Will anyone ever go back?

[cruzincurt]

The following is a portion of the article from the Cruise Critc Home page regarding what happened to cruisers cars while they were gone during the hurricane; many were also stolen:

 

"The Port of New Orleans has compiled lists of cars in the Tchoupitoulas surface parking lot, the Poydras St. surface lot, the Fulton St. parking garage and the Delta Queen garage that include make, model, color and license plate number. Next to each, an "x" indicates whether the car was broken into or if an attempt was made to hotwire it ... or both. Unfortunately, the outcome looks grim for many: Only 3 out of 335 cars parked in Fulton garage are not marked as having been broken into."

 

What a city. I can't wait to rebuild it with my tax dollars. Maybe the citizens were hoping to use the cars as transportation for evacuation? Am I being insensitive here?

[CaptData]

This sort of situation brings out the best and worst in people. Yes, some may have been trying to get a car to get out of town but I suspect most were just what is sounds like, breaking and entring for no better reason the to steal something. But don't forget that the storm itself would have caused major damage too, ie borken windows which would allow easy access which for some would have been too tempting. Since many believed they had no way out and no food, checking cars sometimes will yield a candy bar or two. I know that if I were starving I would check stores first but cars and house would not be far off. I would leave a note if I could.

[cruzincurt]

It was just reported here that one of our utillity crews helping to restore power was robbed at gunpoint and everything stolen off their truck.

[beth4652]

I heard this morning that the mayor is laying off thousands of city workers because there is no money to pay them. It seems to me that they would be of great help in trying to organize and begin re-building. Perhaps some of the federal and other funds should be used to keep workers on the job. If their houses have been destroyed and they have no jobs, what is there for them in NO?

[Stacylee]

cruizincurt -

 

When I read that yesterday I felt the same way :mad: . Those cars were near the port and not close to residential areas, right? People had to walk far away from civilization to find those cars - even knowing they would have alot of hurricane damage. The whole situation is just going from horrible to worse than horrible.

[Texas_Diver]

This just confirms what I have always thought about New Orleans. Anytime you get a group of thugs together, trouble will ensue. And New Orleans was full of thugs!

 

I don't think it should be rebuilt. It's under sea level and it's just too irresponsible to funnel money into the area when another disaster could happen tomorrow.

[Two@Sea]

Speaking of those tax dollars... We pay extremely high insurance premiums to protect our home, and then suffered through two hurricanes within weeks of one another. We absorbed several thousand dollars in deductibles (mandatory FL deductible of 2% of insured value), and still have out of pocket costs that will never be recoverable. I estimate we are at least six grand in the hole. Nobody sent us a single red cent, so why do our tax dollars have to pay to rebuild the homes their owners should have insured on their own?

 

Sorry. Sensitive subject for me. Stepping off soapbox now...

[MikejMm]

This just confirms what I have always thought about New Orleans. Anytime you get a group of thugs together, trouble will ensue. And New Orleans was full of thugs!

 

I don't think it should be rebuilt. It's under sea level and it's just too irresponsible to funnel money into the area when another disaster could happen tomorrow.

 

You just confirmed my thought on Texas is full of ignorant racist people.

 

So you are 100 percent sure that "Thugs" did all that damage? Where you there? Or did you just see it on Fox News?

 

All the looting would have happened in any city, regardless of how many "thugs" are there.

[Texas_Diver]

You just confirmed my thought on Texas is full of ignorant racist people.

 

So you are 100 percent sure that "Thugs" did all that damage? Where you there? Or did you just see it on Fox News?

 

All the looting would have happened in any city, regardless of how many "thugs" are there.

 

My post was hardly racist. Thugs come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

 

And no, I didn't get my news on Fox. I would never watch such a conservative channel.

[Nliedel]

A lot of the cars were broken into but many of them still had everything in them. I think it was just a desperate attempt to get out of there by scared people.

 

I love NOLA but it is under sea level and any rebuilding has to take that into account, imo, and be better than the system they had before. This should be a lesson learned and never happen again. There are ways to strengthen against hurricanes, none of them cheap.

[MikejMm]

My post was hardly racist. Thugs come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

 

And no, I didn't get my news on Fox. I would never watch such a conservative channel.

 

I would call it racist, you are assuming that a group of thugs went around and broke into all the cars. How do you know "Thugs" did it? How do you know it wasnt a white family, looking for things they need to survive?

[PurpleCow]

Two@Sea, your uninsured loss is duductible on your income tax. It's not the same as not have to absord the loss at all, but it's something. We were hit by 3 of the storms, but our windstorm dudctible is only $500. It was assessed twice, but we still did better than most of our neighbors. The majority of the damage in NO is from the flooding, not the windstorm, so it's not even covered by homeowners insurance. The only place to purchase flood insurance is from the federal government. I can't imagine that anyone living in a flood plain, let alone below sea level, would go without flood insurance.

 

MikejMm, you don't really think that a family of any race or ethnicity would walk miles and miles in order to break into cars to see if they could find something they need, do you?

 

Texas Divers, I watched an interesting interview with Geraldine Ferraro last evening on Fox News. It wasn't very conservative . . .

 

Would I go back to New Orleans? I had already decided after my visit to New Orleans in 1987 that I wouldn't go back. We had a good enough time, but it wasn't anywhere I needed to visit again.

[Retired not Expired]

I would call it racist, you are assuming that a group of thugs went around and broke into all the cars. How do you know "Thugs" did it? How do you know it wasnt a white family, looking for things they need to survive?

 

Since when did "Thugs" become racists? Thugs come in all races and nationalities.

 

I'm not from Texas but find your statement that Texas is full of ignorant racist people to be offensive and judgmental which is what a racist is.

[Texas_Diver]

I would call it racist, you are assuming that a group of thugs went around and broke into all the cars. How do you know "Thugs" did it? How do you know it wasnt a white family, looking for things they need to survive?

 

I'm quite sure that ALL of the people breaking into cars weren't thugs. Maybe some WERE upstanding citizens looking for a way out danger.

 

But the vast majority of people who even know how to hot-wire a car are thuggish.

 

Deal with it, Mike.

[Heidict]

I would call it racist, you are assuming that a group of thugs went around and broke into all the cars. How do you know "Thugs" did it? How do you know it wasnt a white family, looking for things they need to survive?

Mike- You are the one assuming that a thug is a certain race, thereby that makes you racist. :eek:

 

Nowhere in Texas_Divers post did he mention anything about race, color, religion or anything else, you are the only one throwing the racist card around. You might want to think before you post so as not to insult people and call them racist when you have nothing to back it up.

[MikejMm]

I'm quite sure that ALL of the people breaking into cars weren't thugs. Maybe some WERE upstanding citizens looking for a way out danger.

 

But the vast majority of people who even know how to hot-wire a car are thuggish.

 

Deal with it, Mike.

 

So does that mean all mechanics are thugs? I would bet most of them know how to hot-wire a car.

 

 

You are right, I should not have called you racist, I was too quick on the draw, but your original comment “This just confirms what I have always thought about New Orleans. Anytime you get a group of thugs together, trouble will ensue. And New Orleans was full of thugs!” Is down right ignorant.

[MikejMm]

Mike- You are the one assuming that a thug is a certain race, thereby that makes you racist. :eek:

 

Nowhere in Texas_Divers post did he mention anything about race, color, religion or anything else, you are the only one throwing the racist card around. You might want to think before you post so as not to insult people and call them racist when you have nothing to back it up.

 

As I said in the post to Texas_Drivers, Racists is too harsh I takei t back, but I still think it was a very ignorant comment.

[Texas_Diver]

So does that mean all mechanics are thugs? I would bet most of them know how to hot-wire a car.

 

 

 

You are right, I should not have called you racist, I was too quick on the draw, but your original comment “This just confirms what I have always thought about New Orleans. Anytime you get a group of thugs together, trouble will ensue. And New Orleans was full of thugs!” Is down right ignorant.

 

 

It is a given fact that New Orleans has a greater than average low socio-economic, poorly-educated population.

 

It is also a fact that these two factors are huge predictors for blue-collar crime.

 

Therefore, if lots of these people happen to be in any given geographic area, it only stands to reason that the area will be prone to crime.

 

Does that state my previous post more completely, Mike? If I offended you, I surely apologize. It was not my intent. Perhaps if you read my previous post in light of this post, you will see the original intent.

[K.T.B.]

The comment was not racist, but definitely prejuducial.... as well as very ignorant.

 

Getting back to the subject at hand: YES, people will go back. And as far as the cars being broken into, I'd suspect the majority of them, if in drivable condition, were an attempt to escape the city.

 

 

 

Oh, and to Texas_Divers: It's a FACT that Texas is consistently in the bottom 10% nationwide in terms of education, usually ranking in at about 47 out of the 50 states. So you may want to rethink the poor education remark.....

[cruzincurt]

As the OP for this thread, I did not assume that when the word "thugs" was used that it applied to any race. Obviously, some poster naturally assumed some connection, at least in their minds. The intent of MY original post was would people consider cruising out of NO in the future based on the report. Obviously, this demonstrates the consequences of people driven to dispair and what can also happen when authority breaks down and a lawless society results. Why didn't they break into and steal the hundreds of school buses left stranded in the flood?

 

A few months ago, here at the Tampa Port Authority garage, some cars were broken into while people were out on a Carnival cruise. The Port Authority was so embarassed that they had all of the windows replaced before the cruisers got back. They did not have to do that.

 

They learned that they needed to increase security if Tampa wants to remain as a cruise port. Those of us that are fortunate to be able to drive to the cruise port appreciate a sense of security when we leave our cars behind.

[MikejMm]

It is a given fact that New Orleans has a greater than average low socio-economic, poorly-educated population.

 

Although a factor, I think that had little to do with what happened down there. Anytime you have complete Anarchy like what happened in NEw Orleans it will bring out the worst in some people. Those people could be College Graduates, High paid lawyers, or poorly educated people. When people are giving the Opertunity to run wild, some will. That was my problem with you statement. Let’s not forget 18 police officers (I think that’s the correct number) are being investigated for looting.

 

 

What offended me was blaming Thugs for all the problems. As I said above 18 Police officers are being investigated. And if memory serves me right, didnt a bunch of prisoners help rescue people from there homes?

 

*Sorry for the two color/font post*

[Nliedel]

I once got beaten in my apartment hallway by a thug on crack. He was as white as my baby's hind end so I never assume the word thug applies to a race, just someone who should be alone on an island cause they cannot play well with others.

[Texas_Diver]

In an effort to get back to the original theme of this thread, we will not cruise out of New Orleans because we have SO many great cruises going out of Galveston/Houston.

:)

[corina27]

To answer the question will people go back the answer would be yes,but it will have to wait until Nola is ready to have tourist again.Its hard from where we are sitting to speculate about what all happened down there you never know what you will have ot do in that situation unless you are in the middle of it.

[surrocruiser]

I will cruise out of anywhere. Honestly, the cars could have been broken into in any city. Just depends who happens to be around. I haven't heard of a city yet that has zero crime. If so let me know, I need to put in for a transfer.