Just amazing what's going on only a few hours away from Houston in NO. As I've said before (and I am not making this remark lightly), this is as if we are witnessing one of those 'great floods' talked about in the Bible or in the Koran, I just can't fathom the idea of an entire city (as well as some places in Mississippi) being destroyed/flattened like that! It's almost as if the whole city was nuked. Anyways, I am predicting that NO residents and others will be recieving billions of dollars in aid as happened after 9/11, so I don't think there will be a shortage of generous Americans (hopefully other countries worldwide would step up also financially) paying up tons of money to help the recovery effort, the only thing remaining is to wait out the massive flooding and hopefully the water will recede sooner rather than later. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050830/lf_afp/usweatherbiloxiscene_050830192820 "This is our tsunami" marvels mayor after floods devour city BILOXI, United States (AFP) - "This is our tsunami" said A.J. Holloway, shellshocked mayor of Biloxi, Mississippi, after a storm surge churned up by deadly Hurricane Katrina swallowed up his city. The deadly tide up to 30 feet high (10 metres) surged into glitzy casinos, homes and plush hotels already shredded by the storm's wrath. Authorities said at least 50 people were known to have been killed in Biloxi, population 48,000, alone. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said that the death toll in wider Harrison County could be as high as 80. At least 30 of the dead were in a Biloxi apartment complex demolished by the storm. "We are still in the search and rescue mode," said Holloway, adding that it would be days before the full toll, in lives and economic losses, would be known. Rescue teams, desperate to reach stranded residents, were virtually paralyzed early Tuesday, the day after the storm hit, as communications systems were snapped and roads were swamped. Overwhelmed and exhausted local emergency teams awaited anxiously for reinforcements from the state and federal government. Along the seafront, waters destroyed businesses and homes, prompting Holloway's reference to the Asian tsunami disaster last year which killed an estimiated 217,000 people. Personal goods and treasures drifted along residential streets submerged in 1.5 meters (five feet) of water and debris poured out of businesses in an area known for its shrimping and fishing as well as its gaming industry. Five immense Gulf-side casinos in Biloxi, which pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the state economy, were wrecked, the mayor said. A massive "world's largest" guitar over the nearly-completed Hard Rock Casino was poignantly one of the only things left standing over an obliterated building. The Grand Casino Biloxi was washed across the highway. "It's something like I've never seen before," said Holloway, noting that the floodwaters surged higher than August 1969's Hurricane Camille, which wiped out the region taking 144 lives. Further west, along the coast in Gulfport, sailboats floated crazily in city streets where they had been swept by the storm and hundreds of homes, businesses and condominiums were destroyed. The south Mississippi Gulf Coast was one of the worst-hit areas by Katrina, which barrelled ashore on Monday packing winds of up to 150 miles an hour (240 kilometres). Officials said that a large chunk of the casualties were concentrated on Point Cadet, on the southeastern tip of the Biloxi peninsula, where a morgue was being set up to handle bodies. Rescuers warned however that many of the dead may have been washed away in the raging floodwaters. "We'll be trying to determine a total fatality count," weary assistant police chief Rodney McGilvary said early Tuesday, "if we ever have one." Mississippi was hit by the eye of the storm, which carries the most powerful gusts and rain.
That's the thing though, I heard the water won't recede like it did in Houston after Hurricane Allison. New Orleans is well below sea level and even before the hurricane hit the city had pumps the constantly pumped water out to keep the city from being flooded. The pumps are probably out with the power and levees are still failing. The water in N.O. won't just recede it will have to be manualy pumped out and slowly evaporate.
Some of the water will drain and i'm sure they are bringing in more big pumps to get the rest of the water out. No way it takes months to get the water out.
It wont take months but it will take a while. The city is walled in my levees so there's no natural way for the water to recede like it did in Houston during tropical storm Allison. Also, all the pumps are offline because there's no electricity. Also the pumps are built to keep new orleans stable so they dont have an influx of water. They're not designed to get rid of water on this kind of scale. With the current pump capacity, I have serious doubts about their ability to fix this quickly. First, they have to repair the levee that blew open just to stop water from flowing in from the lake. Then they have to get the pumps operating and then they have to get new temporary ones to help speed it up. This is going to be a monumental task and I hope everyone here can do even a little bit to help out whether it be with money or other types of support.
N.O. may have to adapt. . .be like that italian city with the barber poles uh m . . .Venice Rocket RIver I am truly sorry for the city and the residence
I have heard that the pumps actually pump the water into Lake Pontchartrain. Since the levee is broken, if you pump the water out, it will just flow back into the city.
the way I understood the guy from the Corp of Engineers, they first have to repair the levees to stop the water from coming in, then they will open a hole at a different point that is higher than the lake level, then when the water has drained off to about 2 feet deep they can get the pumps online to help get the rest out. He didnt sound optomistic about getting this done anytime real soon. NO is screwed....it could really take a month or more. One of the disadvantages of having a city surrounded by water and being lower than the surrounding water.
It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us. -- Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004 http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002331.html I'm not trying to point blame, but it is something to think about. I have a lot of family/friends in the New Orleans area. It's real rough to see the damage - most of those family members are screwed. EDIT: Wow. Congress didn't just approve the cuts, they increased them. Referring to the Louisiana Army Corps of Engineers budget: Quoted rather presciently is Democratic senator Mary Landrieu: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_20050606/ai_n14657367
I think the comparison to the Tsunami is apt and I'm taking the experience I've got from working on tsunami relief to apply that to helping out the victims of this disaster. I posted this list of suggestions in the Hangout's Hurricane Katrina thread but I hope the Mods don't mind me repeating this because I think its very important to know that there are things we can do right now to help. 1. Give money to the Red Cross, Salvation Army and other accredited relief organizations. The biggest need right now is for cash for these organizations to support their relief efforts. When giving money though make sure its going to an accredited organization. Unfortunately during 9/11 and the Asian Tsunamis there were a lot of scams of people looking to make a quick buck off of the disasters. 2.Volunteer at your local Red Cross, Salvation Army, Church or other charitable organization. Relief organizations are sending their trained staff out to help in the disaster area and will need other people to help out with their local day to day functions and also handling the support effort of getting aid from the local level to the disaster area. Volunteers will be needed to everything from answering phones, filing paperwork and loading relief supplies. 4. Donate blood. We still don't know the extent of casualties and injuries but more than likely in the disaster areas there will be a need for blood and blood products. Further to respond to the disaster local blood banks will be sending blood to the disaster area and will need new donations to replenish their supplies. 4. Clothes and furniture. A lot of people have lost everything and will need to replace their belongings. In a disaster like this in the US its not a problem to get things like clothes, furniture and other goods to the people there. This wasn't the case with the Asian Tsunamis where it was impractical to get clothes over to Asia. When donating clothes be considerate and make sure the clothes you donate is clean, in decent condition and tasteful. DON'T LOOK AT THIS AS THE OPPURTUNITY TO GET RID OF THOSE SHOES WITH HOLES IN THE SOLES OR THE "I'M WITH STUPID" SHIRT YOU THOUGHT WAS REALLY COOL IN 8TH GRADE. 5. Food and Medicine. Generally relief groups don't like to accept these because it is difficult to transport, difficult to store, its difficult to verify quality and also chaotic trying to organize a whole bunch of different types of food and medicine. With a disaster like this in the US and since most Clutchfans are close to the disaster site it might not be practical. If you are going to donate food and medicine stick to canned or dried goods that can be easy to store and transport. For medicines nothing prescription but things like aspirin and cold and flu. Since this is the gulf coast Hydrocortisone and anti-histamines might be helpful to deal with bug bites and allergic reactions. Besides medicine band aids and other first aid material are good to donate. Check with local relief organizations to see what they will accept. LIKE CLOTHES DON'T CONSIDER THIS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET RID OF THAT CAN OF BEETS THAT YOU HATE OR THE VIENNA SAUSAGES THAT HAVE BEEN IN THE BACK OF YOUR PANTRY FOR THE PAST YEAR. 6. Cleaning supplies. One of the biggest problems with water damage is the clean up and as soon as the water's recede there will be a huge need for bleach and mops. 7. Transportation. With any massive relief effort transportation is a big problem and relief organizations can use the help with providing trucks and drivers to get supplies to the disaster area. 8. An attentive ear.With any big disaster there's going to be a lot of mental health issues. While most of us aren't mental health professionals we can all help people coping with the aftermath by being willing to listen to people recovering from the disaster. If you know someone in the affected area take time out to see how they're doing. This will be more important in the weeks and months to follow as the initial shock of the disaster wears off and despair sinks in. 9. Visit the area and spend money there. This is obviously something that shouldn't be done now and unless you're a trained rescue/relief worker or don't have a very important reason to be there don't go until it has been deemed safe and recovery is well on its way! One problem that often happens with disasters is that people flood into the affected area either out of a well meaning desire to help or to just look. These areas are still very dangerous and the last thing rescue / relief personel need is to be worrying about visitors getting in trouble or getting in the way of recovery efforts. After recovery happens though disasters often get forgotten once the TV cameras leave and within a month or so most people forget about them. The problem though with any big disaster is that there's a very heavy economic burden and with places like the New Orleans, Biloxi and Mobile tourism is very important. IF TOURISTS STAY AWAY THESE PLACES WILL NEVER RECOVER! That was the biggest thing that I heard from people in Thailand recovering from the Tsunami and it will probably be one of the biggest needs that New Orleans and the Gulf Coast will need a few months from now. Right now we're all shocked by what we're seeing in New Orleans but we can all do something now and in the future to help these people recover.
drain where? they're below sea level. the lake is literally higher than they are. they're in a bowl. the water in the city is rising to meet the level of water in the lake. it will take months.
I never thought I would see anything like this in this country. I thought our technology would prevent a disaster of this magnitude. Its really an eye-opening event.
Exactly right. The city is already below sea level and basically under water and still filling up. First, they'll have to fix the spots that are leaking and to do that they probably need electricity restored to the area. Then they have to fix the pumps if not install more and/or new ones. Restoring power alone I heard could take months so as said before to get rid of the water in the city is going to take a while, months.
Just trying to do what I can. I forgot to add two more items to the list: Toys and Diapers Now that they're moving refugees to the Astrodome this would be a good chance to deliver many of thse items in person.
I am following closely the companies/businesses that are donating the most to this effort, and I hope Americans are picky about where they spend their dollars to try and 'reward' those who who help out and punish those that don't.
Exactly! Nothing stands as an obstacle in the face of Mother Nature, we're weak, weak creatures, and this is a good reminder that we are not invincible, no matter how much technology or military power or wealth we accumulate...we are at the mercy of nature's wrath.
Sishir Chang, I want to copy this post and e-mail it to some people I know. I wanted to get your permission before I did it. Would that be okay with you? I figure the more people that see this, the better.
