Red Cross Numbers
Here are some numbers from tonight...
HURRICANE RITA 9 P.M. UPDATE
246 Shelters have been opened for Rita
74,000 People in those shelters (for Rita)
95,000 stayed overnight last night.
80,000 meals were served.
BY STATE
Alabama has 5 Shelters Open
Arkansas has 2 Shelters Open
Florida has 1 Shelters Open
Louisiana has 39 Shelters Open
Mississippi has 38 Shelters Open
New Mexico has 1 Shelter Open
Oklahoma has 4 Shelters Open
Texas has 156 Shelters Open
Impact Summary
Louisiana:
• 50 roads from Slidell to Lake Charles are closed.
• At least 1 million customers are without power in southwest Louisiana and the Gulf Coast of
Texas.
• There are no immediate reports of fatalities or serious injuries.
• Vinton: worst early damage reports - several fires were burning, the roof was torn off the
town's recreation center and homes were damaged by fallen trees.
• Widespread flooding was reported in the coastal Louisiana parishes along the Gulf of
Mexico.
• New Orleans: Parts of the 9th Ward are under eight feet of water; there is a 150-foot gap in
the Industrial Canal levee.
• Lake Charles: There is significant damage to the airport, including hangars, cell tower.
Trees are down. There is major damage and flooding at Harrah's casino. A riverboat casino
and a barge were knocked loose and were floating free; the barge slammed into the
Interstate 10 bridge spanning the Calcasieu River, which was closed while authorities
inspected the damage.
• At least one pumping station does not appear to be working.
• Acadia Parish: Power lines and trees were toppled. Trees have fallen on houses. There is
wind and water damage.
• Calcasieu Parish: The airport was damaged. Homes were damaged by falling trees. Roads
are blocked. Cell phones are down. A building is on fire in Vinton. A firefighter was injured
when he was kicked in the head by a horse.
• Cameron Parish: The phone lines are down.
• Evangeline Parish: There are heavy winds, and no damage assessment has been
completed yet.
• Jefferson Davis Parish: There is flooding, extensive damage and looting in Jennings.
Residents are trapped. Many downtown businesses are damaged. The police department is
without power.
• Lafayette Parish: Roads are blocked by fallen trees. There are power outages in the city of
Lafayette and the parish. The Vermilion River through Lafayette is running north, instead of
south, due to heavy storm surge.
• Terrebonne Parish: Crews are unable to get to trapped residents. Seven to eight feet of
water throughout the parish.
• Vermilion Parish: There is flooding south of Louisiana State Route 14 and downed trees
and power outages. Search and rescue is underway. Eight feet of water has been reported
south of Erath.
Texas:
• Oil refineries suffered only minor damage.
• No evacuees have been allowed to return to evacuated Texas counties as of 1:00 PM EDT.
• Baytown: The water treatment plant is out of service. Power lines and poles are down and
the city is littered with storm debris.
• Beaumont: A 17-year-old was hit by a falling tree and injured. Eleven other injuries have
been reported. A restaurant is damaged and there is debris in the streets, but no major
flooding. Police are checking a collapsed apartment building outside the city.
• Galveston: Two historic residences and a commercial building burned. One building was
destroyed. A restaurant wall collapsed. Wind blew the roof off of a multi-story hotel
downtown. The Galveston Daily News, which lost part of its roof, reports that a woman was
severely burned and a firefighter received a minor eye injury.
• Houston: Two fires, power outages, but no major flooding.
• Lumberton: Some flooding and unconfirmed reports of damage. Trees are down. Downed
power lines are preventing police from rescuing a couple trapped in their home.
• Pasadena: Fire at a Family Dollar store spread to an AutoZone store.
• Port Arthur: Some flooding, with water depths of three to seven feet. Phones are out. There
is widespread wind damage. The levees are holding.
• Texas City: Still assessing damage.
Power Outages
• SLEMCO (Southwest Louisiana Electric Membership Cooperative): More than twothirds
of its 86,000 customers are without power.
• CLECO (Central Louisiana Electric Co-Op) Corporation: 80,000 customers are without
power.
• Jefferson Davis Electric Cooperative: No service to all 10,300 customers.
• Entergy Corporation: 780,903 customers are without power, including many that have not
had power since Hurricane Katrina.
• Center Point Energy: More than 450,000 customers are without power.
Fundraising (FR)
• Have raised $933 million to date
• Developing a plan to assist chapter that have received donations but do not have the time or
the capability to process the donations.
• Modified the fundraising solicitation language that is to be included on all press releases and
parts of it for advertising and other communications to read (new text bolded):
American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time
and money from the American people. You can help the victims of the recent hurricanes and
thousands of other disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the
American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food,
counseling and other assistance to those in need. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575
(Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red
Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet
users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org. The American Red
Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster
please do so at the time of your donation.
18, 127 Red Cross Volunteers are currently out in the field donating their time to the disasters.
HURRICANE KATRINA UPDATE
There are currently 226 Shelters still open from Hurricane Katrina
Last night 44.332 stayed in shelters because of Hurricane Katrina
818,000+ meals have been served to the victims of Hurricane Katrina
ALMOST 14,000,000 THAT IS ALMOST 14 MILLION meals have been served so far because of hurricane Katrina!
2,444,000+ people have stayed in shelters at least one night due to Katrina.
To date, the Red Cross program has booked [B]$57,015,582 hotel billings.[/B] This is for volunteers and victims to stay in.
Families Connecting
• Calls to 1-877-LOVED1S total 166,068 with 2,365 calls received in the 24-hour period from
yesterday at 2:00 PM to today at 2:00 PM.
• On KatrinaSafe.org, 720 evacuees reported their status and 3,662 concerned family
members and friends registered in the last 24 hours. To date, 275,936 evacuees have
reported their status and 26,194 concerned family members and friends have registered on
line.
• Evangeline Parish: There are heavy winds, and no damage assessment has been completed yet.
• Jefferson Davis Parish: There is flooding, extensive damage and looting in Jennings. Residents are trapped. Many downtown businesses are damaged. The police department is without power.
• Lafayette Parish: Roads are blocked by fallen trees. There are power outages in the city of Lafayette and the parish. The Vermilion River through Lafayette is running north, instead of south, due to heavy storm surge.
• Terrebonne Parish: Crews are unable to get to trapped residents. Seven to eight feet of water throughout the parish.
• Vermilion Parish: There is flooding south of Louisiana State Route 14 and downed trees and power outages. Search and rescue is underway. Eight feet of water has been reported south of Erath.
If I hear the words "not as bad as expected" or "dodged a bullet" again today I am going to lose it. Hello MSM, hello FEMA - there's a freakin' mess in Louisiana and it is way too early to be celebrating!
Keep in mind, Cameron Parish is right where the eye came ashore.