Katrina Live Thread, Part XIV

Various ^ | 2 September 2005 | Various

[NautiNurse]

President Bush continues to assess the catastrophic damage by air and on the ground in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Bush spent the day meeting with search and rescue personnel, relief commanders, and displaced residents in Mobile, Biloxi, and the New Orleans area. U.S. Congress passed a $10.5 billion relief package for the hurricane ravaged areas. First Lady Laura Bush issued a press statement from an evacuation shelter in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Patient and staff evacuations continue from numerous New Orleans Hospitals. Thousands of patients are being airlifted to a field hospital at Louis Armstrong New Orleans Airport for triage, staging, and transport to hospitals throughout the United States.

The U.S. Coast Guard and civilian volunteers continue to evacuate thousands of survivors from their flooded homes in New Orleans. The Army Corps of Engineers continues work to repair the damaged levees.

The nation's airlines today began an operation intended to fly up to 25,000 refugees out of New Orleans. The airlines are volunteering their aircraft and crews for the program. Long convoys loaded with relief supplies arrived throughout the day into New Orleans, while convoys of buses are moving survivors out of the city.

Several large fires are burning in the city and greater New Orleans area. Reports indicate snipers are holding down firefighters. Reports of shots fired with LEO down in the St. Bernard Parish area. Rescue operations are underway. A bus carrying NOLA evauees rolled over in Opelousa, LA.

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:

New Orleans Emergency Operations Center - is now open:
504-463-1000
504-463-1001
504-463-1002

WWL-TV New Orleans (via WFAA Dallas) - WWL-TV is operating from studios at Louisiana Public Broadcasting. CBS has a relay during the morning and afternoon. When available, use the CBS relay first as they have greater streaming capacity. Yahoo has also provided a relay.

WDSU-TV New Orleans - The news staff has started to return to temporary news studios near New Orleans. However, expect evening coverage from Hearst-Argyle sister stations WAPT Jackson and WESH Orlando when the New Orleans staff needs to take a break.

WGNO-TV New Orleans - New Orleans' ABC affiliate has returned to the air with WBRZ-TV and launched video streaming with continuous Katrina coverage.

WPMI-TV Mobile, AL - WPMI is webcasting from 5:30am - 10:30pm CDT. When off air, you can view pre-recorded reports on demand. This feed is often unreliable.

WKRG-TV Mobile, AL - This station is providing good coverage of the situation to the east in Mississippi and Alabama. However, the station is now signing off at around 10:30pm CDT like WWL and WPMI.

WJTV-TV Jackson, MS - The CBS affiliate in Jackson is providing live coverage for both the Jackson area and south Mississippi (knowing a lot of media in that area is off the air).

United Radio From New Orleans: WWL-AM, WNOE-FM, "KISS-FM," WRNO-FM, WYLD-FM, and WJBO-AM who have joined forces as United Radio From New Orleans, and they are streaming.

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/ Southern Baptist: NAMB - http://www.namb.net/
Samaritan's Purse - http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

Previous Threads:
Katrina Live Thread, Part XIII
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

[EVO X]

I'm not blaming President Bush. I am saying more could have been done to warn the people of New Orleans.

I wasn't implying that you were. I was just pointing out that the weather was crummy for sometime after the initial landfall.

As far as I know, the local government wasn't offering any way out town for people without their own transportation. The solution was to open the Super dome. Someone please correct me if I am mistaken..

[Route66]

How many police and school buses did that mayor have at his disposal before the storm hit? He had a good 48 hours notice of coming disaster and sat on his hands. Now he blames everyone but himself.

He had at least 650 local buses which could have been used in an evacuation. Provisions for this would have to been made in adavance and in the city's evacuation plan, of course. The point is, these resources were left unused.

I estimate the total number of school buses in Orleans county to be at least 325 and the number of city buses to be about the same. The buses could not only have been used to remove thousands from the city before the storm, but they obviously could have already been used to make several subsequent trips to and from the downtown core for more evacuations.
.................
http://www.ersys.com/usa/22/2255000/ptranbus.htm

333 public transit buses

1996-1998 data
....................

http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/scs/661.html

324 Orleans Parish school buses

02-03 data

[sockmonkey]

Texas is going to rue the day they were generous. I hate to say that.

I remember seeing that lady today complaining they were no hot meals served at the Super Dome.

If the evacuees taken to San Antonio start complaining about our Mexican Food, they will be run out of town.

[A Citizen Reporter]

Thanks for the characterization. I would think you might be more concerned about whether the reporters who are there are helping the officials deal with a terrible situation. They are not.

[Revel]

"True, but irrelevant. The people in New Orleans didn't have any power. They weren't watching Bastardi, or logging into Free Republic. They thought they dodged the bullet."


What are you talking about. This was pre-hurricane strike.

[oceanview]

true, but this convention center is one area where there is a high concentration of people that need to be evacuated. it would make sense to hold them there if they were being orderly evacuated, but holding that many people at one location without any outflow is a timebomb.

[Graymatter]

wrote: Shep has lost it..he has oin-air Stockholm syndrome.

For those of us without cable tv, could you point out specifically what the man is saying that leads you to conclude he has developed a psychiatric disorder?

[TexKat]

it is. I think this Texas situation is going to get ugly in the next 2 weeks. I expect that what will happen, is that the people like Jackson and Sharpton will argue that these people should simply be given public assistance: housing, welfare, food stamps - and just be allowed to enter the regular texas populace in Houston, San Antonio, etc.

Texas eyes more permanent homes for refugees

By MIKE WARD

Cox News Service

Friday, September 02, 2005

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas officials are considering an unprecedented plan to relocate thousands of New Orleans hurricane refugees into vacant apartments throughout the eastern half of the state, in what could become months of a more permanent relocation.

On Wednesday, as part of an initial step to secure federal approval of the plan, Gov. Rick Perry sought permission from federal officials to waive federal rules on who can occupy those apartments and eliminate much of the red tape for renters. On Thursday, the governor declared Texas a disaster area because of the refugee influx — a first step to qualify for federal aid to pay for the housing relocations and disaster-relief initiatives.

Kathy Walt, Perry's press secretary, said the housing relocation initiative was spurred by the "sea of humanity that has been displaced and seems to be moving to Texas, almost overnight.

"It is creative, one of a number of ways state agencies are looking at to provide disaster assistance," she said. "We're looking at people who are being displaced for what will be months. Housing people for that long in the Astrodome or Reunion Arena is not ideal. We have to find ways to house these people for longer periods in a safe environment."

Using housing vouchers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the proposal, refugees could occupy now-vacant apartments that were built with federal tax credits, officials said. Approximately 7,200 vacant units have been identified so far in the parts of Texas east of I-35, officials said.

Thursday's development came as Perry toured Dallas' Reunion Arena, where as many as 20,000 refugees are to be temporarily housed along with another 23,000 in Houston's Astrodome. Another 25,000 are slated to be housed at San Antonio's former Kelly Air Force Base and others will be housed in Beaumont's Ford Center, state officials confirmed.

Edwina Carrington, executive director of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, said that the type of housing relocation for which state officials are seeking a federal rules waiver are privately owned, multi-family units that were built with federal tax credits. State officials said they could not immediately provide a list of the vacant units by town or city.

"There are lots of rules on occupancy and a lot of information that must be submitted that these folks (hurricane victims from Louisiana) don't have," Carrington said. "We're working with the owners and managers of these properties around the state so that they can start leasing."

Carrington said similar programs were undertaken in 2004 after hurricanes in Florida and floods in Ohio and Louisiana. But it would be a first for Texas and perhaps the largest such initiative ever proposed nationally, other officials said.

Federal housing officials in Washington did not return phone calls for comment Thursday on Texas' pending request. In his letter to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Everson, Perry requested that Texas be allowed to use "currently vacant housing tax credit units to temporarily house those persons who have been displaced by this unprecedented natural disaster."

In other Texas hurricane-assistance news Thursday:

— State Health and Human Services Commission officials extended office hours in some areas of Texas and provided Medicaid prescription information on Louisiana residents to Texas pharmacies to make it easier for them to refill their medications.

— Attorney General Greg Abbott issued a warning about bogus charities and solicitation scams that have sprung up in the wake of the tragedy, seeking donations of cash in door-to-door fund drives and in online solicitations.

[RushCrush]

I think it's rather odd when a FReeper says to another FReeper "you are not there"....well, the first FReeper is not there either, is he? So, really, aren't BOTH opinions valid and possible?

[RummyChick]

You see the same thing with soldiers. I have seen soldiers interviewed who feel bad after some event because they couldn't hand over their own supplies.

[MikefromOhio]

maybe the officials DON'T WANT their help??

Ever cross your mind?

I can already see the blank stare hitting your screen so don't bother to reply that it had.

[mabelkitty]

I beached that subject Tuesday night.
Plans given to the Feds that don't actually exist. Money "spent", but actually stolen.


Here's a math question for y'all:

Why is it when a Hurricane hits Florida, the slow search and recovery is the Governor's fault (Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush), except when a Governor is Lawton Chiles and there is a Bush in the White House(Bush 1, Bush 1).

When a hurricane hits Louisiana, search and recovery is not the Governor's fault, unless there is a Bush in the White House? (BUSH'S FAULT, BUSH'S FAULT).

Does this mean that as long as no Bush is either Governor or President, all hurricane blame will cease to exist?

Just curious.......
Just curious.

[Soul Seeker]

In Geraldo's case, I genuinely think he feels that those people behind him are being doomed, without even a chance to escape. In Shep's case, I think he's just pissed off and frustrated - certainly nothing like inciting hysteria.

They are screaming. Reilly had to calm down G. Sean had to calm down Shep. They were not listening to them to answer the questions. They were babbling. I don't accept excuses. this is hysteria.

Well, he IS Fox New's main man. Who are they gonna put in there in his place?

FOX has many reporters on the payroll. Someone that isn't losing it.

Given the level or rape, murder and mayhem IN the convention center, I can't believe that it could get much worse.

Put them in an uncontrolled environment and it WILL be worse, whether you can envision it or not.

that the Convention Center evidently hasn't been emptied AT ALL is a disgrace.

Meanwhile other areas have been evacuated, and if the Convention center had been evacuated instead of the other areas you'd be calling that a disgrace. It's easy to critisize isn't it? But this is why initial competant leadership can make a resecue and relief operation smooth, or chaos. LA screwed up and now we can only do the best we can to deal with an out of control situation. It is easier to maintain order then reestablish order.

But the babies and old people shouldn't be made to suffer for the idiocy of those who chose not to leave.

I haven't stated anyone should be made to suffer for people making the choice. What I have stated is that they DID make the wrong choice and these are the consequences. Sad but that is reality.

Didn't seem like mania to me. Seemed like justifiable anger at the way things AREN'T being done.

Sorry, no. When they can't even hear the questions they are being asked because their eyes are darting wildly, they are crying on TV and screaming themselves hoarse..that isn't anger. It's hysteria.

[Blogger]

He's daring to speak passionately and emphatically about a horrible situation. THey don't like that so they are saying he has lost it.

[nhoward14]

How about any complainers get deployed on the border to defend Texas against illegals?

[STARWISE]

BOReilly did a horrible job of dialoging with the African-American guy on, who's definitely playing the race card HARD. BOR asked what he would do if some guy has 5 stolen big screen TV's in his house ... he would have the officials ask if he did it to barter food for his family .. and only if he was a repeat thief with a record would he arrest him.

BOR had so many points he could've raised, like who's got the AK-47's, who's raping, who's trying to shoot down the choppers, who's breaking into pharmacies and hospitals for the drugs, who's putting more people's lives at risk by shooting at people awaiting rescue and medical help????? How 'bout the murderous, raping damn criminals .. whoever they are .. they need to be taken out??

This is so appalling and repulsive .. it's definitely turning into a race war, and what number of the entitlement crowd, of any race, aren't in NO to make life hell for every innocent person needing help and those decent souls trying to help are now transplanted to Houston .. where I predict a second warfront is now being created.

The retribution crowd will again be incited by this natural weather disaster, the incompetence of the LA state and city leaders, and their twisted logic. I'm just sickened that this will be ammunition to fuel the "victim cry" to propel their eternal push to manufacture a racial divide in this country..for THEIR transparent goals. They smell blood .. they smell BILLIONS.

This is the powder keg they've been waiting for, and the blame card and the race card will be the mantra of the next couple of years. (I'm still waiting for Cindy to show up and join the debasers, along with Wilie Gary, the super wealthy tycoon purveyor of discrimation lawsuits.)

NOTE for the future: ANYthing will now be able to be PR'd and spun into a racial situation.... be mindful of your words and deeds. The PC culture has received a massive injection of chutzpah.

[Shortstop7]

I saw that.... I wanted to know what the Captain had to say.

[MikefromOhio]

yeah so maybe we should all STFU?????

nah we would rather be cynical.

Like I said, when that garbage stops, I will stop.

[Texasforever]

I'm not blaming President Bush. I am saying more could have been done to warn the people of New Orleans

72 hours of pleading and begging people to get the hell out is not enough warning??? Should they have started in June?

[Siobhan]

Hannity was trying to say that the 10K people were sent to TX today,and they have food and water. The thing is - those were the people they already were helping and have control over- what have they done to all those people standing outside the Dome, and Convention Ctr who thought that was where they could go for help.

Multiple shelters have been opened up from Houston to Galveston from the small to the large. The AstroHall and the Reliant Center have been opened up to refugees. The George R. Brown Convention Center is to be opened for them if it hasn't been already. You have churches like St. Peter Claver Catholic (Houston), Gloria Dei Lutheran (NASA/NassauBay), and Moody Methodist (Galveston). Those are just a few of the examples...

All buses are being processed at the AstroDome, and then sent to shelters in Huntsville, TX, San Antonio, and Dallas....

There are other shelters but this is just to give an indicator of how the problems are being addressed.