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

[bwteim]

You HAVE to hear the original Nagin interview.
in case you haven't heard it, read a little bit:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1475135/posts?page=2827#2827

[berkeleybeej]

I hope good things start to happen today.

Ditto.

[RoseyT]

Would someone please tell the MSM that this is not just a disaster response. It is a disaster response in a flooded war zone where thousands of people are spread out over a large area. Yes, I believe parts of this have been mishandled. However, they seem all too unwilling to accept the fact that we have NEVER had to deal with a disaster of this magnitude before.

[Types_with_Fist]

It's all about defending Bush?

I give credit where I see it and call BS where I see it. Bush was great in declaring the emergency before the storm hit. But, to me, this tragedy is becoming bi-partisan. Members of both parties, local and state, failed both before and after the hurricane. And our federal government's slow response to the dying individuals in New Orleans is nothing short of appalling.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

No communication and the governor not leading has done a lot of the damage.

One of the things the wildland firefighting knows is that it is the local commander that has to make the decisions, and the system is designed to help and back that person up with supplies and support.

There is no Incident Commander with backed up authority, by the looks of things.

Until the governor puts some teeth in the National Guard, or appoints someone with the power to make decisions she's incapable of doing, things will be bad.

[Ellesu]

WJBO just played it again in BR. They may link it to their website. I'll post the link to the audio if they do.

[CajunConservative]

I wish everyone would stop saying this is Bush's fault. I know you guys are being sarcastic but it is up to *US* to hammer home the reality here, the policies of the democratic party has led to this massive loss of life after the storm. WE have the golden egg as far as who's capable of dealing with a major catastrophic event.

Read my tagline. I have been repeatedly telling that to my lib dem family members and they instantly shut up when they recognize the truth. Democratic politicians can bus you to the polls to get your vote but they can't bus you to safety to save your life.

[Peach]

I hope it's just a communication problem, Ohio.

Is it correct that a lot of Gulfport residents didn't evacuate because it appeared they weren't going to be hit? I've forgotten so many of those details from Sunday/Monday now.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I'd heard that. If I were them, with the back up they are getting from the city and the state, for the pay they make, its a job that's not worth it.

[bwteim]

Some more non NOLA links. See great story below.

((Plus It is a Pro BUSH Story that even left may play.... /sarcasm off))


September 2, 2005
'Death grip' on bush saves 14 officers

By Cain Burdeau
The Associated Press

For five hours, 14 members of Waveland's police department held on desperately to a spindly bush as they watched the town they swore to protect being torn apart by Hurricane Katrina.

Debris shot past them; tin roofs fired up into the air; a shrimp boat swept past in churning sea waters as they clung to the 8-foot-tall bush. Blasted by a storm surge some say was 30 feet high Monday morning, this town got some of the worst of Katrina.

Three days later, the anemic-looking, red-tipped bush in front of the police department has become a shrine to Waveland's men and women in blue. There's now a hand-carved wooden cross placed in the bush to highlight its role in a remarkable story of survival — a sign of hope as police go about the grim duty of recovering bodies and trying to help shocked survivors in the town of 7,000 about 35 miles east of New Orleans.

"You can see where there's no bark," said Lisa Parker, the chief's secretary. "That's where we were holding onto it."

Added patrolman Todd Blake: "The death grip hold."

MORE at

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050902/NEWS0110/509020362/1260

[Sender]

Last night O'Reilly told Shep "I hope you get the highest journalism award...the highest award there is for what you are doing."

[bwteim]

great.

[Petronski]

Like I said, some first-rate junk, man. He is way-the-hell out there.

But, like "Crazy Joe Divola," his psych left town without refilling his meds.

[GOP_Proud]

< I heard that interview that the mayor gave. He was blaming everyone but his self, and using terrible language that I did not know was allowed on the air. He is taking no responsibility and evidently has no communication with the Governor. >

You would think that the MAYOR of a major city in the US would be representative of the BEST the city has to offer. Well, after hearing his totally classless speech, I now understand why I'm seeing what I'm seeing. Can any of the elected officials of that city spell p-r-o-f-e-s-s-i-o-n-a-l?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

A lot of the problem is the feds can't overstep governors' authority about a lot of things. And with the governor not requiring people to do the right thing, she is more the bottleneck and problem.

She's the one who has to declare the right state of emergency.

She's the one who has to give the NG the authority to shoot the looters.

It's her state. She has to do a bunch of things for things to happen.

[Peach]

I'd heard that. If I were them, with the back up they are getting from the city and the state, for the pay they make, its a job that's not worth it.

I don't know. NYC cops could have said the same thing; they didn't walk off the job.

Not to minimize the job facing NO cops, but we're forgetting what those early days were like after 9/11. Shifting buildings and danger. Smoke. Dust. Digging at rubble with bare hands. Constant evac orders because of either buildings crumbling or new terrorist threats. The intense heat from the rubble.

[ohioWfan]

It's pure politics, trying to defend the inexcusable. It's all about defending Bush?

To the left, it's all about bashing Bush. You, too?

Have you yet grasped the enormity of this tragedy, and what they are dealing with?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Mayor and Governor, and particularly the governor freeked. If the mayor freeked, still the governor had overriding authority.

This will go down in history as a study on HOW NOT TO REACT IN THE FIRST 72 HOURS.

[AFPhys]

Thanks for your post describing the way assistance is delivered.
`

[Knitting A Conundrum]

The NY cops weren't being shot at with no backup, either.