know how you build to withstand flood surges like those on the Gulf Coast -- unless you solve the problem by rebuilding elsewhere.

On the other hand, there are still villages on the slopes of Pompeii and Etna.

Marta

jacpowell

Aug 31, 2005, 6:59 PM

Post #44 of 46 (1270 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Kip] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Yes, Kip, the tragedy is -- regardless whether it's the wrath of God or what -- that the poverty-stricken are the ones who suffer the most. The devastation itself is mind-boggling, but knowing that 10,000 people are in the Superdome without adequate food, water, and sanitation facilities is incomprehensible. And why did most of them stay in New Orleans? Because they didn't have a way to get out -- no cars, no friends or family with cars, no money to buy a ride. There's a lot of discussion about the Gulf Coast on this thread, but it looks to me the greatest losses there were material. Perhaps the current death toll is higher there -- collapsed apartment buildings, etc. -- but anyone who stays in New Orleans for very long now has an enormous risk of disease.

My husband is a historical architect, and he was sent to Charleston, SC, a part of a "SWAT" team to help out after Hugo. The poor folks were living under blue tarps weeks after the storm. The rich folks already had a shipload of slate at the dock to repair their afflluent historic roofs.

I agree with Bubba -- ain't none of us gonna get out of this life alive. But there are certainly more comfortable ways to go that some folks can't choose.

Jackie Powell

sfmacaws

Sep 1, 2005, 2:43 AM

Post #45 of 46 (1230 views)

Shortcut

Re: [jacpowell] On The Subject of Retirement Places

| Private Reply

Bubba was right. They are blaming Katrina on the homosexuals. Sometimes it is hard to take these folks seriously they are so ridiculous.

http://www.repentamerica.com/...urricanekatrina.html

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Chumley

Sep 1, 2005, 5:21 AM

Post #46 of 46 (1216 views)

Shortcut

Re: [sfmacaws] On The Subject of Retirement Places

And in the latest twist of "Let's blame the homosexuals for everything," there is the Rev. Phelps from Topeka, Kansas and his little flock appearing at the funerals of national guard troops killed in Iraq, and claiming that they died because of the gays in America. When will this folly end?

1 2 View All