Surviving Hurricane Katrina - My Story

[TRCSF]

Same here. I was so very, very touched to hear the list of countries who offered to send us help in various forms.

I heard (on the radio) that initially president Bush had said "thanks but, no thanks", but has now reconsidered.

Yeah, that was a real flip flop.

They said they're now accepting international aid, but the last I heard was that those big Canadian water purifiers will still being held up at the border.

 

[BobG]

Bush warned them all to evacuate, that's the best he can do, now unless he had some superhuman powers that consist of hi,m being to personally go to every hme and take the people away under his arms, they all had fair warning... those who decided to stay... r the verey few maybe 1 or 2% that really COULDn't make it out.. i have sympathy for them... but the rest of them made a really huge mistake, and they should only blame themselves, and stop putting their faults on everyone else.

I think your 1 or 2% estimate is low.

Here's a link to the poverty level, by neighborhood, in New Orleans: http://www.gnocdc.org/mapping/docs/Poverty.pdf

Here's a link to the age and household makeup in New Orleans: http://neworleans.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm.
11.69% are over 65 with 5.7% over 75. 14.2% are single mothers with kids under 18, a group that has a strong tendency towards financial instability.

This link shows a satellite image of New Orleans after the flood: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/hurricanes/interactive/fullpage.nola.flood/katrina.html%20

Saying "Evacuate" isn't the same as having a plan for evacuation. The elderly and single mothers with children aren't going to cover very miles per day walking. At best, they might reach a different part of the city, where they then need to find shelter in the middle of a storm, which is why the Superdome was opened as a shelter - it's pretty much recognized that evacuation isn't an option for many.

New Orleans provides some pretty good insight into how far the Department of Homeland Defense has progressed since its creation. This was an ideal first test - hurricanes provide prior warning and are a common enough event that comprehensive contingency plans can be developed ahead of time. They definitely need some improvements in their plans.

 

[rachmaninoff]

Edit: There's a great article today in the New York Times: New Orleans Mayor,in Tears, Blasts Washington's Response.

...

Same here. I was so very, very touched to hear the list of countries who offered to send us help in various forms.

I heard (on the radio) that initially president Bush had said "thanks but, no thanks", but has now reconsidered.

So by accepting foreign help he implies that vital aid is necessary (or very helpful), yet he initally turns it down? Arrogance, or just being a moron?

New Orleans provides some pretty good insight into how far the Department of Homeland Defense has progressed since its creation. This was an ideal first test - hurricanes provide prior warning and are a common enough event that comprehensive contingency plans can be developed ahead of time. They definitely need some improvements in their plans.

Quite true. "Some improvments" might be an understatement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050902/ap_on_go_pr_wh/katrina_washington_15

WASHINGTON _ - Congress moved Friday to send a $10.5 billion down payment for immediate rescue and relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina's sweep across the nation's Gulf coast, amid complaints that the government's response has been inadequate.

The House convened early in the afternoon to pass the emergency package after the Senate approved it Thursday night. President Bush was expected to sign it later Friday.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said the bill was only the first step toward a "comprehensive, long-term response to the Katrina disaster."...

"Make no mistake, this $10.5 billion is initial relief," DeLay said

"Initial relief" from congress - on day 5.

 

[russ_watters]

Well I have not seen or heard official government words, but
Troops deployed in anarchic New Orleans with shoot to kill orders
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050902/ts_alt_afp/usweather_050902082649

Just a general FYI for those upset about this, "shoot to kill" were words written by the reporter who wrote the story, not the government officials quoted in it. The aricle does not provide any specifics on how the troops have been ordered to conduct themselves.

 

[russ_watters]

No kidding. Just today and a photo op in front of helicopters he said he looked forward to rebuilding Trent Lott's house and how awesome it will be to sit on the front porch.

Do you have a link to that quote?

 

[robphy]

Just word on "Mandatory Evacuations" in New Orleans...
we've been told repeatedly [even as recently as mid August] that a Mandatory Evacuation would never be declared in New Orleans because of the inability to evacuate a signficant portion of the population (about 100,000) who don't have the means to do so. I was of course stunned when I heard that the usual Voluntary Evacuation was upgraded to Mandatory.

As posted earlier, detailed aerial photos are at
http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/katrina/ (more are available now)

Here is a full transcript of Mayor Nagin's WWL radio interview.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/nagin.transcript/index.html
(There is a link to the audio, which carries a lot more emotion than the printed text.)

 

[TRCSF]

Do you have a link to that quote?

www.cnn.com

It was under latest video. "Order Will Be Restored," they may have moved it.

If anybody forgets who Trent Lott is, he was the senator who got in hot water after saying the country would be a better place if white supremacist Strom Thurmond had been elected president.

 

[Kalimaa23]

I've been watching the news in horror all day. I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the people of Louisianna, Mississipi and anyone else affected by this tragedy.

The desperate call for aid from the New Orleans mayor was truly heartbreaking. I sincerely hope that the US authorities will soon get their act together and do their best to aid those in need.

I get the impression that today the rest of the world finally grasped the full magnitude of this disaster. The US has always been ready to help countries in need, now is the time to return to favour. The Belgian foreign minister has just declared that Belgium will be deploying a part of the fast intervention force of the Belgian Army, to aid with logistics and medical care. Also, it has been decided that part of the Belgian fuel reserves will be shipped to the US to aid the resulting energy crisis.

Let's just hope that those poor folks over there will get the help they need. Soon.

 

[russ_watters]

"Initial relief" from congress - on day 5.

You expected...what? 5 days for Congress to respond is like lightning. That has nothing to do with, for example, the national guard troops who were on the ground within a day.

 

[russ_watters]

www.cnn.com

It was under latest video. "Order Will Be Restored," they may have moved it.

Thank you. Such things sound a lot different when taken in context.

 

[Evo]

I've been watching the news in horror all day. I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the people of Louisianna, Mississipi and anyone else affected by this tragedy.

The desperate call for aid from the New Orleans mayor was truly heartbreaking. I sincerely hope that the US authorities will soon get their act together and do their best to aid those in need.

I get the impression that today the rest of the world finally grasped the full magnitude of this disaster. The US has always been ready to help countries in need, now is the time to return to favour. The Belgian foreign minister has just declared that Belgium will be deploying a part of the fast intervention force of the Belgian Army, to aid with logistics and medical care. Also, it has been decided that part of the Belgian fuel reserves will be shipped to the US to aid the resulting energy crisis.

Let's just hope that those poor folks over there will get the help they need. Soon.

It's really heartwarming to see other countries coming to our aid.

 

[Astronuc]

RMS Expects Economic Loss to Exceed $100 Billion
from Hurricane Katrina and the Great New Orleans Flood
from http://www.rms.com/NewsPress/PR_090205_HUKatrina.asp

Initial Hurricane Storm Surge Leads to Second Flooding Catastrophe When Levees are Breached in New Orleans

Newark, Calif. – September 2, 2005 – Risk Management Solutions today announced that the economic loss from Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding in New Orleans is expected to exceed $100 billion. Losses are resulting from two separate catastrophic events: first, the landfall of Hurricane Katrina in southeast Louisiana and coastal Mississippi on August 29 causing extensive wind and coastal surge damage; and second, the Great New Orleans Flood which has resulted from failure of the levee systems that protect New Orleans. At least 50% of total economic loss is expected to come from flooding in New Orleans, in addition to hurricane losses from wind and coastal surge, infrastructure damage, and indirect economic impacts. RMS issued preliminary insured loss estimates of up to $25 billion on Monday for Hurricane Katrina, prior to evidence of levee failure and flooding in New Orleans that was reported on Tuesday, August 30.

The 2005 Great New Orleans Flood has developed into the most damaging flood in U.S. history. RMS currently estimates that at least 150,000 properties have been flooded, surpassing the previous U.S. record from flooding and levee failures on the Lower Mississippi river in 1927, which inundated 137,000 properties. Hurricanes of category 4 or 5 strength are well-understood to occur in this region of the country, yet the levee system in New Orleans was designed only to protect against a category 3 strength storm. The insufficient level of flood protection offered by the city’s levees has been exacerbated by shortcomings in preparedness.

According to the 2005 RMS® U.S. Industry Exposure Database, insured value in Orleans parish alone is nearly $40 billion, and total value in the 7 parishes surrounding the city is over $110 billion. This property is not only susceptible to wind damage, but severe flooding that could result from storm surge breaching the levees that surround New Orleans.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earlier this morning - before the flood damage was assessed

RMS Increases Insured Loss Estimate for Hurricane Katrina to $20-$35 Billion
Insured Losses from Levee Breaks in New Orleans Still Under Evaluation

Newark, Calif. – September 2, 2005 – Estimated insured losses from Hurricane Katrina’s direct impact have increased to $20-$35 billion, as announced by today Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the world’s leading provider of products and services for the management of catastrophe risk.

On August 29, the day of Katrina's landfall, RMS was projecting $10-25, but that was before New Orleans flooded.

August 26, 2005 - Risk Management Solutions (RMS), a provider of products and services for the management of catastrophe risk, said that insured losses from Hurricane Katrina's first landfall in the U.S. are likely to range from $1 to $2 billion, based on current information on landfall location and wind speeds. Additional losses are expected from Katrina's second landfall, which is forecast to occur on Monday, August 29.

Well we will just have to wait and see, and that will take a year or more, and that assumes no other hurricane comes along.

 

[meteor]

I don't want to make fun of this tragedy at all, but as a curious note, is possible to explore the state of New Orleans after the hurricane in Google maps
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=New+Orleans&t=e

The Superdome can be seen without roof

 

[robphy]

I don't want to make fun of this tragedy at all, but as a curious note, is possible to explore the state of New Orleans after the hurricane in Google maps
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=New+Orleans&t=e

The Superdome can be seen without roof

These are also useful to folks who want to see how badly the flooding affected their dwellings. I'm glad that Google included these recent photos in their nifty interface. One can more easily do a "before and after" comparison of a specific street address [...well, almost, there seems to be a slight alignment problem].

Here is a more detailed view of the Superdome:
http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/katrina/new_orleans_pshsuperdome_aug31_05_dg.jpg as part of
http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/katrina/
and even more detail with
http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/storms/katrina/24429370.jpg as part of
http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

5 days for Congress to respond is like lightning.

Somewhere I heard a rebuttal to this argument, but I haven't been able to verify the truth of it. Perhaps someone can google it better than I did. The rebuttal is that Congress convened in 24 hours in the case of Terry Schiavo.

 

[Maxwell]

What are they going to do about the diseases that are going to run rampant with all of the dead bodies sitting in water for so long? Won't the people staying around town become infected with something?

I haven't really heard much mention of the disease/health aspect of this aftermath. But then again, I'm no expert on the spread of diseases or anything.

 

[BobG]

Somewhere I heard a rebuttal to this argument, but I haven't been able to verify the truth of it. Perhaps someone can google it better than I did. The rebuttal is that Congress convened in 24 hours in the case of Terry Schiavo.

I'm not sure it was that quick, unless they're pegging some small, very specific point in the process.

The US Supreme Court denied a hearing about 11:00 on a Friday night and Congress returned from Easter recess, met and passed their Schiavo bill on Sunday. Bush rushed back to DC from Texas and signed the bill a little after Midnight, in the early hours of Monday. So, it took a little over 48 hours to actually pass legislation for Schiavo.

 

[dduardo]

Why did the government wait until after the storm to get mobilized? They knew this storm was going to be catastrophic. They could have atleast stationed the national guard and others close enough to the affected areas for imediate action. They could have also prepared ahead of time a method to blockade any broken levees.

I'm sure the terrorists are taking note of what just happened and how unprepared Americans are.

 

[BobG]

Why did the government wait until after the storm to get mobilized? They knew this storm was going to be catastrophic. They could have atleast stationed the national guard and others close enough to the affected areas for imediate action. They could have also prepared ahead of time a method to blockade any broken levees.

I'm sure the terrorists are taking note of what just happened and how unprepared Americans are.

If only the federal government could respond as rapidly as the Katrina scammers.

 

[arildno]

If only the federal government could respond as rapidly as the Katrina scammers.

Another matter:
If all the swarming journalist teams yapping about in runt had actually been decent individuals and put their personal efforts into actually providing help, rather than being mere observers, quite a few human lives would have been saved.

 

[TRCSF]

Another matter:
If all the swarming journalist teams yapping about in runt had actually been decent individuals and put their personal efforts into actually providing help, rather than being mere observers, quite a few human lives would have been saved.

There have been relatively few journalists in New Orleans. That's why you keep seeing the same footage over and over.

Those who are there have been doing a remarkable job. They've been pulling people out of the water, directing Coast Guard to people who remain trapped, sharing their own bottled water, etc. as well as reporting the crisis to the country at large. Which is a very important duty.

 

[TRCSF]

Somewhere I heard a rebuttal to this argument, but I haven't been able to verify the truth of it. Perhaps someone can google it better than I did. The rebuttal is that Congress convened in 24 hours in the case of Terry Schiavo.

Yes, Bush pulled Congress back in the middle of the night on a Sunday for this one brain dead woman.

The argument that they acted quickly is nonsense.

 

[Astronuc]

Another matter:
If all the swarming journalist teams yapping about in runt had actually been decent individuals and put their personal efforts into actually providing help, rather than being mere observers, quite a few human lives would have been saved.

I agree. In a time of disaster, how can journalists get themselves, their support (camera man and anyone else) and their equipment on site, and they can't get water and medicine there. If the news organizations can put journalists on the ground then they and others need to be sending aid.

 

[arildno]

There have been relatively few journalists in New Orleans. That's why you keep seeing the same footage over and over.

Those who are there have been doing a remarkable job. They've been pulling people out of the water, directing Coast Guard to people who remain trapped, sharing their own bottled water, etc. as well as reporting the crisis to the country at large. Which is a very important duty.

If this is true (and I see no reason why you should lie about that), then it is, unfortunately, a relatively rare occurrence. (Kudos to those journalists who saw what was important!)

Recently, we had a shipwreck in one of the Norwegian fjords; the major newspapers were right there flying over the site OBSTRUCTING the helicopter personell from the salvaging operations. The journalists' choppers were asked to leave the site; they didn't bother to.

Unfortunately, this type of behaviour is far too common.

 

[hypatia]

When you consider the size{scope} of this event, I have heard it would be the same if half the UK were brought down to ruins,and the other half submerged underwater. Where do you go first with aid? Who would get saved first?
Being that we still had 49 states up and running, I still say there was no excuse for not getting aid into hot spots sooner then 4 to 5 days.
There are still some areas not getting federal help with food or water, but the private sector has kicked in, with people driving in with car/truck loads of supplies.

 

[arildno]

Gays defy Katrina, and celebrate "Southern Decadence" all the same

A staunch group of probably rather disheveled revellers chose to march up Bourbon Street, refusing to accept that the annual event "Southern Decadence" understandably was canceled by the organizers.
http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/09/090505nola.htm

Earlier, an evalengical group blamed gays for the destruction of New Orleans:
http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/08/083105nola.htm

 

[TRCSF]

When you consider the size{scope} of this event, I have heard it would be the same if half the UK were brought down to ruins,and the other half submerged underwater. Where do you go first with aid? Who would get saved first?
Being that we still had 49 states up and running, I still say there was no excuse for not getting aid into hot spots sooner then 4 to 5 days.
There are still some areas not getting federal help with food or water, but the private sector has kicked in, with people driving in with car/truck loads of supplies.

If it happened to the UK, they'd get help from the continent.

With Katrina. foreign countries offered assistance and said they could have relief teams on site by wednesday. Ironically, this was before most U.S. support got in. Foriegn relief is still being held up.

 

[TRCSF]

Earlier, an evalengical group blamed gays for the destruction of New Orleans:
http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/08/083105nola.htm

Yeah, I've seen evangelicals blaming gays and Girls-Gone-Wild videos. Pretty funny, the closest these people ever got to New Orleans was by watching their hidden soft-core porn stash.

 

[hitssquad]

50,000 predicted dead in New Orleans

Katrina death toll predicted to rise to over 1000.
http://www.thederrick.com/stories/08312005-3006.shtml

Death toll prediction raised by Nagin to 50,000, for New Orleans alone:
chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3339558

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said tens of thousands of people may have died.

If roughly 80 percent of the city's 500,000 residents evacuated before the storm and about 50,000 got to shelters, there still could be another 50,000 people unaccounted for, he said.

"You do the math, man," Nagin said on CNN.

 

[Astronuc]

Six days after Hurricane Katrina -

http://www.overspun.com/video/MTP.AaronBroussardX.wmv - It's very disturbing.

Aaron Broussard is President of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans. According to the interview, he and his people are trying their best to recover. FEMA seems to be obstructing their work, or at least preventing aid from reaching them! I hope some can explain why.

Even Newt Gingrich is criticizing the Bush administration, particularly FEMA management. "I think it puts into question all of the Homeland Security and Northern Command planning for the last four years, because if we can't respond faster than this to an event we saw coming across the Gulf for days, then why do we think we're prepared to respond to a nuclear or biological attack?" said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Sep 2).