Katrina Live Thread, Part XIII

Various ^ | 1 September 2005 | Various

[GodBlessUSA]

I pray for the safety of President Bush today.

[Peach]

The Governor of NC put out a press release yesterday...it was on FR...that the southeast gets its oil from the Gulf and there will be shortages.

Economic consequences are going to be severe.

[bwteim]

"And he said, I'm not a druggie and then something I couldn't follow."

what he said/meant was: I am thinking clear and ""someone needs to get their ass on a plane and sit down and figure this thing out "

the part that struck me most * about what I caught on the stream was his blaming a lot of the lawlessness on drug addicts:
"we have drug starving crazy addicts that are wreaking havoc"

PS
after most * I was struck by:
his profanity laced speech
his lack of leadership

[mewzilla]

Nagin's trying to cover his butt. I just hope Congress doesn't give him any help.

[Peach]

Have you heard from everyone in your family, mhking?

[NautiNurse]

what the hell is HE doing right now other than pointing the finger?

Nagin has decompensated.

Mike, there have been explosions down by the river. Some reports saying a mall. Riverwalk?

Meanwhile, 40 buses with 20 more on the way to the Astrodome, which reached capacity 10 hours ago. Anyone heard the next stop?

[Types_with_Fist]

Morning all. Any troops, water, help... anything today?

[LikeLight]

This is the last day of "normal" as the rest of the country has known it. This is a sea change day, a watershed day, like 9/11. The "storm surge" from Katrina is going to engulf the country - economic, humanitarian, political - the whole deal. I sense things are about to be different. Like the migration of the middle west during the dustbowl, only faster.

[mhking]

The leadership, or lack of it, is what is frustrating me more than anything about Nagin. This is insanity. And to see this in our own country is even more frustrating.

[mewzilla]

I know there was a fire at a big local mall yesterday. The mall that burned had Sears and JC Penney as two of its anchor stores, if that's any help.

[dawn53]

The guy was trying to lay blame at everybody's feet but his own.

Yet at the same time he acknowledges that NO was a city on the edge before the hurricane.

Talks about drugs flowing freely through the city, high murder rate, etc. and says now that they're understaffed, things are out of control.

He almost sounds empathetic to the drug users that are now "on the edge" as he says because they haven't had a fix.

[Peach]

How long is the drive from NO to Houston?

Communications are seriously compromised, but can't at least some reporter walk to the Super Dome and tell those in charge that buses are being turned away from Houston?

[section9]

Sort of a tactical problem: where to airdrop. Only place inside might be to establish a forward area in the French Quarter. In fact, I rather expect an LZ to be set up there: it's dry land.

A LOT of what you were trained to do has not been done by a local force of first responders that simply did not respond. Large percentages of NOPD have simply bugged out. Others were simply outgunned by technicals with AK's and other automatic and semiautomatic weapons.

Disgusting is the only phrase that comes to my mind. Bottom line? Payment in full is being made for decades of corrupt, venal local and state government that goes back to the days of Huey Long's faux populism.

Only the military and the out of towners will be able to these good people out of the mess they're in.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Right_in_Virginia]

CNN lists the phone numbers of relief agencies one can donate to, the news net NEVER lists the Salvation Army? I haven't seen their info up once. What in Hades is with that?

www.salvationarmyusa.org/

1-800-Salarmy

[Peach]

There will be "before" and "after".

This changed everything.

[bwteim]

Now the talking head is saying blame/contact the GOP, hey, you want to keep in authority.... you better do something about this mess.

"let's secede from the union"

[Trust but Verify]

Awesome. I would have given her a ticket. I hope there are many. many such stories like this one. I can't see people living in a dome with 11,000 for very long. Hopefully, many of these folks will get in touch with family members who will offer to take them in.

[mhking]

Mike, there have been explosions down by the river. Some reports saying a mall. Riverwalk?

Nope. Riverwalk is just off the Quarter. The explosions happened at a railyard or chemical plant (both?) about three miles further south along the river, according to WDSU.

[SunnySide]

The Salvation Army is ONLY taking monetary donations to get FOOD, WATER AND MEDICINE to Disaster Survivors. A good organization to send in your donations. They are well organized, efficient and not wasteful.

[don-o]

I was struck by: his profanity laced speech his lack of leadership

Well, my take is that he was revealing that he did not have the power (ability?) to make things happen. His call for a moratorim on press conferences was surely a pointed finger.