Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Hurricane havoc
It seems Chicago is no longer the 'windy city' as Hurricane Katrina has been battering several cities in the southern coastal areas of the United States. The storm has wrought extensive damage in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, where it swept ashore after moving across the Gulf of Mexico.
Katrina submerged neighbourhoods in New Orleans and tore part of the roof of a stadium where many had sought refuge.
US President George W Bush has called on people who had fled their homes not to return until the authorities told them to. He has also issued a state of emergency in Louisiana and Mississippi, freeing the path for federal aid.
Three nursing home residents died after being taken by bus to a Baton Rouge church during the Louisiana evacuation.
The storm, which formed in the Bahamas, lashed South Florida on Thursday, killing nine people, uprooting trees, downing power lines and causing extensive flooding.
First of all I would like to express my sympathy with our American friends across the pond. I sincerely hope that there are no more casualties.
On another note, is anyone else as bemused as I am as to why they send news reporters out in these winds risking their lives just to make their reports? I saw some American reporters on the news tonight trying to give their report whilst they were being hit by these ferocious winds. Is this really necessary?
Can't news stations just announce that hurricanes are hitting particular places and leave it at that? Do they think the general public will not believe them until they put some poor oul' sod at the mercy of a hurricane? It's ridiculous.
Anyway, please God it will finish soon.
# posted by United Irelander @ 12:10 AM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
