[kayak]

Parts of the Outer Banks fared extremely well ... I think up around Nags Head just had some wind and rain without ever having hurricane-force winds. From what I can find out Hwy 12 didn't even go underwater and that happens even in strong nor'easters. Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel was reporting from Kill Devil Hills, which isn't far from Nags Head, and he never got real bad weather.

The storm never did make landfall and that helped a lot, though there is beach erosion for most of the coastal areas. The area around Morehead City to the more southern of the Outer Banks seems to have taken the brunt of Ophelia though there is some spotty damage all along the coast.

[Elyse]

Gov. Blanco requests that President Bush declare a major disaster for the State of Louisiana as required by the Stafford Act. A disaster declaration is made, however SPECIFICALLY MISSING FROM THIS ARE THE FOLLOWING PARISHES: JEFFERSON, PLAQUEMINES, ST. BERNARD, AND ORLEANS. This means the Federal Government, BY LAW, is specifically PROHIBITED from providing aid to the areas most likely to be struck by KATRINA!

My understanding of why the parishes that were most likely to be affected in the storm were excluded in the federal declaration was that the declaration was only made to facilitate the coordination of FEMA and state and local authorities outside the projected disaster area to set up shelters, set up command posts, bring in disaster rescue teams and pre-position supplies and equipment in a circle around the projected disaster region.

FEMA is not a first responder, but this move supposedly would have made it easier for them to respond faster in this case where the damage to the area had the potential of being catastrophic. State and local officials followed normal procedure and were in charge of preparing the other parishes for the hurricane and evacuating them. That is not, nor has it ever been, FEMA's job.