[opendtv] Re: One more time -- Louisiana Governor...
- From: cbenham@xxxxxxxxxxx
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 18:13:25 +0000
Ahem. This is a rather extreme view. I was born and lived for 46 years in St.
Petersburg, Florida, and experienced the effects of 6 hurricanes that hit the
Tampa Bay area in that time.
It was never as bad as what you describe.
Power and phone were out for 3 or 4 days sometimes, not at all for others, once
the local grocery store gave away perishable items that were still cold or
frozen to anyone who came in,
radio & TV stations were still on the air, gas stations and drugstores were
open, we did not have to 'chuck' everything because it got moldy, appliances
did not stop working because of the high humidity and life returned to normal
within a few days.
Just to make sure, I looked up "Storms of the Century" published in 1995 by the
St. Petersburg Times, which you can read at:
http://www2.sptimes.com/weather/HF.1.html
> Hurricanes completely disrupt your life. There is no electricity or
> telephone for two weeks or more. Some businesses are wrecked to never
> reopen. Groceries re-open after a few days using emergency power.
> Everything perishable has to be chucked -- at home and in the grocery. It
> will take you months to get your car repaired locally. If your house didn't
> get completely wrecked, you probably got water in the house through holes in
> the roof or broken windows. With no AC everything begins to mold. So most
> of your bedding and furniture ends up curbside.
>
> Appliances stop working because of the 100% humidity in the house. People
> in the North have no idea how destructive Southern summer climate is on
> stuff when there is no AC.
>
> There is no gasoline available locally. Flats are a problem because of all
> the debri in the roadways. Drive a few miles away and everything is normal.
>
> All the info you get is from small battery-powered radios. TV just has guys
> leaning into the wind and pictures of storm damage for the people a few
> miles away to watch.
>
> There is a complete suck up of all available building materials in a quarter
> of the US, so it takes months to repair. There are no reputable contractors
> that are not backlogged. You have to pay up front and are in constant worry
> about being cheated. Things disappear.
>
> You can lose almost all control of your life, which is very distressing.
> People presume that since a few months have gone by, everything should be
> repaired. But your wife still has nightmares about the sheetrock ceilings
> collapsing under the weight of rain-soaked insulation.
>
> Here in Port Charlotte we didn't have the tidal surge and flooding. That
> must compound the destruction and misery.
>
> The people from New Orleans and Mississippi are just a few steps down a
> difficult and painful road.
>
> Al Limberg
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Willkie" <JohnWillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2005 7:23 PM
> Subject: [opendtv] Re: One more time -- Louisiana Governor...
>
>
> > excellent point, Bert. Dilletantes watch. Those affected turn to radios.
> > In southern california, where the disasters have no warning mechanism, at
> > the first sign of an earthquake, we turn to radio (KNX, and to a lesser
> > extent KOGO) for news. TV will cover it tomorrow, but those affected
> can't
> > wait for the pictures."
> >
> > John Willkie
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 12:32 PM
> > Subject: [opendtv] Re: One more time -- Louisiana Governor...
> >
> >
> > > Ken Hunold wrote:
> > >
> > > > I have no first-hand knowledge of what broadcasters
> > > > in New Orleans are doing right now, but generally
> > > > people tend to listen to the radio during disasters,
> > > > not TV or cable.
> > >
> > > This probably depends a lot on whether the listener or
> > > viewer is trying to get away, or is otherwise actively
> > > engaged in the crisis, or whether he is watching,
> > > fascinated but passive, as the devastation unfolds.
> > > Those who have the luxury of just being able to watch
> > > probably prefer TV coverage. Those who have something
> > > to do "right now" can't sit around watching TV.
> > >
> > > > If "the Government" wants to use COFDM for emergency
> > > > communication, why should that be a problem? Why
> > > > should it impact the existing television delivery
> > > > system? Leveraging mass-market technologies into
> > > > these roles (some would say "shoe-horning") doesn't
> > > > always work well anyway.
> > >
> > > Amen.
> > >
> > > What they seem to be doing in Louisiana makes a lot of
> > > sense. Combine the assets of multiple broadcasters to
> > > keep the population informed. Perhaps simulcast from
> > > multiple sites to improve coverage (in effect,
> > > increasing the C/N margin). As they are doing already.
> > >
> > > And now you're left with quite a bit of free spectrum
> > > for emergency crews, if only their sets were designed
> > > to use these frequencies. Those emergency crew radios
> > > can use whatever modulation is best suited to their
> > > narrowly defined needs.
> > >
> > > Bert
> > >
> > >
> > >
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