WWL excerpted
Updates as they come in on Katrina
12:17 PM CDT on Friday, September 2, 2005
Tom Planchet
12:16 P.M. - (AP): State officials said Friday they have spotted a huge oil spill near two storage tanks at the town of Venice, on the Mississippi River downstream from New Orleans.
A flyover by the Department of Environmental Quality revealed what was described as a major oil spill.
"Two tanks with the capacity of holding 2 million barrels appear to be leaking," the statement said. No further details were given.
12:11 P.M. - Rev. Jesse Jackson: 300,000 yet to be rescued in the city. Grambling and Southern University are being used as places of refuge for some evacuated college students.
The Reverend said he went into the city last night on a bus, and was surrounded by evacuees begging for a ride out of town. Jackson said the people tried to form a human chain around the bus in order to stop it so they could board it.
Jackson said 120,000 people in New Orleans make less than $8,000 a year, and are without private transportation. Thus, they had no capacity to leave the city, and no place to go even if they could leave.
Jackson said the lack of an overall plan--and leadership--has lead to further disaster in the city.
12:09 P.M. - (AP): The stench from backed-up toilets inside the Superdome is unbearable and people are afraid to go into the unlighted bathrooms.
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12:06 P.M. - ATLANTA (AP): Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said he will sign an executive order Friday to suspend state motor fuel taxes through the end of September to "relieve some of the financial burden" on consumers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The order will remove the 7.5-cents-a-gallon tax and a 4% sales tax on gas, the governor said, and was set to begin at midnight.
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http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html
Well, he is right about that. Has he asked the Mayor to explain himself yet?
"The Reverend said he went into the city last night on a bus, and was surrounded by evacuees begging for a ride out of town. Jackson said the people tried to form a human chain around the bus in order to stop it so they could board it."
So what is his excuse for not taking a few sick people and little babies on the bus? I mean really! Why didn't some of his entourage vacate the bus and let some people on? Why wasn't his bus loaded with food and water? He KNEW there were people there that needed it before he went in. Put up or shut up Mr. Jackson. You had a chance to save a few people and you just got your press op and got the hell out of there.
Oil storage tanks mostly depend on the weight of their contents to hold them down. If they are partially full and then are flooded, they float loose and break the feed pipes.
Big heads up there, lots of those tanks around....and lots of....potential sparks.
OK, Nicholas Cage donated $1 million.
Why didn't Jesse offer to pay bus companies, etc. to move people out before hand?
Oh, that's right, he was meeting with yet another Communist dictator...