New Orleans and Katrina...

[2andfrom]

Thoughts. best wishes--may you come out the other side OK--Mother Nature can be a cruel teacher--we get "nasties" like this sometimes but not of this magnitude.
This storm is in physical dimension bigger than my country--be safe.

[PFire23]

My thoughts and prayers are with all who are in the path of Katrina, particularly those in New Orleans. It is one city that I've always wanted to visit and I'm praying that things will not come to be as bad as they say they will be.

May all the Brothers and Sisters down there be safe during this thing.

[KaTrinaTrainer]

To all those who will leave their families to ride this storm without your presence, may God be with you and your families. Thanks to the families who give up their heroes so they may help those who will not be able to help themselves. Best of luck to you and your families.

A special thought goes out to those working the boards! As you dispatch your resources may you have the endurance and tolerance of those in the field who have no clue just what you have been facing and will continue to deal with until the last person returns home! You are the backbone of emergency services, without you calm reassuring voice our job in the field becomes more complex. Remember that one day they will put a radio in the field with a “Shock button” on it, so you might zap those who don’t have a clue!

Godspeed to all!

Katrina
South Dakota

[Jay911]

Been trying to watch the coverage on TV and keeping an eye on weather details on the TAMU weather page ( http://tinyurl.com/djg64 ) - KNEW seems to be stuck at 0553 CDT, and KGPT is not reporting at all.

Everybody hang tough and stay as dry as possible!

[WTFD10]

Bulletin - EAS Activation Requested
Tornado Warning
National Weather Service New Orleans LA 836 AM CDT Mon Aug 29 2005

The National Weather Service In New Orleans Has Issued A

* Tornado Warning For Catastrophic Winds

* Until 900 AM CDT

* At 832 AM CDT...Many Reports Are Coming In Stating Total Structural Failure In The New Orleans Metro Area.

Seek Substantial Cover Now!!! This Is A Life-threatening Situation.

A Tornado Watch Remains In Effect Until Noon CDT Monday For Southeast Louisiana And Southern Mississippi.

[RspctFrmCalgary]

I'm watching on CNN .... the worst of Katrina is hitting New Orleans now.

A massive piece of the Superdome roof has peeled away.

Thank goodness there has been no report of loss of life.

Hope they hang in there safely.

[SteveDude]

I am watching on CNN now .... take care the thoughts and Prayers of the UK are with you.

[5pts384]

Our prayers are with you as katrina works her way north. We had been in the original path and it would have taken our fire house out We park our trucks in a nearby pasture when a hurricane comes our way

[doughesson]

My sister had come up from NOLA last week for a visit to the parents in Memphis and was preparing to head back Saturday AM when the voluntary evacuations started.
She immediately got on the phone calling friends and advising them that Memphis usually only gets the rain out portion of hurricanes and there is room up here at family homes.
I hate working in heavy rain but have done so in the Navy(Hurricane Frederick-1985)and on the river when a hurricane made its way up the Mississippi in 95.
I feel for those that have to deal with Katrina and the aftermath.Here's hoping that there isn't more loss of life(Fox reported earlier that a collapse building may have trapped people)

[RyanEMVFD]

Stay safe guys. Texas is ready to render aid if needed.

I heard the Saints are marching out.

[EFD840]

Stay safe everyone, this one sounds like it is really bad.

My wife works for Alabama's Department of Conservation. According to her, Mobile's getting slammed right now - one of their crews just made a rescue of a pregnant woman and five kids. During the grab, the crew literally saw their tow vehicle (Chevy Suburban) and boat trailer simply wash away.

If it is that bad in Mobile, I hate to think about Miss. and La.

[Lewiston2FF]

To all in the path of this hurricane, take care and stay safe. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. To all of us that may need to respond to damage from this storm, stay safe out there.

[len1582]

Best of luck to everyone in Katrinas path, stay safe and healthy.
While disasters bring out the best in us, it also brings out the worst. I just saw on the news, footage of about a dozen s(umbags looting damaged stores. These are the people that deserve to be injured,not the innocent.

[Sugarfoot]

other news

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/


http://www.wwltv.com/

[Diane E]

http://www.redcross.org/

[Dave404]

Trying to watch on cnn (holy crappy coverage) - hope everyone stays safe - lots of reports of damage.

[StayBack500FT]

Thoughts and prayers go out to all in the Gulf Coast area.

[dmleblanc]

I find it unbelievable that the gov't can't assist all these people out of New Orleans and put them the the dome, but we have all this money to be spending in other countries.



RTB-FTM

They did put people in the Dome, nearly 30,000 of them. The Superdome was intended as a shelter of last resort....the entire city was under a mandatory evacuation. Some people who either did not have the means to get out of town or waited too late, did take shelter in the Dome (with National Guard troops on duty to prevent all the theft that took place last time they did it )

Regarding the one-way traffic on the Interstate....this was a plan called "Contraflow" which was devised a few years ago after a poorly executed hurricane evacuation (not nearly of the magnitude of this one). It has been used only once previously, with disappointing results. They worked out the bugs and by all accounts it worked surprisingly well this time. Contraflow was declared at 4:00 pm on Saturday and was in effect for 24 hours.

Well, it's been an interesting weekend, to say the least. Paincourtville Fire Department only responded to one hurricane-related incident, which was an MVA involving vehicles evacuating through our area (the evening before the storm). Interesting response in that we literally responded approx. 8 miles in the opposing lane due to bumper to bumper traffic at a standstill on Hwy. 1. Fortunately no serious injuries, as the traffic wasn't going fast enough for any real damage.

Myself, I rode out the storm at my parent's house, which is a bit sturdier than mine. Lost power about 0400 this morning, was still out when I left for work this evening. Assumption Parish appears to have gotten off with minimal damage, from what I observed, thanks to Katrina's last-minute shift to the east.

I'm actually glad to be back at work, because here is power, air conditioning, and TV, none of which we have at home at the moment.

New Orleans and surrounding suburbs fared badly, but not the cataclysm that was predicted. Widespread flooding due to storm surge, and there have been reports all day of victims on the roofs of their houses waiting for rescue (this in areas where mandatory evacucations were ordered). No casualty reports as of yet....there has been some chatter on the radio about bodies floating in New Orleans, but no confirmation on that....lots of people stranded in neighborhoods and homes, but no information beyond that. I saw news video of some homes burning that could not be reached due to the flooding.

The mayor of Kenner (a New Orleans suburb) reported that 100% of the homes in Kenner sustained some kind of damage.

Overall, most folks took the evacuation order very seriously. Paincourtville had very heavy traffic all day on Hwy. 1, Hwy. 308, and Hwy. 70, sometimes at a standstill. Most of our traffic was people evacuating from the coastal areas of Lafourche and Terrebone parishes...most of the New Orleans evacuees were on I-10.

Will keep you posted on casualty figures and the like when they come available.

[firenresq77]

Glad to hear you're OK, Dwayne.......... Good luck with everything down there and keep us posted!!

[NJFFSA16]

We've only begun to see the horrors left behind by this storm. Incoming video from the areas affected is hard to watch. This disaster may be well beyond the scope of comprehension.

God bless all those affected...and those who come to their aid!

NJ