Huricane Helene devastation

[cromwell]

There is a lot of negativity on FB about FEMA; whether it is justified or not I don't know.

There was one cheering story though. At Taylor's Valley in Virginia they have installed a Bailey Bridge as a temporary measure to help the locals get around, as much of the local infrastructure has been damaged.
How good is it that a British invention is still helping people more than eighty years after it was invented? Though obvoiusly this one will have been manufactured in the USA.

[Workingman]

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/ ... 23249.html

Quite different from the claims being made. End of.

https://www.starlink.com/support/articl ... a261a4e096

Starlink's own announcement of Storm Helene relief. No mention of special teams on the ground in powered areas from which they are operating helicopters and sending out Starlink kits and generators to run them. One would think that would be a "priority" announcement given St Elon's love of positive publicity and his media promotion of it.

[Suff]

The information is out there, including a screen shot of Elon's chat on his phone. You choose to look in other places.

[Workingman]

There is information and "information". I prefer verifiable facts (such as they can be assessed) over conspiracy theories, myths, speculation and hearsay... especially from SM echo chambers, and I provide links. A screenshot of a man on a phone... he could be ordering a pizza! It proves nothing.

Any links to the children tied to wood and taken high while their parents drowned or is that just another myth? I mean, if I took my child up a tree, say, for their safety I would stay up there with them - for my safety as well.

And what about the 'no warnings of the "decade's" worth (10 years) of rain falling in a few days'? It's impossible. Average annual precipitation for N. Carolina is IRO 50-55 inches, so that would make over 40 feet in about 48 - 72 hours.

7 - 10 inches or 180 - 225mm each hour, every hour, continuously for over two days! Come on!

The wettest place on earth is somewhere in the Himalayas and it would struggle to get that amount of rain in a year.

[Suff]

There are varying levels of information and hysteria. You chose to point at Elon and I chose to tell you what was being reported around him.

You think he would share a screenshot of his chat on his phone when it could be dragged in as evidence? There is another phone involved. The "mike" from that message is actively being named from several groups one of which is sending out 100 packs of a Starlink, a generator and fuel. These are now being helecoptered out because Elon got the secretary of transportation to force FEMA to provide a process for civilian rescue flights to certify themselves in FEMA controlled airspace. Something FEMA were refusing to do.

Now the children and other statements? You are never going to get verifiable "facts" on this because they are being posted by people in the cut off and stranded communities. The reporters who could "verify" it for you are stuck in the towns with hotels and transport and blocked by FEMA from going to the cut off places.

But there is plenty of film of entire houses being washed away in 15 foot flood water. Yes it's not 15 foot of "rainfall" but it is a house inundated with 15 foot of flood water. People don't always communicate well in a disaster.

I have a colleague who is about to be rolled over by another Cat3. He says the pool outside his apartment has just overflowed after 12 hours of constant torrential rain. He is already being battered by constant 65 mph winds and landfall is still 10-12 hours out.

Then as for your "verified" information there are news outlets claiming that Elon is "making a fortune" by locking the poor survivors into $400 worth of contract after his free 30 day "introduction". The moron doesn't even know how Starlink works, after purchase and the first month (they're not buying them and the first month is free), you can pause the service indefinitely up to the day before your service rolls over.

Beware the crap you are being fed as information. There is an election on and Elon has aligned himself with the devil as far as 90% of the press and media outlets are concerned. They will spare no opportunity to give you a false impression even if it means they print bald faced lies through ignorance and a lack of any concern for journalistic integrity.

[Workingman]

OK, I'll go with all the links to the audio, visual and media claims you have provided, which is zero. and btw, FEMA does not control airspace, the FAA does. Thus far you have provided no proof whatsoever for your statements. Also, I sense a political element to what you are saying.

I'll leave it at that.

[Suff]

<sigh>

DOT will coordinate with FEMA and DOD for air support. Within 6 hours of a disaster, FAA
will develop and implement contingency air traffic and airspace management measures (e.g.,
temporary flight restrictions and specialized air traffic flow management for air transport and air
mobility type missions)

https://emilms.fema.gov/is_2002/media/142.pdf

Do I really NEED to add that FAA is a subsiduary of the DOT?

The FAA develops the plan. FEMA implements it. So when FEMA implemented the plan it was FEMA that shut down the airspace. It was the job of FEMA, working with the DOT to make sure that the FAA supplied a plan which allowed both government and civilian rescue efforts.

ergo FEMA shut down the airspace.

It gets really irksome to do some extremely simple reading that anyone can do, if they just have the nous to actually listen to what is going on and challenge the accepted word.

You have been trapped. Elon Bad so anything he says is wrong and anything he exposes from the situation on the ground is wrong and it is all lies.

Every time you fall into this assume Elon Neutral and then do some research. Right now there are half a dozen media outlets in the US claiming Elon is making a mint off the Starlink he sent to the disaster areas as the people will have to pay $400 for the kit they have in their hands before they can use it then $120 a month after that.

The truth? Any starlink kit you erect in the disaster zone automatically connects without any registration or any app configuration. 30 days of free connection is given.

HOWEVER. If people want/need to keep the kit SpaceX hands out, after the 30 days, they will have to pay for it and pay for the subscription. This will change as the situation becomes clearer. If there is going to be a massively long outage to get people back up again (months to rebuild totally flooded exchange equipment), then expect SpaceX to extend that 30 days for certain areas.

BUT and again. That $120 only need be paid for each and every month that the kit is used. They can go one month and then shut it off. There is no minimum contract.

It is all lies to create a narrative to suck in anyone who has an Elon Bad bias. Do you like being manipulated? I had the impression you didn't.