Katrina Live Thread, Part XIII

Various ^ | 1 September 2005 | Various

[NautiNurse]

28,000 National Guard troops are deployed to the disaster areas in Mississippi, Alabama, and to Louisiana, where SWAT teams are working to combat the looters and shooters in New Orleans. Additional 1400 National Guard troops are being deployed daily.

Shootings reported at a New Orleans hospital, rescue boats, and a military helicopter, while conditions continue to deteriorate at the SuperDome amid refugee deaths and chaos. Evacuation of New Orleans continues.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert has voiced serious doubts about rebuilding New Orleans with federal funds, while assuring the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida that the United States Congress stands ready to help them in their time of need. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin issued a "desperate SOS."

Doctors at two desperately crippled hospitals in New Orleans called The Associated Press Thursday morning pleading for rescue, "We have been trying to call the mayor's office, we have been trying to call the governor's office ... we have tried to use any inside pressure we can. We are turning to you. Please help us," said Dr. Norman McSwain, chief of trauma surgery at Charity Hospital, the largest of two public hospitals.

The Port of New Orleans is now open to shallow draft vessels. Congress is reconvening in an emergency session. International offers to assist the U.S. have been received from Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, NATO and the Organization of American States.

Jesse Jackson has arrived in Louisiana...

Links to various news, local and state government websites:

WLOX TV Biloxi, Gulfport, Pascagula has link to locate family and friends
2theAdvocate - Baton Rouge Includes Slidell, St. John Parish, St. Bernard Parish updates, and other locations.
NOLA.com
Inside Houma Today includes shelter and volunteer updates
WLBT.com Jackson MS
WALA Channel 4 Mobile, AL Includes links to distribution centers, Emergency Ops, etc.
Sun-Herald Gulfport MS Includes link to town by town reports
Gulfport News via Topix.net
WAFB Baton Rouge
Mobile Register via al.com
Mississippi updates via Jackson Ledger
Lafayette LA Daily Advertiser
Pensacola News Journal
St Bernard Local Government
Alabama Homeland Security Volunteers can sign up online
Alabama DOT
Alabama.gov
Louisiana Homeland Security
Louisiana State Police road closure info
State of Mississippi Website has traffic alerts, emergency contact numbers

Streaming Video:

WWL-TV (via CBS): WWLTV via CBS
WWL-TV Now via WFAA Dallas **NEW LINK**: http://www.wwltv.com/cgi-bin/bi/video/makeadplaylist.pl?title=beloint_wfaa&live=yes
WDSU-TV: http://mfile.akamai.com/12912/live/reflector:38843.asx
WPMI-TV: http://www.wpmi.com/mediacenter/default.aspx?videoId=113739
WKRG-TV: mms://wmbcast.mgeneral.speedera.net/wmbcast.mgeneral/wmbcast_mgeneral_aug262005_1435_95518
WTOK-TV Temporarily Not Live Streaming (follow the link on the home page): http://www.wtok.com/
WJTV-TV: mms://wmbcast.mgeneral.speedera.net/wmbcast.mgeneral/wmbcast_mgeneral_aug262005_1435_95563
Louisiana Statewide Katrina Network (WJBO-AM Baton Rouge): http://ccri.eonstreams.com/ccri_la_batonrouge_wjbo_am.asf
Gulf Coast Storm Network (radio): http://www.stormalert.net/main.html#
Louisiana Scanner

Related FR Threads:

FYI: Hurricane Katrina Freeper SIGN IN Thread FReeper Check In thread
Discussion Thread - Hurricane Katrina - What Went Wrong?!?
Post Hurricane Katrina IMAGES Here
Looting Begins In New Orleans
Hurricane Katrina HOUSING Thread
Martial Law Declared in New Orleans

Due to the number of requests to assist, the following list of some charities is provided.
This is not intended as an endorsement for any of the charities.

www.redcross.org or 1-800 HELP NOW - note: website is slow, and lines are busy
Salvation Army - 1-800-SAL-ARMY or Salvation Army currently looking for in-state volunteers - (888)363-2769
Operation Blessing: (800) 436-6348.
America's Second Harvest: (800) 344-8070.
Catholic Charities USA: (800) 919-9338, or www.catholiccharitiesusa.org.
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee: (800) 848-5818.
Church World Service: (800) 297-1516 or online at www.churchworldservice. org.
Lutheran Disaster Response: (800) 638-3522.
Nazarene Disaster Response: (888) 256-5886.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: (800) 872-3283.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is accepting donations at its 3,800 stores and Web site, www.walmart.com.
National Black Home Educators Resource Association http://www.nbhera.org/

Previous Threads:
Katrina Live Thread, Party XII
Katrina Live Thread, Part XI
Katrina Live Thread, Part X
Katrina Live Thread, Part IX
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part VIII
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part VII
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part VI
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part V
Hurricane Katrina, Live Thread, Part IV
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part III
Katrina Live Thread, Part II
Hurricane Katrina Live Thread, Part I
Tropical Storm 12

[FMS5]

Also note in the article the estimated time to rescue:

"Regional and national rescue resources would have to respond as rapidly as possible and would require augmentation by local private vessels (assuming some survived). And, even with this help, federal and state governments have estimated that it would take 10 days to rescue all those stranded within the city. No shelters within the city would be free of risk from rising water."

[Rokke]

"It is already turning around. Instead of hearing shots fired all night, we are hearing about arrests."

Are you listening to a scanner?

[Howlin]

Absolutely riveting.

I wonder when we'll start hearing the stories from THOSE people on national TV.

[rolling_stone]

Send in the can do Seabees..they build they fight...the difficult they do immediatley the impossible will take a little longer....

[Sprite518]

Not when you do it low leveled. Trust me I use to see it in the Marines all the time.

[kingu]

As of midnight Sunday night, there was no power on earth that could have prevented a huge death and damage toll.

Four days after the disaster, I think that we've done one hell of a good job so far. My biggest gripe right now is that the full power of our military should have been brought to mobilization on day one, day two at the worst. I still don't think people understand the scale of this disaster. I'm sure that there are a lot of towns with fancy equipment to contact FEMA, Homeland Security and whatnot and they're being told 'deal with it the best you can, we've got bigger fish on our plate.'

Prioritizing services is one of the toughest jobs in a disaster, but one thing that the managers have to be ready to do is to come out and say 'WAY TOO BIG FOR US' and openly call for everything this country has.

I hope that tomorrow that our president makes yet another hard call and takes one for all of us when he uses his abilities and alas, his position, as a lame duck president and calls in the military in full force. We need a million hands down there - but a hundred thousand would be a good start.

[SolomoninSouthDakota]

Yep. We're all getting as good as Rush on predicting "these liberals".

[Brad’s Gramma]

"The last two or three days, the things I've seen, it's absolutely terrifying that people can do the things they're doing. People are stealing things that are absolutely useless to their survival. I could never have imagined the absolute disregard for life or property that's going on."

In case that gets lost in the thread...

[Arizona Carolyn]

What do you know that you aren't telling us?

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco declared war on looters as 300 National Guard troops landed in New Orleans fresh from duty in Iraq.
"These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will," she said. "

I am speechless.
This woman is deteriorating before our eyes.

[Rokke]

"Not when you do it low leveled. Trust me I use to see it in the Marines all the time."

Have you seen any areas in metropolitan NO that look like a suitable low level drop zone? It is pretty hard for a Herk to weave its way through tall buildings in order to drop supplies on the Superdome.

[Sprite518]

Well of course you put food on Pallets. If someone is dumb to stand directly underneath them, then yes they might get hurt. If that is the only reason why their holding back, then that is pitiful..

[jeffers]

The blog you speak of is here:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/

Folks, it's quiet, I've been on this PC for since 9 am Wednesday with one three hour nap, and I'm going to turn in...been nice chatting with you all.. I enjoyed it, and I'll be back tomorrow, ready to do it all over again.

Take care, hold the fort, and hang tough.

[MarMema]

I keep thinking about all of the logistics it took for our family group of 21 to get to Galveston and climb onto a cruise ship.

You'd be amazed at the planning for disasters we do in healthcare, then. Every single evening, at a designated time, every hospital or medical facility calls into a center with stats on available beds and what kind, the amount of blood and other equipment on hand, and more. All in codes. A designated command keeps track of all the information until the next night at the same time, when it is reported once again.

[TChad]

Maybe if the people had been told that LE had jurisdiction over all goods and that no one was going to go hungry and a show of force had been done up front, a lot of this could have been avoided

The looters know they can steal without being arrested. Obviously they are stealing much more than food, so I doubt that informing them that they weren't going to go hungry would have altered their behavior a whit.

What sort of "show of force" did you have in mind? The looters are armed and are willing to shoot at the cops. Did you want the cops to return fire?

[ClancyJ]

I have very mixed feelings on what is going on there-(probably because I just don't know what IS going on down there.

Me too. We are so geared to not question those that are so hurt by circumstances, that it is really hard to see some things we do not like. All are mixed together and we feel questioning one, questions all. It does not.

We just have a city with all kinds of people - some good, some bad, some drug dealers, some thiefs, some innocents, some children. And, they will act out as the people they are. Some we resent, some we love.

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Some of us that live nearby think that a national declaration of martial law is a misguided idea. Is California that bad that we need a national declaration?

[Brad’s Gramma]

Good night jeffers. You've been a wonderful addition to these threads.

[BurbankKarl]

Next she will say to kill them all...

[jeffers]

Note she doesn't ever say she has actually authorized them to shoot to kill. Talk's cheap, signed orders and rules of engagement are something else altogether.