Katrina Live Thread, Part XIII

Various ^ | 1 September 2005 | Various

[NautiNurse]

28,000 National Guard troops are deployed to the disaster areas in Mississippi, Alabama, and to Louisiana, where SWAT teams are working to combat the looters and shooters in New Orleans. Additional 1400 National Guard troops are being deployed daily.

Shootings reported at a New Orleans hospital, rescue boats, and a military helicopter, while conditions continue to deteriorate at the SuperDome amid refugee deaths and chaos. Evacuation of New Orleans continues.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert has voiced serious doubts about rebuilding New Orleans with federal funds, while assuring the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida that the United States Congress stands ready to help them in their time of need. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin issued a "desperate SOS."

Doctors at two desperately crippled hospitals in New Orleans called The Associated Press Thursday morning pleading for rescue, "We have been trying to call the mayor's office, we have been trying to call the governor's office ... we have tried to use any inside pressure we can. We are turning to you. Please help us," said Dr. Norman McSwain, chief of trauma surgery at Charity Hospital, the largest of two public hospitals.

The Port of New Orleans is now open to shallow draft vessels. Congress is reconvening in an emergency session. International offers to assist the U.S. have been received from Russia, Japan, Canada, France, Honduras, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, China, South Korea, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, NATO and the Organization of American States.

Jesse Jackson has arrived in Louisiana...

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:

WWL-TV (via CBS): WWLTV via CBS
WWL-TV Now via WFAA Dallas **NEW LINK**: http://www.wwltv.com/cgi-bin/bi/video/makeadplaylist.pl?title=beloint_wfaa&live=yes
WDSU-TV: http://mfile.akamai.com/12912/live/reflector:38843.asx
WPMI-TV: http://www.wpmi.com/mediacenter/default.aspx?videoId=113739
WKRG-TV: mms://wmbcast.mgeneral.speedera.net/wmbcast.mgeneral/wmbcast_mgeneral_aug262005_1435_95518
WTOK-TV Temporarily Not Live Streaming (follow the link on the home page): http://www.wtok.com/
WJTV-TV: mms://wmbcast.mgeneral.speedera.net/wmbcast.mgeneral/wmbcast_mgeneral_aug262005_1435_95563
Louisiana Statewide Katrina Network (WJBO-AM Baton Rouge): http://ccri.eonstreams.com/ccri_la_batonrouge_wjbo_am.asf
Gulf Coast Storm Network (radio): http://www.stormalert.net/main.html#
Louisiana Scanner

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/

Previous Threads:
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

[SeaBiscuit]

"I wish someone would ask Andrea Mitchell when evacuating people from an imminent disaster became the responsibility of the federal government."

"When there is a Republican President.

If there is a Democrat President, his hands would be tied by not stepping on the toes of state and local officials."

LOL, funny but so true.

[nuclady]

Don't know, but I heard that also. They said that if the fire dept. didn't get water to the chillers at Bell South, the whole southeastern part of the US would go down. Jus what we need!

[CELTICGAEL (Celt)]

Last night O'reilly was talking to I believe Col.Cowen (sp?) and the Col. had put a group together to go in to get an elderly lady out. Maybe it was the Col's group? Maybe other Freepers heard more than I. I just caught a little of it.

[A. Morgan]

Chillers are part of the air conditioning system needed to keep the telephone equipment cool. The chillers are hooked up to water lines.

[CedarDave]

Some guy on WWL NO blaming Bush as the worst president of the US...he went on for a few seconds until the anchors shut him up saying he may have screwed up, but he's coming down to fix it. They cut the guy off saying they have no time for his political rant when people were dying. Then the anchor apoligized for losing his temper.

[Types_with_Fist]

This alone should end the looting and sniper fire. Those rats will scurry now. There must have been no authority at all for all these days. The looters are not brave people at all. They won't hang around after this. Just Praise God in Heaven. Finally the response that was needed. Long haul... but at least it's begun.

[TheSpottedOwl]

"These troops are fresh back from Iraq, well trained, experienced, battle tested and under my orders to restore order in the streets," Blanco said.

Yeah right. Good to see that she finally pulled her head out of her ass, and is being medicated. This should have been the order, days ago.

Can you imagine being so ignorant, that you'd shoot the very people trying to save you?

[mewzilla]

But at all levels, governments overpromise.

Overpromise? FWIW, from what I can tell, the voters of NO and LA didn't demand maybes let alone promises. The pols ought to be run out of town on a rail, but I'm having a harder and harder time drumming up sympathy for the folks who elected these expletives-deleted. What the heck were they thinking?!

[bvw]

Whether it was incompetence or social atropy before the fact is debatable. That it IS incomptence to all functional effect after the fact is absolutely clear.

[wordsofearnest]

I used to work in the Exxon office building on Common St, it adjoined the Fairmount. Spent a lot of Friday evenings after work in Bailey's bar off the lobby.

[AFPhys]

Someone posted a 1998 article regarding how the Corps was hamstrung in levee improvements by the Sierra Club, et al.

If no one else finds it to link and repost here, I'll take a crack at rediscovering it later on.

[Broker]

Evaluating the long term financial implactions of a 90,000 sq mi disaster area. Insurance loss questimated $30Byn. Morgage and debt default write offs vast. The real estate bubble has just burst. A real head scratcher.

[Warren_Piece]

I get the chiller part. I've worked with large mainframes for quite a few years. What I don't get is that switching station being a single point of failure for the entire southeastern united states. You just don't build networks that way, or electrical grids. Certainly that building isn't a SPF.

[Quilla]

Incredible report, thank you.

A friend of mine left yesterday morning for Biloxi with generators, chain saws, water, gas, food - an unbelievable supply of items. Two other acquaintances volunteered to escort her - heavily armed. They made it back last night at 10:30.

I've consented to loan out one of my tractor trailers (I'm a manufacturer that has to deliver our own product) to haul another load of food and water to the Biloxi area. Friends are filling up the trailer as I type and they will be armed on this trip as well. Coming in from the east we are concentrating our efforts of the areas we can readily access.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. (Wow, I can type that line quickly ;-)

[hummingbird]

Damn straight - The MAIN LESSON of all this is that the citizen must take care of his own - food, fuel, water, and weapons.

Personal responsibility...I'm not nearly as good at it as I should be and this hurricane and the aftereffects have really made me sit up straight.

But re: the Republican Party?? There is a perfect storm brewing and fuel prices, the middle east and pictures of bodies floating are going to converge unless something is done immediately.

When the dust settles to a tolerable level, the Republican Party needs to go on the offensive. GOP has got to stop playing defense.

Yankee Stadium clears out every night in 1 hr- why are there still people in the Super Dome - why are the Repubs setting this stage for the MSM?

Snipers? Poor communication on local & state & federal level? This has been a perfect storm of "what can go wrong will go wrong" and then some. Snipers shooting at rescue personnel is the most remarkable thing I have ever seen. I'm stunned.

[misharu]

It all depends on whether the POP was the main one in town. The reason everything was lost in Manhattan during 9/11 was because the towers had something like 3 or 4 SS7's (LOTSA bandwidth!) going into the them. In essence, all the eggs were in one basket. It did not help that several CO's (switching stations) were also damaged.

As for just the one causing all the problems, I can't say. But if it was the major CO, then its possible.

[tomkat]

FYI, You stop being a newbie the first time a troll calls you a racist nazi

Does 'crypto-fascist' count ?

Not sure what that's 'sposed to mean, but got tagged w/it by some newb many moons ago and figgered I musta said somethin' right  

[TonyInOhio]

There is time to be angry later.

I'm angry about this, right now:

Yes, those are UNUSED busses, parked, in New Orleans.

[tomkat]

Welcome to FR, ya racist nazi

[Types_with_Fist]

Fox: 8-mile long convoy of vehicles... all kinds.