Katrina Live Thread, Part XIV

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.

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.

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/

For complete text see
http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html
Updates as they come in on Katrina
04:29 PM CDT on Saturday, September 3, 2005
Tom Planchet
4:27 P.M. - WWL-TV: Clean up crews can be seen collecting the debris and garbage around the evacuation point at the I-10/Causeway Interchange. There are no more evacuees in the area.
4:23 P.M. - (AP): Only pockets of stragglers remain in the streets around the New Orleans Convention Center, and paramedics have begun carting away the dead.
CUT CUT
4:20 P.M. - WWL-TV's Mike Hoss: Army Corps of Engineers hope to have the breech at the 17th Street Canal repaired by Sunday.
4:18 P.M. - Hoss: Several West End restaurants have been reduced to rubble.
CUT CUT
4:03 P.M. - RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA (AP): The Saudi-based Organization of the Islamic Conference expressed its condolences Saturday to the United States over the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. Gulf Coast region and Louisiana.
CUT CUT
4:01 P.M. - (AP): President Bush plans to return to the Gulf Coast on Monday.
In this morning's radio address, the president recounted yesterday's visit and said he saw "a spirit that cannot be broken."
CUT CUT
The Pentagon says Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers will fly to Louisiana and Mississippi tomorrow.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is planning a trip to Mobile, Alabama.
4:00 P.M. - (AP): Fire broke out in the Saks Fifth Avenue store in the Canal Place shopping center in downtown New Orleans on Saturday, and firefighters brought in tanker trucks of water to keep it under control.
No other water pressure was available because of Hurricane Katrina, but Fire District Chief Donald Schulz said the blaze was contained after several hours. Cause was not known.
****
"All I can tell you is people ran out of the building as we went in," Schulz said.
Asked if he thought they deliberately set it afire, Schulz said, "They weren't sales clerks."
***
Firefighters had to cut through a window to get in.
Several fires have been an added aggravation during the ordeal that followed Monday's devastating hurricane which has forced an evacuation of the entire city.
One fire Friday destroyed a four-story residence building diagonally across the wide Canal Street from the shopping center.
"This district seems to have had more fires than any since the hurricane," Schulz said.
Another, bigger fire also broke out Friday with a thunderous explosion in a warehouse downriver from the French Quarter and continued to burn late Saturday.
A towering column of billowing smoke hung over the fire, which had spread along the row of warehouses.
Terry Ebbert, city em emergency operations director, downplayed the danger.
"It's not serious. It's not a toxic chemical. It's pretty well confined," he said.
3:55 P.M. - WWL-TV: Peyton and Eli Manning made a surprise visit to a shelter and helped the American Red Cross to deliver food, water, Gatorade, baby formula and diapers to the evacuees. More than 30,000 pounds of non-perishable items in total.
"This is home," Peyton said. "I don't know how many we're gonna help, but we gotta do something."
One woman at the shelter commended the Manning brothers for coming to town.
"That really is beautiful," she said. "They've lifted our spirits."
3:48 P.M. - Lt. Jack West, Covington Police Dept.: No incidents of any injuries to police deputies, despite previous reports saying officers had been shot by looters. Only one looter had been arrested.
3:40 P.M. - Sen. David Vitter (R): Spent the whole day in the area, in Gretna and the Oakwood Mall. Vitter said the Shopping Center was damaged by looters. He voiced concern that problems aren't just being shifted from New Orleans to the airport.
CUT CUT
3:36 P.M. - Rep. Charlie Melancon (D): We must ask tough questions about levee and coastal restoration projects.
3:31 P.M. - (AP): Storm casualties in Mississippi from Hurricane Katrina as released by official sources. A total 144 confirmed deaths Saturday:
--Harrison County: 65 dead, reported by Harrison County Coroner.
--Hancock County: 30 dead, reported by Harrison County Coroner.
--Pearl River: 17 dead, reported by Harrison County Coroner.
--Jackson County: 10 dead, reported by Harrison County Coroner.
--Forrest County: Seven dead, reported by Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree.
--Jones County: Six dead, reported by Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
--Adams County: Two dead, reported by the MEMA.
--Stone County: One dead, reported by Harrison County Coroner.
--Hinds County: One dead, reported by MEMA.
--Lauderdale County: One dead, reported by MEMA.
--Leake County: One dead, reported by MEMA.
--Simpson County: One dead, reported by MEMA.
--Warren County: One dead, reported by MEMA.
--Interstate 59: One dead, National Guard soldier killed in traffic accident, reported by the Mississippi National Guard.
3:26 P.M. - Tab Troxler, Dir. of Emergency Operations, St. Charles Parish: Asking residents to return to the parish to begin the rebuilding process and in order to stabilize the local economy.
St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Dept.: It is safe for residents to come back, you do not have to be afraid.
3:22 P.M. - (AP) Hurricane survivors must decide: rebuild or retreat? Click here.
3:12 P.M. - (CNN): Firefighters told CNN the blaze started under "suspicious circumstances." Smoke wafted from the upper floor of the Saks Fifth Avenue store...Earlier, a CNN crew saw looters leave the mall carrying filled Gucci and Brooks Brothers bags. Click here.

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