HAMB idea..........

[slocrow]

I liked the solution offered by a guy on the HAMB re the New Orleans problem. He stated (presumably with tongue in cheek) to bring in the cruise ships. Now admittedly I'm not a brain trust but let's do some numbers. 100,000 People times $15,000 each is 1 and a 1/2 billion. The $15m is roughly the $5000 a month x 3 cost while the city gets pumped out. Instant food and shelter after we commandeer 40 or so ships. An extra 1/2 billion for tongs, T's, shorts, a sheet to wrap yourself in and a swimming suit and we're there. No booze, no gambling and no excursions. Just 3 months of free room and board while floating around the high seas. It's quick, simple, the cruise lines still make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and we, the tax payers, get off much cheaper......I'll bet. ....Frank
PS: The tips might suck............

[Rayvyn]

I liked the solution offered by a guy on the HAMB re the New Orleans problem. He stated (presumably with tongue in cheek) to bring in the cruise ships. Now admittedly I'm not a brain trust but let's do some numbers. 100,000 People times $15,000 each is 1 and a 1/2 billion. The $15m is roughly the $5000 a month x 3 cost while the city gets pumped out. Instant food and shelter after we commandeer 40 or so ships. An extra 1/2 billion for tongs, T's, shorts, a sheet to wrap yourself in and a swimming suit and we're there. No booze, no gambling and no excursions. Just 3 months of free room and board while floating around the high seas. It's quick, simple, the cruise lines still make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and we, the tax payers, get off much cheaper......I'll bet. ....Frank
PS: The tips might suck............

Great idea, except for one problem. All of these ships are registered in foreign countries. So to seize these ships and use them, we would technically be stealing foreign property according to maritime law. Unless the companies donated the ships to us, we can't commandeer them.
And I don't think the companies will donate the ships; the people will literally turn them inside out while living in them, and the companies have too many millions of dollars in those boats to have that happen.

They ought to do what they did in Indonesia after the Tsunami hit and things started settling down a bit. Tell the people that if they want to eat, they'll have to work. Work for food. It went extremely well in Asia-people couldn't sign up fast enough. There's enough people there that are healthy and able to work to start cleaning things up when the time comes.

[Charlie Chops 1940]

FEMA has already inked some contracts with a couple local trailer sales outlets for what will be "get well" quantities of trailers to be hauled down there.  A few of the travel trailer places around here have hundreds of them.

Charlie

[purplepickup]

FEMA has already inked some contracts with a couple local trailer sales outlets for what will be "get well" quantities of trailers to be hauled down there.  A few of the travel trailer places around here have hundreds of them.

Charlie

That's a really good option.  The RV dealers around here seem to have a glut of trailers too.  I'll bet there are quite a few dealers with inventory across the country....especially with fuel prices high.  

There was a local news story about FEMA placing huge orders for manufactured housing with the RV and modular housing facilities around the northern Indiana (Elkhart) area.  There are many well established builders in that area that can probably react pretty quick.

[Dave]

I liked the solution offered by a guy on the HAMB re the New Orleans problem. He stated (presumably with tongue in cheek) to bring in the cruise ships. Now admittedly I'm not a brain trust but let's do some numbers. 100,000 People times $15,000 each is 1 and a 1/2 billion. The $15m is roughly the $5000 a month x 3 cost while the city gets pumped out. Instant food and shelter after we commandeer 40 or so ships. An extra 1/2 billion for tongs, T's, shorts, a sheet to wrap yourself in and a swimming suit and we're there. No booze, no gambling and no excursions. Just 3 months of free room and board while floating around the high seas. It's quick, simple, the cruise lines still make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and we, the tax payers, get off much cheaper......I'll bet. ....Frank
PS: The tips might suck............

Kinda off topic but not. Did anyone watch the kinda benifit deal last nignt with arron nevill (spelling) tim magraw and faith hill among others? Very interesting............... had to check the news online today for comments about it. Not trying to stir up anything here just wondering if anyone else saw it.
Dave

[Leon]

I saw on the news where they are making some kind of deal with Carnival Cruise Lines for the use of ships as temp housing.

[Phil1934]

I
Kinda off topic but not. Did anyone watch the kinda benifit deal last nignt? Very interesting............... had to check the news online today for comments about it.  
Dave

The first part of the rapper's rant made the news, where he complained of whites shown as gathering food and blacks as looting, but not the rest where he really got rolling.  "Bush hates black people."  Live TV.

[Rayvyn]

I saw on the news where they are making some kind of deal with Carnival Cruise Lines for the use of ships as temp housing.

I guess I stand corrected on the cruise ship idea. FEMA actually chartered 3 boats to use as housing. Carnival cancelled scheduled cruises to make these ships availble.

Imagine the money involved. First of all reimbursing the people who were scheduled to take the cruises that were cancelled. Second, the average rate is about $1000.00 per person multiplied by 2000 occupants, then multiply that by 3 boats.  That amount is only 1 cancelled cruise per boat.
Multiply that total by the entire number of cancelled cruises for the duration of the charter. Add in paying to have the boats supplied, paying salaries to the crews, and the cost of any repairs that need to be done when the charter is over. That is some very serious money.
But compared with what we've spent in Iraq the last 2 years, it's a minimal cost to help those people out.

Last year after Charlie tore apart south-central Florida, FEMA eventually placed a few thousand mobile and manufactured homes in that area for housing. Now they are pressuring people to move out and get permanent housing of their own. Problem is, not all of the private homes have been repaired yet and alot of people have yet to see the insurance money to fix their homes. And it's been over a year now, and we didn't suffer any way near the amount of damage that the Gulf coast did.