New Orleans and Katrina...

[brianlowry]

Working for EMA here locally and also a FF/EMT with advanced water rescue training, I urge everyone to contact your State EMA office to see if FEMA is seeking volunteer responders. For states like Kentucky, we have no USAR team that goes to disasters like this, but I have heard that there are crews from Louisville FDs heading down to New Orleans soon. These USAR guys will need some relief soon, there is going to be an unbelieveable amount of recovery to take place. We already have 2 of our senior Emergency Managers down there as we were preparing for flooding here from the aftermath of Katrina. There is word that more state level EMA personnel will be heading down as well.

For those who won't be going down to assist (as I probably will not), remember how important the cash donations to the American Red Cross will be. (Even the little bit donated by underpaid civil servants)
There is an unthinkable amount of death and destruction from this, but those that survive and have nothing left will benefit from the donations.

Pray for those who can't help everyone that they want to.

[Sugarfoot]

This was just posted on wwltv


****ALL RESIDENTS ON THE EAST BANK OF ORLEANS AND JEFFERSON REMAINING IN THE METRO AREA ARE BEING TOLD TO EVACUATE AS EFFORTS TO SANDBAG THE LEVEE BREAK HAVE ENDED. THE PUMPS IN THAT AREA ARE EXPECTED TO FAIL SOON AND 9 FEET OF WATER IS EXPECTED IN THE ENTIRE EAST BANK. WITHIN THE NEXT 12-15 HOURS****

http://www.wwltv.com/

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

A police officer was shot in the head by a looter. He is expected to survive. The offenders were arrested.The 17th Street Levee is dumping water into the city. The water is going to rise to 3 feet above sea level. The city sits well below sea level. The city needs a miracle.

[cozmosis]

Both major interstates into the city over the swamps to the west and Lake Ponchotrain to the north are competely destroyed ...

I did see footage where the I-10 twin spans had collapsed into Slidell. So, both the causeway and the spillway roads are out of service, too? How are members getting to the city?

[cozmosis]

A police officer was shot in the head by a looter. He is expected to survive. The offenders were arrested.The 17th Street Levee is dumping water into the city. The water is going to rise to 3 feet above sea level. The city sits well below sea level. The city needs a miracle.

I can't figure these looters out.

Their homes are underwater. Their streets are underwater. Their mailboxes are underwater, so their welfare checks aren't going to be there anytime soon. But they're going to steal tennis shoes and DVDs and jewelry. Huh? Who are they going to sell this stuff to?

The notion that these people are oppressed and are taking the opportunity to rebel against society is complete hogwash. These folks are able-bodied and should have left when the city told them to leave. They're obviously just the scum of the earth -- too stupid or mean to know better.

[Bostonjake1240]

I have heard about people looting supermarkets and local food stores. This I can see, they are trying to stay alive. Looting DVD's and TV's, you have got to be kidden me!!

[firenresq77]

I have heard about people looting supermarkets and local food stores. This I can see, they are trying to stay alive. Looting DVD's and TV's, you have got to be kidden me!!

Wouldn't surprise me if that's why some of the people wanted to stay.......

Sad....... People taking advantage at a time like this.......

[dmleblanc]

I can't figure these looters out.

Their homes are underwater. Their streets are underwater. Their mailboxes are underwater, so their welfare checks aren't going to be there anytime soon. But they're going to steal tennis shoes and DVDs and jewelry. Huh? Who are they going to sell this stuff to?

The notion that these people are oppressed and are taking the opportunity to rebel against society is complete hogwash. These folks are able-bodied and should have left when the city told them to leave. They're obviously just the scum of the earth -- too stupid or mean to know better.

See what we're dealing with here? On 9/11 the good people of New York City came together to help their fellow man in the face of the worst day in anyone's memory. In New Orleans, people grabbed up all the free goodies....

Now, stealing electronics, jewelry, etc. is just plain looting. However, I can almost sympathize with some who are taking food....Watch the news footage....people are stranded in homes with water to the roof, wading in chest deep water or trying to get around on makeshift rafts....the sheer scope of this disaster is incredible...This is not a couple of neighborhoods flooded, this is the entire city of New Orleans, plus most of the outlying suburbs....many of these folks may be days waiting for rescue, wondering if rescue is coming at all. In many cases this is survival, plain and simple.

Fortunately, the criminals are outnumbered by the incredible number of folks who are offering their help. Churches all over are taking in refugees, by the hundreds.

People who booked hotel rooms for a night or two, thinking they'd be going back home today, are now finding out that they may not have a home to go back to. Even if they could, they cannot get back into New Orleans. Martial law has been declared and whole parishes like St. Bernard have been declared off limits. Some folks may not be allowed back in for weeks or even months. New Orleans area schools are projected to be closed for three months!

Conditions in New Orleans are getting worse. The water is rising instead of falling, due to breaks in the levee system. People who took refuge in their attics or on rooftops, thinking the worst had passed, suddenly realized a day later that the water is still coming up...and they're still stranded.

Rescue crews are bypassing dead bodies in the water to reach live victims. The news media, I 've noticed, for the most part has been keeping off the subject of fatalities. You'll hear about 30 confirmed dead in Gulfport or 15 in Biloxi, but no casualty figures yet from New Orleans.....I'm afraid that number will be in the thousands when it's all said and done.

I've been on the phone for the last couple of hours trying to reach someone in authority. I've spoken to the State Police, who referred me to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, who are coordinating the rescue effort...I don't know why this is, other than the fact that they have many boats. Several of my firemen and officers want to respond and give assistance, but I know as well as all of you that just going down there unannounced would only add to the chaos. As soon as I find out from the proper authorities where my guys are needed and who to report to, many of them are ready to go. I'm sure the troops down there right now are ready for relief. However, I'm afraid that we'll be doing a lot of body recoveries.

On a slightly different note, I may be spending some time down there myself shortly. My company has a couple of railroad tank cars in Chalmette that are nearly submerged right now. The State Police hazmat unit says they aren't too concerned with those cars at the moment, because they have whole trains of hazmat stuff that they can't locate....they're derailed, underwater, basically unaccounted for. Once the human toll is counted and the waters recede, there'll still be a hell of a hazmat scene to contend with.

I'm still out of power at home, although most of the parish has had power reestablished. One of the Entergy repair crews told my assistant chief today that all of Paincourtville and surrounding areas should be online tonight or early tomorrow. I hope that's true.

I'll continue to keep you posted as much as possible, although that will only be from work until my power is back on.....

[CaptainMikey]

I just got an email from a friend of mine down in florida. He was saying that some of the levees are failing and the pumps arnt working. The bad thing is that all the water from the rain up north is going to have to come down the miss and right into new orleans. I also saw the bridge in gulfport, oh my god! It is gone. I have never seen in my 21 years anything this bad.

Not to seem morbid, I hope that any of the extreme looters are near a levee when it breaks!

Stay stafe and hang in!!

[ncstone91]

It’s not bad enough that rescuers have to deal with the huge scope of this event but now LEOs are becoming targets.

Fox News has just reported that two gunman armed with AK-47s attacked a New Orleans police station by firing rounds through windows. Police returned fire but these to animals fled into the French Quarter. Thankfully, NO OFFICERS WERE HIT.

Desperation is one thing but this equals terrorism.


"If you don't live for something.......
You'll die for nothing."

[webteam]

Please keep in mind all the firefighters and rescuers who are going to get off work only to not have a home to go to other than the firehouse.

Firehouse Contributor Chris Mickael, a battalion chief in New Orleans, lost his home. Please keep him in your prayers.

In the weeks ahead we'll attempt to put together information on responders who need assistance.

[ncstone91]

1 Chronicles 19:13

Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God.

The LORD will do what is good in his sight."

May God protect our Brother and Sister First Responders as they forge ahead in this unprecedented task of humanity.

May God bless you.

[hwoods]

Thought I would log in real quick.........Not too bad in North Mississippi. Our county had about 200 trees across the roads last night and a lot of power out. Some parts of the county will not have power until Thursday. Mark (spearsm) had some damage to his house last night, have not talked to him since last night. Damage to structures was not widespread. This morning, out of of 6 radio stations on my presets, only 1 was on the air!

Glad to hear you're OK. I've tried to call your cell phone several times, and I get a recording that says the system is down.

[dmleblanc]

Glad to hear you're OK. I've tried to call your cell phone several times, and I get a recording that says the system is down.

Communications are spotty at best....cell phones work sometimes, but often not. A lot of landlines are also out of service....here at the plant we can receive calls but cannot make long distance calls....all those circuits go through New Orleans, and well, you know what the situation is there. I've attempted to use both cell phone and regular phones numerous times today, and been successful probably less than half the time. And I'm not in the disaster area.

And Webteam, you are absolutely right....many of the brothers down there, working around the clock since before this thing started, have lost their own homes in this disaster. I know I couldn't wait for the winds to die down so I could go and see if my house was damaged....to just continue working for days, knowing that your neighborhood is under water and your house is gone....I just can't imagine how you keep your mind on your job in a situation like that.

Keep these folks in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to do what must be done.....

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

Dwayne. Its good to see you up and kickin. I am truly amazed by the damage not only to Louisiana but to Mississippi and Alabama as well. I am ****ed but not completely surprised by the looting. These will be the first people with their hands out when it comes to getting aid money. They aren't even supposed to be in New Orleans to begin with. I hope the declaration of martial law will help. If you have to go to N.O. Dwayne, please be careful and make sure you "pack" the right equipment.

[tyler101]

My dad just called from Hammond, LA where he is managing the Red Cross disaster relief trailer called "Spirit of America"(View Pictures This trailer can produce 30,000 meals daily. He stated that the area around him is total devastation. He also stated any area below RT 10 is considered Martial Law and trespassers will be dealt with accordingly.

Red Cross normally sends out ERV's (emergency response vehicles) loaded with food but he cannot do this due to the ERV's being "hijacked" by people and their food being stolen.

Red Cross is working on removing everyone from the Super Dome due to possible roof collapse. They are working on finding them shelter and feeding them.

He is working 3 weeks in LA, coming home for a week, then going back down for 3 more weeks. He stated that they need help severly down there due to this being the largest disaster that Red Cross has ever dealt with.

[cozmosis]

And it gets worse...

Children's Hospital under seige
NOLA.Com - Tuesday, 11:45 p.m.

Late Tuesday, Gov. Blanco spokeswoman Denise Bottcher described a disturbing scene unfolding in uptown New Orleans, where looters were trying to break into Children's Hospital.

Bottcher said the director of the hospital fears for the safety of the staff and the 100 kids inside the hospital. The director said the hospital is locked, but that the looters were trying to break in and had gathered outside the facility.

The director has sought help from the police, but, due to rising flood waters, police have not been able to respond.

Bottcher said Blanco has been told of the situation and has informed the National Guard. However, Bottcher said, the National Guard has also been unable to respond.

[CaptainMikey]

They should gard the hospitals with HEAVLIY armed guards. Maybe even guard the ARC ERV's with the guards. And place a public service message. If you hijack or attempt to hijack emergency equipment and supplies YOU WILL BE SHOT. Its alittle extreme, but if you are looitng and hijacking emergency supplies, you deserve very harsh treatment.

[dmleblanc]

Dwayne. Its good to see you up and kickin. I am truly amazed by the damage not only to Louisiana but to Mississippi and Alabama as well. I am ****ed but not completely surprised by the looting. These will be the first people with their hands out when it comes to getting aid money. They aren't even supposed to be in New Orleans to begin with. I hope the declaration of martial law will help. If you have to go to N.O. Dwayne, please be careful and make sure you "pack" the right equipment.

Thanks, Mikey....I know you like to spend time down here...I don't think it's going to be the same next time you visit....

I don't think the looters (anarchists) will be around any of the real rescue and recovery work...the key word being "work", which I have a feeling that sort of scum has an aversion to.....

Forget the National Guard....Bush needs to send in the Marines and put an end to this crap before it gets even more out of hand.....

[NJFFSA16]

By HOLBROOK MOHR
Associated Press Writer
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Rescuers in boats and helicopters
struggled to reach hundreds of wet and bedraggled victims of
Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday as the scope of the disaster became
clearer with every tale of misery. Mississippi's governor said the
death toll in one county alone could be as high as 80.
"At first light, the devastation is greater than our worst
fears. It's just totally overwhelming," Louisiana Gov. Kathleen
Blanco said the morning after Katrina howled ashore with winds of
145 mph and engulfed thousands of homes in one of the most
punishing storms on record in the United States.
In New Orleans, meanwhile, water began rising in the streets
Tuesday morning, apparently because of a break on a levee along a
canal leading to Lake Pontchartrain, prompting the evacuation of
hotels and hospitals. New Orleans lies mostly below sea level and
is protected by a network of pumps, canals and levees, but many of
the pumps were not working Tuesday morning.
Officials began using helicopters to drop 3,000-pound sandbags
into the breach, and expressed confidence the problem could be
solved within hours.
All day, rescuers were also seen using helicopters to drop
lifelines to victims and pluck them from the roofs of homes cut off
by floodwaters.
"We know that last night we had over 300 folks that we could
confirm were on tops of roofs and waiting for our assistance. We
pushed hard all throughout the night. We hoisted over 100 folks
last night just in the Mississippi area. Our crews over New Orleans
probably did twice that," Capt. Dave Callahan of the Coast Guard
in Mississippi said on ABC.
National Guardsmen brought in people from outlying areas to New
Orleans' Superdome in the backs of big 2½-ton Army trucks.
Louisiana's wildlife enforcement department also brought people in
on the backs of their pickups. Some were wet, some were in
wheelchairs, some were holding babies and nothing else.
Nevertheless, it was clear the death toll would rise sharply,
with one survivor after another telling of friends and loved ones
who floated off or disappeared as the floodwaters rose around them.
"I talked with paramedics that are on the scene and the
devastation is so great that they won't quit counting (bodies) for
a while," said Mark Williams, operations supervisor for American
Medicial Response, which operated ambulances along the Mississippi
coast.
Along the coast, tree trunks, downed power lines and trees, and
chunks of broken concrete in the streets prevented rescuers from
reaching victims. Swirling water in many areas contained hidden
dangers. Crews worked to clear highways. Along one Mississippi
highway, motorists themselves used chainsaws to remove trees
blocking the road.
Tens of thousands of people will need shelter for weeks if not
months, said Mike Brown, director of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. And once the floodwaters go down, "it's going
to be incredibly dangerous" because of structural damage to homes,
diseases from animal carcasses and chemicals in homes, he said.
As of Monday night, more than 37,000 people were in American Red
Cross shelters along the Gulf Coast, the organization reported.
Officials warned people against trying to return to their homes,
saying that would only interfere with the rescue and recovery
efforts.
Looting broke out in Biloxi and in New Orleans, in some cases in
full view of police and National Guardsmen. On New Orleans' Canal
Street, the main thoroughfare in the central business district,
looters sloshed through hip-deep water and ripped open the steel
gates on the front of several clothing and jewelry stores.
More than 1,600 Mississippi National Guardsmen were activated to
help with the recovery, and the Alabama Guard sent 800 of its
soldiers to Mississippi as well.
In New Orleans, a city of 480,000 that was mostly evacuated over
the weekend as Katrina closed in, those who stayed behind faced
another, delayed threat: rising water. Failed pumps and levees
apparently sent water from Lake Pontchartrain coursing through the
streets.
The rising water forced one New Orleans hospital to move
patients to the Superdome, where some 10,000 people had taken
shelter, and prompted the staff of New Orleans' Times-Picayune
newspaper to abandon its offices, authorities said. Hotels were
evacuated as well as the water kept rising.
Downtown streets that were relatively clear in the hours after
the storm were filled with 1 to 1½ feet of water Tuesday morning.
Water was knee-deep around the Superdome. Canal Street was
literally a canal. Water lapped at the edge of the French Quarter.
Clumps of red ants floated in the gasoline-fouled waters downtown.
"It's a very slow rise, and it will remain so until we plug
that breach. I think we can get it stabilized in a few hours,"
said Terry Ebbert, New Orleans' homeland security chief.
Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi said there were unconfirmed
reports of up to 80 deaths in Harrison County - which includes
devastated Gulfport and Biloxi - and the number was likely to rise.
An untold number of people were also feared dead in Louisiana. At
least five other deaths across the Gulf Coast were blamed on
Katrina.
"We know that there is a lot of the coast that we have not been
able to get to," Barbour said on NBC's "Today Show." "I hate to
say it, but it looks like it is a very bad disaster in terms of
human life."
As for the death toll in Louisiana, Blanco said only: "We have
no counts whatsoever, but we know many lives have been lost."
At the Superdome, someone died after plunging from an upper
level of the stadium, Ebbert said. He said the person probably
jumped.
The biggest known cluster of deaths was at the Quiet Water Beach
apartments in Biloxi, a red-brick beachfront complex of about 100
units. Harrison County, Miss., emergency operations center
spokesman Jim Pollard said about 30 people died there.
"This is our tsunami," Mayor A. J. Holloway of Biloxi, Miss.,
told The Biloxi Sun Herald.
Joy Schovest, 55, was in the apartment complex with her
boyfriend, Joe Calvin, when the water began rising. They stayed
despite a mandatory evacuation order.
"The water got higher and higher," she said, breaking into
tears. "It pushed all the doors open and we swam out. We grabbed a
lady and pulled her out the window and then we swam with the
current. It was terrifying. You should have seen the cars floating
around us. We had to push them away when we were trying to swim."
Teresa Kavanagh, 35, of Biloxi, shook her head is disbelief as
she took photographs of the damage in her hometown.
"Total devastation. Apartment complexes are wiped clean. We're
going to rebuild, but it's going to take long time. Houses that
withstood Camille are nothing but slab now," she said. Hurricane
Camille killed 256 people in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1969.
The hurricane knocked out power to more than 1 million people
from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, and authorities said it
could be two months before electricity is restored to everyone.
Oil prices jumped by more than $3 a barrel on Tuesday, climbing
above $70 a barrel, amid uncertainty about the extent of the damage
to the Gulf region's refineries and drilling platforms.
By midday Tuesday, Katrina was downgraded to a tropical
depression, with winds around 35 mph. It was moving northeast
through Tennessee at around 21 mph.
Forecasters said that as the storm moves north over the next few
days, it could swamp the Tennessee and Ohio valleys with a
potentially ruinous 8 inches or more of rain. On Monday, Katrina's
remnants spun off tornadoes and other storms in Georgia that
smashed dozens of buildings and were blamed for at least one death.
According to preliminary assessments by AIR Worldwide Corp., a
risk assessment company, the insurance industry faces as much as
$26 billion in claims from Katrina. That would make Katrina more
expensive than the previous record-setting storm, Hurricane Andrew,
which caused some $21 billion in insured losses in 1992 to property
in Florida and along the Gulf Coast.
Mike Spencer of Gulfport made the mistake of trying to ride out
the storm in his house. He told NBC that he used his grandson's
little surfboard to make his way around the house as the water rose
around him.
Finally, he said, "as the house just filled up with water, it
forced me into the attic, and then I ended up kicking out the wall
and climbing up to a tree because the houses around me were just
disappearing."
He said he wrapped himself around a tree branch and waited four
or five hours.
Anne Anderson said she lost her family home in Gulfport.
"My family's an old Mississippi family. I had antiques, 150
years old or more, they're all gone. We have just basically a
slab," she told NBC. She added: "Behind us we have a beautiful
sunrise and sunset, and that is going to be what I'm going to miss
the most, sitting on the porch watching those."
---
Associated Press reporters Mary Foster, Allen G. Breed, Brett
Martel, Adam Nossiter and Jay Reeves contributed to this report.
---
On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)