Surviving Hurricane Katrina - My Story

[Kakarot]

Wow, get this,! A CNN reporter who just arrived at Gulfsport saw a large Casino that was damaged but appearted to have mostly survived the storm. Then he realized that it used to be located half a mile to the east!

i just saw this, but i think he's crazy. that was an entire solid building there. there's no way that could be possible.


btw, they said the levee thing is going to break apart more with the waters flowing through it and it already has a hole that is a hundreed feet long or something

 

[russ_watters]

It is flooded solid.

By "flooded solid", I mean flooded up above the top of the levees, through the entire city. Flood waters are rising and pouring in to the city, but it isn't anywhere close to flooded solid - and can't ever get there, since the lakes, rivers, and ocean held back by the levees have themselves receded. Had the hurricane made a more direct hit or been as strong as it was the day before, the ocean would have simply risen over the levees and engulfed the city. Water would now be pouring out over the top of the levees.

 

[russ_watters]

Not according to the insurance representitive interviewed on CNN this morning. He said it can go either way depending on how long, and of course how deeply the building is submerged.

Fair enough - my generalization proably should have been more general. I probably should have said "often..." It should then also be noted that sometimes buildings (particularly those with historical value, as many in NO have) are salvaged in significantly worse shape than just being gutted.

Astronuc is right, also - while a house can be flooded out completely and often still be salvaged, they don't last all that long completely submerged. Waterlogged wood beams start to lose strength, and even if they survive that, mold may do them in. A large fraction of those houses we see on the outskirts that are flooded up to their roofs and will be for quite a while, are not going to be salvageable.

One positive note, apparently the historic French Quarter is not under water.

Last update I heard they were up to 9 inches and counting. Is there a new development?

It depends on where you are, but yes, it is getting worse. http://www.usatoday.com/weather/graphics/hurricane/hurricane2005/flash.htm?strmName=Katrina&strmNum=strm12&tabName=a has a good flash thingie showing elevations - click the "why NO floods" part. CNN has a good video clip explaining the levee break and where the flooding is going (2:00pm) and ANOTHER of a reporter wading around in thigh-deep water on Common Street (the next street south of Canal) (1:00pm).

edit: the videos don't seem to want to load directly - they are in the story HERE.

 

[dduardo]

I just heard on the news that the sand-bagging effort has failed and that the pumps have failed again. They expect another 9 feet of water within the next 12 hours.

 

[russ_watters]

Here's a question - does anyone know the capacity of those pumps? Even after they stop the inflow, that's an enormous amount of water to pump out.

 

[russ_watters]

i just saw this, but i think he's crazy. that was an entire solid building there. there's no way that could be possible.

Yikes, that would be the Grand Casino - built on a huge barge.

edit: apparently, it isn't the only one. HERE is the story (no good pics). I know from when I lived in the area that the laws of the state outlaw gambling, but had a loophole for offshore gambling. So none of the casinos are actually on dry-land. Some are on stilts, some, apparently, on barges.

 

[hitssquad]

If I heard on the radio the wind speed was 235 miles per hour, I would have been sure I was going to DIE

If your home was built like this, you would not even realize a storm was going on outside unless you looked out the window:

monolithicdome.com

http://www.monolithicdome.com/plan_design/survive/pole-domex.jpg

 

[Ivan Seeking]

CNN just reported that witnesses claim 80-90% of two of the smaller Miss. towns is competely destroyed.

 

[hitssquad]

Katrina death toll predicted to rise to over 1000.

http://www.thederrick.com/stories/08312005-3006.shtml

CLARION - Clarion University professor Anthony Vega says his constant focus on the disaster in New Orleans is the result of two things - his expertise as a meteorologist and the fact his family lives there.

Vega, a New Orleans native, said Tuesday his parents, Alex and Carol, had left their home in a suburb of the city on Sunday.

Their home, as well as those of his brother, Nicky, and sister, Gina, are now inundated with water.

Vega said Nicky, a police officer, was stranded Monday on the sixth floor of a parking garage while Gina was in an apartment complex.

Both are safe, he said, and he continues to check in with his parents.

At this time, he cannot directly contact his brother and sister.

"This is unprecedented," he said of the debilitating effects of Hurricane Katrina. "Nothing approaches this . . . I would be shocked if the death toll is not 1,000 or more. Hundreds if not thousands of people are trapped in attics."

 

[cronxeh]

If your home was built like this, you would not even realize a storm was going on outside unless you looked out the window:

monolithicdome.com

http://www.monolithicdome.com/plan_design/survive/pole-domex.jpg

[/URL]


yea i wanted one like that

 

[Ivan Seeking]

yea i wanted one like that

Normally they don't install the power poles like that.

 

[hitssquad]

Wikipedia is providing amazing live coverage:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I just caught a report indicating that NO is escalating out of control. "People are taking over the hospitals and nurses are calling for help", "an ambulance has been overturned", emergency generator stolen, carjackings, some reporters were already ordered to stay out of some areas, people are reverting to mob rule.

 

[Kakarot]

i personally don't see anything wrong with looting food and stuf flike that. its going to become worthless and it probably arleady is. there are more important thigns to worry about atm.

 

[russ_watters]

i personally don't see anything wrong with looting food and stuf flike that. its going to become worthless and it probably arleady is. there are more important thigns to worry about atm.

Yeah, I think we can let that lady I saw with the case of diapers have a freebie.

 

[hypatia]

I'm glad I don't own a business there, last night on the news it looked like a free for all.

 

[BobG]

i personally don't see anything wrong with looting food and stuf flike that. its going to become worthless and it probably arleady is. there are more important thigns to worry about atm.

Stealing produce and other perishable food to survive is understandable. I'm wondering how essential a TV in a city that has no electricity is, though.

Worse yet, last night the MSNBC Nerd with a Tie (Tucker Carlson, is that his name?) showed a video where a couple of police were right in the middle of the looters stealing shoes. When the reporter started interviewing them and they realized they were on TV, they tried to fake their way through it, saying they were looking for looters. Some day soon they're going walking out the door of the police station with their pink slip whacking themselves in the head. Doh!

 

[hitssquad]

~10,000 dead in New Orleans.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=al3MzfTCiUAc&refer=us

 

[Townsend]

So far I have heard that Israel and the UK will be giving the US some much needed support. I hope more countries will try to help too.

If anyone here is interested in helping out you can donate money to the red cross for disaster relief efforts. It wouldn't hurt to send a couple of bucks to help out...

www.redcross.org[/URL]

 

[hitssquad]

It wouldn't hurt to send a couple of bucks to help out.

That notion has been contested.

 

[Townsend]

That notion has been contested.

Sorry, I missed it. I just skipped to the end of the thread...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It wouldn't hurt to send a couple of bucks to help out.

That notion has been contested.

What are you talking about?

 

[Math Is Hard]

Does anyone know of this organization? I was thinking about sending them a little money if they are a good charity:

http://www.noahswish.org

 

[hypatia]

If you want to help the animals do it via the ASPCA, and ear mark dontaions Katrina animal aid.
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer

 

[Math Is Hard]

If you want to help the animals do it via the ASPCA, and ear mark dontaions Katrina animal aid.
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer

Thanks, Hypatia. I'm also planning to send a little extra to our local shelter because I know they will get neglected this month.

 

[εllipse]

Yikes, that would be the Grand Casino - built on a huge barge.

edit: apparently, it isn't the only one. HERE is the story (no good pics). I know from when I lived in the area that the laws of the state outlaw gambling, but had a loophole for offshore gambling. So none of the casinos are actually on dry-land. Some are on stilts, some, apparently, on barges.

Here's some pictures of the casinos: http://www.cnn.com/interactive/weather/0508/gallery.casinos.katrina/frameset.exclude.html


http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/weather/0508/gallery.casinos.katrina/images/gallery.barge.jpg

Yes, that used to be floating in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

[robphy]

Finally, a hi-res picture of New Orleans I was hoping for...
before: http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/katrina/new_orleans_msi_march9_2004_dg.jpg
after: http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/katrina/new_orleans_msi_aug31_2005_dg.jpg
(A few more at: http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/katrina/ )

Here is another before-and-after picture:
http://edc.usgs.gov/Katrina.html

From these images and some ground photos from http://www.nola.com/hurricane/photos/ , it looks like the streets around my apartment are not flooded. I hope that the structure survived the wind, the rain, and (now) the looters.

Here is a useful site announced on CNN: http://www.gnocdc.org/hurricane.html

 

[Moonbear]

robphy, where are you currently? Do you have a place to stay, or are you at some airport hotel?

 

[robphy]

robphy, where are you currently? Do you have a place to stay, or are you at some airport hotel?

I've been in New York since Friday, visiting my parents and attending a wedding. Needless to say, I'm glad that this wedding was scheduled when it was.

 

[hitssquad]

Needless to say, I'm glad that this wedding was scheduled when it was.

Why? An evacuation was announced and most people heeded it. It's not like you would be there if there you had not instead been attending a wedding.

 

[robphy]

Why? An evacuation was announced and most people heeded it. It's not like you would be there if there you had not instead been attending a wedding.

This is true. However, my circumstance got me out of the area before any panic and before any evacuations. (I didn't learn about the updated track to New Orleans until Saturday morning.) It's no fun trying to flee with thousands of other people... driving hundreds of miles in slow traffic, hoping to find a vacancy in a hotel.

 

[hitssquad]

Ok.

. . .

 

[Ivan Seeking]

This is true. However, my circumstance got me out of the area before any panic and before any evacuations. (I didn't learn about the updated track to New Orleans until Saturday morning.) It's no fun trying to flee with thousands of other people... driving hundreds of miles in slow traffic, hoping to find a vacancy in a hotel.

Some people report that they gave up trying to get out for fear of getting stuck on the road, or even a bridge, when the storm hit.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Did anyone else just hear the nurse at Charity hospital in NO, on CNN? OMG, the conditions are deteriorating beyond belief. There is no water or fresh linens so the patients are laying in their own feces. There is no medicine. The generators run intermittently and they have to manually bag some number of patients until power returns. Now the patients are becoming unsafe to even treat and the medical staff is getting sick.

These politicians need to get with it and bring in the troops. The response should be at least an order of magnitude larger than it is so far. This is absolutely crazy!

 

[Astronuc]

These politicians need to get with it and bring in the troops. The response should be at least an order of magnitude larger than it is so far. This is absolutely crazy!

Yeah!

And someone fired on one of the Chinooks, which was air-lifting people from the Superdome.

All my friends seem to be safe. But they have lost their homes, their jobs, and their bank accounts may be inaccessible because the bank's computers are off-line.