Thks for reply.
Haven't been in the US since quite a few years and it's always more difficult to understand from the outside.
1. Agree with you, the comments from Trittin were totally displaced in this moment. However, there are in the scientific community people thinking that the global warming can have some kind of effect, not on the frequency of hurricanes, but on their strength as higher water temps. will give them more fuel. Not a specialist myself, but I tend to believe this global warming is real. How much is induced by human activity as opposed to natural cycles is of course debatable, but as a precaution I think we'd better seriously think about it. I am 54 and consider I have been lucky to live in blessed times, never knew a war, and the economy was more or less always going upwards. I am affraid that we have for that compromised the life standards of future generations. They're going to have a hard time.
2. The general tone over here now is kind of total astonishment on the situation in NO, as most don't understand why a country like the US seems they had no real evacuation plan for a scenario that everybody knew would happen some day (it's one thing to tell people to get out, another to give them the means of transportation to do so), and cannot find a solution to rescue these people and leave them starving in the streets. You also by the way confirmed the point that to go to the original sources of information, you have to understand the language. Very few people here have the level of english required to watch US TV or even read articles.
3. I know there was some news stories (I watch CNN once a day generally) my point was just to make a parallel as to how much of these news have gone to the average citizen (for instance the number of victims, the regions affected, the names of a few places that have been also devastated by landslides) Just to explain that for the people to react at something, the information must first spread. It depends of the coverage given by the media and if people watch news, read newspapers or look around on the net.
4. Thks for info, I didn't realise it has been going so fast. Here it went up 30 % in the past year. I think we only see the beginning... I use now the bus and my feet to go in town, the train for long distance if I don't have things to carry around, my motorcycle when the weather is fine, and the car the least possible. Surprisingly, I don't find it difficult, even after being used to hop in the car for any reason the past 30 years.
5. We also have budget deficits over here, but yes in these times the amount of money needed daily by the US and the sums it adds up to is a little frightening...
Hope this nightmare will at least open people's eyes, not only in the US but all around the world. If only we would forget these "countries" and really get to work together, the future would look brighter (although I am totally aware I am dreaming ...) When I was 18 (that was in '70) and was a student in the US, I thought it would be possible. I am sad our generation has not done better. We have let ourselves be driven by economy and money.
Reminds me of this beautiful book from Stephen King, Hearts in Atlantis, when the narrator is visiting his old college friend Skip who is dying from cancer in hospital, and how they talk about these years and how they believed they were stardust. In the end, his old friend tells him " But we tried, don't ever forget that, Pete, we tried "
I am conscious I did not change much except in my immediate environment, but as King said, I am glad I tried.
My heart is bleeding at the images I have seen all day yesterday, hope most of these people will come out of this, even with trauma for the rest of their lives ( the psychological impact is also going to be some job...)
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