The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

[T'sNana]

Thanks!!! I signed up and sent an email to friends and family and co-workers.

 

[bakerprune64]

Fantastic! It warms my heart to think we could have made a difference. After all the phone calls and emails, here's a round of applause\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
You guys are awesome!
And lynie, you are right on! It could help the locals.

I think the FEMA guy should be fired. Ridiculous! Pre-planning is paramount for this organization. Or it shouldn't exist at all. What a waste of $'s his salary is. He should forfeit it! Why couldn't they even use some school buses to pick up these people?
(Ut-oh, I'm having a hormonal rush again!)

This is wonderful news! :clap:

 

[*02]

I'm not sure what exactly is left out at the base, besides a golf course

, after it closed down several years ago the city turned it into Reese Technology Center and have used it for various reasons. They were assembling beds and the like yesterday and showed the women's dorms on the news. It still has to be better than a stadium.

 

[Magnum PI]

What would President Andrew Jackson say........?

I think it is up to Bush to walk his walk now. He didn't mind tackling Iraq, Social Security, and so forth, now it is time to "endure the unendurable" and focus on the job at hand right here at home in the Gulf Coast area, and especially New Orleans...mpi

 

[LDC]

They have almost reached their quota of $10,000.00

 

[AZ_Veteran]

I don't know how many of you are following the news, or don't have cable TV, but Fox News is "guesstimating" that there are over 10,000 dead in the attics of the homes that the retrieve and rescue workers have not been able to get to yet. If true, the worst national disaster in USA history in terms of human life and property damage. There will be a lot of discussion in congress as to whether New Orleans should be rebuilt or not. Maybe just the port part of it, but no French Quarter, no older parts, no parts that are at lowest levels.

 

[Tom'sGirl]

Listening to any updates now..........

 

[MrsMush99]

I just heard this too. Unbelievable. These poor people, fleeing for their lives only to get into an accident and one dies (at last update) on the way to safety.

 

[poco]

I just heard this too. Unbelievable. These poor people, fleeing for their lives only to get into an accident and one dies (at last update) on the way to safety.

Talk about a double whammy - double PTSD! Geez!

 

[concernedperson]

Isn't this just unbelievable? Makes my heart grip and wonder how much can people take?

 

[tybee204]

One dead in evacuee bus crash

A bus taking evacuees from the Superdome to North Louisiana overturned this afternoon on Interstate-49 in Opelousas, leaving at least one person dead and several critically injured.

Dozens of ambulances are on the scene. Ten people have already been taken to area hospitals and emergency crews are working now to ensure the care of the bus's other occupants.

Dailyworld.com will continue to update this story today as more information becomes available.

http://www.dailyworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050902/NEWS01/50902003

 

[concernedperson]

I don't know how many of you are following the news, or don't have cable TV, but Fox News is "guesstimating" that there are over 10,000 dead in the attics of the homes that the retrieve and rescue workers have not been able to get to yet. If true, the worst national disaster in USA history in terms of human life and property damage. There will be a lot of discussion in congress as to whether New Orleans should be rebuilt or not. Maybe just the port part of it, but no French Quarter, no older parts, no parts that are at lowest levels.

The French Quarter is not as in bad shape as other areas. The Mississippi River side is for the most part intact. The suburbs, north, south,east and particularly the ninth ward are in dire straights.

We are getting stories from shell-shocked relatives now. One went back into Metarie to see their house.....double bad but took the dogs out and didn't even think to bring clothes or other necessities. Checked on the kids home and at first thought to lie to them about how much water was in there. Hoping it would go away. Mental health issues will be facing all Americans for years to come.

 

[Beyond Belief]

The tragedy currently unfolding in New Orleans is in many ways unprecedented in U.S. history, and it is tempting to think that the misery we are witnessing could have been avoided. I would like to suggest that some level of misery and loss of life was unavoidable. With all of the rhetoric in recent days regarding the possible role of global warming in hurricane activity, it is useful to examine weather disasters in general, and Katrina in particular, from both historical and practical points of view.





Forecast Accuracy and Warnings



Everyone knows that weather forecasts are not totally accurate. For potentially destructive and life-threatening events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods, forecasters necessarily err on the side of caution. This leads to over-warning, which in turn results in some level of complacency on the part of the public. While over-warning leads to a high "probability of detection" (very few events go without warnings), it is at the expense of increased false alarms. But there really is no other acceptable choice. The only alternative would be to issue fewer warnings. But given the imprecision of hurricane forecasts, this would be at the cost of numerous events for which there were no warnings. Many, possibly most, hurricanes that hit land would either have no warnings, or would have insufficient lead time for evacuations and property protection to take place. This would be totally unacceptable to the public. Thus, we are left with the unavoidable situation where some portion of the people will not heed warnings - for example, I personally ignore most tornado warnings -- and so people will die.



Hurricane intensity and track forecasts for Hurricane Katrina were, from a historical perspective, pretty darn accurate. Early forecasts had the hurricane tracking farther east in the Florida panhandle. But as of 11 p.m. Saturday night (48 hours before high winds started reaching the coast of Louisiana) the National Hurricane Center (NHC) was forecasting an "intense hurricane". The forecast track issued at that time was almost dead-center on the eventual landfall location. Katrina ended up intensifying and moving more rapidly than normal, leading to less lead time than would have been desired for the warned areas.



Nevertheless, warnings of a "catastrophic event" were made in time for virtually all of the people who were willing and able to leave New Orleans and coastal areas to do so. Most people did indeed leave the warned areas -- but not all of them. NHC makes it a special point in the case of especially broad hurricanes such as Katrina to tell people to not focus on the exact forecast track of the eye since such a broad area will be impacted anyway.

continued here:
http://www.techcentralstation.com/090205A.html

 

[concernedperson]

There is a whole forum dedicated to this. Please add there.

 

[CherokeeKid]

Humane Society of the United States
HURRICANE UPDATE: HSUS RESPONDS TO KATRINA
https://community.hsus.org/ct/qdz0p_M1_zgy/
*************************************

In the past few days, we have all watched in horror and
disbelief at the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

In the midst of this tragedy, all of us at The Humane Society of
the United States have been heartened by the tremendous
outpouring of support for our disaster relief efforts in the
region. I'm proud to say that because of your support, our
response to assist animals and their caregivers has been
immediate.

Shortly after the hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast, HSUS
teams were on the ground determining the areas where the most
critical relief was needed. Today, experienced HSUS rescue staff
and volunteers are working with state officials, federal
agencies, and other organizations to evacuate animals out of the
hardest-hit areas. They are also establishing pet-friendly
shelters and delivering supplies, resources, and medical
assistance.

In Louisiana, we're helping to set up an emergency facility at
the Coliseum in Baton Rouge where strays will be brought,
evaluated, and then transported to safety. While thousands of
people are being evacuated from the New Orleans Superdome and
relocated to Houston to be sheltered in the Astrodome, HSUS
volunteers are helping transport animals from evacuees arriving
at the Astrodome and ferrying them to the temporary shelter,
which will be fully operational today.

In Mississippi, seven HSUS disaster field teams left to conduct
damage and needs assessments and to provide help as they find
needs from Jackson south to the Hattiesburg area. The HSUS team
includes about 35 trained responders and 8-10 vehicles (plus
trailers and RVs), including the HSUS Disaster Response Unit.
Team capabilities include companion animals, horses, farm
animals, and wildlife. The team leaders are pushing very hard to
get help to Gulfport, Mississippi, but at this time Route 49 is
open only to state-authorized emergency vehicles.

We will continue to keep you updated on our efforts and we
expect to be granted more access to the hard hit areas over the
weekend. So many pets are trapped and alone, and we are
determined to find and rescue them. And - we plan on being there
as long as it takes.

Again, I want to personally thank you for your generosity at
this time. Quite simply, we would not be able to provide the
relief needed for stranded and injured animals in a crisis of
this magnitude without your help.

Sincerely,

Laura Bevan
Incident Commander
HSUS National Disaster Animal Response Team
Jackson, Mississippi

P.S. - Thank you for your recent donation to our Disaster Relief
Fund. Your support is so important to our efforts. If you
haven't already, please click here to let your friends know how
they can help as well:
https://community.hsus.org/ct/qdz0p_M1_zgy/

 

[Olivia77]

Forgive me if this has been posted. This is being maintained by a guy in his office building in the Central Business District. He has a live camera, and really remarkable photographs. Check it out.

www.mgno.com

 

[kgeaux]

My city has set up a relief center for pets, too. It's wonderful that it's there, but it is sad to think that the evacuee is in the Cajun Dome and his pet is elsewhere. The evacuees are taken to their pets at least twice a day to spend time with them and walk them, etc.

 

[Dara]

I don't remember if this has been posted, but I found this link earlier:

Hurricane Housing

Posters can offer beds or find housing.

 

[kgeaux]

Isn't this just unbelievable? Makes my heart grip and wonder how much can people take?

Happened not too far from me. It is horrible. I told my friend, these poor people cannot catch a break. If there is any silver in the lining, it is that the accident occured less than a mile from Doctor's Hospital and less than a mile in the other direction, from Opelousas General.

Local news anchors are saying that the driver may be the fatality. No news on what caused the accident.

 

[Dark Knight]

There is a whole forum dedicated to this. Please add there.

You mean thread, not forum, I think.