EASYPRINT SCRIPTS
13/09/05
Katrina Aftermath
Kerry Staight, reporter
The floodwaters are gradually going down in New Orleans. The broken levee banks, which were meant to
keep water out of the city, have been patched up. And law and order is being restored.
But the city is still being evacuated. While some residents have refused to leave, most have moved to
temporary shelters like the Houston Astrodome in Texas. But why can't these people go home, if their house is
still standing?
Well first of all a fair bit of New Orleans is still under water... because the water is trapped in the city.
"You see Australian capital cities are above sea-level so when it rains, water runs down into storm water
drains and out to sea. But New Orleans is below sea level and built on land shaped like a bowl, so when it
rains there's nowhere for the water to go."
Kerry Staight, reporter
Instead the water has to be pumped out. The problem is Hurricane Katrina has damaged a lot of the pumps
that normally do this. While progress is being made, it'll take several weeks to remove all the water.
"And it's not just as simple as getting rid of the floodwater and moving back in. Hurricane Katrina has also
destroyed a lot of essential services that people rely on every day."
Kerry Staight, reporter
We're pretty used to turning on a tap and getting clean water. It's usually piped underground from lakes or
rivers or collected in rainwater tanks. But the New Orleans water supply, which mainly comes from the
Mississippi River, has been contaminated by toxic waste.
"This water is not going to be safe to drink or to be in anytime soon."
Dr Julie Gerberding, Centres for Disease Control
In fact scientists reckon Hurricane Katrina has left up to ninety million tonnes of solid waste in New Orleans.
That's enough to fill the MCG more than fifty times.
One type of waste is wastewater or sewage. Every time we flush the toilet, wash our hands, use the washing
machine or clean the dishes we produce wastewater. This wastewater flows into underground pipes and is
taken away to be treated, usually at a sewerage plant. Wastewater must be treated before it can be released
into the ocean or recycled.
But Hurricane Katrina has wrecked New Orleans wastewater system. Underground pipes have broken or
become blocked and many treatment plants aren't working. So even if homes were getting clean water, many
of these things would still be off limits, because the city can't get rid of its wastewater properly.
You wouldn't be able to use these things either, in many homes in New Orleans. Electricity, gas and telephone
services have all been affected by Hurricane Katrina. While some have been repaired, it'll take weeks to fix
them all.
Despite all the expense and work involved, the US President George Bush, says the famous city should be
rebuilt.
Why return?
Krista Eleftheriou, reporter
1
Imagine. Your home your city was flooded. Every single resident had to be moved.
There'd be no school, no electricity, no one could return until all the water; all the mud and sewage was
cleared. Now, you start to get an idea of the devastation in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in
United States of America. Up to three million people have been moved from coastal regions. That's about the
population of Melbourne.
But here is the big question. If it were your home under water, would you want to go back and rebuild, knowing
it could all happen again?
Well history says you would return. This devastation looks like parts of the United States, but it's actually
Darwin, 1974 after Cyclone Tracey devastated the town. Today it's a popular city.
The 2003 Canberra bushfires left thousands of people homeless. But people have rebuilt and returned. And
about once every hundred years a major earthquake hits this US city of San Francisco, but people keep
rebuilding after earthquakes regularly damage roads and homes.
In each of these cities, people have returned and rebuilt even thought they knew natures fury could strike
again.
Today you might say there's not much to return to in New Orleans.
"We've lost everything, absolutely everything."
Resident.
But a few weeks ago it was one of the must-see tourist destinations of the USA.
Besides being one of the oldest cities in the United States, it held much of the history of jazz music. Some
buildings and streets were famous jazz venues and it's not yet known whether historical records and
memorabilia have been lost.
Many of the areas damaged by the hurricane are important for other businesses. Barges carry sugar, corn and
other crops down the Mississippi river for export. Oil is big business in this area and many wells had to be shut
down during the hurricane. We don't know how much oil industry equipment and facilities have been damaged.
And besides business there are personal reasons for going back. This has been home for many people for
generations. They have a real connection to the area. Many can't afford or don't want to move somewhere
else. And others have work or businesses in areas not affected by the floods.
Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to return if buildings where made stronger and the cities were better protected.
In Darwin after Cyclone Tracey, specially designed house were built to withstand cyclones. In Canberra many
homes now have sprinklers on their roofs to help prevent them from catching fire. In New Orleans, it's likely
these levee banks will be rebuilt to withstand higher lake levels. And it's likely that homes along this US coast
will be better built to withstand hurricanes.
Many people will be away from their home for months, some even years.
Parents will start new jobs in different towns; children will start new schools. Many people will return, others
won't.
Diabetes
Sarah Martinelli, reporter
Victoria is 12 years old. She's just like any other kid; she likes soccer, trampolining, her pet rabbit and guinea
pig, and playing drums. She also has type 1 diabetes.
2
"I do 4 injections a day and each time I do an injection I do a blood test but at least you know it keeps me
healthy and it is much better after a while."
Victoria
There's been a lot of media coverage lately about type II diabetes. More and more Australians are getting it,
and it can be prevented by eating right, and exercising. But with type 1 diabetes, there's nothing you can do to
prevent it.
"Another name for type 1 diabetes is diabetes mellitus, now that actually means "sweet urine" and it comes
from ancient times when doctors used to taste a patient's urine to test if they had diabetes! But don't worry this
is just apple juice!"
Here's what is supposed to happen:



When you eat, glucose from the food gets into your bloodstream.
Your pancreas makes a hormone called insulin.
Insulin helps the glucose get into the body's cells, and your body gets the energy it needs.
“So insulin is kind of like a key made by the pancreas that opens the doors to the cells of the body. It lets the
glucose in. Then the glucose can move out of the blood and into the cells.”
Sarah Martinelli, reporter
But if someone has diabetes, the body either can't make insulin or the insulin doesn't work in the body like it
should. The glucose can't get into the cells normally, so the blood sugar level gets too high. Lots of sugar in
the blood makes people sick if they don't get treatment.
"I feel tired and very thirsty all the time which isn't very good all the time you feel very tired and down."
Victoria
What’s the solution?
Insulin injections. It's not a cure, but it does help the glucose get into the cells.
“So Victoria I guess the thing most people would want to know is how does it feel like to have injections
everyday?”
Sarah Martinelli, reporter
"Well its not very pleasant but it's okay you do get used to it after a while and you get to know how to do it
yourself which is really good as well."
Victoria
Injections aren't the only hassle. Four times a day, Victoria has to check her blood sugar levels. If her levels
are too high, she might have to have extra insulin. If her levels are too low, she might need to have more
sugar, in food or a drink.
"I feel shaky and all dizzy and sometimes everything goes a bit blurry but I do have jellybeans and sometimes
soft drink just flat soft drink to overcome it."
Victoria
"So what level is it at now?"
Sarah Martinelli, reporter
"It is 6.6, that's just perfect."
Victoria
The interesting thing about type 1 diabetes, is that more and more kids are being diagnosed with it. No one is
sure why. Currently there are more than 140 000 children and adults in Australia who have it. Everyone agrees
a lot more research is needed before scientists can figure out what is going on!
3
Kazaa Ruling
Sarah Martinelli, reporter
Kazaa is software that can be loaded onto home computers. And it's allowing people to swap about 270 million
copyrighted songs each month. So, what's wrong with that?
Australia's Federal court has ruled that companies like Kazaa are guilty of making it possible for people to
commit music piracy. Piracy means stealing music, freely downloading it, rather than paying for it. That means
the artists who made the music and the record companies that distribute it don't get the money they deserve.
They claim they're losing hundreds of millions to music pirates, and they've been fighting to stop piracy.
This battle has been going on for years. Back in the mid 1990s, Napster was the first target of the recording
industry. Napster worked by using a central computer server on the Internet to tell users where they could find
certain songs on other users’ computers. Napster was taken to court, and eventually shut down. Without that
central Napster computer, the music couldn't be copied any more.
But then something new came along called peer-to-peer technology. Software like Kazaa, uses this peer to
peer technology which allows file sharing without a central computer. Kazaa connects users' computers
directly with each other over the Internet.
For a while it was also thought that this would make it harder to catch those responsible and stop piracy. But
this latest ruling means that peer-to-peer software companies can be held responsible if they help users pirate
music. And although the ruling only applies to Australia, the record industry says it will scare other music
sharing companies.
"The companies that provide this peer to peer software say they can't be blamed if users decide to do
something illegal with it. They say it's a bit like blaming a photocopier company if someone makes illegal
copies of a book!"
Sarah Martinelli, reporter
So, will this latest ruling actually change anything? Well the company has to change Kazaa software to prevent
illegal downloads. But, Kazaa isn't the only software involved, there are others, like Bit Torrent. While Bit
Torrent has been taken to court in America, in Australia, Bit Torrent accounts for more than half of all file
sharing. One thing's for sure, with such a big business as the music industry at sake, no one is going to give
up soon.
Show Girls – Bulls
Kerry Staight, reporter
While many show goers head for the sky, these South Australian sisters have their hands full on the ground.
Sarah, Emma, Jessica and Chelsea Burpee are all cattle handlers and pretty experienced ones too.
"A couple of years ago we went to the SA Junior Heifer show and that's like all the states around Australia and
I got Junior Champion Handler twice in a row."
Jessica Burpee, cattle handler
The girls and their cattle have just won a whole swag of ribbons at the Royal Adelaide Show. Winning ribbons
makes the animals more valuable and that can mean more income for the family.
Of course success in the ring, takes a lot of hard work outside.
"On shows we get up at about five o'clock and get to bed at around eleven o'clock."
Jessica Burpee, cattle handler
Yes, turning these steers into showstoppers takes more than a quick brush. There's some serious styling, a
good dose of hairspray and a coating of gloss. These guys get more attention than I do.
4
Of course there's more to this than a makeover. The girls also have to train the cattle, which takes up most of
their weekends. And it's no easy task. I mean how would you like to drag around something that's more than
ten times heavier than you?
"You get some real stubborn ones that don't like to walk and some that like to run and you've just got to hold
on."
Sarah Burpee, cattle handler
"I've been head-butted, kicked, charged at, but you get along with it and learn to persevere with it."
Jessica Burpee, cattle handler
Despite the odd bruise, the girls say the challenge is half the fun and they assure me these guys are really big
softies at heart.
"A lot of people think they're not friendly, but they're actually really quiet and you can get along with them really
easily."
Jessica Burpee, cattle handler
"They might be friendly fellas, but I think I might start off small and work my way up."
Kerry Staight, reporter
5