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Hurricane Katrina's waves felt in California 11:00 24 September 2006 From New Scientist Print Edition. On 29 August 2005, as hurricane Katrina was rumbling towards New Orleans, a seismic hum more than 1000 times the strength of the average volcanic tremor was felt nearly 3000 kilometres away in southern California. Its source was the hurricane itself. Hurricanes create large ocean waves, which send energy pulsing through the Earth as they pound the shoreline. To determine the power of Katrina's seismic waves, Peter Gerstoft of the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues analysed the signals recorded by a network of...

Bouncing back: Hurricane hero rebuilds his life in time for Katrina's birthday By Alec Russell (Filed: 18/08/2006) One of the few undisputed heroes of Hurricane Katrina, a one-time bouncer turned teacher, still lives in a trailer a year after he rescued survivors of the great storm. Chris Baker, a 38-year-old barrel of a man, borrowed his Uncle Jimmy's boat and, drawing on his training in the Coast Guard Reserve, joined the hunt for stranded fugitives. Left: A weary Chris Baker ferrying a police officer through flooded streets. Right: With his girlfriend Amy His stirring experiences allowed him to forget that...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Sept. 8, 2005) -- Marines from two Camp Pendleton-based units are participating in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in the devastated Gulf Coast region, joining the thousands of other U.S. servicemembers ordered to the disaster area this past week by the President of the United States. A detachment of Marines from the base's Communications and Information Systems unit arrived at the Naval Air Station and Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, La., Monday. The detachment of nine Marines, one civilian contractor, and two civilian truck drivers from CIS were dispatched to provide communications support to...

Refugees being helped at expense of the city's poor is one sentiment Amid the overwhelmingly compassionate response to hurricane evacuees in Houston, a less-welcoming undercurrent is developing among people worried about the impact of thousands of needy, desperate people. E-mails, blogs and callers to the Chronicle wonder why refugees draw such immediate assistance while Houston's poor continue to suffer. Others fear an increase of crime. Some are blunt. "Yes, let's rush to bring over the looters and destroyers of public and private property," wrote a blogger. Some are thoughtful. "I have grave concerns about a city that can't help the...