In other news -

[kyburg]

I'm doing my bit for the economy by doing my Christmas shopping now.

I R DORK.

Well, yeah.

My local Louisiana connection, Ragin' Cajun Cafe, should have some news on local efforts - that's where lunch is today, methinks.

Talking to Jim this morning, I posed the following scenario - say, what would happen here if the water rose as high as it did in New Orleans?

Roughly, we said the hurricane brought 25 ft. Then the broken levees added another 25ft - or so.

Torrance - 84 ft above sea level.
Manhattan Beach - 100 ft. (I don't buy that entirely - some of it is distinctly AT sea level or only a few feet above. Like most coastal cities.)
Bellflower (where Jim works) - 71 ft.

I was saying you'd have to go significantly inland to get much higher. The elevation at Mom's house in Hemet is above 1,200 ft - Ontario? 988 ft.

If something like this showed up in our backyard, we'd be just as screwed. And I can count the number of freeways on one hand you could use to beat feet out of here. Ask betnoir about traveling the one out of her neighborhood at most times of the day. It resembles a parking lot due to the harbor traffic.

I didn't have to tell the boss anything. He's got a cousin down there who has lost everything except a week's worth of clothes and the car she drove out.

If that doesn't sicken you, throwingstardna has the posts of the day on what a fekking waste of carbon Bush has been through the whole mess.

Opportunist. Asshole.

And there, for the grace of God, go I.

Comments

[foogod.livejournal.com]

I dunno, one would like to think it's a bit more than "the grace of god" that's keeping you from being like dubya...

[makeitepic.livejournal.com]

If that doesn't sicken you, throwingstardna has the posts of the day on what a fekking waste of carbon Bush has been through the whole mess.

He's a fekking waste of space and air. I can't wait until this press conference when he's going to declare war on Louisiana for harboring Hurricanes of Mass Destruction, and starting Operation Don't Rain On My Parade.

[betnoir.livejournal.com]

There is also the fact that about 200 yards down to the end of the street from my house is this thing called the San Gabriel River.

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

I don't know what I'd do if the water rose that high where I live. Go to Mt. Wilson or something. Even so, that would be quite a panic.

Of course, I'm not sure what the elevation of El Monte is either...

As for Dumbya... Randi Rhodes put it best: He's avoiding Hurricane Cindy (Sheehan), as well as Hurricane Katrina.

C.

[tomlemos.livejournal.com]

They calcuate elevation by taking an average of all locations in a city so yes, the ocean is on one side, but there could be various locations in the city that are at least 100ft over sea level.

You wouldn't be as screwed as the folks down there because they've got a huge lake on one side and a REAL river running through the place as well as the Gulf of Mexico. So to begin with, they had a lot of water in place already, just waiting for a place to go. Remember, most of that area is already under sea level, so the water has nowhere else to go but to the lower level. I think anything that would happen in LA would probably subside in time just by the natural downslope of the land.

In L.A., the water could possibly find pockets where it would flood, but for widespread devastation, I think there would be a lot less water than the folks down there are dealing with.

[miwasatoshi.livejournal.com]

Point of interest ...

Phoenix is itself between 900-1300 ft above sea level. We're not much higher than you, but we have quite a bit more geographical area to cover between us and the sea (including quite a few mountain ranges).

From Where I'm At...

[n6vfp.livejournal.com]

If a storm struck here like Katrina all you'd find of my place is a slab. There is a three story building across the street but that would have not been tall enough. I live at 3 feet above sea level at mean high tide. On those really high tides, I'm at sea level, or just a foot from the top of the sea wall. Am I going to move, no. Would I leave if told to evacuate, yes. It is many miles to what could be called high ground, and it would be chaos. I took a critical look after the tsunami and realized that I'd be toast then, as I'm only two blocks of level land to the ocean. I know why some lived along the Mississippi Coast, the same reason I live where I do. We take our chances for the lifestyle or location, but I know in times of disaster I'd loose it all.

BTW, why isn't there aid from other countries? Seems that Dubya don't want to accept aid from the United Nations. It might be embarrassing to accept aid from an organization you're trying to destroy.