Katrina

[Ishie]

Thank you for the information; that is a rare bit of good news. I am at a loss to even begin to explain my feelings seeing the devastation.

Oh, and another "me too" on text messages. They were the only way I was able to reach my family on Tuesday. Phones were out of the question, even trying to call a cell from a cell.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I heard of some flooding in Mandeville immediately north of the Lake, but for the most part, they just got downed trees and power lines. I'm pretty sure the North Shore will be up and running within a week or two, it'll probably end up being the staging ground for crews cleaning up Metro New Orleans.

 

[PADI Knight]

While I feel for all those poor folks down there going through this. I wonder if, after everything is taken care of, the government will have the resources to rebuild New Orleans as it was. I mean the majority of the people at the Superdome were elderly and poor to begin with. Will they have the resources to rebuild? I doubt that they will. The cost in government aid needed as I'm sure most everything that is flooded now will have to be torn down as the repairs to bring most of the homes to current building codes will be staggering.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

For what its worth, the 17th St Levy has failed before, during Betsy. It was rebuilt then, course, the flooding wasn't nearly as extensive.

 

[H2Andy]

more from New Orleans:

The death toll from Hurricane Katrina could reach into the thousands.

The frightening estimate came as desperation deepened in the city, with gunfire crackling sporadically and looters by the hundreds roaming the streets and ransacking tiny shops and big-box stores alike with seeming impunity.

With most of the city under water, Army engineers struggled to plug New Orleans' breached levees with giant sandbags and concrete barriers, and authorities drew up plans to clear out the tens of thousands of people left in the Big Easy and practically abandon the below-sea-level city.

As fires burned from broken natural-gas mains, the skies above the city buzzed with National Guard and Coast Guard frantically dropping baskets to roofs where victims had been stranded since the storm roared in with a 145-mph fury Monday. Atop one apartment building, two children held up a giant sign scrawled with the words: "Help us!"

Looters used garbage cans and inflatable mattresses to float away with food, blue jeans, tennis shoes, TV sets — even guns. Outside one pharmacy, thieves commandeered a forklift and used it to push up the storm shutters and break through the glass.

Police said their first priority remained saving lives, and mostly just stood by and watched. On Tuesday, an officer who tried to intervene was shot in the head and critically wounded.

The floodwaters streamed into the city's streets from two levee breaks near Lake Pontchartrain a day after New Orleans thought it had escaped catastrophic damage from Katrina. The floodwaters covered 80 percent of the city, in some areas 20 feet deep, in a reddish-brown soup of sewage, gasoline and garbage.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20050831/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina_48

 

[jonnythan]

I actually can't think of any way this could have been any worse.

Looks like pretty much everything my family owned is 100% wiped out.

 

[dlndavid]

I am so sorry and sad for all the losses caused by Katrina, what can I say. Watching the aftermath on the news is getting very depressing. I can't even imagine being a local victim. All I can say is, everyone, please donate money to a reputable disaster recovery agency, they need our help. Our hopes and prayers are with you all.
David & Francine

 

[H2Andy]

i just heard from my sister. they are working on La Place to turn it into a staging
area to assist New Orleans... that means they'll have water and eletricity in
La Place within the next 2 days.

they estimate that it will take at least 30 days to pump the water out of New Orleans,
if all goes well.

 

[CBulla]

Looting TV's?? Thats just asinine! I could see bangin a store door down and hitting up the food section for canned goods and water, perhaps some changes of clothes that aren't soaked through (or shoes falling apart from being in water for a long period of time leading to this wonderful skin rot) but beyond that.... Guns and ammo.. kinda depends. I can confirm that without a doubt my rifle was locked and loaded till we regained power after Charlie and I came real close to putting a heavy round into two folks who did not belong and I came across while doing a security walk around of the residences. Elbows and flailing feet are all that I saw as they took off running into the dark when cycled a round out... course I didn't sleep the next two nights after that from the paranoia that these or others would be willing to come back to see what I was guarding so dilligently.... my families safety mostly.

For those wondering what should you have? Think camping with some extra's for an extended stay. A chainsaw, plenty of bar/chain oil and mix oil for the gas. I also recommend a propane grill for simple cooking. We have a small propane Forman grill that was the neighborhood savior as we had plenty of gas and a good cooking surface. We provided everything from hot water for tea and instant coffee to cooking up pounds of thawing burgers, steaks, lobster tails, etc., that neighbors were brining over since we were the only ones with a 'fridge hooked up to a generator. We made a campfire at night, hung out as neighbors and friends, looked up at the night skies & stars and just made the best out of the whole situation.

One thing I'm really annoyed by is the folks who are getting 'interviewed' for the news. One woman was hollering at the camera "when the hurricanes hit Florida, the tsunami's hit other countries, the aid came-a-runnin and everyone was taken care of.. but we's in our own town and if I die here its cause the state of Louisiana didn't care about us enough to help us live!" I wonder where else in her life she plays this 'poor me' victim role instead of being happy she lived and wondering what she can do to make the situation better for her and others around her?

I am, truely sorry for the great amount of loss both in life and housing. I can't say to much about it since the place where these folks have chosen to live, like where I live, is like playing roulette - sooner or later its going to be your number that the ball drops on. Thats the gamble........

I wonder if NO will be rebuilt or drained if it ends up almost completely under water?

 

[Rick Murchison]

While I feel for all those poor folks down there going through this. I wonder if, after everything is taken care of, the government will have the resources to rebuild New Orleans as it was. I mean the majority of the people at the Superdome were elderly and poor to begin with. Will they have the resources to rebuild? I doubt that they will. The cost in government aid needed as I'm sure most everything that is flooded now will have to be torn down as the repairs to bring most of the homes to current building codes will be staggering.

"The government" will not rebuild New Orleans. Private businesses and individual people will do that. "The government" - meaning us taxpayers - will help, but the majority of the funding will come from private insurance and other non-government sources.
What we need the government for is security - probably martial law to maintain order and provide emergancy services. Beyond that, one of the biggest problems in rebuilding will be getting "the government" out of the way
Rick