Katrina Disaster

[dr_mabeuse]

I know there are other threads concerning Hurricane Katrina, but I'm just wondering whether other people are aware of the horrific devastastion causes by this storm. For a lot of us, the last we heard was a sigh of relief that the eye of the storm would miss New Orleans, so it seemed like we'd dodged the bullet.

Not so. As I write, the city of Biloxi, Mississippi has been wiped out. 80% of the state is without power because the wires are down and the generating stations are flooded or destroyed.

The entire city of New Orleans--some 850,000 people--had been flooded with up to 30 feet of water. It's effectively been destroyed. The governor has ordered the evacuation of the city, but no one knows how to get the people out. There are 20,000 people who took shelter from the storm in the New Orleans Superdome, and they're no effectively trapped there without electricity, food, water, or sanitation. There's looting and shooting going on in the downtown area.

Loss of life looks like it will be in the hundreds or possibly thousands. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost everything--home, car, neighborhood, possessions--and have no where to go, nothing to eat or drink, no access to medical care. 100 miles of Mississippi coastline has just been wiped clear of and standing structures.

Thankfully, the loss of life doesn't approach what we saw in the Tsunami, but the physical damage looks even worse. This is easily the greatest disaster I've ever seen in the States. It's just incredible.

 

[cloudy]

Even though Katrina was downgraded to a four just before it made landfall, the destruction is most likely going to equal or maybe even exceed that of Andrew. It's horrible to see those lovely cities just destroyed like that.

There's a thread on the GB about all the different places one can offer help. My suggestion for anyone wanting to offer donations or help of any kind is for them to contact the American Red Cross. As far as I understand it, they're already in place, and already working.

 

[rgraham666]

My morning paper had a lot of pictures of the destruction.

Chilling.

I'm sure I can find twenty bucks to donate somewhere.

 

[Alex756]

Even though Katrina was downgraded to a four just before it made landfall, the destruction is most likely going to equal or maybe even exceed that of Andrew. It's horrible to see those lovely cities just destroyed like that.

There's a thread on the GB about all the different places one can offer help. My suggestion for anyone wanting to offer donations or help of any kind is for them to contact the American Red Cross. As far as I understand it, they're already in place, and already working.

All the news reports I've seen have said the red cross is getting in there and getting food and water to people. Haven't talked to my friend with family down there since like midnight to hear if she's heard anything from anyone closer to the city than her daddy who is about 50 miles outside of it between NO and BR, and the red cross is definately where he's at (he was able to get a cell signal last night from his roof)

The red cross is doing their largest mobilization in the US (possibly ever) trying to help get the essentials for living to the regions hardest hit, so I have to second the if you can help, help the red cross sentiment.

Oh well, back to waiting with my friend for calls.

-Alex

 

[sophia jane]

Yes the Red Cross is in place. I live in southeast Texas and a huge number of evacuatees are now staying in my area (I'm right next to the LA border). Another place that needs help, believe it or not, is the Humane Society. Obviously, less important than Red Cross help, but they still need assistance. All of the people who evacuateed can't necessarily keep their pets with them because hotels and make shift shelters won't accept pets, so the Humane Society is dealing with all of those animals.

There will probably also be specific funds set up for Katrina victims. Since I'm close, I'll probably hear of a few. I'll post any information that I get.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

The town of Slidell, across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans--30,000 people homeless and without shelter, no cars or transportation. no phones, not even cell service. No electricity for an estimated 6-12 weeks. Temperature 98 dC (~38 dC), humidity near 100%, no air conditioning.

How do you even cope with something like that?

 

[sophia jane]

From local news channel website:

Texas State Bank has set up a disaster relief fund to help hurricane victims. The bank says it has already put a thousand dollars in the fund to help people displaced by Katrina. You can donate by going to any of the 31 area Texas State Bank locations. For more information call (409) 981-7000. The account number is 280174091.

 

[Matadore]

Nice and noble gesture. Wish we had more. When can we anticipate South Korea's donation based on the '03 and 04 typhoons?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I just can't imagine it. Picture this: you climb down from a tree the morning after the storm, bruised, battered, miserable and wet, and step into a waist-deep sludge of flood water, mud, oil, branches and dead animals. Your home is gone, your car is gone. Your cell phone doesn't work. You don't know if your family's alive or dead, and you have no way of finding out.

You don't have any money, any ID. The other people you see are also wandering around in shock. There's no one to tell you where to go or what to do, because the police cars can't get through. If you're hurt, there's no medical care. There's not even a place to sit down and grieve.

How in the world do you start putting your life back together? You can't even prove who you are or where you lived. You have no assets to secure a loan; even the records in city hall have been wiped out.

It's just unimaginable.

 

[Matadore]

Where is George Bush?

 

[Hooper_X]

Biloxi, Mississippi

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/6326/bilo6507dh.jpg

This is certainly one of the worst disasters to befall the United States. But, I think 200mph Cat. 5 Camille in 1969 was worse. Of course that may be offset by the increased population now living in the gulf region.

 

[sophia jane]

This is certainly one of the worst disasters to befall the United States. But, I think 200mph Cat. 5 Camille in 1969 was worse. Of course that may be offset by the increased population now living in the gulf region.

According to everything I'm reading, this is worse than Camille. There were buildings along the Mississippi coast that survived Camille that are gone now.

Dr. M- as far as identity, that's one benefit to having things computerized. Alot of those issues can be taken care of, in time.

 

[sophia jane]

I need to rant a little about human arrogance. The devestation of Katrina is huge and nothing we could have done would have prevented structural damages.

But...why didn't people evacuate when they were told to? I've been through this before. You get days of warning that you need to leave. The news channels, etc all tell you to get out. They have planned routes for evacuation. The roads are marked with signs that tell you which way to go for hurrican evacuation. I've personally packed my car with things that were essential and left with my kids, and in that instance the hurricane didn't even hit where I lived, but was far south of us.
So what I want to know is why people didn't leave when they could? Why are we so arrogant that we think we can weather anything that comes our way?



Apologies if my rant offends anyone. I just hate to see situations that could have been prevented. The death toll is going to be really high in LA and MS, and so much of that could have been prevented.

 

[Alex756]

Where is George Bush?

Staying outta the way? I think a presidential visit right now and the resources necessary for the security of such would not be the best. He did what had to be done to get FEMA in there early, the coast guard and the red cross are the people we need to have on the ground and in the helecoptors.

-Alex

 

[Extreme Bohunk]

source: AP wire

90 percent of structures in Mississippi disaster zone 'gone': governor


WASHINGTON (AFP) - Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said that 90 percent of buildings in the worst-hit area of the Gulf Coast in his state are "totally just gone" after Hurricane Katrina.

"Between the beach and the railroad, ... every house is just gone," Barbour told NBC television. "Ninety percent of the structures are totally just gone. Debris (is) knee deep, waist deep, hip deep."

"It is indescribable," he said. "You'll see blocks and blocks and blocks where there are just no houses left. I mean, nothing."

On Tuesday, Barbour had likened the devastation of homes and other buildings in the Gulf Coast region to that of Hiroshima.

"They're simply not there. I can only imagine that this is what Hiroshima looked like 60 years ago," he said.

On Wednesday, he noted that he had witnessed powerful Hurricane Camille and its aftermath in 1969, but he said this storm was worse.

"There are places that weren't touched by Camille where there's total devastation today. You can go 25, 30 miles (40 or 50 kilometers) along the Gulf Coast and it's just absolutely obliterated."

In terms of recovering from the storm, Barbour told NBC: "We've turned the first corner," as search-and-rescue teams and emergency supplies have managed to make their way into the devastated areas through mountains of rubble, "but there are a lot of corners left to go."

Hurricane Katrina is expected to trigger the biggest humanitarian assistance operation the American Red Cross has ever organized in the United States.

Vincent Creel, a city spokesman at Biloxi, Mississippi, estimated that hundreds of people may have been killed along the Mississippi coastline from Pascagoula to Gulfport, including Biloxi.

Authorities have refused to provide even a provisional death toll from the hurricane on Monday.

 

[sophia jane]

The gaming industry in Mississippi is screwed too. The casinos were destroyed. That may seem inconsequential, but that was a HUGE chunk of Mississippi revenue.

 

[namron711]

Why do we keep asking why people did not heed the warnings?

I'm sure many people get tired of false alarms and just play the odds. Tornado sirens go off so often in certain areas around here that people just ignore them.

Many people have no place to go anyway. Why not just go down with the ship.

This rather puts into perspective just how small and insignificant we are in the face of nature.

Maybe the government should close down the entire coast line. No people should be allowed to live in any coastal state. No one would have to worry about hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.

I'll be going through my closet and sending any unneeded clothing to the Red Cross.

8/29 may supercede 9/11 as our greatest disaster.

Let's all do something.

 

[Hooper_X]

According to everything I'm reading, this is worse than Camille. There were buildings along the Mississippi coast that survived Camille that are gone now.

The property damage may be worse because there are so many more buildings now, but Camille was generating 200mph winds before it hit land back in 1969, with a 25ft storm surge.

 

[Extreme Bohunk]

more from AP

Rescuers battle rising flood waters to find hurricane survivors

NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) - Rescue teams battled through rising flood waters to find survivors of Hurricane Katrina which is feared to have killed hundreds of people along the US Gulf Coast.

While army engineers fought to fill huge breaches in levees designed to waters out of New Orleans, looting broke out and gas leaks caused many fires. The city's mayor warned it could be up to four months before evacuated residents could return.

The US government said, meanwhile, it would release oil from an emergency reserve in a bid to ease international worries of shortages caused by the devastating storm.

Fears of a major death toll grew as the scope of the devastation became more apparent.

Vincent Creel, a city spokesman at Biloxi, Mississippi, estimated that hundreds of people may have been killed along the Mississippi coastline from Pascagoula to Gulfport, including Biloxi.

An emergency management director told the Clarion Ledger newspaper there were 100 confirmed deaths in Harrison County, Mississippi alone.

Authorities told rescuers to leave bodies to one side and concentrate on finding survivors trapped on roofs and in the attics of homes where many people took shelter when 200 kilometer (125 mile) an hour winds crashed into the coast on Monday.

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said that 90 percent of buildings in the worst-hit area of the Gulf Coast in his state are "totally just gone".

"The devastation is greater than our worst fears," said Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco. "It is just totally overwhelming."

She said buses and helicopters were being sent into New Orleans to try evacuate thousands of people still in the city where flood water was up to six metres (20 feet) deep.

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin said bodies floating in the water were becoming an increasing health threat.

Water from Lake Pontchartrain was pouring into the low-lying city after an effort to plug a breach in two levees failed and pumps gave out.

Army engineers were dropping 1,360 kg (3,000 pound) sand bags into the breaches. But Chris Accardo, deputy head of the Corps of Engineers in the region, warned "this will be a long process".

Nagin, who has expressed frustration at the lack of coordination to fix the water defenses, told how he could see the water rise as he gave interviews to US television networks from his office.

"I'm looking uptown. Where there was dry land, there's now several feet of water," he told ABC television.

"The water will rise to try and equal the water level of the lake which is three feet above sea level," Nagin said, adding that 80 percent of New Orleans was under water.

"There were thousands of people that were trapped on roofs and attics. We have saved so many lives. Now we have this other challenge with the rising water," he added.

About 15,000-20,000 people were stuck in the city's Superdome stadium without power and with flood waters rising around them. Nagin said he wanted them evacuated but there was not enough transport.

Parts of the famed French Quarter which were dry on Monday, were under as much as three feet (one meter) of water on Tuesday.

Thousands of National Guard troops have been sent to the region from other states and Nagin said police were bringing looting under control. Martial law has been declared in some parts of the city but shootings and car jackings were reported.

Nagin said it would be three to four months before residents who fled the storm could return. "And the other issue that is concerning me is dead bodies in the water. At some point in time the dead bodies are going to start to create a serious disease issue."

In an earlier interview, Nagin said rescuers were pushing aside bodies to find the living.

Attempts to reach survivors stranded on rooftops were hampered by live power lines, broken gas pipes and debris including cars floating below the surface.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said hundreds of people had been saved but added "We know that many lives have been lost."

Along the shoreline of neighboring Mississippi, glitzy casinos, plush homes and shrimp fishing businesses lay in ruins, after the storm surge crashed ashore Monday.

"This is our tsunami," said AJ Holloway, mayor of the devastated resort city of Biloxi, where bridges were swept away and boats crashed into buildings. "You're going to be looking at hundreds dead along the coast of Mississippi," Biloxi spokesman Creel said.

Authorities said at least 50 people were known to have been killed in Biloxi alone, around 30 of them in a single apartment complex demolished by the storm.

With the storm damage expected to cost many billions of dollars, US authorities decided to release oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help refineries badly hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the White House made the decision late Tuesday and that supplies could be released from Thursday.

According to US government data, Katrina shut down an estimated 95 percent of crude production and 88 percent of natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico -- which accounts for a quarter of total US oil output.

President George W. Bush cut short his vacation by two days and was to head back to Washington on Wednesday to coordinate relief efforts.

The Defense Department sent five ships with helicopters, hovercraft and relief supplies, as well as eight maritime rescue teams to flood-ravaged areas, said The New York Times.

In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent 23 disaster medical assistance teams, and the Department of Transportation has supplied 390 trucks carrying water, ice, tarpaulins, mobile homes, generators, forklifts and emergency supplies, the daily said.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I need to rant a little about human arrogance. The devestation of Katrina is huge and nothing we could have done would have prevented structural damages.

But...why didn't people evacuate when they were told to? I've been through this before. You get days of warning that you need to leave. The news channels, etc all tell you to get out. They have planned routes for evacuation. The roads are marked with signs that tell you which way to go for hurrican evacuation. I've personally packed my car with things that were essential and left with my kids, and in that instance the hurricane didn't even hit where I lived, but was far south of us.
So what I want to know is why people didn't leave when they could? Why are we so arrogant that we think we can weather anything that comes our way?

Apologies if my rant offends anyone. I just hate to see situations that could have been prevented. The death toll is going to be really high in LA and MS, and so much of that could have been prevented.

I used to feel the same way, back when I was younger and looming disasters felt like adventures. Pack up the car and split. Take our chances on the road.

I'm older now, and I've seen both sides of the issue. There's a lot of things that might make someone stay. might even make me stay.

For one thing, it costs $$$ to leave town. You need a car too, and cash, and the health and energy to pack and get out, and these are things that a lot of people--especially the elderly and poor--just don't have. Where do you go if you don't have any money? If everything you have of value is in your home? A lot of people would honestly just rather die than lose their life's possessions.

Then there's the possibility of getting caught in the open on a highway when the shit hits the fan. I can imagine what it would be like if they tried to evacuate Chicago in 24 hours. I'd definitely prefer to take my chances at home than be trapped in gridlock on the Indiana Skyway.

And where do you go? If you're old and sick and poor, where are you going to stay? What's going to happen to the home you leave behind? What are you going to come back to?

Listening to the people on TV, a lot of then stayed in houses that withstood Hurricane Camille, the previous Storm of the Century. They figured they had a good chance of riding this one out as well.

In any case, it seems that loss of life isn't really the main problem, not like it was in the tsunami. It's total destruction of property and infrastructure, and whether you fled or stayed put didn't much matter.

 

[English Lady]

It's completely and utterly devastating, thinking about it is scary, I cannot begin to imagine what it's like to be a victim of it. I'm just glad that organisations like the red cross are on the ball, there to help. Ihope everyone who needs help gets it.


I'm praying, from over here theres little else I can do.

 

[Penelope Street]

There's a lot of things that might make someone stay. might even make me stay.

My parents and sister live in just west of Biloxi and they decided to board up and stay. They managed to get a short call out to one family member to say they'd made it through ok physically, but that brief message was the first and last any of us have heard. Although I don't believe my dad will ever admit it, I'm confident a big part of their decision was monetary.

 

[cantdog]

Staying outta the way? I think a presidential visit right now and the resources necessary for the security of such would not be the best. He did what had to be done to get FEMA in there early, the coast guard and the red cross are the people we need to have on the ground and in the helecoptors.

-Alex

Security? Do you expect someone to loot him?

He's the damn President. It doesn't stop with a 'phone call to FEMA. Sure, he will make less difference than some helicopters, but the office swings a big lever. Presidents turn up at these things. It's presidential. If the leader acts fearful, people are made that much more hopeless.

In the meantime, the water thing is going to be the worst. Direct deaths from injuries, collapses, being swept away-- that's going to be peanuts. There are a lot of hazardous chemical sites all through that area, and a great many worse things than oil will be in this water, diseases and poisons both. Thousands of deaths is not an unreasonable estimate.

The footage shows places burnt to the waterline, acres and acres of rubble, devastation to the horizon. I was amazed at the vitriol poured on the heads of looters. The footage they were vituperating over was taken at a frozen foods place, and the commentators decried the utter depravity of people who would take advantage in a situation like this one.

Sure, it's theft. Sure, the thawing packages of food are not their property. If everything you have is gone, and you have dependents to feed, and there's a huge frozen-food storehouse nearby, especially with no power, how immoral is it to go get some damn food? Let the talking heads try living in that situation.

 

[Alex756]

Security? Do you expect someone to loot him? Does someone imagine al Qaeda got there ahead of him with an ambush? He's the damn President. It doesn't stop with a 'phone call to FEMA. Sure, he will make less difference than some helicopters, but the office swings a big lever. Presidents turn up at these things. It's presidential.

Presidents turn up at these things when it is appropriate. The local authorities sure as hell don't need the headache of him and the secrete service there. And if you think all the administration is doing is a 'phone call to fema' nothing I say will ever convince you of anything else. The administration can do a heck of alot more useful things like mobilizing ships out of Norfolk.

-Alex

PS thank you Texas for the gernerosity and hospitality shown to the people devestated by this disaster.

 

[Extreme Bohunk]

from Reuters

Warships, hospital ship join in storm relief

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Wednesday added Navy ships, including two helicopter assault vessels and the hospital ship Comfort, and elite search troops to a relief effort in the wake of killer Hurricane Katrina.

The moves came as the Army Corps of Engineers planned to help the National Guard drop 3,000-pound (1360 kg) sandbags into an opening of a protective levee that has caused the flooding of most of that tourist mecca two days after Katrina ripped ashore.

The Pentagon said more than 8,200 part-time National Guard troops were already mobilized by governors in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida for duties from police work to providing water and electric generators.

Other states were planning to send additional troops and equipment, according to Brad Swezey, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau at the Pentagon.

The military's Northern Command said the big Navy hospital ship Comfort was preparing to depart Baltimore and the helicopter carrier USS Bataan and another warship were already conducting rescue missions from off the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts.

The USS Iwo Jima, another helicopter assault ship, was also preparing to sail from Norfolk, Virginia, with three other vessels and arrive in five days, the Navy said.

The Bataan and the Iowa Jima carry heavy MH-53 and HH-60 "medivac" (medical evacuation) and supply helicopters.

The Northern Command, which is coordinating help to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, said 10 Air Force and Army search and rescue helicopters were already in the area or close and that the first of eight military "swift water" rescue boats and elite military crews were flown in from California overnight.

But the Northern Command, based in Colorado, made clear that unlike the National Guard and Coast Guard, any active duty troops sent to the area could not take part in police duties.

"The military may not act in a law enforcement capacity within the United States," the command said. "Typical defense support of civil authorities in disasters includes logistics, communications and medical care."

In New Orleans, the Corps of Engineers said it could begin on Wednesday to help drop the giant sandbags into an opening of the 17th Street Canal floodwall from twin-rotor helicopters to try to fill a big break caused by Katrina.

New Orleans is a bowl-like city mostly below sea level and protected by levees or embankments. The levees gave way on Monday night in places, including a 200-foot (60 meter) breach on the 17th Street levee that allowed waters from Lake Ponchitrain to pour into the city center.

Guard officials said that after the breaks in the floodwall were repaired, the corps planned to break an opening in a lower portion of another levee around New Orleans so trapped water could begin flowing out of the city.