Hurricane Katrina strengthening in the Gulf [Archive] - RedsZone.com - Cincinnati Reds Fans' Home for Baseball Discussion

OnBaseMachine

08-27-2005, 12:49 AM

New Orleans couldn't handle a storm this big. That place will be under 20 feet of water if they get a direct hit from this storm.

Katrina May Be Strongest Gulf Storm Since Camille
Storm's Path Jogs West, New Orleans May Be Targeted

POSTED: 5:57 pm EDT August 26, 2005
UPDATED: 11:51 pm EDT August 26, 2005

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Hurricane Katrina's projected path of movement shifted west Friday night, moving Pascagoula, Miss., Mobile Bay and even New Orleans into the path of what may be one of the most powerful storms ever in the Gulf of Mexico, according to Local 6 News meteorologist Tom Sorrells.

Most computer models agree that the storm will make a due west swing in the Gulf and then shoot north taking many Florida city out of the projected path of movement.

"Now we are talking about a very dangerous Category 4 storm," Sorrells said. "It could become the nastiest thing in the Gulf of Mexico since Camille in the 60s. This is a bad storm."

Hurricane Camille, which hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast in August of 1969, is said to be the worst storm ever to hit mainland United States.

The National Hurricane Center says that Katrina -- which is now a Category 2 storm -- could reach near Category 4 strength by midday Monday.

Since there is no shear in the Gulf of Mexico, Sorrells said the storm could grow even stronger than a Category 4 storm.

"It is going to rage into a major, major hurricane before all is said and done," Sorrells said. "By the time it makes landfall Sunday into Monday, we are going to be talking about a giant Category 4 storm, according to the latest models, with maximum winds of 135 mph. There is a possibility that it can rage even larger."

At 11 p.m. Friday, the center of Katrina was located near latitude 24.6 north, Longitude 83.6 west or about 460 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River

Katrina is moving toward the west-southwest near 8 mph. A gradual turn to the west and west-northwest is expected on Saturday.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 105 mph with higher gusts.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 85 miles.

5 Missing Boaters Found

The Coast Guard said Friday that they found the family that was lost at sea.

Officials said the Larsen family had been missing since their 24-foot boat left Marathon at 6:45 a.m. Thursday. They were rescued off Everglades City.

Hurricane Katrina's projected path of movement shows the storm floating farther west in the Gulf of Mexico toward Pascagoula, Miss, Mobile Bay or even New Orleans as a powerful Category 4 storm, according to Local 6 News meteorologist Tom Sorrells.

Officials said Edward and Tina Larsen were spotted by a Coast Guard helicopter along with their children, ages 17, 14 and four. They were hoisted to safety and taken to Naples. Officials haven't released their medical conditions.

Hurricane Katrina had hindered the search because officials say the hurricane was sitting right on top of the search area.

Deaths Blamed On Storm

Officials said seven people have died in Florida because of Hurricane Katrina. The following describes some of the deaths:

A man died after a tree fell on his car while it was parked near Stranahan High School in Fort Lauderdale.

A 54-year-old man was killed outside his house by a falling tree in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Plantation. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Broward County authorities.
A woman was struck by a tree and died at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.
A 79-year-old man and his dog were killed when his car struck a fallen tree in Cooper City.

James Paolillo was driving when he crashed into a tree that had fallen on the roadway during the storm, the Broward Sheriff's Office said. He then drove around the debris, continued driving eastbound in a westbound lane, and crashed into a standing tree on the shoulder of the road.

Paramedics found Paolillo and his small dog dead inside the car, the sheriff's office said.

http://www.local6.com/weather/4903225/detail.html

OnBaseMachine

08-27-2005, 12:54 AM

Here (http://www.weather.com/newscenter/specialreports/hurricanes/vulnerablecities/neworleans.html) is an article that SandyD posted in a previous thread explaining why New Orleans is vulnerable to hurricanes.

oneupper

08-27-2005, 10:19 AM

Katrina is bad one, guys. She roared through here (Broward county) as a Cat 1 and no one paid much attention, but she left a mess.
My house is full of "refugees"' (family & friends) from Homestead and Kendall who still haven't gotten their power back.
Can't imagine what this one will be like if it goes to Cat 3 or 4.

Just hoping it skips the populated areas...hang tough.

OnBaseMachine

08-27-2005, 11:44 AM

Looks like the newest projected path has that thing hitting New Orleans head on.

WVRed

08-27-2005, 12:07 PM

Copied this from another message board.

If a Cat 4 or 5 hit the city from the current trajectory, and assuming everyone in the city was evacuated who could evacuate- there would still be an estimated 25,000 to 80,000 deaths inside the City of New Orleans. Two thirds of the city would be completely destroyed. The immediate damage would be $100-$250 billion dollars. It would take nine weeks just to drain the city, unless they decided to destroy the levees to let the water out.

Around ten percent of the nation's petroleum supply would be disrupted.

The Red Cross no longer pre-places personell inside the city of New Orleans during hurricanes. They believe the risk to them is too great. The Weather Channel isn't even sending in Jim Cantore.

The New Orleans paper has a series of articles about this: http://www.nola.com/hurricane/?/washingaway/ You don't have to register, but you do have to answer the questions.

ghettochild

08-27-2005, 12:40 PM

holy shiat

OnBaseMachine

08-27-2005, 02:36 PM

Latest update on CNN has it hitting the New Orleans area with 145 mph winds, which is a very strong Cat 4 storm.

SandyD

08-27-2005, 03:58 PM

Scary thing ... this reminds me of Camille. It was heading directly for New Orleans, and ended up hitting Biloxi instead. If Camille had hit New Orleans, I probably would not be here right now.

I'm not sure I believe all the estimates of death toll/destruction, but they're enough to make me respect the power of the storm. And not take I chance I don't have to.

RFS62

08-27-2005, 04:09 PM

Sandy, you get out of there and take all the family with you. I mean it.

Don't wait until the interstate is clogged, and you know it will be.

SandyD

08-27-2005, 04:19 PM

The interstate is already clogged, and I have to wait for the call from my boss. I'm on the "away team" for my company so we can keep servicing our customers in the event of a catastrophe. So, we have a bus scheduled to pick us up at noon tomorrow.

While the call has not definitely been made, we've been advised that we're probably be going.

The rest of my family are leaving too. My dad doesn't want to go, my mom is really scared, so my dad will give in and go. They'll take my grandfather with them.

Alfred can't go, because he's in the communications dept for the school board, but he also works part time for a local TV station. He's going to be in a hotel downtown, interior room, high floor.

BTW, Puffy, Tulane has cancelled classes through Wednesday. Tulane NEVER cancels classes.

OnBaseMachine

08-27-2005, 05:02 PM

Fox News anchor just said this storm could reach Cat 5 before reaching land.

Reds Fanatic

08-27-2005, 05:13 PM

They just showed interstate 10 coming out of New Orleans and it is totally clogged with traffic.

SandyD

08-27-2005, 05:54 PM

not anymore ... they opened the contraflow lanes about an hour ago, and now both sides are going smoothly. You just have to be sure you're in the correct lane to reach your destination.

RBA

08-27-2005, 06:17 PM

Don't forget the Gulf Oil Rigs in the Gulf will take direct hits and the Oil Refineries in Louisanana/Mississippi going to get it too. Buy your gas now.

Reds Nd2

08-27-2005, 06:39 PM

You guys and gals be careful down there. And SandyD, no job is worth the risks your taking by staying. I wish you and Alfred would get out now.

EDIT: I forgot to include Alfred. Ooops.

Caveat Emperor

08-27-2005, 07:32 PM

About 3 years ago, they were really afraid of a scenario just like this New Orleans when I was living down there. The hurricane then (cannot remember for the life of me what the name was) took a more westward course and ended up hitting more mid-state than near New Orleans. The university administration was telling us, however, that if there was a dead-on hit from a Cat-4 they would likely just end up telling us not to bother coming back to school until the next semester.

I still have a lot of friends down there, and I'm just hoping at this point that the storm veers sharply between now and landfall and misses the city.

SandyD

08-27-2005, 08:57 PM

CE, back in the late 70s and early 80s we had a series of 100-year flood events. One of them hit during finals week. I met someone who said he was a student at Tulane for that one ... and he said there was 3-4 ft of water in the streets around campus and his apt. He couldn't get anyone on the phone, so he swam to campus, took his final, and swam back home again. :D

Hurricane Betsy story: there were reports of bodies floating on Canal St. Only they were mannekins from the department store windows.

Betsy was 40 years ago, less two weeks. Over 80 people died, many when the levee broke and the water from the river rushed in.

I'm sure I'll be on the bus tomorrow at noon ... unless the storm track makes a drastic shift. Alfred, unfortunately, is staying behind. A lot of people will. Some can't leave ... no transportation ... no money. Police officers, firemen, hospital workers, etc all have to stay behind. So do most people who work for the media. The radio and TV news crews are essential to keeping us informed and prepared. They will stay on the air as long as they can. Alfred will be working with them.

But they are put up in highrise hotels, and should be safe from the initial storm.

Still hoping for a shift, but packing and getting ready to leave.

Imagine packing your entire life in a suitcase and overnight bag. If the worst case occurs ... that's all I'll have.

WVRed

08-27-2005, 09:03 PM

And SandyD, no job is worth the risks your taking by staying. I wish you and Alfred would get out now.

Agree wholeheartedly, id get the heck out of there.

TeamCasey

08-27-2005, 09:04 PM

It ticks me off to no end that you're staying awaiting your company's instructions. It's just wrong.

SandyD

08-27-2005, 09:56 PM

There's staying and there's staying ... the only reason I've been waiting is because the boss doesn't want to make the decision ... the final answer ... and find out the storm is going somewhere way far away, and we're expecting sunshine on Monday.

The exact point of landfall is very, very difficult to predict this far out.

Just got the call, though. We're leaving at 10am tomorrow.

KronoRed

08-27-2005, 10:02 PM

Be safe Sandy :(

TeamCasey

08-27-2005, 10:15 PM

The last I saw is that it's making landfall again at 7:00 a.m. (That was earlier today.)

That ticks me off.

It really isn't up to your boss.

George Foster

08-27-2005, 10:35 PM

Don't forget the Gulf Oil Rigs in the Gulf will take direct hits and the Oil Refineries in Louisanana/Mississippi going to get it too. Buy your gas now.

I normally don't day trade but I am going to buy about $5,000 in oil stocks on Monday morning. It should be worth about $6,500 by the end of the week.

"Hardball" on MSNBC had the CEO of BP as a guest on Thursday night. he said the daily demand for oil is 87 million barrels of oil and the production is 85 million a day, thus the spike in prices. The hurricane will only make it worse.

SandyD

08-27-2005, 10:39 PM

It's supposed to be over New Orleans about 1pm on Monday. And it's only up to my boss because I volunteered to be on the remote team. For this and every other disaster that might occur.

If I weren't evacuating with the company, I would have left this morning, but only because it's Saturday and I could beat the traffic. Tomorrow morning is plenty of time, especially since I won't have to drive myself.

RBA

08-27-2005, 10:42 PM

Evacuate to Houston. Isn't that where the Reds play next?

TeamCasey

08-27-2005, 10:45 PM

I guess I have it in my head that it would hit land fall tomorrow morning, instead of Monday.

Reds Nd2

08-27-2005, 11:26 PM

I normally don't day trade but I am going to buy about $5,000 in oil stocks on Monday morning. It should be worth about $6,500 by the end of the week.

Go ahead and do it. You'll lose being there is an actuall oil glut in this country. But if your happy trying to making money on the misery of others and buying in at the peak, go for it.

Johnny Vander m

08-27-2005, 11:35 PM

RBA

08-27-2005, 11:36 PM

Go ahead and do it. You'll lose being there is an actuall oil glut in this country. But if your happy trying to making money on the misery of others and buying in at the peak, go for it.

That was Brit Hume's first thought after the London Bombings. He was wondering how much money he can make in the future market.

OnBaseMachine

08-27-2005, 11:46 PM

SandyD, when you leave tomorrow and you have no place to go, well you have met me before, so you know me, you are more than welcomed to stay here, I have plenty of room. Whats it, about two and a half drive here to Jackson? If I remember right you do have kin in Mississippi though. I called my best frind in Covington, by the lake, she said they are sticking it out and her folks also who live in Houma. Pm me for my phone # if I can help, I mean that. I think we may get some of that storm here in Jackson per the weather channel, but it will be mostly wind and rain, should know by Monday morning.

CNN displayed a graph of how long it would take to drive from New Orleans to different cities in evacuation traffic... showed NO to Jackson, Mississippi as a 24-hour drive.

NO to Shreveport was 20 hours, I believe.

Johnny Vander m

08-27-2005, 11:57 PM

24 hours? Wow, I am not going to get on I-55 tonight for sure, think I will just sit here at home, yeah even though Hooters is on I-55. :angry:

George Foster

08-28-2005, 12:28 AM

Go ahead and do it. You'll lose being there is an actuall oil glut in this country. But if your happy trying to making money on the misery of others and buying in at the peak, go for it.

So with that same logic, I should sell My Home Depot stock monday morning, so I don't make any revenues, right? ( It usually goes up after a hurricane.)

What's the difference in buying gas for your car sunday night to save money and buying oil monday morning to make money? Saving money is the same as making money. If you can save 5 bucks in filling up your car Sunday night, you have made 5 bucks! You have also capitalized on the situation as well.

SandyD

08-28-2005, 02:12 AM

CNN displayed a graph of how long it would take to drive from New Orleans to different cities in evacuation traffic... showed NO to Jackson, Mississippi as a 24-hour drive.

NO to Shreveport was 20 hours, I believe.

That's a bit exaggerated. And they're directing people away from Jackson ... encouraging people to travel west.

Traffic seems to be pretty heavy to Baton Rouge, but reports I've heard are that it's not that bad once you get past BR. So I'd guess Houston or Shreveport would be about 9-10 hours right now. It'll be worse tomorrow, though.

Cat 4 storm now. Winds clocked at 145 mph sustained. And headed over very warm water.

This reminds me so much of Camille it's scary.

SandyD

08-28-2005, 02:19 AM

SandyD, when you leave tomorrow and you have no place to go, well you have met me before, so you know me, you are more than welcomed to stay here, I have plenty of room. Whats it, about two and a half drive here to Jackson? If I remember right you do have kin in Mississippi though. I called my best frind in Covington, by the lake, she said they are sticking it out and her folks also who live in Houma. Pm me for my phone # if I can help, I mean that. I think we may get some of that storm here in Jackson per the weather channel, but it will be mostly wind and rain, should know by Monday morning.

They're talking about 18 ft of water in Slidell and Mandeville. Covington is farther from the lake, though. Tell them to take care, and be sure to get her folks out of Houma. I'm still hoping for an easterly jog, but I wouldn't bet my life on it.

I'm headed to Texas tomorrow. Thanks for the offer tho. My uncle in Jackson passed away a couple of years ago, so I no longer have relatives there. I do have relatives in Dallas and Houston, but I'm travelling to Arlington.

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 02:25 AM

Cat 4 storm now. Winds clocked at 145 mph sustained. And headed over very warm water.

This reminds me so much of Camille it's scary.

Wow! This thing is huge. It could potentially reach Cat 5 soon. They are now saying this could be the strongest storm ever in the Gulf.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10342816

oregonred

08-28-2005, 03:29 AM

Wow, this thing is headed to catg 5 and right straight at New Orleans as the most likely path.

Everyone in New Orleans (including my cousin and his family) and the N Gulf Coast best of luck and get the heck out of there now...

SandyD

08-28-2005, 08:08 AM

908 mb 160mph winds ... we can only hope this thing weakens before landfall, tho not sure if there's anything to cause that.

They're recommending the evacuation of the entire southern third of Louisiana ... including Cameron Parish, which is by the Texas border. Alabama and Mississippi Gulf Coasts as well.

WVRed

08-28-2005, 08:39 AM

Already a Cat 5 per the Today Show.

ghettochild

08-28-2005, 09:21 AM

is it ironic that Pink Floyd-Run like hell is on my playlist right now?

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 09:29 AM

Hurricane force-wind of at least 74 mph extended up to 85 miles from the center.

The storm had the potential for storm surge flooding of up to 25 feet, topped with even higher waves, as much as 15 inches of rain, and tornadoes.

Hurricanes as powerful as Katrina usually make unpredictable fluctuations in strength, but all the conditions are there for the storm to still be a Category 5 when it hits the coast, said Chris Sisko, a meteorologist at the hurricane center. Even if Katrina weakened slightly, it didn't bode well for New Orleans.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5238905,00.html

TeamCasey

08-28-2005, 10:27 AM

Mandatory evacuation in New Orleans now.

RBA

08-28-2005, 10:28 AM

Mayor: Declares MANDATORY EVACUATIONS OF NEW ORLEANS.

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 10:31 AM

Two more people found dead in Florida. Nine people have now died in Florida as a result of Katrina, which was only a Cat 1 then. Just imagine what a Cat 5 could do. Sad. Hopefully people are taking this thing seriously.

RBA

08-28-2005, 10:35 AM

GET OUT!

http://www.wunderground.com/data/640x480/2xg1_ir_anim.gif

RBA

08-28-2005, 10:50 AM

Hotels are exempt because the Airlines have shutdown and rental cars are non-existant for the tourist. Why doesn't President Bush send in the military with some C-5's and call up the the Airline reserves to pick up some of these people?

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 10:54 AM

Wow! The storm strengthened again and could strengthen even more. The sustained winds are now up to 175 mph.

Wind gusts around 200.

Reds Nd2

08-28-2005, 11:29 AM

So with that same logic, I should sell My Home Depot stock monday morning, so I don't make any revenues, right? ( It usually goes up after a hurricane.)

Oh, I have no problem with anyone making money. I just think there are better places to discuss it than a thread where people have legitimate concern over the safety and welfare of their friends. Sorry, it just ticked me off a little when you mentioned it.

paintmered

08-28-2005, 11:39 AM

Only three Cat 5 hurricanes have made landfall in the U.S. - Camille, Andrew and the Labor Day storm. This is going to be number four - and it just keeps strengthening.

This is truly a scary storm. 175 mph sustained and climbing.

Reds Fanatic

08-28-2005, 11:44 AM

There was just a story on CNN that if New Orleans suffers a direct hit the entire city could be under 15 feet of water and it may take up to 6 months to get the water out of the city because all the pumps they currently have would also be under water.

Unassisted

08-28-2005, 12:52 PM

Heath

08-28-2005, 01:10 PM

for those of you in SW Ohio - we'll get what's left on Tuesday PM or Wednesday depending on where you are located.

its a biggie - prayers are definately in the forecast.

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 01:17 PM

The Mayor of New Orleans expects 25 feet of water in downtown NO.

KronoRed

08-28-2005, 01:25 PM

Look at the eye...

Too scary how much this thing has strengthened in only a few days

KronoRed

08-28-2005, 01:30 PM

Look at the eye...

Too scary how much this thing has strengthened in only a few days

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 02:42 PM

Pressure MB down to .902.

Sustained winds now at 184 mph. Gusts up to 215.

RBA

08-28-2005, 03:11 PM

It bigger than the entire state of LA.

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/satellite_images/national.jpg

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 04:50 PM

ghettochild

08-28-2005, 04:57 PM

Hahahahahah

RFS62

08-28-2005, 05:13 PM

Caveat Emperor

08-28-2005, 05:28 PM

Can you imagine hunkering down in the Superdome, as the power goes out, hearing the roar of a monster hurricane and the crashing of the tidal surge battering the building from the outside?

And if worst case scenario does indeed happen, the streets will be flooded when the storm passes through, no power, no water, no food, your home very likely flooded or destroyed.....

And to think I thought there was no way to have a worse time at the Superdome then I had in some of those Tulane home games...

The worst part, though, is that if the worst case does occur, there will be thousands of people in the Superdome with no running water whatsoever...no water to drink and, worse, no water to use for bathrooms either...

RawOwl UK

08-28-2005, 05:30 PM

Thoughts go to everyone involved. Watching on Fox news atm, it's hard to grasp what is happening . Where do all the people go ?

Caveat Emperor

08-28-2005, 05:38 PM

Thoughts go to everyone involved. Watching on Fox news atm, it's hard to grasp what is happening . Where do all the people go ?

When we were voluntarily evacuated back in 2003, myself, all my close friends, and 3 exchange students (from England, ironically enough) all piled into 3 cars and just kept driving north. Ended up spending our "Week off" in Tennessee and Cincinnati.

I just talked to a couple of my friends still down in Louisiana, and they said they made it to Lake Charles and just got sick of driving, so ended up stopping there and staying with family.

jmcclain19

08-28-2005, 05:42 PM

I don't know if anyone else watched the FX special earlier this summer called "Oil Storm"

It was a ficitious documentary about how in Sept of 2005, a huge hurricane hits New Orleans, devestating the area, and crippling over 10% of the nations oil supply, launching the US into a crisis that eventually led to the US involved in a massive civil war in Saudi Arabia.

Very eerie watching all of this - and remembering that made for TV movie

http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/oilstorm/main.html

RFS62

08-28-2005, 06:13 PM

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT12/refresh/AL1205I+gif/205423P_sm.gif

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 06:39 PM

This is unreal.

WWUS74 KLIX 281550NPWLIXURGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA

1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED

HURRICANE KATRINA, A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969. MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. ATLEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED.

CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE. HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATEADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...

AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK. POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...

BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEWCROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BEKILLED.AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEARHURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE..

ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE! LAZ038-040-050-056>070-282100-ASSUMPTION-LIVINGSTON-LOWER JEFFERSON-LOWER LAFOURCHE-LOWER PLAQUEMINES-LOWER ST. BERNARD-LOWER TERREBONNE-ORLEANS-ST. CHARLES-ST. JAMES-ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST-ST. TAMMANY-TANGIPAHOA-UPPER JEFFERSON-UPPER LAFOURCHE-UPPER PLAQUEMINES-UPPER ST. BERNARD-UPPER TERREBONNE-1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

RFS62

08-28-2005, 06:57 PM

A few years ago I met a guy who was in the National Guard in New Orleans after Hurricane Betsy back in the '60's. He was guarding a checkpoint, as the city was under curfew to prevent looting.

A suspicious guy came to the checkpoint, and couldn't produce any ID. He searched him, and he found that he had about a dozen human fingers in his pockets, with rings still on the swolen fingers. He had cut them off dead storm victims, as they were too swolen to remove the rings. He turned the guy over to the local cops, who took him down under a bridge, and he was never seen again.

No report ever turned up in the media. Local justice doesn't hold press conferences in '60's era New Orleans.

The human suffering that is about to occur in New Orleans and the surrounding area may dwarf any previous disaster in US history, other than the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. It was the biggest loss of life from a natural disaster in American history, as a Hurricane tidal surge submerged Galveston Island, killing between 6,000 and 12,000 people, basically everyone on the island.

UKFlounder

08-28-2005, 06:58 PM

Last October, my family spent a week on Grand Isle, just south of New Orleans, and were surprised to be able to see so many oil rigs, and oil company-related buildings (for BP, Texaco/Cheveron and others, I believe).

If this storm lives up to expectataion, I'm not sure that little island will still be there in a few days, and after seeing how big the oil industry is down there (that and shrimping seemed to dominate employment possibilities) I now have a further understanding of how this storm could hurt the US. (And this was just from the island itself - we didn't go out deep into the gulf on any fishing trips or anything like that.)

It's one thing to read about it, but seeing those rigs & oil related facilities, it kind of has hit home for me these past few days.

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 07:23 PM

Top sustained winds had dropped to 165 during an eyewall replacement cycle, but they are back up to 175 mph.

This storm could lead to the release of coffins since they're all above ground in not so strong structures. And then there is chemicals in industrial plants that could mix in with flood water.

Reds Fanatic

08-28-2005, 07:47 PM

To show how much the economy will be affected that area in the Gulf produces 25% of the country's domestic oil supply.

RBA

08-28-2005, 08:30 PM

To show how much the economy will be affected that area in the Gulf produces 25% of the country's domestic oil supply.

Isn't it sad that area has some of the lowest poverty levels.

UKFlounder

08-28-2005, 08:38 PM

And the problem with the oil isn't just the oil rigs & equipment, but that some ports will be closed, making it harder to get oil into the country.

ochre

08-28-2005, 08:46 PM

And the problem with the oil isn't just the oil rigs & equipment, but that some ports will be closed, making it harder to get oil into the country.
From what Sandy said in the past, there are a ton of refineries down there too.

RFS62

08-28-2005, 08:47 PM

The scene in the Superdome, around the time that the winds move onshore, will be beyond anything Hollywood could ever imagine.

RBA

08-28-2005, 08:49 PM

I hope it survives. I heard they said it could withstand a CAT 5, but the test were never completed.

Reds/Flyers Fan

08-28-2005, 08:50 PM

LOL. I'm watching Fox News and the anchor asks a couple why they are still in New Orleans with one of the worst storms in history on its way. The guy answers by saying, "It's none of your F------ business." You could hear it loud and clear on live TV.

Whoever decided to stay in New Orleans for Katrina is mental, to say the least.

Staying in Tampa when a Cat 2 hurricane hits 50 miles north is one thing, staying in New Orleans (which is 25 feet BELOW sea level) when the third strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded is bearing down is quite another.

RFS62

08-28-2005, 08:56 PM

I've met a lot of people who stayed put and had a Hurricane Party on much lesser storms. I've only met a few who ever did it twice.

Even if this doesn't go worst case scenario, the possibility that it could should be enough to scare the begeezus out of anybody with half a brain. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who can't or won't evacuate. Some from ignorance, some from poverty and lack of means to go anywhere, some from infirmity. Those who choose to ride out this storm are about to become a part of history.

ghettochild

08-28-2005, 08:59 PM

http://www.walltowall.co.uk/projects/project.asp?ProjectID=254

scary

Caveat Emperor

08-28-2005, 09:04 PM

Whoever decided to stay in New Orleans for Katrina is mental, to say the least.

Staying in Tampa when a Cat 2 hurricane hits 50 miles north is one thing, staying in New Orleans (which is 25 feet BELOW sea level) when the third strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded is bearing down is quite another.

Unfortunately, there is a LARGE segment of the population in the city of New Orleans that lack the ability to leave...

Reds/Flyers Fan

08-28-2005, 09:09 PM

Unfortunately, there is a LARGE segment of the population in the city of New Orleans that lack the ability to leave...

I'm talking more about the people who've refused to leave, thinking this is like others they may have lived through. I saw one tourist from California interviewed on Bourbon Street last night talking about how much fun he was having and how he had no plans to leave. I wonder where he is now.

Just now as I'm typing this, MSNBC is interviewing a man who said he survived Camille in 1969 just two blocks from the beach and he admits he "may be a little cocky." Then some 16-year-old kid next to him pops off at a question directed to him about the tsunami in Asia last year and if he saw the footage: "This is a hurricane, not a tsunami...totally different."

As for people with little or no means to leave, God bless them and keep the Superdome safe.

ghettochild

08-28-2005, 09:13 PM

we should start a paypal account and raise money and donate and then send it all to the redcross or something

MWM

08-28-2005, 09:19 PM

Some guy on CNN just said he expects there to be a large loss of life during this hurricane.

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 09:24 PM

Joe Bastardi, an anchor on Fox News, said to ignore the fact that the wind dropped from 165 to 160. He said that as long as the MB is below 910 it will be as strong as a 190 mph wind storm.

paintmered

08-28-2005, 09:27 PM

Hurricane force winds stretching over a 215 mile diameter with this storm.

By comparison, Hurricane Charley had hurricane force winds for only a 45 mile diameter.

By every measure, this thing is the real deal. :(

RBA

08-28-2005, 09:27 PM

It maybe too early to speculate, but I was wondering what would happen to the Saints with New Orleans under water. Here's an article a few months old...

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Saints Owner Ponders Team's Future

By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 25, 2005; 2:51 PM

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson stood in a corridor of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown Washington on Tuesday, answering questions from one wave of reporters after another during a break in the NFL owners' meetings. The more he talked, the more it became clear that he was not going to allow himself to be pinned down about the future of his franchise.

He said, over and over, that he intends to keep the Saints in New Orleans and eventually have his granddaughter, part-owner Rita Benson LeBlanc, run the team. But he also said, over and over, that he was not ruling out moving the club or selling it to buyers who would move it, and he will consider all his options after the upcoming season.

The bottom line, it seemed, was that Benson was doing his best to position himself to emerge as a big winner no matter what happens. He can keep the Saints in New Orleans if the team can get a new stadium. Or he can exercise an exit clause in the club's lease with the Louisiana Superdome and move the team, perhaps to the vacant Los Angeles market that the NFL so covets. Or he can sell the club, perhaps for the $1 billion that he said he already has been offered.

In the meantime, though, things could get ugly, as the Saints prepare for what could be a lame-duck season in New Orleans with only about 25,000 season tickets sold.

"There has been a lot of talk about a lot of clubs [moving]," Benson said. "I think our economy is the reason there are so few tickets sold. I said we weren't going to move. I said we'd not do anything until after the season. I wouldn't consider it if they offered $6 billion. I don't want to leave New Orleans and I don't think the people want us to leave New Orleans, the majority of them."

The Saints have broken off lease negotiations with the state. The team will have a 90-day window following the 2005 season to decide whether it wants to leave New Orleans, and Benson's attorney recently was quoted as saying that Benson is interested in possibly moving the franchise to Los Angeles, San Antonio or Albuquerque. The Saints would have to reimburse the state $81 million in subsidies to leave, under the terms of their lease.

"I would consider everything," Benson said. "A lot of people have tried to contact us. We've got a written offer of $1 billion. But my goal is [to keep the team in New Orleans]. We need to work out a reasonable situation."

A reasonable situation, Benson said, involves a new stadium, not a renovated Superdome. "You've got to look at a new stadium," he said. "You've got to compete."

But he also said: "My club is in New Orleans. All I'm worried about in New Orleans is having a good season and making the Super Bowl. I'm not going to sell the club. My granddaughter is working in the organization. . . . My plan is to stay in New Orleans and have my granddaughter take over the club."

The Saints are, as usual, coming off a season in which they were underachievers, finishing with a record of 8-8 to miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season under Coach Jim Haslett. The club is 32-32 in those four seasons since going 10-6 and reaching the playoffs in 2000, Haslett's first season. Haslett, however, saved his job when the team reeled off a four-game winning streak to close last season and nearly made the playoffs.

The Saints dangled defensive end Darren Howard, their still-unsigned franchise player, in trade discussions this offseason, but haven't parted with him. They made a couple significant free-agent additions by signing Philadelphia Eagles guard Jermane Mayberry and Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Dwight Smith. They signed tailback Antowain Smith as a free agent to back up Deuce McAllister, and they locked up wide receiver Joe Horn with a six-year, $42 million contract extension. They further bolstered the offensive line by selecting Oklahoma tackle Jammal Brown in the first round of last month's draft, and got one of the most intriguing players available when they chose former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson in the fifth round.

But they don't seem to have done enough to catch the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South, and they will have a tough time staying ahead of the Carolina Panthers. Under Haslett, the Saints have perfected the art of doing just enough right to be tantalizing, and just enough wrong to be failures. But Benson was undeterred when he talked Tuesday about the timetable by which he would determine the future of the franchise.

"After the Super Bowl -- after we win the Super Bowl -- then I'll think about it," Benson said.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/)

So I'm wondering if Los Angeles would be the place to go?

KronoRed

08-28-2005, 09:38 PM

It would reek of opportunism and capitalizing on a disaster for the NFL to put the Saints "temporarily" in LA, I'd much rather see them in the closet stadium that can handle them if it comes to that.

OnBaseMachine

08-28-2005, 09:39 PM

For years, forecasters have warned of the nightmare flooding a big storm could bring to New Orleans, a bowl-shaped city bounded by the half-mile-wide Mississippi River and massive Lake Pontchartrain. As much as 10 feet below sea level in spots, the city is as the mercy of a network of levees, canals and pumps to keep dry.

Scientists predicted Katrina could easily overtake that levee system, swamping the city under a 30-feet cesspool of toxic chemicals, human waste and even coffins that could leave more than 1 million people homeless.

"All indications are that this is absolutely worst-case scenario," Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, said Sunday afternoon.

http://www.picayuneitem.com/articles/2005/08/27/ap/headlines/d8c95l580.txt

WVRed

08-28-2005, 09:41 PM

It maybe too early to speculate, but I was wondering what would happen to the Saints with New Orleans under water. Here's an article a few months old...

So I'm wondering if Los Angeles would be the place to go?

Heres an article on Fox Sports.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/4818056

I've heard F-5 Tornadoes called the Finger of God before, I wonder if you could say the same about this hurricane.

Reds/Flyers Fan

08-28-2005, 09:47 PM

It maybe too early to speculate, but I was wondering what would happen to the Saints with New Orleans under water.

I would guess that the Saints would become like the Chicago Bears of a few years ago when they played all their home games at the University of Illinois in Champaign.

The Saints would likely play their games at LSU in Baton Rouge. Less likely would be the NFL moving Saints home games to their opponents field. Luckily for New Orleans, the Saints next home game isn't until Week 2 of the regular season.

dman

08-28-2005, 09:48 PM

For all the "weatherheads" out there, I just took a look at the specs for New Orleans. Barometric pressure of 29.57 and dropping winds from the NE at 25 gusting to 32. That Baometer reading is what floored me though.

WVRed

08-28-2005, 09:51 PM

Goodbye Bourbon St.:( Goodbye Mardi Gras.:( Goodbye casinos.:( Goodbye Saints.:)

RFS62

08-28-2005, 10:22 PM

I can't get my mind off the Superdome. The poor and helpless people left behind to face this beast. Waiting in line for 8 to 10 hours, some in the rain, carrying very possibly everything that they will own when they leave. Pulling their children in tow, their grandparents, their infirm.

Going inside that modern day Noah's Ark, waiting in fear, wondering if they'll have anything left in the material world when they come out of the bunker.

Not that they had much when they went in. These poor souls are the homeless, the indigent, the single mothers with infants and toddlers, the infirm, the elderly. They're also the lazy, the downtrodden, the gansters, the weak, and everything in between. They were left behind as anyone with a car and the money for a hotel room evacuated.

Can you imagine the scene when the winds start howling against the shell of the dome? Can you imagine as the lights flicker, the screams of terror start and cascade into an unearthly chorus of pain and fear, and go on for hours until the shaking stops?

Can you imagine when the storm passes, and the doors open, if they emerge to see the streets flooded up to the entrances on the second level of the dome, and the Big Easy submerged in this witches brew?

New Awlins is on a death watch tonight. It may rise up and smack down the grim reaper that thunders ruthlessly towards it's gates. It will be historic, regardless of the outcome.

Puffy

08-28-2005, 10:28 PM

I love the city of New Orleans more than any other city in this world. I hope it survives.

I am depressed right now just thinking about the potential damage....

Reds/Flyers Fan

08-28-2005, 10:37 PM

WVRed

08-28-2005, 10:50 PM

Reds Fanatic

08-28-2005, 10:51 PM

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/08/28/D8C95OQ01.html

Hurricane Could Leave 1 Million Homeless
Aug 28 8:52 PM US/Eastern

By MATT CRENSON
AP National Writer

When Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans on Monday, it could turn one of America's most charming cities into a vast cesspool tainted with toxic chemicals, human waste and even coffins released by floodwaters from the city's legendary cemeteries.

Experts have warned for years that the levees and pumps that usually keep New Orleans dry have no chance against a direct hit by a Category 5 storm.

That's exactly what Katrina was as it churned toward the city. With top winds of 165 mph and the power to lift sea level by as much as 28 feet above normal, the storm threatened an environmental disaster of biblical proportions, one that could leave more than 1 million people homeless.

"All indications are that this is absolutely worst-case scenario," Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, said Sunday afternoon.

The center's latest computer simulations indicate that by Tuesday, vast swaths of New Orleans could be under water up to 30 feet deep. In the French Quarter, the water could reach 20 feet, easily submerging the district's iconic cast-iron balconies and bars.

Estimates predict that 60 percent to 80 percent of the city's houses will be destroyed by wind. With the flood damage, most of the people who live in and around New Orleans could be homeless.

"We're talking about in essence having _ in the continental United States _ having a refugee camp of a million people," van Heerden said.

Aside from Hurricane Andrew, which struck Miami in 1992, forecasters have no experience with Category 5 hurricanes hitting densely populated areas.

"Hurricanes rarely sustain such extreme winds for much time. However we see no obvious large-scale effects to cause a substantial weakening the system and it is expected that the hurricane will be of Category 4 or 5 intensity when it reaches the coast," National Hurricane Center meteorologist Richard Pasch said.

As they raced to put meteorological instruments in Katrina's path Sunday, wind engineers had little idea what their equipment would record.

"We haven't seen something this big since we started the program," said Kurt Gurley, a University of Florida engineering professor. He works for the Florida Coastal Monitoring Program, which is in its seventh year of making detailed measurements of hurricane wind conditions using a set of mobile weather stations.

Experts have warned about New Orleans' vulnerability for years, chiefly because Louisiana has lost more than a million acres of coastal wetlands in the past seven decades. The vast patchwork of swamps and bayous south of the city serves as a buffer, partially absorbing the surge of water that a hurricane pushes ashore.

Experts have also warned that the ring of high levees around New Orleans, designed to protect the city from floodwaters coming down the Mississippi, will only make things worse in a powerful hurricane. Katrina is expected to push a 28-foot storm surge against the levees. Even if they hold, water will pour over their tops and begin filling the city as if it were a sinking canoe.

After the storm passes, the water will have nowhere to go.

In a few days, van Heerden predicts, emergency management officials are going to be wondering how to handle a giant stagnant pond contaminated with building debris, coffins, sewage and other hazardous materials.

"We're talking about an incredible environmental disaster," van Heerden said.

He puts much of the blame for New Orleans' dire situation on the very levee system that is designed to protect southern Louisiana from Mississippi River floods.

Before the levees were built, the river would top its banks during floods and wash through a maze of bayous and swamps, dropping fine- grained silt that nourished plants and kept the land just above sea level.

The levees "have literally starved our wetlands to death" by directing all of that precious silt out into the Gulf of Mexico, van Heerden said.

It has been 40 years since New Orleans faced a hurricane even comparable to Katrina. In 1965, Hurricane Betsy, a Category 3 storm, submerged some parts of the city to a depth of seven feet.

Since then, the Big Easy has had nothing but near misses. In 1998, Hurricane Georges headed straight for New Orleans, then swerved at the last minute to strike Mississippi and Alabama. Hurricane Lili blew herself out at the mouth of the Mississippi in 2002. And last year's Hurricane Ivan obligingly curved to the east as it came ashore, barely grazing a grateful city.

Chip R

08-28-2005, 10:55 PM

I heard from Sandy this afternoon about 2:40. She's on her way to Ft. Worth and seemed to be in good spirits.

I would think the Superdome has emergency lights and generators they can use if the power goes out. Not that it makes the situation any better but it's better than being in the dark.

Reds Fanatic

08-28-2005, 11:00 PM

Caveat Emperor

08-28-2005, 11:03 PM

I love the city of New Orleans more than any other city in this world. I hope it survives.

I am depressed right now just thinking about the potential damage....

I hear you, Puffy...

I've been watching CNN most of the day with a mixture of apprehension and hope. Hearing all of the different places in the city thrown about also brought back a cascade of memories from the time I spent down there.

Like there used to be this bar on Tulane Ave. (which, for the uninitiated, is nowhere near Tulane University) called "Nicks," which was possibly the biggest dive I've ever hung out in. One of my fraternity brothers discovered that this place had some unbelievable drink special on Wednesdays (like .75 Rolling Rocks or something) and we started going there. This place was so shady...half the bar was just sheet metal that had been formed into a room. There was a single light-bulb hanging down on a string in the middle and a bunch of really dirty couches right underneath it. One of the couches always had this bum sleeping on it (we weren't sure, but we thought the bum actually lived at the bar). I'm willing to lay even money that that place won't be there tommorrow.

Or the harrowing memories of driving across the Huey P. Long bridge, with lanes painted so narrowly that the spaces between cars was measured in centimeters, and being passed by Escalades doing 80+...

Or the many nights spent on the patio at Madigans staring at the entirely-too-attractive bartender...

Or the night that my fraternitiy brothers A-Mart, Mark, Krash and I went to a high school football game between Brother Martin and Rummel to go heckle the high schoolers (and for NO OTHER REASON....that I can reveal. :evil: )...

Or the time I spent an entire Wednesday night driving around with a girl from Mandeville, trying to see how many different Baskin Robbins we could hit up on "Free Scoop Night" for free ice cream...

Or the time that we piled 8 kids from my floor into a Mazda (including me, at 6'10", and another kid who was 6'8") and all went to Ponchos, an all-you-can-eat Mexican restaraunt on Veterans Ave., and had an eating contest to see who could put away the most food...

Tonight, my only thought before bed is, to misquote Better than Ezra: "God save the city of New Orleans." I'm not usually much of a praying man, but I had so many good times in that city, met so many wonderful people...I still consider it a "home" of sorts...

I sincerely hope everythign turns out allright...

WVRed

08-28-2005, 11:07 PM

The scariest thing for those people in the Superdome is the fact they may be in there for weeks or even months in the worst case scenario. Usually people go to a shelter for a night or 2 until a storm passes and then leave to deal with storm damage. In this case it may be impossible to let the people leave if the whole city is flooded. It is hard to imagine what 20,000+ people are going to go through living for an extended period in a building with no electricity and no way to leave.

I was at Panera Bread in Clarksburg earlier today on my way back from the Reds game, and they had it on Fox News. They told people coming to the Superdome to bring enough food, clothing, and medication to last up to 5 days.

Chip R

08-28-2005, 11:24 PM

Sandy just called and she is in Texas and should be in Arlington about 1 a.m. Eastern time. They are out of the bad weather where they are at.

ghettochild

08-28-2005, 11:27 PM

if i had the money/car/license/time i'd take em around and show em a good time, but i don't have anything lol.

arlington is about a 40 minute drive from where i live

LoganBuck

08-28-2005, 11:33 PM

Sandy just called and she is in Texas and should be in Arlington about 1 a.m. Eastern time. They are out of the bad weather where they are at.

Great News

I just hope too many people aren't caught in their cars on a bridge when it hits.

KronoRed

08-28-2005, 11:40 PM

Great News

I just hope too many people aren't caught in their cars on a bridge when it hits.

Those bridges scare me, I keep remembering that bridge in Pensacola last year, half of it went in the water

RFS62

08-28-2005, 11:41 PM

The Huey P. Long bridge is fragile at best. But nobody will be on that one when the storm hits. I'd not be a bit surprised if it went down, if the winds stay above 140.

ghettochild

08-28-2005, 11:44 PM

http://www.nola.com/beadcam/index.ssf?video

a live feed if anyone wants to watch

its pouring and starting to flash lightning

LoganBuck

08-28-2005, 11:52 PM

I can't stop watching it. I just have a horrible feeling about it. I have been to all the areas that they are talking about, and I just don't see how this thing isn't going to bring the worst. Then CNN showed that computer generated model of the levee going, and I can't help but think then what? They can't pump the water out until the levee is repaired. The potential for cataclysmic disaster is keeping me from sleeping.

Reds/Flyers Fan

08-29-2005, 12:02 AM

MSNBC just reported that the hurricane's latest readings have it passing about 5 to 10 miles further east than earlier projected, which can only help New Orleans stay out of that dreaded NE corner. Also the hurricane has slowed a tad and is now a strong Cat 4 storm, or will be by the time it reaches landfall.

Interestingly enough, I heard Louisiana's governor say that the destroyed wetlands along the coast will be a factor in the hurricane maintaining more power. The wetlands serve as a buffer and even drain some strength from hurricanes. The state is working to revive their natural wetlands but that won't help tonight.

RBA

08-29-2005, 12:10 AM

Anyone interested in the video of Fox News being told to "blank" off, here it is:

http://tiger.towson.edu/users/bstelt1/tvn/shep.mov

Reds/Flyers Fan

08-29-2005, 12:23 AM

Apparently the huge, 100-foot neon Hard Rock Cafe guitar in Biloxi is perched precariously over the street and there is concern that it could crash into the adjacent hotel.

RBA

08-29-2005, 12:29 AM

Apparently the huge, 100-foot neon Hard Rock Cafe guitar in Biloxi is perched precariously over the street and there is concern that it could crash into the adjacent hotel.

Quick someone alert Anderson Cooper. He almost got taken out by a sign a month or so ago.

oregonred

08-29-2005, 12:32 AM

RFS62 -- great post. The Superdome is about to become hell on Earth. Seems there should be a better plan, but with a metro area of 1.5M and less than 36 hours to prepare since thus hurrincane went nuts Saturday evening I guess everyone should be lucky it is available as a last resort. Supposedly it is not in a flood plane.

Could we be looking at airlifts and incredible rescue scenes for days on end out of the Superdome and other high residential buildings after the storm passes?

oregonred

08-29-2005, 12:46 AM

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_08.html#074661

This is a lot better organized than it seems. 26,000 people!

26,000 shelter at Superdome

About 26,000 New Orleans residents sought refuge from Hurricane Katrina at the Superdome, which authorities describe as the "shelter of last resort," Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said late Sunday. To help keep them fed and hydrated, the Louisiana National Guard delivered three truckloads of water and seven truckloads of MREs — short for "meals ready to eat." That's enough to supply 15,000 people for three days, according to Col. Jay Mayeaux, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Outside the New Orleans area, the Louisiana Red Cross has opened 45 emergency shelters that were serving about 3,000 evacuees as of late Sunday, said Victor Howell, who heads the Red Cross of the Louisiana Capital Area.

Once Hurricane Katrina passes through, the Red Cross is prepared to deploy 750 employees and volunteers from Louisiana, plus an additional 2,000 from around the country. If the damage from Katrina is as great as authorities fear, Howell said he expects it to be the single largest hurricane relief effort ever undertaken by the American Red Cross.

Unassisted

08-29-2005, 12:52 AM

Saw on the local news that many Louisianans are evacuating to here in San Antonio. We're about a 10-hour drive from New Orleans under normal conditions, but we have plenty of hotel space.

I was watching the live streams from WWL and WDSU.Both stations have evacuated all news and studio personnel out of their stations and are broadcasting from studios in other cities. WWL is now in Baton Rouge and WDSU has bugged out to Jackson, MS. I'm not sure I've ever heard of stations doing that before, but I certainly understand why.

For a brief time, WDSU's coverage was being broadcast by news anchors from its sister station in Orlando, which was also broadcasting for the station in Jackson, while that station was setting things up for New Orleans. That's got to be a broadcasting industry first.

With all of those news people evacuated and hurricane force winds expected to start at 3AM and last for an astounding 10-12 hours, it could be a couple of days before any live pictures come out of New Orleans again.

Caveat Emperor

08-29-2005, 01:00 AM

For a brief time, WDSU's coverage was being broadcast by news anchors from its sister station in Orlando, which was also broadcasting for the station in Jackson, while that station was setting things up for New Orleans. That's got to be a broadcasting industry first.

Completely unrelated, but WLWT Channel 5 is a sister-station for WDSU in New Orleans as well (both owned by Hearst-Argyle -- the "Hearst" in the company referring, of course, to none other than William Randolph Hearst).

During the Cincinnati riots, WDSU had a lot of live feeds from WLWT.

RBA

08-29-2005, 01:34 AM

http://www.nola.com/images/printthispage/print_nola.gif http://www.nola.com/images/spacer.gifhttp://www.nola.com/images/news/tplogo198x34.gif Three nursing home residents die in evacuation from NO to BR

8/28/2005, 11:52 p.m. CT
The Associated Press http://www.nola.com/images/spacer.gifBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Three residents of a New Orleans nursing home are believed to have died during a stressful evacuation from the storm-threatened city on a school bus.

An ambulance crew called the coroner's office to a church where 23 patients were supposed to stay, said Don Moreau, chief of operations for the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office.

He said that in addition to the patient in the church, another, still on the bus, "appeared to have been dead for some time." A third died at Earl K. Long Hospital, where the 21 remaining patients had been taken.

The coroner's office had not determined the cause of death, but many of the patients were dehydrated, Moreau said.

"These folks are pretty fragile when they're put on these buses," he said.

He did not know whether the bus was air-conditioned, or how long the trip had taken. Many travelers said it took them several hours to get from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, a trip whiich usually takes one hour.

Moreau would not name the nursing home or the church.

When Hurricane Ivan threatened New Orleans in September 2004, two nursing home residents died during an evacuation.

And seven years ago during Hurricane Georges, an 86-year-old woman died of heart failure during an evacuation to Baton Rouge after spending hours on a bus without air conditioning.

___

Information from: The Times-Picayune, http://www.timespicayune.com (http://www.timespicayune.com/)

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Caveat Emperor

08-29-2005, 01:58 AM

Because we always need moments of levity in a time like this...

A friend of mine from New Orleans instant messaged me tonight:

"Update from the Superdome: the Evacuees are beating the Saints 35-14 at the start of the 4th Quarter. Aaron Brooks fumbled after being sacked by a grandmother of 8."

KronoRed

08-29-2005, 02:38 AM

Ton of web cam and news sites linked to from here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina

WVRed

08-29-2005, 08:48 AM

Roof is coming off the Superdome per one of the NO news stations. :(

SandyD

08-29-2005, 08:53 AM

Live feed from WWL-TV in New Orleans. (Requires Windows Media Player)
http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=beloint_wwltv&props=livenoad

Been watching off and on for about and hour. I don't know how the public officials there could make it any clearer that people need to leave now. It's going to be rough after this thing goes through.

One of the emergency coordinators there said that if you're riding out the storm at home to make sure you have an ax or a hammer. He said that you'll need it to punch through from your attic to your roof so you don't get trapped in your attic by floodwaters. :eek:

A good number of the people who died in New Orleans during Betsy drowned in their attics because they couldn't hack their way out.

I'm at the hotel in Arlington Texas getting ready to go to the remote site and work. We're waiting on Enterprise, and then to get everyone together.

My home is west of New Orleans, so since this thing is passing east, we just have to worry about the levee holding up under the pounding. Alfred's dad is in the Superdome as a special needs patient needing dialysis. We can't reach him, but I understand that the Dome is out of power ... emergency lighting but no a/c.

Alfred went to Florida but he stopped in Pensacola. I thought he was going to Tallahassee, but he stopped in Pensacola. Hope the roads will be ok for him to get back.

SandyD

08-29-2005, 08:56 AM

WVRed

08-29-2005, 08:57 AM

Alfred went to Florida but he stopped in Pensacola. I thought he was going to Tallahassee, but he stopped in Pensacola. Hope the roads will be ok for him to get back.

CNN was reporting tropical storm conditions in Pensacola earlier.

RFS62

08-29-2005, 08:59 AM

I guess it's going to take one of these reporters getting decapitated with a piece of flying debris on live TV before the idiots stop standing out in the open, trying to one-up the other networks.

What irony, the so-called experts telling everyone to take cover while they're standing in water, holding electronic equipment, and watching pieces of roofing, siding, signs, limbs.... whatever... flying by with plenty enough force to poke they eye out or crush their skulls if it hits them.

That's not bravery. That's the heights of stupidity and ignorance. And I can't help but think that it encourages the equally ignorant segment of society to try it for themselves.

WVRed

08-29-2005, 09:01 AM

Johnny Vander m

08-29-2005, 09:04 AM

They are realy in a studio in New York with a movie of a storm in the backdrop. :explode:

WVRed

08-29-2005, 09:06 AM

According to CNN reporters: SKY IS VISIBLE FROM INSIDE SUPERDOME.

Update=WDSU=a 3/5 chunk of the roof has blown off. They are expecting more to blow off and it is raining inside the dome. People are moving into the concourse area to avoid the roof falling and they are moving people away from the field to avoid debris.

RFS62

08-29-2005, 09:10 AM

They are realy in a studio in New York with a movie of a storm in the backdrop. :explode:

Yep, same place they filmed those moon landings. :cool:

Hey Johnny, I guess Hooters has a backup generator, eh?

WVRed

08-29-2005, 09:13 AM

Reports are that the levees have been breached.:(

WVRed

08-29-2005, 09:28 AM

Quick someone alert Anderson Cooper. He almost got taken out by a sign a month or so ago.

Speak of the devil, he just got sent in.

Johnny Vander m

08-29-2005, 09:32 AM

Yep, same place they filmed those moon landings. :cool:

Hey Johnny, I guess Hooters has a backup generator, eh?

Can't get to Hooters as it is on I-55, backed up traffic. Now the latest is that the storm has moved east and the Mississippi coast may get the worst of it. It could be worse here than expected, 60 to 70 mph winds sometime later today could be higher now. Calm with light rain now.

Reds Fanatic

08-29-2005, 09:33 AM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9108975/

NEW ORLEANS - About 9,000 people were waiting out of the worst of Hurricane Katrina’s punishing winds and rain on Monday morning in the Louisiana Superdome, but nerves were frayed when power failed and the massive structure’s roof began leaking.

Electrical power at the Superdome failed at 5:02 a.m., triggering groans from the crowd. Emergency generators kicked in, but the backup power runs only reduced lighting and cannot run the air conditioning.

Later the dome’s roof began leaking. A reporter with NBC affiliate WAPT in Jackson, Miss., inside the dome reported that a soft drizzle was falling on the playing field and said he could hear a flapping sound, suggesting a piece of waterproof fabric on the outside had come loose.

Still, most of those inside were able to get some rest as they waited to see whether the storm would make a direct hit on the city or spare it the worst.

“Everybody slept last night. They didn’t seem to have any problems,” said Dr. Kevin Stephens Sr., in charge of the medical shelter in the Superdome. “They slept all over the place.”

The 77,000-seat stadium, home of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, provided few comforts but at least had bathrooms and food donated by charities.

“They hadn’t opened up and let us in here, there’d have been a lot of people floating down river tomorrow,” Merrill Rice, 64, said late Sunday after braving a long line to get checked in. “If it’s as bad as they say, I know my old house won’t stand it.”

The Superdome opened its doors at noon Sunday, and New Orleans’ most frail residents got priority. The stadium is by far the most solid of the Big Easy’s 10 refuges for the estimated 100,000 city residents who don’t have the means, or strength, to join a mandatory evacuation.

Residents lined up for blocks, clutching meager belongings and crying children as National Guardsman searched them for guns, knives and drugs.

Then Katrina’s rain began, drenching hundreds of people still outside, along with their bags of food and clothing. Eventually, the searches were moved inside to the Superdome floor, where some people wrapped themselves in blankets and tried to sleep.

It was almost 10:30 p.m. before the last person was searched and sent to the lowest level of seats. Superdome regional vice president Doug Thornton estimated 8,000 to 9,000 were in the building when the doors finally closed for the 11 p.m. curfew.

More than 600 people with medical needs were inside.

“And we sent another 400 to hospitals,” said Gen. Ralph Lupin, who commands the 550 National Guard troops in the Dome.

Wes McDermott with the Office of Emergency Preparedness commandeered seven ambulances at 8 p.m. to move 40 more patients to Tulane Medical Center.

“We’ve got sick babies, sick old people and everything in between,” Stephens said. “We’re seen strokes, chest pain, diabetes patients passing out, seizures, people without medicine, people with the wrong medicine. It’s been busy.”

Several of those taken to hospitals Sunday had chest pain, but as the heart of the storm came ashore on Monday, Stephens added that “anything like that has to be handled here. There’s no way we can take anybody anywhere.”

Thornton worried about how everyone would fare over the next few days, especially if water pressure fails.

“We’re expecting to be here for the long haul,” he said. “We can make things very nice for 75,000 people for four hours. But we aren’t set up to really accommodate 8,000 for four days.”

Several National Guard members had slept under the shelter of a deep overhang surrounding the dome. With the possibility water pressure could fail, Senior Airman Nathan Foley of Pittsburgh, took advantage of the driving rain early Monday.

“Stripped down to the shorts and went out there and took a shower,” Foley said. “It was pretty good.”

The refugees were not allowed to spread out on the football field, sitting instead in stadium seats in case of flooding.

“We don’t expect to take any water,” Thornton said. “But we wanted them up higher in case.”

Morris Bivens, 53, a painter, came to the dome with his wife, daughter and five granddaughters ranging in age from 1 to 9.

“I had to come,” he said. “Not for me. I ride these out all the time. But I knew I couldn’t save those children in this one if something happened.”

“There are some conditions we just can’t handle here,” said Dr. Kevin Stephens, Sr., head of New Orleans’ health department. “Like dialysis. We can’t do that, and they’ll be here three or four days, so they’ll need it before then.”

RBA

08-29-2005, 09:35 AM

.. A Levee Breach Occurred Along The Industrial Canal At Tennesse Street. 3 To 8 Feet Of Water Is Expected Due To The Breach...locations In The Warning Include But Are Not Limited To Arabi And 9th Ward Of New Orleans.

RBA

08-29-2005, 09:37 AM

St. Bernard Parish spokesman Larry Ingargiola says the parish's two shelters at Chalmette High and St. Bernard High are suffering major damage. He said Chalmette High shelter is losing its roof, and St. Bernard High has plenty of broken windows and glass. He estimates 300-plus refugees at the two sites.

registerthis

08-29-2005, 09:45 AM

This is awful--poor N'awlins. :(

WVRed

08-29-2005, 09:52 AM

Not good.

The National Weather Service in New Orleans has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for...
Orleans Parish in southeast Louisiana
this includes the cities of... New Orleans
St. Bernard Parish in southeast Louisiana
this includes the city of Chalmette

* until 215 PM CDT

* a levee breach occurred along the Industrial canal at tennesse
street. 3 to 8 feet of water is expected due to The Breach.

* Locations in the warning include but are not limited to Arabi and
9th Ward of New Orleans.

Do not drive your vehicle into areas where the water covers the
roadway. The water depth may be too great to allow your car to cross
safely. Vehicles caught in rising water should be abandoned quickly.
Move to higher ground.

A Flash Flood Warning means that flooding is imminent or occurring.
If you are in the warning area move to higher ground immediately.
Residents living along streams and creeks should take immediate
precautions to protect life and property. Do not attempt to cross
swiftly flowing waters or waters of unknown depth by foot or by
automobile.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEW ORLEANS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR CATASTROPHIC WINDS FOR...
JEFFERSON PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...TIMBERLANE...METAIRIE...MARRERO...
KENNER...HARVEY...AVONDALE
LAFOURCHE PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF CUT OFF
ORLEANS PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
PLAQUEMINES PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...PORT SULPHUR...BELLE CHASSE
ST. BERNARD PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF CHALMETTE
ST. CHARLES PARISH IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 900 AM CDT

* AT 832 AM CDT...MANY REPORTS ARE COMING IN STATING TOTAL
STRUCTURAL FAILURE IN THE NEW ORLEANS METRO AREA.

SEEK SUBSTANTIAL COVER NOW!!! THIS IS A LIFE-THREATENING SITUATION.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CDT MONDAY FOR SOUTHEAST
LOUISIANA AND SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI.

WVRed

08-29-2005, 10:05 AM

View of the French Quarter, which is one of the highest points of New Orleans.

http://www.pccboard.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=316224

WVRed

08-29-2005, 10:10 AM

Oh, and CNN has lost contact with Anderson Cooper. Edit=Nevermind, they regained contact.

MSNBC is saying the Superdome is safe and sound. Fox News is saying part of the roof is now missing, and they are worried about collapse.

traderumor

08-29-2005, 10:18 AM

There were two places I saw on the roof that appeared breached, and they were not small. That was very upsetting because they are only getting CAT 1/2 conditions, what's going to happen when CAT 4 conditions hit? :cry:

And then, considering the psychological conditions after the storm passes but folks cannot leave for 2-3 days. I am deeply saddened and troubled for those people who couldn't get out because of circumstances, sure would like to be there to help :(

RBA

08-29-2005, 10:19 AM

"I'm not doing too good right now," Chris Robinson said via cellphone from his home east of the city's downtown. "The water's rising pretty fast. I got a hammer and an ax and a crowbar, but I'm holding off on breaking through the roof until the last minute. Tell someone to come get me please. I want to live."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HURRICANE_KATRINA?SITE=MALOW&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&SECTION=HOME

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 10:22 AM

Katrina is just now hitting New Orleans, according to Fox News. Winds still hitting 135. They were saying last night night the winds would be around 100 when it hit NO.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 10:32 AM

Mississippi levee near French Quarter has broke per Fox News.

RBA

08-29-2005, 10:38 AM

NPR reported an oil tanker loose in Mobile Bay

TeamMorris

08-29-2005, 10:41 AM

This is scary....very, very, very scary!!

Jaycint

08-29-2005, 10:50 AM

Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, on east side of city, under 5 to 6 feet of water after pumps fail, mayor says.

WVRed

08-29-2005, 10:58 AM

And now for some good news.

From the NOAA's website-

Bulk of This Season's Storms Still to Come

WVRed

08-29-2005, 11:02 AM

CNN reporter in a hotel in Biloxi--one guest there tried to open her hotel room door and the wind closed it--amputating her finger! She's being treated by a nurse who is staying there--no way to get her to a hospital--

Also, I saw this somewhere, but no source. The Superdome roof is shredding.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 11:04 AM

TWC said Jim Cantore had to move up a floor in his hotel due to flooding. I can't quite remember where he is at.

TeamMorris

08-29-2005, 11:10 AM

These reporters have a death wish!! You could not pay me enough!! There are some guys and gals out there that probably don't weigh 110 pounds soaking wet!

Haven't heard much from New Orleans on the Weather Channel, they say the signal is very weak.

Reds Fanatic

08-29-2005, 11:19 AM

This link has the local stories from the New Orleans newspaper. It is being updated constantly as reports come in.

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_08.html#074760

TeamCasey

08-29-2005, 11:27 AM

"I'm not doing too good right now," Chris Robinson said via cellphone from his home east of the city's downtown. "The water's rising pretty fast. I got a hammer and an ax and a crowbar, but I'm holding off on breaking through the roof until the last minute. Tell someone to come get me please. I want to live."

Let's endanger more lives because you ignored all the warnings.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 11:29 AM

According to Shepperd Smith of FOX News, the levees on the east side New Orleans have been breached.

flyer85

08-29-2005, 11:29 AM

I guess this is Katrina and the Waves

Reds Fanatic

08-29-2005, 11:32 AM

According to Shepperd Smith of FOX News, the levees on the east side New Orleans have been breached. East side of New Orleans is currently under 6 to 8 feet of water. Gulfport, Mississippi is under 10 feet of water.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 11:33 AM

Cantore is in Gulfport Shores, Miss. Says he is 27 feet above sea level but there is about 10 feet of water around the building he is in.

RBA

08-29-2005, 11:51 AM

Look like some material is off the roof...

http://www.repubblica.it/popup/servizi/2005/katrina/dopo.jpg

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 11:52 AM

Gulfport appears to be in bad shape. Boats are crashing into the shore and buildings, six or more feet of water on the streets, and structural damage.

They still fear that the Miss. River and Lake Pontchartrain will continue to rise and push water in New Orleans.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 12:00 PM

Floods, tornadoes and jellyfish in Mississippi's Gulfport
By THOMAS KOROSEC
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES

GULFPORT, Miss. — As Katrina pounded this coastal community with winds exceeding 100 mph this morning, police Lt. Mike Shaw answered one last rescue call.

"Old oaks are down on the beachfront, water is up to the second story of some of the motels,'' he recalled. "Signs are down. Power lines are down. Roofs are off.''

A tornado also struck an apartment with 10 people inside, he said, but no one was injured. There also was a report of a family stranded when their roof collapsed on them.

About 6 a.m., Shaw made his way in a military-weight truck from the Gulfport Police Department's temporary headquarters 10 miles inland to a small house about two blocks from the Gulf. A couple had tried to ride out the storm there, and found themselves facing disaster.

Shaw parked and soon "was in the water up to my neck.'' He located the stranded couple, led them back to the truck and drove them to safety.

"They were hanging on to a limb,'' said Shaw. "I couldn't see them, but I could hear them yelling at me.''

On the way back, Shaw's left arm was stinging: A jellyfish was trapped in his shirt.

Gulfport police since have pulled all officers from the streets and are no longer responding to the dozens of calls for service coming in. They are telling residents in homes filling with water to climb to higher ground, or even to wade to a neighbor's home. At 9:30, as police dealt with a wall at their headquarters that was starting to bow in, dispatchers were advising one couple by telephone on how to deal with wounds suffered when their roof collapsed on them.

Cmdr. Alfred Sexton said, "It's horrible, but it's all we can do. We can't be risking lives to go out in 100 mph winds.''

"If we were out in that,'' added Shaw, "we'd just add to the problems.''

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3329496

flyer85

08-29-2005, 12:01 PM

flyer85

08-29-2005, 12:02 PM

According to Shepperd Smith of FOX News, the levees on the east side New Orleans have been breached.the ones on the north side holding back Pontchartrain are the crucial ones.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 12:13 PM

New Orleans mayor says water is topping the levee systems. They are receiving reports of people hanging on for dear life. Buildings are collapsing. Averaging five calls per minute from people in need of help.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 12:17 PM

Weather Channel: 12 feet of water in St. Bernard Parish in NO. People are climbing to rooftops to escape flood water. A building collapsed with people inside.

ochre

08-29-2005, 12:17 PM

http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/05/08/29/adome.jpg
different angle

WVRed

08-29-2005, 12:17 PM

Let's endanger more lives because you ignored all the warnings.

Thats my thoughts. People who decided to ride the hurricane out after multiple warnings to evacuate should be the last ones to be helped right now. :thumbdown

Im sorry if this makes me sound cruel, but if you are playing with fire....

WVRed

08-29-2005, 12:18 PM

Now I know how Noah must've felt.

flyer85

08-29-2005, 12:21 PM

Now I know how Noah must've felt.not even close;)

Heath

08-29-2005, 12:27 PM

Now I know how Noah must've felt.

Noah's flood is a tad more....ummm...more than this one

registerthis

08-29-2005, 12:32 PM

not even close;)Noah was probably drunk for most of it. :beerme:

TeamCasey

08-29-2005, 12:44 PM

:nono: Don't be startin' that Noah stuff. No debates on the disaster thread. :p:

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 01:21 PM

New Orleans

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20050829/capt.ladm12108291641.hurricane_katrina_ladm121.jpg

Reds Fanatic

08-29-2005, 01:23 PM

New Orleans police have received more than 100 calls from people trapped on their roofs. Near Lake Pontchartrain flood waters are up to the rooflines of entire neighboorhoods.

Chip R

08-29-2005, 01:24 PM

:nono: Don't be startin' that Noah stuff. No debates on the disaster thread. :p:

What's a cubit? ;)

MWM

08-29-2005, 01:25 PM

These reporters are fools. I know they're sitting there thinking how "courageous" they are. I don't find them courageous at all. I find them moronic and arrogant because they're that obsessed with recognition. They keep cutting back to some guy on CNN who's in Mississippi who's running all over the place and has even fallen down a couple of times because the wind is so strong. What a fool.

westofyou

08-29-2005, 01:29 PM

What's a cubit? ;)

Noah.....

WHAT?

Build me an Ark...

A WHAT?

pedro

08-29-2005, 01:32 PM

CNN has a reporter in the French Quarter. the talking head on the TV made a big point of telling the viewers that CNN'svideo trucks aren't able to get inot the area and the reporter filed the report all by himself using a *gasp* new computer technology called FTP!

TeamCasey

08-29-2005, 01:33 PM

Are the reporters taking crazy chances ...... yes.

Have I been clicking on all the news sites for information all day .... yes.

(I surmise that I'm the problem.) :)

flyer85

08-29-2005, 01:34 PM

new computer technology called FTP!what is this FTP? What does it stand for? Inquiring minds want to know.

pedro

08-29-2005, 01:37 PM

what is this FTP? What does it stand for? Inquiring minds want to know.

foolish televised poop.

RBA

08-29-2005, 01:38 PM

what is this FTP? What does it stand for? Inquiring minds want to know.

File Transfer Protocol and it's as old as the internet.

westofyou

08-29-2005, 01:40 PM

what is this FTP? What does it stand for? Inquiring minds want to know.

Fashionable Technology Pontification

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 01:42 PM

Three feet of water in downtown New Orleans near Hyatt.

flyer85

08-29-2005, 01:46 PM

Three feet of water in downtown New Orleans near Hyatt.surfs up!!:KoolAid:

Chip R

08-29-2005, 02:00 PM

Noah.....

WHAT?

Build me an Ark...

A WHAT?

How long can you tread water? Ha ha ha ha ha.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 02:02 PM

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina may be the most expensive hurricane ever to hit the United States, costing insurers up to $25 billion, two storm modelers said on Monday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050829/ts_nm/weather_katrina_insurance_dc

Also, Mobile is seriously flooded. The whole downtown area is under up to eight feet of water.

Cyclone792

08-29-2005, 02:23 PM

Also, Mobile is seriously flooded. The whole downtown area is under up to eight feet of water.

Reminds me of the Flood of 97 when the traffic lights on Pete Rose Way were just barely above the surface of 64.7 feet of the Ohio River.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1997/03/05/05peteroseway_600x239.jpg

Roy Tucker

08-29-2005, 02:28 PM

Reminds me of the Flood of 97 when the traffic lights on Pete Rose Way were just barely above the surface of 64.7 feet of the Ohio River.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1997/03/05/05peteroseway_600x239.jpg
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1997/03/05/05downtown_600x380.jpg

Chip R

08-29-2005, 02:32 PM

The flood of 95 had chunks of the flood of 97 in its stool.

KronoRed

08-29-2005, 02:48 PM

Got pictures?

Wait

Nevermind :help:

westofyou

08-29-2005, 02:50 PM

Crosley 1937

http://www.crosley-field.com/images/floodcombo.jpg

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 02:55 PM

CNN just showed video of a guy driving his car through five or more feet of water in New Orleans. A news reporter ran into the water and pulled the guy from the raging waters, possibly saving his life.

Why do people drive cars through raging waters?

westofyou

08-29-2005, 03:03 PM

Why do people drive cars through raging waters?

Because they didn't take Autoshop in school?

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 03:06 PM

Because they didn't take Autoshop in school?

Maybe. But I thought it was common sense that cars don't float. ;)

15fan

08-29-2005, 03:10 PM

flyer85

08-29-2005, 03:12 PM

Maybe. But I thought it was common sense that cars don't float. ;)They should be driving "The Thing".

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 03:30 PM

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/050829/w082966.jpg
Debris from a fallen building covers several buildings in downtown New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

That was a nice car. :(

Weather Channel: New Orleans could be a month without power.

Chip R

08-29-2005, 03:51 PM

[IMG]Weather Channel: New Orleans could be a month without power.
Damn! That's not cool.

GAC

08-29-2005, 03:58 PM

We went one week without power last winter dues to that massive ice storm. Not good. The damage is still very evident in the follage around here. My prayers go out to the peoples in this region.

15fan

08-29-2005, 04:03 PM

Damn! That's not cool.

Especially this time of year. In this part of the universe, we've still got a few more weeks before the normal heat & oppressive humidity think about packing up and heading elsewhere...

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 04:29 PM

Below is a few pics of New Orleans

http://www.nola.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/nola/images/3662/2073031.jpg

http://www.nola.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/nola/images/3662/2072954.jpg

http://www.nola.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/nola/images/3662/2072932.jpg

http://www.nola.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/nola/images/3662/2073004.jpg

http://www.nola.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/nola/images/3662/2072733.jpg

Reds Fanatic

08-29-2005, 04:29 PM

A local news crew has found some looting has started in New Orleans

A WDSU news crew just captured images of looters hauling items out of a New Orleans warehouse. People were seen using shopping carts and hand-held carts to haul off cleaning supplies, beer and other items. It's not clear yet where the video was shot.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 04:34 PM

:(

Mayor Ray Nagin said that 200 people were stranded on rooftops in the Lower Ninth Ward and several “bodies are floating in the water” in the Bywater neighborhood and in Eastover.

Nagin said that the 200 stranded people included 20 police officers who were riding out the storm at their homes in preparation to take over shifts from other officers. He said that boats would be dispatched on rescue missions later in the afternoon.

Nagin said at least 20 buildings in the city had collapsed and that it might be 48 hours before residents would be allowed back to their homes to assess the damage.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWL082905trapped.6dc737a.html

Unassisted

08-29-2005, 05:31 PM

Should the reporter be lauded for being a proverbial good samaritan?

Or should the reporter be ridiculed for interfering with natural selection?We have natural selectees around here that drive into floodwaters every time there is flooding. (Flooding happens every time we get more than an inch of rain at a time.) The fire department rescues them and mails them a big bill/fine for the rescue.

Usually, those rescues are best left to the professionals. Moving water has a lot of force, and often floodwaters are moving faster below the surface than at the surface. The reporter was a bigger fool than the driver for venturing into water that deep.

oregonred

08-29-2005, 05:47 PM

A local news crew has found some looting has started in New Orleans

More natural selection needed? Nice...

Looting

New Orleans, 2:15 p.m.

Returning from a fact-finding expedition from the newspaper's Howard Avenue headquarters, a group of reporters and photographers stumbled on a parade of looters streaming from Coleman's Retail Store, located at 4001 Earhart Blvd., about two blocks away from The Times-Picayune offices.

The looters, who were men and women who appeared to be in their early teens to mid-40s, braved a steady rain and infrequent tropical storm wind gusts to tote boxes of clothing and shoes from the store. Some had garbage bags stuffed with goods. Others lugged wardrobe-sized boxes or carried them on their heads.

The line going to and from the store along Earhart Boulevard numbered into the dozens and appeared to be growing.

Some looters were seen smiling and greeting each other with pleasantries as they passed. Another group was seen riding in the back of a pickup truck, honking the horn and cheering.

The scene also attracted a handful of curious bystanders, who left the safety of their homes to watch the heist.

No police were present in the area, which is flooded heavily with standing water two to four feet deep on all sides of Earhart Blvd.

TeamCasey

08-29-2005, 06:29 PM

They said there's looting all over the city right now. I'm just amazed watching these people trying to drive on the flooded roads.

My Dad lives near a swamp that floods each year when the snow melts. They always close the road. My Dad and his buddies sit at the local bar and watch people drive around the barriers only to end up on their car roof waiting helicopter rescue. Cheap entertainment for a bunch of old men in a small town. :)

SandyD

08-29-2005, 07:05 PM

someone staying in the hotel with us said that her father's friend had to rescue his father from his roof in Arabi on a jetski.

TeamCasey

08-29-2005, 07:11 PM

Hi Sandy! Have you heard how Alfred's dad is doing?

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 09:36 PM

I just saw footage of a huge building(hotel? maybe) on fire, I believe it was in Gulfport. There were people inside scrambling to get outside of the building...only to find that it was surrounded by eight to ten feet of raging flood waters. I don't know if they made it out safely or not, but if they did they were lucky, that's for sure.

Edit...the fire was in New Orleans.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 09:55 PM

Click here (http://hurricanewarning.blogspot.com/) for video of the New Orleans flooding. That is devastating. I feel so bad for those folks. :(

RFS62

08-29-2005, 10:24 PM

Every hour that goes by, the reports from New Orleans to Mobile get more and more devestating.

The relief mission will go on for many months, and a lot of people will be there a couple of years before it's over.

The death toll will rise every day, as they find more and more isolated areas of destruction.

I talked to Sandy for a while tonight. I'm glad she got out in time. Alfred is still out of touch, but she is pretty sure he's OK and made it to Pensacola.

The toughest thing now will be logistics. We can't get within miles of the coastline. No power, no hotel rooms, no gas, no pumps to pump them even if there was gas, roads still impassable in many areas. It will be weeks before the total extent of the damage is known.

The days to come will be full of misery for the residents of the affected areas. The simplest things that we take for granted in our everyday lives will be brutally difficult. Standing in line for hours for ice or drinking water. No air conditioning. Snakes and wildlife disturbed and all over the place.

New Orleans got most of the TV coverage, but Mississippi took the biggest hit. Tidal surge higher than Camile. Flooding even as far east as Mobile.

I remember three days after Hurricane Andrew hit, so much misery... people had fought to get tarps and cover over their roofs that were damaged, and a tremendous storm came in and blew off most of the tarps and soaked them yet again, a terrible insult to injury and kick in the stomach to an already downtrodden population. And that was just the start of the indignities to come.

During the landfall of Katrina, the idiot TV correspondents standing out in the weather and pointing out the minor siding and roof damage they could see in their little area went on and on ad infinitum about how awful it was. They were just filling time, unaware of the incredible scene going on away from their hotel parking lots. It almost seemed like the area was being spared.

The shock and awe is coming now. Arial shots of incredible devestation will continue for the next couple of days as the extent of the damage becomes apparent. New Orleans took a terrible hit, but it was saved when the storm jogged just enough to the East to miss a direct hit downtown. But their gain was a massive loss for Mississippi and Alabama.

paintmered

08-29-2005, 10:29 PM

RFS, where are you right now?

RFS62

08-29-2005, 10:34 PM

I'm still home, waiting on the decision as to where to deploy to. Should know tomorrow.

OnBaseMachine

08-29-2005, 10:54 PM

Already reporting 55 people dead. I fear when it's all said and done there will be 150 or more deaths, but I sure hope I'm wrong.

Officials reported at least 55 deaths, with 50 alone in Harrison County, Miss., which includes Gulfport and Biloxi. Emergency workers feared that they would find more dead among people believed to be trapped underwater and in collapsed buildings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/national/30storm.html

RFS62

08-29-2005, 11:26 PM

CNN has Jeanne Meserve on now, talking about what she's seen today.

It reminds me very much of Hurricane Andrew. When a town the size of New Orleans has no power, sundown is an awesome and terrifying thing. The total darkness is overwhelming. It's so different in a city for there to be no power, no lights. There's a sense of hopelessness that is difficult to explain as total darkness engulfs the city.

The next few days will be full of rescue stories. People holed up in their homes, waiting for help, no power, no tv, no radio, no air conditioning, no water.... no idea of the extent of the devestation outside their block. Many of them waiting and expecting to die.

Most of them are poor. Many are elderly and infirm. All are terrified.

OnBaseMachine

08-30-2005, 01:16 AM

Atleast 30 confirmed dead in Biloxi, Miss.

A New Orleans police officer estimated that 20 square miles of NO is under water. The stories just keep getting worse and worse.

OnBaseMachine

08-30-2005, 01:41 AM

Atleast 30 confirmed dead in Biloxi, Miss

CNN is saying that nearly all 30 of those deaths came from an apartment collapsing.

CNN has Jeanne Meserve on now

I just heard the replay of this. Very, very saddening listening to her. She was trying her best to hold back tears while talking. She said that people were screaming for help but police had no way of helping. Also, she stated that flood waters are still rising in NO neighborhoods.

Miss. now confirming 54 dead in 5 counties. :(

Cyclone792

08-30-2005, 02:15 AM

A close to home anecdote ...

I have a friend who is an RN at a military hospital in Biloxi. The first two floors are completely underwater, they're stranded in the upper floors, and nearly every window has been blown out. They have minimal cell phone coverage at best, no power or anything else, and expect to be stranded for at least a couple days.

The good news is she's currently safe, and it sounds like everybody else she's holed up with is safe alongside her. Hopefully rescuers are able to reach the hospital and evacuate everybody safely before their situation worsens.

OnBaseMachine

08-30-2005, 02:34 AM

OMG! I just read this horrific story on CNN. This was posted elsewhere. I'll copy and paste it here...it describes the story I'm referring to.

I just heard one of the saddest things I've ever heard. This story choked me up.

A man, his wife, and three kids were stranded in an attic with flood waters nearly up to his attic. He and his kids were somehow able to escape(by boat?), but his wife couldn't. He said he attempted to grab her arms and pull her in but lost his grip. He hasn't seen her since... The man said he has no where to go now, his wife and kids were the only thing he has, now she is gone. The lady interviewing him instantly broke down in tears...and for good reason. I feel SO sorry for him and everybody in the path of this. What a tragedy.

Breaking news: The levees holding back Lake Pontchartrain is being breeched. Water is now pouring into New Orleans. Water is rising very quickly. Tulane hospitals may have to be evacuated.

oregonred

08-30-2005, 02:55 AM

Breaking news: The levees holding back Lake Pontchartrain is being breeched. Water is now pouring into New Orleans. Water is rising very quickly. Tulane hospitals may have to be evacuated.

I just heard that too on CNN from the Tulane Hospital VP -- pretty scary. Talking about white caps going down Canal Street and the water rising by the minute early Tues morning. Several hospitals in the area may need evacuating and it looks like another section of town is flooded.

Miss governor says the storm surge was higher than Camille.

SandyD

08-30-2005, 06:15 AM

I had typed out a long detailed post, but I got logged out or something and lost it.

And I don't have time to recompose it, so I'll just say ... we've been getting such a mixture of information, it's driving me crazy. Some of the stuff CNN is reporting is somewhat misleading.

As 62 said, I fear what we'll find when the stories from Bay St Louis come out. Storm surge greater the Camille. That's scary stuff. 250 died in Camille, and it was a much more compact storm.

Gotta run get ready for work. Later, Sandy

cumberlandreds

08-30-2005, 07:39 AM

Reds Fanatic

08-30-2005, 09:49 AM

According to the mayor of New Orleans 80% of the city is under water. There is a 2 block wide levy break that is still pouring water into the city. Parts are now as much as 20 feet under water. Both airports are under water. He also said the I-10 causeway is destroyed.

OnBaseMachine

08-30-2005, 10:37 AM

Some hospital patients were airlifted to the Superdome as a precaution, and NBC's Brian Williams reported from the edge of the French Quarter that what had been dry land “was filling with water” by 5 a.m. ET. “We have a new problem in this city,” he said. By 8 a.m., some French Quarter streets were under several inches of water.

The Martial Law is now in effect for New Orleans. Basically, everyone that isn't out of NO will be forced to leave the city.

Two people have died in the Superdome, according to another website.

CNN's John Zarrella, in a hotel on Canal Street, said the water level was "much higher" than it had been during the height of Katrina's onslaught, rising all morning Tuesday and topping the sandbags meant to keep the water out of the building.

"Water has now filled the basement of the hotel," he said. "All of the entrances to our hotel are completely surrounded, and the water is slowly creeping up the side of the building.

"Yesterday during the hurricane, the water was no where near this high."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/30/katrina/index.html

TeamCasey

08-30-2005, 11:06 AM

T-P EVACUATING

Tuesday, 9:40 a.m.

The Times-Picayune is evacuating it's New Orleans building.

Water continues to rise around our building, as it is throughout the region. We want to evaucate our employees and families while we are still able to safely leave our building.

Our plan is to head across the Mississippi River on the Pontchartrain Expressway to the west bank of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. From there, we'll try to head to Houma.

Our plan, obviously, is to resume providing news to our readers ASAP. Please refer back to this site for continuing information as soon as we are able to provide it.

RFS62

08-30-2005, 11:36 AM

This is going to be a temporary housing mission of unprecedented porportions. Thousands of families without insurance will be put into mobile homes by FEMA. Enormous government trailer parks will be built to provide the housing. Tent cities will most likely be erected in the interim, although I haven't heard anything about that yet. There simply isn't enough rental property available that is undamaged to begin to meet the needs.

Adding to the problems, the relief workers have no place to stay within miles of the disaster area. I'll be lucky to only have to drive 200 miles round trip every day to get into the areas of destruction, once the search and rescue mission has wound down.

The logistics of this mission will be the toughest and most difficult I've ever seen. It will be weeks before accurate counts on the victims are available and verified.

traderumor

08-30-2005, 11:39 AM

Puffy

08-30-2005, 11:52 AM

I really wonder if we are seeing the end of New Orleans as a major city or even a city at all. It's going to take Billions of dollars,lots of hard work and determination just get this city back to any resemblance of what it was.
Another thing someone on another board brought up is that the Mississippi River will be over flowing from the rains that are going northward. This flooding waters will be heading straight to New Orleans. The worst is far from over for this city.

No chance. The French Quarter has been almost completely destoyed by fire two seperate times, but its come back.

New Orleans may be down, and it will take a while to come back, but mark my words, it will be back.

God bless New Orleans - I love that city.

flyer85

08-30-2005, 12:04 PM

God bless New Orleans - I love that city.God bless New Orleans ... but I loathe that city.

RBA

08-30-2005, 12:07 PM

Tempters are flaring in New Orleans. A local news anchor just lashed out for CNN/Fox/MSNBC for saying New Orleans was not hit hard.

RBA

08-30-2005, 12:16 PM

Highway 90 in Mississippi is no longer a highway.

Unassisted

08-30-2005, 12:16 PM

Watch TV station feeds from New Orleans, Mobile and Jackson.
http://www.weatherserver.net/hurricanecenter/

OnBaseMachine

08-30-2005, 12:38 PM

Below is the story I was speaking of earlier. Video of it is listed on the right side of the link I provided below. Very sad story.

Biloxi resident Harvey Jackson said his wife, Tonette, was missing after surging waters hit their house.

I've never encountered anything like it in my life. It (the water) just kept rising and rising and rising

Bryan Vernon, Louisiana
"The house just split in half. We got up the roof and the water came and just opened up, divided," still visibly shaken Mr Jackson told America's ABC television.

"My wife, I can't find her body, she gone."

"I held her hand tight as I could and she told me 'you can't hold me'. She said, 'take care of the kids and the grandkids'," Mr Jackson said.

"We have nowhere to go. I'm lost, that's all I had, that's all I had. I don't know what I'm going to do."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4197200.stm

OnBaseMachine

08-30-2005, 12:45 PM

New Orleans Filling With Flood Waters Due to Breached Levee

By Peter Whoriskey and William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, August 30, 2005; 11:15 AM

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 30 -- Hurricane Katrina and its rains have passed, but this city is filling with flood waters.

The sense of relief that residents felt Monday morning when the city was not immediately inundated by a storm surge overflowing its protective levees was replaced late Monday night and Tuesday morning with dread because of a levee that was damaged by the hurricane.

Water flowing from the damaged levee near Lake Pontchartrain could have equally catastrophic effects, only unfolding more slowly.

Water levels in Lake Pontchartrain and the connecting 17th Street Canal are normally six feet higher than the surrounding city. The levees keep the waters from flowing down into this low-lying city, much of which is below sea level.

The damage to the 17th Street Canal and its levee means that the water from Lake Pontchartrain is now free to flow down to inundate hundreds of thousands of homes and other buildings here.

Once it flows in, the water will not drain from New Orleans because of the very levees that protect the city and that largely held during the hurricane. Those levees, built to keep water out, are now keeping the water in, and reports from across the city indicate that water levels are rising.

New Orleans normally uses pumps to get the water out when necessary, but the city has been without power since the hurricane struck with 140-mph winds around daybreak Monday.

It is difficult to know how many people are threatened because of the mass evacuation before Hurricane Katrina. A caller to a local radio station reported that the flood water in her New Orleans home was rising and that she couldn't swim. Boating is rapidly becoming the best way to travel here.

If the water keeps rising and cuts off power from emergency generators, the Tulane University Hospital and Clinic might have to evacuate, a spokeswoman said on CNN.

The levee damage was first noticed during an assessment flight Monday afternoon, but its extent and significance were not immediately understood. By late Monday, the rising water levels here have made its significance apparent.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/30/AR2005083000689.html

TeamCasey

08-30-2005, 01:26 PM

Someone committed suicide in the Superdome. Jumped. So sad. Can't imagine what it's like.

OnBaseMachine

08-30-2005, 01:27 PM

There is a football field sized breech in a levee and it is sending water into downtown New Orleans. Water is now surrounding the Superdome...and is still rising.

WGNO-TV: A man jumped to his death in the Superdome.

RedFanAlways1966

08-30-2005, 01:32 PM

Someone committed suicide in the Superdome. Jumped. So sad. Can't imagine what it's like.

Oh no. That is tragic. It makes me think of the WTC and 9-11. :(

RBA

08-30-2005, 01:33 PM

This was posted on a liberal forum and I agree:

Dear Haley Barbour:I commend you sir. In a time of crisis, you got on the TV and did the hardest thing for a public figure to do: You told the ugly truth. Things were bad you said, and without batting an eyelash you looked your fellow Mississippians in the eyes and said that will probably get worse, and that the cleanup would be a Herculean Effort.

You and I are political opposites Governor, and we probably always will be. But as long as I am alive, that difference will always be tempered with the utmost respect for what you did when things were at their worst. You were at your best. You were honest with your electorate not for votes, not for anything aside from it being the right thing to do.

God Bless you and the great state of Mississippi.

SCE

Reds Fanatic

08-30-2005, 01:35 PM

3,000 pound sandbags are being airlifted in to try to close the 200 foot wide breach in the 17th Street Canal Levee that is flooding the city.

OnBaseMachine

08-30-2005, 02:29 PM

CNN: Biloxi officials are saying hundreds of people in that area are dead. :(

"It's going to be in the hundreds," spokesman Vincent Creel told Reuters. "Camille was 200, and we're looking at a lot more than that," he said, referring to Hurricane Camille, which hit the area in 1969 and destroyed swaths of Mississippi and Louisiana, killing a total of 256 people.

http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=tnBusinessNews&storyID=nN30260215&imageid=&cap=

They say water is still rising in New Orleans. The Louisiana Gov. says the situation down there is much worse than they originally thought.

OnBaseMachine

08-30-2005, 03:03 PM

This is unreal.

UPDATED: Martial Law Declared in New Orleans; Journalists Ordered Out; Suicide in Dome; 'Looting'
by MeanBoneII [Subscribe]
Tue Aug 30th, 2005 at 07:37:42 PDT

Shepard Smith on Fox News, who yesterday was overly optimistic from his reports in the French Quarter, appears to be the first on the news networks to actually get it:

IT'S OVER FOR NEW ORLEANS.

Smith said martial law has been declared, and all journalists have been ordered out of the city. The situation is getting exponentially worse, there are no resources, it is only going to become more and more "impossible to sustain life" in New Orleans. There are people dying there right now, trapped by the rising floodwaters -- up to approximately 87,000 people, according to the mayor's own (obviously rough) estimate. The worst-case scenario is unfolding, and New Orleans will be uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.

UPDATE: As posted in comments, WWLTV is reporting that Jefferson Parish and Plaquemines Parish are under martial law and the floodwaters are expected to rise to lake level.

UPDATE 2: The mayor has now ordered an emergency evacuation of the entire city. Important to note: Mayor Nagin estimated that about 80% of the city's 485,000 people evacuated before the storm. That has to be a very rough estimate and HOPEFULLY VERY LOW. If about 20% of the residents are still in the city, that's approximately 97,000 people. Only 9,000 or so are at the Superdome, and only several hundred have been rescued from their homes. That leaves about 87,000+ trapped in homes rapidly flooding with toxic water, with no food or water or way to get out.

UPDATE 4: Conditions at the Superdome are drastically deteriorating. Local reporter on scene tells CNN a man intentionally jumped to his death from the second level balcony in the dome. Water is rising around the dome, as victims with serious injuries are brought to the dome where they could soon be trapped.

UPDATE 5: There are numerous reports of rampant "looting" in the city, but given the extreme life-or-death nature of these conditions, the vast majority of the thousands still in New Orleans are certainly just desperately grabbing any food, water and supplies they can get to stay alive.

Caveat Emperor

08-30-2005, 04:30 PM

UPDATE 5: There are numerous reports of rampant "looting" in the city, but given the extreme life-or-death nature of these conditions, the vast majority of the thousands still in New Orleans are certainly just desperately grabbing any food, water and supplies they can get to stay alive.

And you know, if the water continues to rise, a lot of the stuff being stolen right now is going to get ruined anway...best that it be put to SOME good use.

OnBaseMachine

08-30-2005, 04:31 PM

CNN: Tulane Hospital in New Orleans, surrounded by 6 feet of water which continues to rise, has now lost almost all power, including backup generators, and is beginning to evacuate patients.

Also, the Louisiana governor is currently developing a plan to evacuate everybody still in New Orleans, including everyone in the Superdome.

TeamCasey

08-30-2005, 04:34 PM

Want to help?

The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists these organizations for those seeking to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina:

Donate cash
American Red Cross (800) HELP NOW (435-7669) English; (800) 257-7575 Spanish

Operation Blessing (800) 436-6348

America's Second Harvest (800) 344-8070

To donate cash or volunteer
Adventist Community Services (800) 381-7171

Catholic Charities, USA (703) 549-1390

Christian Disaster Response (941) 956-5183 or (941) 551-9554

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (800) 848-5818

Church World Service (800) 297-1516

Convoy of Hope (417) 823-8998

Lutheran Disaster Response (800) 638-3522

Mennonite Disaster Service (717) 859-2210

Nazarene Disaster Response (888) 256-5886

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (800) 872-3283

Salvation Army (800) SAL-ARMY (725-2769)

Southern Baptist Convention -- Disaster Relief (800) 462-8657, ext. 6133

United Methodist Committee on Relief (800) 554-8583

RBA

08-30-2005, 04:59 PM

rdiersin

08-30-2005, 05:08 PM

Here's an idea from antoher forum:

It's time to commandeer Cruise ships and bring them to La, Alabama.
That's right... Tell the cruise companies that we're taking their ships and using them for a National Crisis. If they don't like it, tough.

Is anyone not okay with this?

Interesting idea, but would they be too big for New Orleans. I mean wouldn't people need to be shipped out to them and the problem remains?

Reds Fanatic

08-30-2005, 05:08 PM

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9130254/

NEW ORLEANS - With water rising in the streets of New Orleans and conditions rapidly deteriorating, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday that the tens of thousands of people now huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers would have to be evacuated.

“The situation is untenable,” Blanco said at a news conference. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

Because of two levees that broke Tuesday, the city was rapidly filling with water, the governor said. She also said the power could be out for a long time, and the storm broke a major water main, leaving the city without drinkable water.

The evacuation order came amid a swirl of confusion over exactly where the levee breaches were and how long it might take to repair them.

Water began rising in the streets Tuesday morning because of the levee breaks, prompting the evacuation of hotels and at least one hospital. New Orleans lies mostly below sea level and is protected by a network of pumps, canals and levees, but many of the pumps were not working Tuesday morning.

By 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, there had been no official word on just where the breaches were, but the most serious appeared to be "a large section of the vital 17th Street Canal levee, where it connects to the brand new 'hurricane proof' Old Hammond Highway bridge," according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

"The breach sent a churning sea of water from Lake Pontchartrain coursing across Lakeview and into Mid-City, Carrollton, Gentilly, City Park and neighborhoods farther south and east," the newspaper said.

“There’s a serious leak and it’s causing the water to continue to rise,” New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin confirmed. Adding to the problem were malfunctions in the system the city uses to pump out floodwaters.

Disagreement over problem
While some media accounts quoted unnamed officials as saying they had begun dropping 3,000-pound sandbags into the breach and were confident the problem could be solved within hours, other officials scoffed at that notion.

In one case, representatives from the same agency were quoted in different places directly contradicting each other.

“It’s a very slow rise, and it will remain so until we plug that breach. I think we can get it stabilized in a few hours,” said Terry Ebbert, New Orleans’ homeland security chief.

But Mark Smith, a spokesman with the security office, told the Shreveport (La.) Times, “That breach is not going to be fixed today, tomorrow or the next day.”

So far, Mayor Nagin said, the historic French Quarter and central business district had not been badly flooded.

But Tulane University Medical Center Vice President Karen Troyer-Caraway said the downtown hospital was surrounded by 6 feet of water and officials were considering evacuating its 1,000 patients.

'Whitecaps on Canal Street'
“The water is rising so fast I cannot begin to describe how quickly it’s rising,” she said. “We have whitecaps on Canal Street, the water is moving so fast.”

"No one anticipated this," NBC News' Brian Williams reported earlier, standing knee-deep in floodwaters in the quarter.

The rising waters and failing pumps were thwarting rescuers' efforts to pull hurricane victims to safety and assess the damage, but "many, many reports" of bodies floating in the flood tide made clear the deadly impact on the Crescent City, said Nagin.

"We probably have 80 percent of our city under water," Nagin added, "with some sections of our city the water is as deep as 20 feet. We still have many of our residents on roofs. Both airports are under water."

Television footage showed plenty of other problems for New Orleans, including buildings on fire. And police said they had made a number of arrests for looting.

The developing nature of the disaster made it impossible for officials to give specific accounts of which portions of the city were flooded, but aerial video showed standing water and destruction literally everywhere.

'A lot of people awaiting rescue'
"All I know is when my people go out, they tell me there are a lot of people awaiting rescue. I hear there are hundreds of people still on their rooftops," said Gen. Ralph Lupin, commander of National Guard troops at the Superdome in New Orleans, where some 10,000 people had taken shelter.

Eighty percent of the city's 485,000 residents had heeded orders to evacuate the city before the storm hit.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Michael Brown said "it’s going to be weeks at least before people can get back" to their homes and business in New Orleans.

And when they do return, "it’s going to be incredibly dangerous" because of structural damage to homes, diseases from animal carcasses and chemicals in homes, he said.

Two kinds of levees
As officials tried to inspect the damage to the levees, Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers, the retired chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, explained the "very extensive" system to MSNBC viewers.

He said that New Orleans has two types of levees: one set holds the water back from the Mississippi River; the others provide protection from Lake Pontchartrain when it swells during hurricanes and other storms. Flowers said that he noticed in his time with the Corp that development and loss of wetlands along Louisiana's coast had cost New Orleans a lot of "natural hurricane protection."

As to clearing the floodwaters amid the broken levees, Flowers explained that "some pumping can be done while those levees are being repaired." However, "This is a tough one. They're in for a long, hard pull in recovering from Katrina."