This is a disaster created by Mother Nature, but one can be sure many victims will not be covered with adequate insurance-if any. The Government will probably declare it a disaster so all taxpayers will pay if victims not insured.
Insurance seems to be such a drain on finances, as the piece of paper issued by an Insurance Company is costly, so many residents simply cannot bear the fee.
Nothing is going to happen to us is the general consensus.
The one's covered will battle it out with the adjusters, who work for the company to bring down the payout figures, lessening values as much as possible.
I do not think anyone receives the full value of what the policy states as the insurable figure. And they take their time as well. They can be ruthless, caring not of the suffering the parties who suffered the losses endure.
Well, not only do the victims suffer!!!!
Insurance companies will be immediately on the verge of raising their rates to cover pay outs. We will all end up paying for this disaster, so no one who acquires insurance will not be digging deeper into their pockets.
We will all suffer--and we will all pay a price for the wrath of Mother Nature by delivering this massive destruction by Katrina.
Canadians will end up being "out of pocket" by paying increased rates.
We are "on the hook" also, so be prepared.

Something like this reverberates throughout the western world, most certainly North America.

Apparently the Gulf area of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana is the only area in the lower states which accommodates super tankers, plus it has 1/6th of the oil refining capacity of the USA. Thus, this will affect the cost of gasoline for a few weeks in North America.

It is almost beyond comprehension how vulnerable the USA has made itself. Hurricanes are nothing new. Why a country locates vulnerable facilities in such a location is really beyond comprehension.

The superdome is apparently the primary place of refuge in case of such events. The roofing has been torn off as well as some panels, there is apparently no power in the building, toilets are overflowing, and they continue to bring injured people to this facility. As I write this, a man has reportedly jumped to his death from upper stands in the facility.

At least two major hospitals have been evacuated because the water has risen to the second floor of the buildings where the generators are located which keep all the electrical services to life support systems for critical patients.

The airport is apparently under water.

It will be interesting to see whether the region will de-populate to any significant degree and real estate values will take a commensurate hit as well, or whether people and organizations will simply rebuild and wait for next year's storms ... or even the rest of this year's.

I understand Miami is just as vulnerable.

hey! why didn't ol George W. the most powerful man on the planet save all of those people personally.Maybe he could have funded some programs down there in the south so some of those po people could afford to flee hurricanes. They would have left if they had a car or ride and fifty bucks for a motel. I hate to see loss of life and hardship. However, Ol george w. has endless amounts of money to spend in iraq killing people. Maybe he will have to stop that madness to help out his own people. What a concept.


later...........

I feel for the people down south, but maybe we can donate the 8 billion the U.S. owes us for lumber tariffs. Never mind the oustanding bill BC Hydro is owed for power wheeled to California years ago. We as all Canadians do, will bend over backwards to help anyone in time of need. But the U.S. are using us big time, all they want is our energy resourses and nothing else i.e beef and lumber. Oh wait a minute...they seem to want our lumber now.

The disaster is unfathomable, and how can anyone imagine the evacuation of 5 million residents of a city-or the rebuilding, if such a massive undertaking is contemplated????
How many years to build a city to that magnitude, and how many hours to have it utterly destroyed???
We were awed by the Tsunami which resulted in such a loss of life and property.
The effects of Katrina will be felt by Canadians, and the fallacy that it should result in higher gas prices for us is just the greedy oil producers having a great excuse to hit us, and hit us hard.
Insurance companies are going to rear their ugly heads with a hefty increase for insurance.
I wonder if our lumber will have more value in the forthcoming months???
Canadians are just too stupid as they bow and scrape to the demands of the Americans.
We are gutless, we are stupid, we are ripe for the Americans to capitalize on our resources in any manner they choose.
Blame our politicians. We expect these elected people to stand up for our rights, but we are expecting too much.
Let's see how great Canada looks when the Americans are in absolute control.
All the ostriches heads will come out of the sand and they will be asking, "What happened?"
Why don't the 4 Western provinces separate???
We would have much to gain, and nothing to lose at this point.
At least we would have some say. Don't we need it???

at the rate our elected officials are selling off canada, we will not have to seperate they will own us. sad but true.

I'm with you Ben, I truly feel for these people. I was in New Orleans a couple of years ago. A beautiful city full of wonderful and caring people. I can only imagine the magnitude of their losses. I understand perfectly well the way we have been treated by the U.S.government but we are talking about total devastation,loss of life and loss of communities and homes. We as Canadians are better than that, we need to open our hearts to these people.

Never mind opening your heart, snappi, open your wallet.
We are treated like crap by the Americans.
They have absolutely no respect for Canadians, or for any other country for that matter.
Whenever I travelled Europe I wore Canadian pins-not to be mistaken for an American.
They take and take from us-and you may have been treated well, as you had a pocketbook.
Well, you go ahead and be the big time benefactor-like Paul Martin!!! Giving away our oil-and what else???
I am busy taking care of my own-who may also be in need!!!

I feel for you Gypsy, you are a very angry person. Unfortunately you seem to want to paint all people with the same brush. Just like us the American people are not all the same, and they don't have any more pull with their governments than we do. We are the average Joe's of this world. And you have the nerve to call all Canadian's stupid..pffft! This issue has nothing to do with "giving our oil away,or anything else." This has to do with caring about other human beings. Yes we have all suffered to some extent due to decissions made not only by the U.S. government but ours as well, but we don't know what suffering is compared to those poor people who have lost everything. Thank goodness that we are all individuals and are not as opinionated, narrow minded and uncaring as others. My family has been hit by the crunch also but we already have opened our wallets.

I am not an angry person.
I have no reason to be angry!!!!
I am a realist!!!!
The U S Is strong- the most powerful country in the world.
Their people should be angry.
They knew New Orleans could not withstand a #4 hurricane.
Their Government did nothing to remedy that situation.
Why should I be angry with the U S????
Get real!!!!

Oh I am real, real concerned about your anger issues. You are more concerned about the US government and how the US people should be angry that you have forgotten what this is all about. Let me refresh your memory, New Orleans and total devastation, people in need. You get real!