Posted on 08/31/2005 10:28:28 AM PDT by spycatcher
Some people are saying the destruction is worse than Hurricane Camille. Others aren't saying anything, staring in wide-eyed wonder at the total devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
Just last Thursday, Katrina hit South Florida as a Category 1 hurricane. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, she moved through the Gulf, slowly gaining strength and growing larger until she became a Category 5 with winds of 175 mph.
Monday morning, she hit Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana, then moved slowly north, slamming into the Louisiana-Missisppi line as a Category 4 storm and causing destruction of buildings and homes along the Coast and in southeastern Louisiana.
"Catastrophic is an understatement," one resident said.
South Mississippi isn't exactly the ideal tourist spot right now, but the hurricane has drawn journalists from all over the world who want to cover what could be the most costly and deadly natural disaster in U.S. history.
Kim Riseth is one of those journalists. He works for a newspaper in Norway but is based in New York City. He has covered the war in Iraq, as well as the tsunami in Sri Lanki.
He and a photographer flew to Florida on Monday and droveto South Mississippi early Tuesday to write about the damage wrought by Katrina.
Riseth found his way to the Harrison County Courthouse after walking around surveying damage for several hours.
"The destruction here is worse than the tsunami," Riseth said at the Emergency Management Agency. "It's exactly the same thing I saw in Sri Lanka. The houses were smaller and not as strong as the ones here, but this place is totally destroyed about three blocks from the beach."
When asked if the pair planned to travel to New Orleans to cover the hurricane's damage to one of America's most famous cities, Riseth said no.
"The better story is here."
You can get local retailers to collect money for the Salvation Army.
If everyone else is like my family in Mississippi, the following would be useful:
Bottled water, batteries, diapers, nonperishable food.
Like my relatives, many people had their own water wells and need electricity to for the water pumps to operate. So if your friends could chip in for a generator, it would make some family's year. I was able to purchase a couple of generators and a lot of water in Texas this morning and send back to my family.
Make lots of cinnamon toast. Series cash is best also pray and welcome to free republic
thanks
Yep, it's looking like N.O. is going to be 10-15K alone.
I can say that the people who were smart enough to get out did so. How many lives would have been taken if the city was full when the storm hit?
Have a friend looking for Ed and Patti Jenkins from Van Cleave, Miss; also, for Gary Llandelar from Pascagoula, Miss
"I can say that the people who were smart enough to get out did so. How many lives would have been taken if the city was full when the storm hit?"
Yes, at least we had the capability to warn people beforehand. Unlike the tsunami where it was on them with no warning. Without warning, we would have seen casualties similiar to the tsunami.
Just wow!
The tsunami's wave was thousands of miles long, not 1 mile long, hitting India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, even Africa 5000 miles away. The wave was 80-100 feet tall when it hit Aceh (Indonesia). And while Katrina might be worse as far as economic damage, the human toll will not compare to the 200,000 dead across the Indian Ocean. Comparisons aside, we need to do all that we can to help those suffering now.
Long, wide, deep, what I meant was a mile wide, 25' tall and thousand of miles long. I was under the impression the wave could be no taller then the up down movement of the earth below it. I also understand that could not have been more then 40 maybe 50 feet.
Maybe you could contact the Houston Astrodome directly? Stuff for the kids is a great idea.
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