Thks for your kind reply.

I don't feel offended at all, I understand some people can get a little jumpy in such a situation. I was just trying to explain that if people over here did not react faster, it was mostly from lack of information. As a comparison, I would understand that only few american citizens could give me some precise report on the dramatic floods from last week in Switzerland, south Germany, Austria and Rumania... (Although I would think that at government's level, they must have known more through the general consulate in NO - but as we all know unfortunately, people have feelings and governments have interests).

I sincerely hope there is a little light at the end of this nightmare. What I don't understand though is that everywhere in the world (without being political) governments wait for disasters to happen to do something. This NO scenario has been in the books for years and they cut the financing for improving the levee system, (like in Asia they are putting on an alert network after this horrible tsunami happened, although everyone knew it would happen sometimes) the straightening of the Mississippi river for business purposes has been eating the barrier islands and the wetlands that were sheltering some parts of the coast. I am affraid that more and more everywhere human beings are servants of the business instead of it being normally the other way around...
Everywhere on earth we are playing with fire, thinking science and engineers can impose our will to mother nature, and we end by spending a lot more trying to fix this kind of event (which will never be fixed in people's minds even if something is rebuilt) than what it would have cost to prevent it.
May be I am just getting pessimistic with old age coming.

What I see happening from the looting and gangs shooting at rescue helicopters or stealing hospital generators doesn't bring me much light, but I know by watching local TVs on the net that there are also wonderful stories of people helping each other. I just hope the first category is just a little minority.
By the way, although I don't know them personnally, I have become familiar through the reading here with the names of some members who have been going through this. I was glad to read they apparently all made it out safe, even if some lost a lot of things.