Topic : 08/29 Hurricane Katrina: One Year Later, Part 2

I really liked him and Ray Nagan knows that a lot of people like him and he should have felt threatened by him. He was a leader in this unlike Nagan who complained that no one was helping him. If I was in any kind of an emergency I'd pick Compass over Nagan any day. Nagan seems so full of himself. I was touched over Compass showing his emotions. Seems like a real guy to me.

I would have to say that after viewing the show today and after viewing previous documentaries on Hurrican Katrina that Mayor Nagin is lying.  Maybe he is not lying but he is not providing the complete truth.  I feel that Eddie Compass was forced out of his job.  I cannot believe the citizens of New Orleans voted him back into the office when he failed the city by not having a good plan set in motion to evacuate the citizens.  It's a sad sad situation.

Eddie Compass did not embarrass New Orleans! Ray Nagin is the embarrassment. When Mr. Compass cried in Dr. Phil's arms one year ago, he revealed the _broken heart_ of New Orleans, and the entire nation shared his grief. His is the Heart of a Hero. He is a great man. Martin Luther King-great. I agree, he should run for Mayor himself. I doubt believe New Orleans can ever rebuild under the glib ineffective leadership of Nagin. I cannot imagine what the people were thinking when they reelected him. Must be another symptom of their post-traumatic stress syndrome!

On everything that I love... 

I am hopeful that all who witnessed, directly or indirectly, the spirit of this man will see what a TRUE LEADER of the City of New Orleans he was and remains to be. 

All that I can say is... 

Awesome! 

 

With absolutely no desire to ever become a police officer... 

I wish that I could say that I had known and worked for (and with) a leader such as the likes of him. 

 

It isn't about who truly was or is the "leader" of the City of New Orleans, but it  is about the spirit, and only the spirit, that a title given to a man could never encompass; the spirit of a TRUE LEADER!

 

No one can overshadow this spirit, his spirit.

 

No one. 

 

Ever!

 

 

Can you believe they elected him again? What is wrong with those people?

After the 911 comment he made ( the I'm sorry didn't cut it ), he is not fit to be in office

 

PW

 

Nagin should have paid attention to Gov Bush and the success Florida has had with it's hurricanes. Florida is the most prepared and the most experienced. Jeb Bush has always been there and  has made discisons and taken action way before the storms approched..

 

I sometimes wonder if Jeb is even related to the Bush family.

 

PW

   I have read many messages here on the message boards. I'm new on Dr. Phil.com, and it has been very interesting seeing everyone's opinions.

   I am only 19. I am a sophomore at Purdue University in industrial engineering. However, do not think that because I am young, I am naive to these situations.

   I gave up my first college spring break to travel to New Orleans with Campus Crusade for Christ. While I was there I gutted three houses with a group of about 15 people. I saw more and experienced more than I ever thought possible. The devastation is universal, but we worked in the lower 9th ward where the damage was greatest. I will never forget the families that we helped and the things that we saw.

   I've thought of a lot since Katrina battered the gulf coast, but one of the prevalent topics is who to blame. Nagin failed, Bush failed, the government failed, FEMA failed. I firmly believe that there is no ONE person to blame. The aftermath of Katrina was the result of years of neglect and bad decisions.

   I lived in Florida in 1992 when Andrew hit, and one thing that everyone worried about was that Andrew would turn towards the below-sea-level New Orleans, knowing that the levees may not have been able to withstand a hurricane of Andrew's magnitude... that they weren't built for it. Thus I ask my question: Why wasn't something done in 1992? They KNEW that the levees weren't good enough, but they let it go. And now where are we? Hundreds of people dead, thousands of lives changed forever. People say that the government couldn't fund something like that, but I ask: What is money? Our nation is trillions of dollars in debt, and we still spend money. Maybe I really don't know much about that side of things, but I think that thousands of peoples lives and livelihoods would have been worth it.

  So stop the blame game! It doesn't matter anymore about what happened or didn't happen, who was wrong or right. What matters now is that we work to improve what we now have. Fix the levees, gut the houses, begin again. I know that if they still need help this Spring Break, I am willing to give it, and thats what we all need to be doing. Thank you, everyone, for all you have done to help these people. And always remember that only by remembering the past can we better our futures.

I also am tired of hearing people blame President Bush for the travesty that happened in New Orleans.  I feel for the people.  The people you need to blame are Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco.  Maybe you should watch the documentary that was put on National Geographic.  I wish I could remember the exact name of the documentary.  I know there are so many out there.  Buses that could have been used to evacuate people were left sitting where they were flooded.  A train came through and the Engineer/Conductor asked if he, the Mayor, wanted to put people on the train and get them to a safe area.  They were told, No, go ahead and leave.  A completely empty train left New Orleans.  President Bush offered to Governor Blanco to let the Federal Government take over.  Twice she turned him down.  They did not give a MANDATORY EVACUATION until just a few hours before Katrina was to hit.  People were still in the bars partying just a few hours before.  Don't you think that if you live in an area that can and could be hit by a hurricane the leaders would have a GOOD STRONG evacuation plan ready.  You don't wait until hours before to give a mandatory evacuation order.  They sent people away that had provisions for the stranded.  They sent people away that wanted to help rescue people because they didn't have the right credentials.  Don't you think that at that point and time credentials shouldn't matter.  It's just people helping people.  I have the same emotions when I hear about Hurricane Katrina.  It angers me because it could have been handled better by the local people in charge.  It saddens me that people suffered and are still suffering because of this lack of a plan.  These so called leaders need to own up to the fact that they had no idea what to do.  It was over their heads and they needed to have relinquished their power over to authorities that were ready and willing to do so.  What we need to do is help where we are able to do so.  Whether it is contributing financially, contributing physically, and sending all those people in need our prayers.  Not just those that have suffered from Katrina but those that have suffered any devastating loss.   

Ray Nagin is a fine one to consider someone 's comments out of line! He has made several comments of his own that have not settled well with one person or another, but what does he care it's dually noted that he is some sort of self made millionaire. He should take some of his own advise and let someone else write what he should say, because believe it or not he is hurting the people of his city.

 One year ago today, right now, my world was being washed away from under me.  My cars were flood and one was crashed with a tree.  A year later, where am I?  In a FEMA trailer next to my gutted house.  I had a stroke a month and a half after Katrina (Im only 28).  My house is molded and nasty.  We got the carpet out and the sheet rock out but nothing else because we have been denied all assisstance and the insurance guy laughed.  But guess what?  Im not in New Orleans, Im in Mississippi!!!!!!!!!!  It makes me so very very angry that ALL we hear about is  New Orleans.  I am so sick of New Orleans.  Even when they say "gulf coast", all they really talk about is New Orleans.  Even the money the Faith Hill and Tim McGraw raised went to New Orleans (it was suppose to come to us).  So I ask you, Dr Phil, and America?  What about us?