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'New Orleans May Never Be the Same'

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Posted by: Hardlyworkin

NEW ORLEANS (Aug. 29) - Hurricane Katrina edged slightly to the east early Monday as it bore down on the Gulf Coast, providing some hope that the worst of the storm's 150 mph winds might not directly strike this low-lying city.

Katrina, which weakened slightly overnight to a strong Category 4 storm, turned slightly eastward as it closed in on land, which would put the western eyewall - the weaker side of the strongest winds - over New Orleans.

The National Hurricane Center said Katrina had made landfall just east of Grand Isle.

"It's not as bad as the eastern side. It'll be plenty bad enough," said Eric Blake of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Mayor Ray Nagin said he believed 80 percent of the city's 480,000 residents had heeded an unprecedented mandatory evacuation as Katrina threatened to become the most powerful storm ever to slam the city.

"It's capable of causing catastrophic damage," said National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield. "Even well-built structures will have tremendous damage. Of course, what we're really worried about is the loss of lives.

"New Orleans may never be the same."

Crude oil futures spiked to more than $70 a barrel in Singapore for the first time Monday as Katrina targeted an area crucial to the country's energy infrastructure. The storm already forced the shutdown of an estimated 1 million barrels of refining capacity.

Terry Ebbert, New Orleans director of homeland security, said more than 4,000 National Guardsmen were mobilizing in Memphis and will help police New Orleans streets.

The Louisiana Superdome, normally home of professional football's Saints, became the shelter of last resort Sunday for thousands of the area's poor, homeless and frail. Some arrived on crutches, canes and stretchers, while National Guardsmen searched everyone for guns, knives and drugs.

"We just took the necessities," said Michael Skipper, who pulled a wagon loaded with bags of clothes and a radio. "The good stuff - the television and the furniture - you just have to hope something's there when you get back. If it's not, you just start over."

The head of Jefferson Parish, which includes major suburbs and juts all the way to the storm-vulnerable coast, said some residents who stayed would be fortunate to survive
I'm expecting that some people who are die-hards will die hard," said parish council President Aaron Broussard.

The evacuation itself claimed lives. Three New Orleans nursing home residents died Sunday after being taken by bus to a Baton Rouge church. Don Moreau, of the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office, said the cause was likely dehydration.

By early Monday, there was little more anyone could do but hope. City streets were empty and bars were closed as powerful gusts and blasts of thunder were heard. Landfall of the eye was expected around 8 a.m. at Grand Isle, about 60 miles south of New Orleans.

Katrina, which cut across Florida last week, had intensified into a colossal Category 5 over the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico, reaching top winds of 175 mph before weakening slightly as it neared the coast.

At 5 a.m. EDT, Katrina's eye was 90 miles south-southeast of New Orleans. A hurricane warning was in effect for the north-central Gulf Coast from Morgan City, La., to the Alabama-Florida line.

The storm held a potential surge of 18 to 28 feet that would easily top New Orleans' hurricane protection levees, as well as bigger waves and as much as 15 inches of rain. Tornado warnings were posted for Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

For years, forecasters have warned of the nightmare scenario a big storm could bring to New Orleans, a bowl of a city that's up to 10 feet below sea level in spots and dependent on a network of levees, canals and pumps to keep dry from the Mississippi River on one side, Lake Pontchartrain on the other.

The fear is that flooding could overrun the levees and turn New Orleans into a toxic lake filled with chemicals and petroleum from refineries, as well as waste from ruined septic systems.

Nagin said he expected the pumping system to fail during the height of the storm. The mayor said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was standing by to get the system running, but water levels must fall first.

"We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared," he said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime event."

Major highways in New Orleans cleared out late Sunday after more than 24 hours of jammed traffic as people headed inland. At the peak of the evacuation, 18,000 people an hour were streaming out of southeastern Louisiana, state police said.

On inland highways in Louisiana and Mississippi, heavy traffic remained the rule into the night as the last evacuees tried to reach safety. In Orange, Texas, Janie Johnson of the American Red Cross described it as a "river of headlights."

In Washington, D.C., the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it has been advised that the Waterford nuclear plant about 20 miles west of New Orleans has been shut down as a precautionary measure.

New Orleans has not taken a direct hit from a hurricane since Betsy in 1965, when an 8- to 10-foot storm surge submerged parts of the city in seven feet of water. Betsy, a Category 3 storm, was blamed for 74 deaths in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.

Evacuation orders also were posted all along the Mississippi coast, and the area's casinos, built on barges, were closed early Saturday. Bands of wind-whipped rain increased Sunday night and roads in some low areas were beginning to flood.

"Hopefully it will take a turn and we'll be spared the brunt of it, but it just don't look like that," said James Bosco, who was packing up a final few items from his beachfront apartment in Gulfport. "I just hope everybody makes it all right. We can always rebuild."

Alabama officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for low-lying coastal areas. Mobile Mayor Michael C. Dow said flooding could be worse than the 9-foot surge that soaked downtown during Hurricane Georges in 1998. Residents of several barrier islands in the western Florida Panhandle were also urged to evacuate.

Katrina hit the southern tip of Florida as a much weaker storm Thursday and was blamed for nine deaths. It left miles of streets and homes flooded and knocked out power to about 1.45 million customers. It was the sixth hurricane to hit Florida in just over a year.


Posted by: forwardone

That`s so very sad. The South East of the US so often seems to get hit by these types of hurricanes.

Let`s hope the damage to property, and more important, loss of life, is minimal.

Geoff


Posted by: Hardlyworkin

I thinik that we all hope and pray for that Geoff.


Posted by: Luxor

My wishes go out to everyone in New Orleans. They say that this hurricane is the worst to hit in years, and from the television footage I believe it.

+++LUXOR+++


Posted by: forwardone

Sadly, there has been loss of life, and as expected, massive destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Quote:

NEW ORLEANS -- Hurricane Katrina slammed into this legendary Gulf Coast city yesterday, reportedly killing at least 55 people in the region. Historic streets were flooded, buildings such as the Superdome were damaged, and nearby oil production was disrupted, before the weakened storm saturated areas across the South.

Jim Pollard, a spokesman for the Harrison County emergency operations center in Mississippi, said 50 people were killed by Katrina in his county, the Associated Press reported. Most of the deaths were reported at an apartment complex in Biloxi, Miss. Three other people were killed by falling trees in Mississippi, and two died in a traffic accident in Alabama, authorities said.

Damage reports exceeded $9 billion; some estimates were much higher. More than 1 million people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida were without electricity as federal officials rushed to bring supplies ranging from ice to clean water and food to the devastated regions.

''The damage has been great. We know it could have been worse," Governor Kathleen Blanco said at a news conference.

She warned the hundreds of thousands of people who fled the storm to stay away from their homes to allow emergency personnel to do their jobs.

As of last night, 60 or 70 boats were patrolling the New Orleans area, and 130 more were en route, said Mark Smith, public information officer for the Louisiana office of homeland security.

People stranded on their roofs have called in with cellular phones, Smith said.

More than 200 people were rescued by boat within four hours yesterday afternoon, Senator Mary Landrieu said, including 100 elderly residents of a Jefferson Parish nursing home.

She said rescues continued at a steady pace.

''A lot of people are sawing through attics," she said.

Dwight Landreneau, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said the search is hazardous.

In the water ''there are road signs, there are concrete pillars, there are street signs that have fallen down," Landreneau said. ''We are in areas that were neighborhoods that have turned into lakes."

Smith said he expects amateur fishermen to join in the rescue operation.

''The wonderful thing about Louisiana is we fish, and we tend to band together and help one another," Smith said. ''We hope to see huge numbers of volunteers."

The most severe flooding was in east New Orleans.

''This is about as bad a scenario as we could've had," Smith said. ''There are still a lot of people in jeopardy."

At least three people were reported killed in New Orleans, all of them elderly. Two deaths in Alabama were blamed on the storm. in addition to the 50 in Biloxi, Miss., and officials feared that the toll would rise.

Geoff


Posted by: Hardlyworkin

Hundreds or Thousands May Be Trapped

NEW ORLEANS (Aug. 31) - Rescuers along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast pushed aside the dead to reach the living Tuesday in a race against time and rising waters, while New Orleans sank deeper into crisis and Louisiana's governor ordered storm refugees out of this drowning city.

Two levees broke and sent water coursing into the streets of the Big Easy a full day after New Orleans appeared to have escaped widespread destruction from Hurricane Katrina. An estimated 80 percent of the below-sea-level city was under water, up to 20 feet deep in places, with miles and miles of homes swamped.

"The situation is untenable," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said. "It's just heartbreaking."

One Mississippi county alone said its death toll was at least 100, and officials are "very, very worried that this is going to go a lot higher," said Joe Spraggins, civil defense director for Harrison County, home to Biloxi and Gulfport. In neighboring Jackson County, officials said at least 10 deaths were blamed on the storm.


Several victims in Harrison County were from a beachfront apartment building that collapsed under a 25-foot wall of water as Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast with 145-mph winds. And Louisiana officials said many were feared dead there, too, making Katrina one of the most punishing storms to hit the United States in decades.

After touring the destruction by air, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said it is not of case of homes being severely damaged, "they're simply not there. ... I can only imagine that this is what Hiroshima looked like 60 years ago."

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said hundreds, if not thousands, of people may still be stuck on roofs and in attics, and so rescue boats were bypassing the dead.

"We're not even dealing with dead bodies," Nagin said. "They're just pushing them on the side."

The flooding in New Orleans grew worse by the minute, prompting the evacuation of hotels and hospitals and an audacious plan to drop huge sandbags from helicopters to close up one of the breached levees. At the same time, looting broke out in some neighborhoods, the sweltering city of 480,000 had no drinkable water, and the electricity could be out for weeks.

With water rising perilously inside the Superdome, Blanco said the thousands of refugees now huddled there would be evacuated within two days. She said officials are working on a plan to get the people to other shelters.

The dome, which became a shelter of last resort for some 20,000 people, is currently without electricity and has no air conditioning. Broken toilets have also made for extremely unsanitary conditions, Blanco said.

"Conditions are degenerating rapidly," she said. "It's a very, very desperate situation."

She asked residents to spend Wednesday in prayer.

"That would be the best thing to calm our spirits and thank our Lord that we are survivors," she said. "Slowly, gradually, we will recover; we will survive; we will rebuild."

A helicopter view of the devastation over the New Orleans area revealed people standing on black rooftops baking in the sunshine while waiting for rescue boats. A row of desperately needed ambulances were lined up on the interstate, water blocking their path. Roller coasters jutted out from the water at a Six Flags amusement park. Hundreds of inmates were seen standing on a highway because the prison had been flooded.

Sen. Mary Landrieu quietly traced the sign of the cross across her head and chest as she looked out at St. Bernard Parish, where only roofs peeked out from the water.

"The whole parish is gone," Landrieu said.

All day long, rescuers in boats and helicopters pulled out shellshocked and bedraggled flood refugees from rooftops and attics. Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu said that 3,000 people have been rescued by boat and air, some placed shivering and wet into helicopter baskets. They were brought by the truckload into shelters, some in wheelchairs and some carrying babies, with stories of survival and of those who didn't make it.

"Oh my God, it was hell," said Kioka Williams, who had to hack through the ceiling of the beauty shop where she worked as floodwaters rose in New Orleans' low-lying Ninth Ward. "We were screaming, hollering, flashing lights. It was complete chaos."

Frank Mills was in a boarding house in the same neighborhood when water started swirling up toward the ceiling and he fled to the roof. Two elderly residents never made it out, and a third was washed away trying to climb onto the roof.

"He was kind of on the edge of the roof, catching his breath," Mills said. "Next thing I knew, he came floating past me."

Across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, more than 1 million residents remained without electricity, some without clean drinking water. An untold number who heeded evacuation orders were displaced and 40,000 were in Red Cross shelters, with officials saying it could be weeks, if not months, before most will be able to return.

Emergency medical teams from across the country were sent into the region and President Bush cut short his Texas vacation Tuesday to return to Washington to focus on the storm damage.

Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown warned that structural damage to homes, diseases from animal carcasses and chemicals in floodwaters made it unsafe for residents to come home anytime soon. And a mass return also was discouraged to keep from interfering with rescue and recovery efforts.

That was made tough enough by the vast expanse of floodwaters in coastal areas that took an eight-hour pounding from Katrina's howling winds and up to 15 inches of rainfall. From the air, neighborhood after neighborhood looked like nothing but islands of rooftops surrounded by swirling, tea-colored water.

In New Orleans, the flooding actually got worse Tuesday. Failed pumps and levees apparently spilled water from Lake Pontchartrain into streets. The rising water forced hotels to evacuate, led a hospital to boatlift patients to emergency shelters, and drove the staff of New Orleans' Times-Picayune newspaper out of its offices.

Officials late Tuesday began the process of using helicopters to drop 3,000-pound sandbags and dozens of giant concrete barriers into the breach. Maj. Gen. Don Riley of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said officials were also looking for a barge to plug the hole.

Riley said it could take close to a month to get all the flood water out of the city. If the water rises a couple feet higher, it could also wipe out the water system for whole city, said New Orleans' homeland security chief Terry Ebbert.

A clearer picture of the destruction in Alabama became to emerge Tuesday: cement slabs where homes once stood, a 100-foot shrimp boat smoldering on its side, people searching for swept-away keepsakes. The damage in some areas appears to be worse than last year's Hurricane Ivan.

In devastated Biloxi, Miss., areas that were not underwater were littered with tree trunks, downed power lines and chunks of broken concrete. Some buildings were flattened.

The string of floating barge casinos crucial to the coastal economy were a shambles. At least three of them were picked up by the storm surge and carried inland, their barnacle-covered hulls sitting up to 200 yards inland.

One of the deadliest spots appeared to be Biloxi's Quiet Water Beach apartments, where authorities estimated 30 people were washed away, although the exact toll was unknown. All that was left of the red-brick building was a concrete slab.

"We grabbed a lady and pulled her out the window and then we swam with the current," 55-year-old Joy Schovest said through tears. "It was terrifying. You should have seen the cars floating around us. We had to push them away when we were trying to swim."

Said Biloxi Mayor A. J. Holloway: "This is our tsunami."

Looting became a problem in both Biloxi and in New Orleans, in some cases in full view of police and National Guardsmen. One police officer was shot in the head by a looter in New Orleans, but was expected to recover, Sgt. Paul Accardo, a police spokesman.

On New Orleans' Canal Street, which actually resembled a canal, dozens of looters ripped open the steel gates on clothing and jewelry stores, some packing plastic garbage cans with loot to float down the street. One man, who had about 10 pairs of jeans draped over his left arm, was asked if he was salvaging things from his store.

"No," the man shouted, "that's EVERYBODY'S store!"

Looters at a Wal-Mart brazenly loaded up shopping carts with items including microwaves, coolers and knife sets. Others walked out of a sporting goods store on Canal Street with armfuls of shoes and football jerseys.

Outside the broken shells of Biloxi's casinos, people picked through slot machines to see if they still contained coins and ransacked other businesses.

"People are just casually walking in and filling up garbage bags and walking off like they're Santa Claus," said Marty Desei, owner of a Super 8 motel.

Insurance experts estimated the storm will result in up to $25 billion in insured losses. That means Katrina could prove more costly than record-setting Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which caused an inflation-adjusted $21 billion in losses.

Oil prices jumped by more than $3 a barrel on Tuesday, climbing above $70 a barrel, amid uncertainty about the extent of the damage to the Gulf region's refineries and drilling platforms.

By midday Tuesday, Katrina was downgraded to a tropical depression, with winds around 35 mph. It was moving northeast through Tennessee at around 21 mph, with the potential to dump 8 inches of rain and spin off deadly tornadoes.

Katrina left 11 people dead in its soggy jog across South Florida last week, as a much weaker storm.


Posted by: forwardone

I`ve just watched a news report, and the pictures were staggering. Biloxi bore the brunt of the Hurrricane, but New Orleans is under so much water in parts too.

Looting was mentioned as a problem also, with the army, police, and National Guard as active as possible in trying to stop the problem, as well of course as trying to locate survivors.

The future looks bleak for the residents of the affected areas.

Geoff


Posted by: Hardlyworkin

Katrina's Impact Is Spreading

NEW YORK - Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and will pound the nation's economy with higher energy prices, commodity shortages--and even steeper coffee prices.


Worse, the storm may blast inflation throughout the economy.


Storm damage is estimated at $40 billion, including $26 billion covered by insurance--the largest payout ever.


After an initial downturn, Merrill Lynch (MER) says, rebuilding efforts following a major storm typically boost the gross domestic product. Such a view goes against the conventional wisdom, but the GDP measures current production--and there will be a massive cleanup followed by years of rebuilding in Katrina's wake. This is good news for lumber companies such as Weyerhaeuser (WY) and Georgia-Pacific (GP) as well as retailers such as Home Depot (HD) and Lowe's.


But this storm is different because it whacked oil and natural production in the Gulf of Mexico, and at least eight refineries in the region have shut down.


About 10% of U.S. daily consumption, or 2.5 million barrels, is either produced or shipped in the Gulf. The price of crude, already nearly double that in June 2004, is now close to $70 a barrel. Increased demand in China and India has some analysts predicting the price will soon hit $100 a barrel.


This will quickly translate into higher fuel prices that will rip through the economy. Contracts for heating oil scheduled for delivery in December are up 7.5% from last Friday, natural gas is up 11% and gasoline is up 7.4%, Merrill Lynch says. On Tuesday, wholesale gasoline prices rose nearly 40 cents, adding another 30 cents on Wednesday.


"If these future prices hold, it has the potential of shaving about $30 billion from U.S. economic growth," Sheryl King and David Rosenberg, economists at Merrill Lynch, conclude.


U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says the government will dip into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to relieve shortages, but these reserves deal only with crude oil. It's the 1 million barrels a day of refining capacity that's been taken off-line that's the immediate problem. Bodman conceded that gasoline supplies are a "concern." Historically, the move has provided some temporary relief. The Strategic Reserve was last tapped in September 2004 following Hurricane Ivan.


Katrina will kick the stuffing out of the tourism, gaming and convention industries in the region, which relies heavily on revenues from visitors, and extensive damage means the downturn will last longer than usual. Merrill Lynch says nonfarm payrolls in September could see a sharp decline. Disruptions in energy supply and logistics are also likely to hurt manufacturing.


Forecasters at Economy.com, a West Chester, Pa., firm, says Katrina will create a modest drag on the economy in the third quarter and give it a modest kick in the fourth quarter due to reconstruction.


The region pounded by the storm employs about 1.6 million people, who produce goods and services valued at about $130 billion a year. Cargo shipped through the region's ports is valued at about $150 billion a year, or about 20% of U.S. import-export traffic, says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com.


The numbers sound huge, but overall, the areas hit hardest by Katrina--New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Houma and Alexandria in Louisiana; Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula in Mississippi; and Mobile in Alabama--account for 1.3% of U.S. employment and 1.1% of U.S. GDP.


Still, in the broader economy, long-term interest rates continue to fall. This narrows the gap with short-term rates, erasing the profits banks make from borrowing short and lending long. Expect this to pinch profits for banks in the second half. This could encourage the Federal Reserve to hold back on raising rates--or even consider lowering rates.


"The fixed-income markets are ratcheting down expectations of growth," says Richard DeKaser, an economist at National City, a Cleveland-based bank. "The feeling is that the Fed will be less aggressive."


The Fed has been raising rates steadily for the last year.


Katrina's direct hit on Southern ports sent trading higher on major exchanges for soybeans, wheat and steel.


Barge traffic on the Mississippi River is shut down, and no tankers or other cargo ships are moving in or out of the Port of New Orleans.


The public health consequences of the storm could be disastrous. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, says public health will be focused on four concerns: obtaining clean water, dealing with sewage, getting food to people and providing people with access to medical care.


Dirty water itself can cause infections if people drink it or it gets into a wound. But a bigger problem may be that the hospitals that deal with problems such as heart attacks and asthma have themselves been damaged-- a problem that Redlener says will almost certainly lead to a rise fatalities.


"The health care system is itself at least crippled if not completely out of commission," says Redlener.


The problems won't end there. Even as the region is rebuilt, illnesses such as West Nile virus could emerge from the flood.


In terms of communications, hundreds of thousands of residents are without phone service in the area hit by the storm, and disruptions are felt throughout the South. Flooding is so extensive that carriers still don't know the full extent of the problem, and immediate repairs are impossible.


BellSouth's (BLS) preliminary estimates show more than 260,000 land lines have been affected in Mississippi alone--and the number is expected to go higher. Accurate estimates aren't available yet for Alabama and Louisiana. About 37,000 BellSouth customers are without service in Florida.


Cellular provider Cingular Wireless--a joint venture of BellSouth and SBC Communications (SBC)--and Sprint Nextel (S) say mobile-phone service has been hit hard. Wireless service is nearly or completely out in hard-hit areas, including Gulfport and Brookhaven in Mississippi. In New Orleans, service is almost completely out, and key equipment remains underwater.


Cingular Wireless has more than 100 teams of recovery technicians ready to repair lines, install temporary power generators and set up temporary mobile-phone antennas called COWs, or "cells on wheels."


But repair crews haven't been able yet to move into hard-hit areas like New Orleans.

More On AOL

Katrina's Aftermath
Learn about Hurricanes
How You Can Help
"As soon as we get the go-ahead from local officials, we'll go in there," says Ritch Blasi, a spokesman for Cingular.


The hurricane punched a major hole in the country's telecommunications system, creating problems outside the storm's path. Networks in Texas are experiencing congestion due to the large number of calls going across the system, including many who fled inland to escape Katrina's fury. Sprint Nextel customers in Florida also have been hit because much of the company's long-distance traffic is routed through a building in New Orleans that's now underwater.


New Orleans residents who sought refuge in the Superdome are being moved to the Astrodome in Houston. The hurricane blew off a small section of the room in the Superdome, and the sewer pipes backed up.


In New Orleans, tons of coffee--at least 1.6 million sacks--is stacked in warehouses. It's too early to tell if the beans were damaged, but judging from the extensive flooding, prospects don't look good for those looking to economize on their morning jolt of java.


Posted by: golddust

I spent several hours last night and today watching various reports. I am stuck by two things:

One, the obvious is 'like' a forbidden topic; those who have 'lost everything' had the most yet the least to lose. The already poor African American populating the inner city, and ironically, the lowest below sea level. These folks didn't have the means to evacuate, and many didn't - because they didn't want to leave what they had. I believe the numbers of those who evacuated is over-estimated and the number of those who have died under-estimated. Many have died in their attics, it is believed.
It is a media paradox to not report on the class and race of those most directly affected, not just in New Orleans, but all along the devastated coastal communities. These African Americans have a long heritage in the South, generations dating from slavery, enslaved by culture, social positioning and poverty - new generations of all races rising past them - yet somehow they have been content with the front porch; content with their position in life...
For those who evacuate to Houston, or where ever they may end up, I hope for their emancipation from a city that put their peril last on the list in the event of a "100-year storm". And for those who return, I hope this devastation and loss will be their "call to action", and that they will be at the front of the lines for the jobs to reconstruct the city, and will work to correct the weaknesses in all areas that have failed (them) during and after Katrina. It is apparent that many have no place (else) to go and will return, but in having to start over will consider higher ground, physically, mentally, emotionally and socioeconomically.

And Two, (if you're still with me...)
Katrina is a lesson. Katrina has left devastation that makes 9/11 pale in comparision. Given one a disaster of Terrorism, (with someone to blame and place anger), and the other a natural disaster, please consider this; who is to say that Terrorists could not have created even greater devastation, without warning or notice, by bombing those levys on Lake Ponchatrain? And who is to say in the future, a similar event won't be conceived by Terrorists?
I am not trying to dwell in fear of terrorists' acts. The point is that America is faced with rebuilding a great City, not just clearing WTC debris, (from strictly a symbolic and structural perspective). The emotional toll of loss and change is unequivocal; Americans are faced with incredible hardships, not just mourning for lives and livestyle, but succeeding at rising above.
As with 9/11 and the Tsunami, everyone in the world is touched. But Americans could, should, would face reality; even with 'warning' Katrina has shown the need and lacking thereof, for emergency preparedness and response. Imagine if this was an act of terrorism?
If America and Americans can organize, plan, rebuild and revitalize after this, then I feel strengthened... 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'... time will tell.
Then, let the Terrorists think again about the devastation they can devise. But let Americans be not the victims of disasters that could have been minimized. All Americans.

Thanks all reading my bit of editorialism.

golddust


Posted by: golddust

an editorial on Katrina -


http://www.counterthink.org/001965.html


Posted by: betrdanevr

Thank you, golddust!!

It is nothing short of totally shocking how little seems to be being done to rescue these people! You would have thought that surrounding states would be deploying national guardsmen as well. I heard an interview on the radio today, and although I didn't hear the name of the interviewee, it sounded like it might be the head of their national guard or somebody in a head role in the rescue efforts.

He said he recognized that after the interview, his position would probably be on the line, but he was literally crying out for somebody to take charge in this massive crisis and deploy a bunch of Greyhound buses to the area, etc., and get some transportation OUT of there.

It's unreal to me that the nation's military hasn't deployed more resources, helicopters, medical supplies, emergency medical people, people to bring some semblance of law and order so that the crisis can be better managed.

It's a heartache to watch and I feel very much ashamed of our leaders.


Posted by: golddust

I agree Terri. Evidently, the President has to oversee these operations, and you know, he had to cut short his 'working vacation' to view the devastation before his press conference beginning the deployment of asset assistance.
In my way of thinking, as soon as the levys were breached, the resulting flood should have IMMEDIATELY triggered deployment of water, food and recovery efforts by whatever the 'lowest' authority. Geesh, nothing but the obvious devastation to ensue.
Forgetting for a moment the cause of the devastation, has the administration forgone the conclusion for mandatory deployment of resources to minimize the devastation? Did 9/11 prepare this country for any future catastrophic event????
I can understand the result of hysteria, panic, guns, looting and total despair. In these conditions, it is survival. Who in the same situation would not take what ever action needed to survive? Forget those opportunist idiots that lifted TVs and stereos. They won't have electricity for them, or a dollar to buy them for quite some time. I think about the poor souls who are wading through a cesspool to find water, food and dry shelter. I think about the babies who haven't had a clean diaper in 5 or more days and the moms trying to cope.
And I wonder who is going to assist these victim/survivors when post traumatic stress disorder sets in?
I am truely, deeply upset with the conduct of US administration in taking action. I heard that "W" commented today that he was pleased with the 'response', but not with the result. What, was this a fire drill? Didn't 9/11 provide ample training ground?
I wonder if this was a terrorist attack, would the response have been differently?
I am angry and adament as a result of the reports I've seen.
This is defining moment in US history. The fingers can be pointed in any direction and they'll be someone/thing to blame. The US must change from defense to offense. We must prepare our territory before the territory becomes a target for disaster.
'Natural' disaster is not the sole cause of the devastation. And now the Terrorists are much more aware of natural 'targets' with a snowball effect much to their advantage.

The link above goes into definitive detail...

Once again, end rant.... in greater awareness.


golddust


Posted by: forwardone

From what I`ve been seeing on the News reports a number of police officers in the stricken areas have handed in their badges. They too have lost everything in the disaster, and they are saying that they don`t intend possibly losing their lives too in controlling mobs and looters.

There`s also been very heavy criticism of the President for not acting much sooner, as many people are literally starving, as well as in desperate need of medicines.

One thing that crossed my mind - if the same thing had happened in one of the richer states, say California, would things have been done exactly the same way as far as intervention from the Federal government is concerned?

Geoff


Posted by: betrdanevr

Quote:
I wonder if this was a terrorist attack, would the response have been differently?


My guess is a big "YES." Anything that would have had direct political or economic benefit to the powers that be . . .

Edit: Interesting site put up by (the former) President Bush and President Clinton.

http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov/

You can find a lot of links on this site, and links to the Citizen Corps as well (new to me).

https://www.citizencorps.gov/programs/cert.shtm

You know, when you get right down to it, the words of the immortal JFK do come to mind: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

And here is a link to donate directly to the recovery efforts in the state of Louisiana. This should surely get the needed funds to the Louisiana disaster victims more rapidly, I would think!

http://www.katrina.louisiana.gov/donate.htm


Posted by: candy

I know a little about being flooded so I can tell you that one of the hardest parts is having to wait until the water receeds to be able to do much of anything.

You have to understand that New Orleans is built below sea level and the levee system has to hold back the water all the time not just when it storms and the parts where the breaks occurred were a hundred years old. Repairing a levee is not an easy task; it is like trying to repair a dam that is full of water that is constantly trying to push in. Pittsburgh had a 36 inch water main break last month that flooded the downtown area and they are still trying to clean up from that. I think that people need to be a little more realistic in their expectations of what can be done.


Posted by: betrdanevr

I can appreciate what you're saying when it comes to repair of the levees and the physical cleanup. The governor herself said that using sandbags was like dropping them into a black hole and that reinforced concrete would have to be airlifted and dropped.

I will never accept that 'realism' when it comes to the efforts to save the lives of the residents.


Posted by: golddust

Quote:


I can appreciate what you're saying when it comes to repair of the levees and the physical cleanup. The governor herself said that using sandbags was like dropping them into a black hole and that reinforced concrete would have to be airlifted and dropped.


There is no way around the difficulty of repairing the levys. But while someone is figuring that out, people are dying of dehydration. Everyday the death toll will increase as exposure to the growing list of life threatening conditions thrive. And people still stranded on their rooftops have no idea what is going on; is it any wonder why the situation is now violent? Or why police would resign? The situation is deplorable. I about choked when I heard "W" say last night that 'on the ground things are improving by the hour'... it is not 'on the ground' that matters as much as people stranded in the water...

golddust


Posted by: candy

I think that the rescue personel have gotten to most of the stranded people now. The water level has started to go down but there are still a lot of people to evacuate who may never have a place to come back to since it is unlikely that when the rebuilding is done it will be as low income housing. I am afraid that there are going to be a lot of permanently displaced people.
I am not sure what more could possibly have been done after the levees gave way the city's access ways were cut off.


Posted by: betrdanevr

http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?f=0..._Nightly%20News

And let us surely hope that the area will not be rebuilt with low-income housing.

http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?f=0..._Nightly%20News


Posted by: curly

Obviously the media can be very unobjective, but the sad thing that struck me from the news reports reaching Hong Kong where I am is the fact that rather than everyone rallying round to help each other, they seem to have started a mentality of survival of the fittest and are attacking each other and services trying to help and rescue them.

Having personally been involved in the Tsunami, I saw the poorest people in Thailand giving away anything from their few possessions if they thought it would be of help, and showing the most incredible kindness to complete strangers.

I am sure there were incidents of looting etc as well, but from what I have seen in Asia that would have been in the minority of cases, whereas in the US it sadly appears to be in the majority.


Posted by: golddust

Last night on Dateline I saw a piece about a NO man who was right on the border of the flooded homes. He could drive his car minimally, and would drive to the nearest possible grocery and filled his basket with all kinds of items, from baby food to bread, fully loaded his car and trunk. (it was an abandoned store). Then he would drive as far as he could, stop and put on waders then make trips with bags on his back into the areas with folk still living on their porches where and distributed his supplies.
Guess he could have left but he wanted to help his community. Now he is out of gas. It's not all bad, I'm sure we will be hearing a lot of good samaritan stories coming out of the devastation.

golddust


Posted by: forwardone

On a news report earlier today an interview was held with some Britons returning home from the stricken areas.

They had nothing but praise for the ordinary American people who helped as much as they possibly could. They were full of contempt for the US Government and their poor handling of the crisis though.

Geoff


Posted by: golddust

News tonite interviewed one ignoramus that said he refused to leave his home. Voluntary evacuation is requested, then by military force. The flood water is now a toxic breeding ground and by the minute the ecoli and cholera bacteria are multiplying. Those who stay will probably die.
"Greatest evironmental disaster the US has faced'... Lake Ponchetrain and indeed the Gulf seafood industry will be severely affected.
Man, and I love those Gulf Prawns...


golddust


Posted by: betrdanevr

Sounds more like the greatest disaster that the U.S. has ever faced in total. I just read on Red Nova that it's going to end up costing the price of two wars. And we're just talking about dollars there.

Next we're going to have of course the military running the whole friggin area when it took them 7 whole days to get any kind of relief into the city of Gulfport where the roads were not disrupted, where there is an army base and an airport!


Posted by: betrdanevr

Experts Concerned About Children's Trauma
In a disaster within a disaster, unprecedented numbers of shaken children left in Hurricane Katrina's wake are testing the nation's network for emergency psychological help, according to caregivers and experts.

Counseling teams have been dispatched to shelters across the South where, beside overwhelmed parents, some children rested on cots with their heads covered, stared into nothingness, or cowered at a simple rain shower.

"When we gonna leave?" Israel Reed kept asking his mother at a shelter in Jackson, Miss., where he marked his 8th birthday with just a bowl of Rice Krispies.

At a shelter in Boynton Beach, Fla., a girl about 8 years old drew crayon pictures of her flooded New Orleans house with floating bodies of people and animals. Then her face turned somber.

"She ... wanted me to really understand," said psychologist Phil Heller, a volunteer counselor. "This was very scary."

The storm victimized hundreds of thousands of children, wrenching apart their families, washing away their homes, and separating them from everything else that was familiar, from friends to pets to stuffed animals.

"They're trying to process what happened to them. So much has changed in their little lives," said counselor Keith Gordon in Jackson. "Their concerns are as real as ours."

Most children who lived through Katrina will show at least some signs of psychological stress, ranging from simple denial or anger to full-blown traumatic grief or post-traumatic stress disorder, according to mental health specialists. Some young children believe their bad behavior is somehow behind their family's suffering; some have regressed to behaviors of an earlier age, like bed-wetting.

At a Houston shelter, three young children clung to a woman, refusing to let go. "They were not her children, she had no idea who they were, but they had attached to her, and she had become attached to them," said counselor Bianca Walker.

Judging from past disasters, at least a third of affected children will need professional treatment in coming months, authorities estimate. Counselors were especially worried about children who can't find their parents. But they were also focusing on children with parents too overwhelmed to tend them normally.

Crisis counselors are trying to guide children through the early days of recovery by reassuring, seeking out lost relatives, and rebuilding a sense of normalcy. Many children have been sent to class already at nearby schools; others have been offered a safe place to play at a shelter.

"What they are going to need is a sense that their environment is safe and secure and stable - as fast as possible," said Charlie MacCormack, head of Save the Children. The international relief group is teaching schools, churches and other groups to help children cope with Katrina's aftermath.

Some authorities, including MacCormack, complain that aid for traumatized children has been disorganized and demanded stronger coordination at the federal level.

Complicating the response, the hurricane arrived during a time of transition in treatment, when crisis counselors are switching away from the once-popular care technique known as "critical incident stress debriefing," which encourages victims to think back on the disaster and vent their feelings, says psychologist Robert Macy, of the federally funded National Center for Child Traumatic Stress. He rushed to a Massachusetts shelter with a team of 10 counselors to meet evacuees.

Federal agencies pressed scores of counselors into service by late in the week. However, Psychologist Daniel Dodgen, who leads the response for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said additional experienced counselors were urgently needed. (They can sign up by clinking on the Katrina link at the agency's Web site http://www.hhs.gov.)

Overall, Dodgen said he was encouraged by early progress. "During the assessment phase, it often looks chaotic, because part of what you're doing is figuring out who needs to talk to whom and where we have gaps," he said. "I think we're still in that assessment phase."

The broader impact will materialize months or years from now, as children gradually come to feel that they are safe again, or not. Still, some specialists wonder: Will resources be set aside to bolster them over the long haul, amid demands for post-hurricane funds to replace buildings and roads?

"If you don't help these kids, what are they going to look like when they grow up?" asked Alan Steinberg, associate director of the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress at University of California-Los Angeles.

Parents should remember that it's not just children directly affected by the hurricane who are troubled, counselors say. Even beyond the storm's Gulf Coast path, many anxious children who saw pictures or heard talk of the hurricane will need reassurance.

Luckily, most children are resilient, both mentally and physically, and most will bounce back, experts say. Even in shelters this week, many played board games, shot baskets, or spun Hula Hoops.

---

EDITOR'S NOTE - AP editorial assistant Kathy Hanrahan contributed to this report.

---

On the Net

National Child Traumatic Stress Network: http://www.nctsnet.org Â

Save the Children: http://www.savethechildren.org


Story from REDNOVA NEWS:
http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=235769

Published: 2005/09/10 06:00:00 CDT


Posted by: golddust

Great article Terri. There are so many facets to the problems that continue to emerge from Katrina.

For the kids that at least have parents, I can imagine that their exasperation and despair over the situation leaves them few personal resources to deal with the traumatic event both to themselves and their kids. Besides what parent could ever be prepared to counsel their kid on coping skills for something like this? Considering the social class largely effected, not much exposure to mental health support.

And for those kids w/o parents, I can't even imagine how fearful they must be. Everyone's inner constitution is different, some will become stronger in surviving, some will absolutely shrivel without some help. Those who are playing game boards and hola hoop are occupying themselves from boredom, and escaping from their surroundings by doing something they are familiar with; they are not necessarily returning to normal.

Quote:
the hurricane arrived during a time of transition in treatment, when crisis counselors are switching away from the once-popular care technique known as "critical incident stress debriefing," which encourages victims to think back on the disaster and vent their feelings, says psychologist Robert Macy,


I wonder what the new treatment methodology involves?
"Critical incident stress debriefing" has been commonly used in most trauma settings in recent years.

golddust


Posted by: 2pac

It is sad ((



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