Katrina Live Threads, Part XV

Various ^ | 4 September 2005 | Various

[NautiNurse]

U.S. commercial air carriers continue transporting tens of thousands of evacuees from the New Orleans airport to destinations throughout the nation.

Rooftop air rescue efforts continue. One rescue chopper crashed late today. Crew members are reported safe. Gunmen who fired upon bridge repair contractors were killed by law enforcement.

To date, an estimated 70 countries and U.S. businesses have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars, supplies, food and equipment to assist the United States' efforts in Katrina's aftermath. Lt. General Honore described the damage to Mississippi today, "all infrastructure south of Jackson, MS is either damaged or destroyed." Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice visited the devastated areas, and attended Sunday church services in Mobile, Alabama.

Elsewhere, Sean Penn's rescue boat, sans plug and full of his personal entourage,reportedly sank during launch in New Orleans. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) threatened to punch President Bush, and Jefferson Parish President Broussard decried that the bureaucracy of FEMA has committed murder.

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

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

Streaming Video:

All information is subject to change. Many stations are relying on their corporate parents to configure and maintain Internet streaming. Because of the intense interest in the feeds, they may be unavailable at times because of network congestion or a problem feeding the video to the streaming servers.

WWL-TV New Orleans - 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. They have a secondary stream from Yahoo. WWL-TV is also offering a special low-bandwidth audio-only stream for dial-up users.

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).

WFAA-TV Dallas, TX - WFAA-TV is here because Dallas is one of the evacuation cities.

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

Gulf Coast Storm Network (Clear Channel Radio) - Clear Channel offers radio listeners across the gulf coast access to a simulcast emergency radio service. This service seems primarily focused on Alabama and Mississippi, but does cover Louisiana to some degree.

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
Katrina Link Archives Nice work by backhoe
Mary Landrieu-"I'll Punch Bush"
Sean Penn's Rescue Bid Sinks
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 XIV
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

[BurbankKarl]

No, the State of Texas actually had a disaster plan they were ready to implement, and stepped up to the plate. But most of the costs to the governments will be reimbursed.

[NautiNurse]

You know I don't make wine here...I just watch the grape buds blossom, and the birds eat 'em. I did beat the birds to the muscadines last month. They are a lot of work to peel and gnaw around the seeds...and worth it!

[nascaryankee]

To be honest, that is the first I have seen the mayor under fire.......

[Howlin]

What kind of music?

But I noticed that Wolf Blitzer has it on that thing he does in the afternoon; it sounds like the music in the Bejeweled 2 game on Real Arcade...........it makes me nuts!

[kcvl]

I think I seen it all now!


"Johnson also said that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and President George Bush “should not be violating the Constitution by telling people to pray for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.”"


******


America’s Atheists Contributing to Katrina Aid Effort


AMERICAN ATHEISTS, INC.

http://www.atheists.org

http://www.americanatheist.org

For more information, please contact:

Ellen Johnson, President (973) 625-6900 or (973)919-4263

Dave Silverman, Communications Director (732) 648-9333

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Contrary to some, charity and mutual aid are not the monopoly of religious organizations”

While some government officials are calling for prayer and trying to focus public attention on the work done by some religious groups, America's diverse community of nonbelievers – Atheists, Freethinkers, Humanists and others – are joining the effort to support relief operations in New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast.

AMERICAN ATHEISTS is one such organization, and has called upon the country’s Atheists to generously donate to emergency efforts. The organization is using its web site to list charitable groups that do not include religious preaching and proselytizing in their relief efforts.

“We’re getting reports of how some religion-based ‘aid’ groups are trying to fly evangelists into the stricken areas and how U.S. Army Chaplains are carrying Bibles – not food or water – to ‘comfort’ people at the New Orleans Superdome,” said Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists. “People need material aid, medical care and economic support – not prayers and preaching.”

Johnson also said that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and President George Bush “should not be violating the Constitution by telling people to pray for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.”

“It’s unconstitutional for government officials to be promoting religion; and besides, judging from the speed of some relief efforts, officials should be busy working instead of preaching.”

Dave Silverman, Communications Director for American Atheists, compared Hurricane Katrina to January’s Asian tsunami which claimed thousands of lives. “It appears that despite all of the outbursts of public religiosity and prayer, ‘God’ was once again asleep at the wheel.”

“Only human beings can deal with the calamities of the natural world,” said Silverman. “God doesn’t seem to be much help when it comes to rushing food, water, or antibiotics when people are suffering.”

Ms. Johnson said that her group is spreading the word to encourage Atheists to contribute money to relief organizations that do not proselytize as part of their rescue efforts.

American Atheists is a nationwide movement which defends the civil rights of nonbelievers, works for the separation of church and state, and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy.

[Arizona Carolyn]

I sent him an email and told him I was very disapointed in him being so intellectually dishonest because I KNOW he's smarter than that.

[Miss Marple]

Sort of like movie background music...strings and swelling choral voices. It was really noticeable, because he is the ONLY one who had background music.

[RasterMaster]

You are certainly doing the Lord's work!

[Howlin]

“People need material aid, medical care and economic support – not prayers and preaching.”

The anti-American haters are coming out of the woodwork, aren't they?

I guess the flood flushed them all out.

[liberty2004]

Has Mr. Broussard never studied that

I live in Metairie, in Jefferson Parish. My brother, his boss and I stayed through the storm and a few days after. Mr Broussard should be hung. I heard Broussard with my own ears the day after the hurricane. He stated that he sent the pump workers across the lake before Katrina hit. THERE WAS NO ONE TO MAN THE PUMPS WHEN THE WINDS DIED DOWN!! Because of that idiot's decision my sister's house had two feet of water. Not including the breach, ALL the flooding in Jefferson parish is SOLELY the fault of Broussard. All the flooding of Kenner is solely the fault of that idiot. I have been too stressed trying to live and find my family after the storm to post much, but I can tell the world that President BUSH is NOT to blame for anything. I see the media going overboard blaming our President and it makes me nuts. I wish I had time to write an editorial, but I don't at this time. The world should know that the response by Bush was as good as anyone could hope for in this difficult time. NO one I know that suffered through this storm blames. If anything, they ALL say he is doing great. We even went down today and traveled into the city. We went along the river and Tchoupitoulus to my brothers Boss's business. We saw a greatly increased military presences. There were many police riding all about with shotguns sticking out the windows. On the way out, we saw hundreds of troops securing the streets. It was impressive. They were going house to house checking for residents. The area nearest the river is high ground. We are staying in New Iberia for now. On the way back we stopped in Baton Rouge for dinner. We saw an exhausted National guard soldier sitting at a table with his wife and three kids. He had his elbow on the table with his eyes closed. He seemed totally exhausted. We picked up his dinner tab. He came to our table to thank us. We told him that we were grateful for all he is doing. He said he was on 24 our leave. He spent the past days at the Superdome. People should stop the blame game and understand this tragedy is immense. On our journey out tonight, we saw long caravan's of supplies and troops heading towards the city. I wish I had time to share more thoughts but I have been too busy trying to contact friends and family. We are all under great stress. Everyone I know has no idea what the future holds. I just want people to know that everyone I encounter is satisfied with the response of the Administration. We are so proud of our wonderful soldiers and all those who have come to help.

[NautiNurse]

I get the days thing on the clock, but the hours? Is the time supposed to be from when the eye passed over or something?

It's a tacky take off of the Court TV jury clock. Your mission, should you choose to accept it...track back to where they started the clock count. Then we'll hammer them with the real facts.

[not_apathetic_anymore]

I NEVER saw a television shot

Now that you mention it I remember seeing only a couple from the inside pointed up showing the holes in the roof with rainwater cascading through. I can't remember if there were even any shots of people sitting in seats or not...but I do remember the rain coming through the roof

[Txsleuth]

Well, isn't that special.

I am sure the hurricane people will be so pleased to get their prayerless help.

[kcvl]

I guess we now know where Blanco & Landrieu were part of today...


Better days are ahead, priest reminds faithful

New Orleans Archdiocese hasn't heard from 150 priests

10:38 PM CDT on Sunday, September 4, 2005

BY DAVE MICHAELS / The Dallas Morning News

BATON ROUGE, La. – Celebrating Mass on Sunday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina sent New Orleans parishioners into exile, Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes compared their plight to the trials of Job, for whom suffering interrupted but did not replace a life of prosperity.

snip



Also in attendance at Sunday's service were the state's highest elected officials, including Sen. Mary Landrieu and Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

For a week, Ms. Blanco has expressed heartache over the crisis while rebuffing the urge to cry. Stepping inside the church, she embraced the Rev. Gerard F. Young, the church's rector, and shed tears.

During his sermon, Archbishop Hughes thanked Ms. Blanco several times for her work, and the audience stood and applauded her for nearly a minute. The archbishop also alluded to the region's frustration with the slowness of the federal relief, a complaint that has been registered by dozens of local elected officials.

Archbishop Hughes' sermon was full of exhortations to focus on the long-term recovery. He told parishioners to forgive looters and to resist racial stereotypes and hatred.

[sockmonkey]

We live in Eastern Kansas. I grew up in Texas and I know what the gulf smells like. I smell the gulf here once or twice a year depending on the wind and the weather and tonight, I smell Katrina. It's like the gulf only wet wood, and an almost rotten smell.

I'm in Central TX. In the spring, we can always smell the smoke from the slash & burn fires in Central America and Mexico. Sometimes there's a light coating of yellowish ash on things. A few months ago when people here could smell smoke, the local weatherman said it was coming all the way from fires in Thailand.

I just went out to get the cats in for the night. It's pretty humid here and overcast, and it stinks like sewage with toxic smoke overtones to me..I'm used to the smell of barbeque grills, and fresh mown lawns on the weekends.

This was definitely a skanky smell..I'd like to think I'm just an olfactory histrionic, but I smelled it out there enough that I just went back through about 150 posts to find yours and respond.

[RoseyT]

"No, the State of Texas actually had a disaster plan they were ready to implement, and stepped up to the plate. But most of the costs to the governments will be reimbursed."

I understand now. Thanks. :)

[PAR35]

Where did you see that.

The LA refusal has been posted several places. See specifically post 141 in this thread (sorry, cut and past rather than clickable: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1477440/posts?page=141#141

For a list of the few California communities giving a little help see post 132 of this thread. (San Diego a whopping 80 folks; 300 families to San Francisco and 100 to San Jose.

[NautiNurse]

Liberty2004!!!! OMG - so glad to see you are back with us!

Prayers are answered...hooray!

[A Citizen Reporter]

I hadn't noticed that Geraldo has done this specifically.

But I will say that Fox News has added the same music that they used following 911. Actually I found it inappropriate.

[Peach]

LOL.

I've been trying to figure it out for a few days but for the life of me, I don't get it.

Maybe one has to be a militant leftist to understand it.

We'll see what news tomorrow holds...