Posted on 09/06/2005 10:15:17 AM PDT by Abigail Adams
This thread is for Katrina news and updates.
CBS special report right now: about the big power outage in LA and SoCal. Someone inadvertantly cut a power line about 1:00 pm. Oops!
If you hear anything interesting on scanner in NO, let us know!
Press Releases
Date: 9/12/2005
Contact: Denise Bottcher or Roderick Hawkins at 225-342-9037
Louisiana Secretary of Department of Social Services Ann Williamson's Memo to Governor Blanco Regarding Housing
DATE: September 11, 2005
TO: The Honorable Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Governor
Col. Jeff Smith, Louisiana State Coordinating Officer
Bill Lockey, FEMA/Louisiana Federal Coordinating Officer
FROM: Ann Silverberg Williamson, Secretary
RE: FEMA Email: "Shelter Management Team"
I am in receipt of email correspondence sent from James Duncan of FEMA to Bill Lockey and Curt Musgrave September 11th at 12:22 p.m. The subject of the message is "shelter management team." The message misrepresents Louisiana's vision and actions. It is my intent to clarify the issues and request that FEMA communicates and partners with the Louisiana Department of Social Services (DSS) more effectively and efficiently to avoid further waste of time and resources.
The twin issues of sheltering and housing are intertwined as we, Louisiana and FEMA, have agreed on numerous occasions. As acknowledged, they exist along a continuum of needs and services provided for displaced citizens. On September 10th at 2:30 p.m. a meeting was held to address the sheltering issue and a 5:00 p.m. meeting was held to address housing. I participated in both.
The specific purpose of the 2:30 p.m. meeting referred to in Mr. Duncan's email was to establish a joint State/FEMA leadership team to address the strategic issues regarding sheltering of displaced citizens. We discussed the establishment of a sheltering cell, leadership, representation, its operational center and when we would begin coordinated actions.
As DSS Secretary I expressed our Department's support of Governor Blanco's vision to meet the needs of Louisiana's displaced citizens. The concept I outlined included transitioning displaced citizens out of shelters and into permanent housing. Mr. Duncan's email distorts the DSS position. Louisiana's DSS is prepared to accomplish the following:
- Fortification of shelters
- Co-leadership of the sheltering cell
- Co-leadership of the housing cell
- Continuity of effort between sheltering and housing
- Information transfer between cells
- Organizational unity
The Governor believes strongly in the swift, safe relocation of displaced citizens into homes as part of communities. The Governor is clear that the pursuit of this goal is not at the expense of providing basic comfort and meeting human needs of sheltered citizens. These two objectives are not mutually exclusive and she expects both goals to be achieved simultaneously. It is disconcerting that FEMA would paint such an either/or picture under current circumstances that call for us to push through any boundaries that limit our options.
Mr. Duncan correctly reported that DSS wants sheltered citizens to have access to newspapers, televisions, child development services and similar quality of life needs. However, he would be misguided to believe, as he wrote, that either he or Mr. Misczak has to steer DSS in any direction. Both DSS and FEMA would be negligent to ignore the comprehensive needs of thousands of citizens currently in shelters. Making life better for citizens in shelters is not an action that deters our focus from the development of housing. That is why we have distinct cells meeting on housing and sheltering, respectively.
In summary, I ask for the following from FEMA. I expect a FEMA official whose primary responsibility is exclusively Louisiana housing solutions. Additionally, I expect daily status reports at our housing cell meetings that are data based with comparative figures and performance goals illustrating progress.
I remain optimistic that the commitment and skill of FEMA leadership can be more strategic than that witnessed through Mr. Duncan's email. A disaster of this magnitude commands the best of us all and the brightest solutions we have to offer. Oversimplifying efforts while we strive to care for our citizens is inexcusable.
- Ann Silverberg Williamson
September 11, 2005 9:18 p.m.
-30-
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/091305/new_fema001.shtml
FEMA brings in trailers
11 evacuees reported dead in northwestern Louisiana
9/13/2005, 7:53 a.m. CT
The Associated Press
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — Eleven evacuees from Hurricane Katrina have died over the past two weeks after being transported out of southeastern Louisiana, a coroner says.
Most of the dead were elderly patients or people who did not receive needed medical attention before and during the evacuation, said Caddo Parish coroner George McCormick. One victim was a stillborn baby whose mother had complications during the evacuation, McCormick said.
Some of the victims died on buses and evacuation aircraft going to Shreveport, McCormick said. Others died in nursing homes around Shreveport, he said.
McCormick said the process of identifying the dead and notifying patients is chaotic.
"We can't even find out who to report the deaths to," McCormick said.
http://www.nola.com
New Orleans strip joint Big Daddy's wants to get back to work -
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050912/od_nm/stripclub_dc
Press Releases
Date: 9/13/2005
Contact: Denise Bottcher or Roderick Hawkins at 225-342-9037
MEDIA ADVISORY: Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco convenes a meeting with statewide elected officials to discuss recovery efforts
Baton Rouge- Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will convene a meeting with statewide elected officials Tuesday, September 13, 2005, to discuss Louisiana's recovery efforts.
WHERE: State Police Headquarters
3rd floor conference room
7667 Independence Blvd.
Baton Rouge, LA 70806
WHEN: 11 a.m. CST, Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Members of the working press are invited for a photo opportunity for the first 10 minutes of the meeting.
Trailers! Glad they're getting those set up.
Blanco is outraged!
Press Releases
Date: 9/13/2005
Contact: Denise Bottcher or Roderick Hawkins at 225-342-9037
Statement by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco on Body Removal Process in Southeast Louisiana
September 13, 2005
"I have taken action today to resolve a matter that involves life, death and dignity.
"In recent days, I have spoken with FEMA and administration officials to convey my frustration regarding the lack of urgency and lack of respect involving the recovery of our people whose lives were lost as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
"We have pleaded for contract resolution. More than a week ago, Secretary Chertoff told me that plans would be put in place for a system of "recovery with respect." No one, even those at the highest level, seems to be able to break through the bureaucracy to get this important mission done. The failure to execute a contract for the recovery of our citizens has hurt the speed of recovery efforts. I am angry and outraged.
"While Kenyon International of Houston has been and is still on the ground, working each day along with DMORT teams, they have not added enough personnel to do the work quickly because of the lack of proper operational support or a contract.
"Yesterday, Kenyon officials told me that if things don't change, they would leave as soon as they could professionally pull out.
"While recovery of bodies is a FEMA responsibility, I cannot stand by while this vital operation is not being handled appropriately. In death, as in life, our people deserve more respect than they have received.
"Yesterday, I directed that Kenyon ramp up beyond their previous maximum operations. The State will sign a written contract with Kenyon. I could not bear to wait any longer."
Two Evacuees charged with sexual assault
We should start a thread to keep up with these criminal activities by evacuees. "Katrina's Most Wanted"
"I have taken action today to resolve a matter that involves life, death and dignity.
Now she is taking action??
That stupid woman was the reason many of those people died. AAARRRRRGGGGG! I hope the folks holding the purse strings tell her NO.
Hibernia sets moratorium on loan payments
September 13, 2005 11:30 AM
NEW ORLEANS -- Hibernia consumer borrowers in zip codes beginning with 700, 701, 703, 704, 394, 395 and 396 can defer all payments on consumer loans and lines of credit until January 2006.
The policy also covers small business loans and credit lines up to $1 million, the bank annmounced Tuesday.
Automatic deduction payments have also been suspended during the grace period.
For residential first mortgages, Hibernia is suspending payments for three months and will grant 18 months of temporary forbearance to repay suspended payments with no credit reporting.
She is trying to save her political career but it will not work. It's too late for her to take action and not wait for the feds.
I agree.
Press Releases
Date: 9/14/2005
Contact: Denise Bottcher or Roderick Hawkins at 225-342-9037
MEDIA ADVISORY: Satellite Coordinates for Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco's address to a joint session of the Louisiana Legislature
Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will address a joint session of the Louisiana Legislature at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 14, 2005, in the chamber of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
The Governor will speak to the Legislature and to the citizens of Louisiana and the United States about her initial proposals for rebuilding southeast Louisiana.
"I have called for this special meeting to begin immediately the work of rebuilding our state and restoring our people," Governor Blanco said. "We are one people, united in our resolve to rebuild, restore and recover from this tragedy. At this time of great uncertainty and despair, our people must know that all our leaders are united and dedicated to this important work."
Satellite Coordinates for the live feed are following:
19:15 - 20:30 Eastern
6:15PM - 7:30PM Central
Analogue Ku
Satellite: AMC 9 / transponder 19K
Downlink freq.: 12080 Horizontal
Digital Ku
Satellite: AMC 3 Ku / transponder 19
digital format: Digicipher II
Downlink Polarity: Horizontal
L-Band Frequency: 1322.0 Mhz
VCT ID: 128
Symbol Rate: 14.63
FEC: 3/4
Virtual Channel: 240 - 241
-30-
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA091105.1A.katrina_plaquemines.38aef1f.html
Flooded cars, boat wrecks mark the town of Plaquemines after Katrina
Web Posted: 09/11/2005 12:00 AM CDT
Sheila Hotchkin
Express-News Staff Writer
EMPIRE, La. — Just days before Plaquemines Parish officially reopened, three cousins slipped in to see what Hurricane Katrina had left them.
(Photos by Jerry Lara/Express-News)
A wrecked Saint Ann Catholic Church in Empire, La., lies a few feet from its foundation in Plaquemines Parish, next to the church cemetery.
Jodi Guilbeau surveys his gas station in Port Sulphur, La., that was severely damaged when Hurricane Katrina made landfall nearby.
A casket lies on Highway 23 near Port Sulphur, La., unearthed by floodwaters. The town is 16 miles from where Katrina came ashore.
Displaying the owner's sense of humor, a sold sign is placed on a boat amid the destruction in Port Sulphur, La. In a bizarre twist, cars were underwater and boats were on dry land.
Special Section
Hurricane Katrina: News, video, multimedia, information for victims and volunteers
They made it as far south as Port Sulphur before water swallowed what was left of State Highway 23. Then they rode on top of a levee, with the Mississippi River on one side and the carcasses of homes on the other, until they found a dry highway again.
The cousins parked their truck at Empire, where the storm had deposited a massive barge across the road. From there, they hiked 3 miles to their homes and businesses.
After they returned to their truck, Jimmy McGuire used a two-way radio to tell his wife where he was.
"You going down farther?" she asked.
He broke the news: "Done been down there, baby. Ain't nothing left."
She paused before speaking again: "That about says it all."
***
Plaquemines Parish, a finger of river delta and swampland that stretches southeast of New Orleans into the Gulf of Mexico, was ground zero for the hurricane. Katrina made landfall Aug. 29 near Buras, toward the bottom of the peninsula.
When the parish's 26,000 residents are allowed to return this morning to the northern sections of the region, they'll find their homes relatively intact.
Some who live farther south, where flooding remains, will not find their homes at all.
The only highway in and out of the parish goes underwater beside milepost 27 in Port Sulphur. Bobbing in foul-smelling water are oranges stripped from the citrus trees that feed one of the parish's primary trades, which also include oil refining and sulfur production.
Houses, too, are underwater in that area. Virtually all of the homes left on dry land have caved in on themselves.
Brightly colored streamers of clothes and trash hang in the trees, looking oddly festive. Roads are lined with appliances that floated out of people's homes — and an occasional casket that escaped from a cemetery.
Showing a grim sense of humor, Katrina left cars underwater and lifted boats onto dry land.
The owner of one of those shattered boats responded with some grim humor of his own. After the hurricane, he posted a sign on the Miss Kelly Ann.
"Sold," it said.
***
"What a revolting development, huh?" said Jody Guilbeau, tossing aside a 2-by-4 with his gloved hand.
He and his son Jeremy worked to clear the ruins of their business, a gas station and convenience store in Empire started by Guilbeau's father in 1947.
All that remained of the building was a wooden skeleton, filled with rubble.
The destruction wrought by Katrina would appear bad to anyone. But it looks worse to a lifelong resident like Guilbeau, who not only sees the wrecked buildings still standing but knows where there should be a building — and isn't.
There used to be two houses, a mechanic's shop and a dry cleaner's establishment across the street from his gas station. There's no trace of them now.
As Guilbeau worked outside his own business, another early arrival — a local plumber — drove past.
"Hey there, Mr. Jody," the man called out the truck window.
Guilbeau returned the greeting: "Where y'at there, Eddy?"
Guilbeau's son gestured to the fallen building behind him.
"I need a plumber!" he shouted.
***
Along with people's homes and livelihoods, Katrina stole memories.
A Buras Middle School yearbook, more than a decade old, lay open on the ground outside St. Ann Catholic Church, pages stiffened from having been drenched with floodwater and then dried in the sun.
On the inside cover, autographs made out to "Robert" remained legible.
"Dan. Best friends for ever," said one.
Gravestones in the little cemetery outside the church were toppled.
The church itself had been lifted from its foundation and dropped several yards away. A tree broke through the floor and stretched out the front door.
Statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus lay on their sides on the floor.
People saved whatever mementoes they could. A Plaquemines Parish paramedic rescued his wedding album from his home in a neighboring parish.
He lost some of the photos, but saved at least a few.
"You get a whole different perspective on life," said James Wigstrom, who was born in Plaquemines Parish. "Everything now to me is so insignificant.
"It don't matter."
***
Three cousins leaned against their truck, considering their next move.
"What am I going to do?" Jimmy McGuire wondered aloud. "Come back here and build my house back and build my business back and live until the next one."
Of the three, he was the only one who planned to stay.
Keith Delahoussaye and Kevin Armstrong said they will move at least as far north as Belle Chasse, just outside New Orleans, if not out of the parish altogether.
Said Armstrong: "You can salvage some memories and pack up and leave.
"I can't bring my family back to this."
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