Hurricane Katrina is about to hit New Orleans, and the city might not survive it. This is a thread for the rest of us gawkers who aren't currently busy getting the hell out of the city.
Article from earlier about the danger: http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=9754
Highway webcam: http://www.wdsu.com/wxcam/1475332/detail.html
More webcams: http://www.nola.com/bourbocam/
And finally, a particularly breathless weather alert, quoted in full below: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/iwszone?Sites=:laz062
Best of luck to anyone in, or on their way out of, the city.
DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED
HURRICANE KATRINA
A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED
STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.
MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT
LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL
FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY
DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.
THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.
PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD
FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE
BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME
WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.
HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A
FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.
AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH
AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY
VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE
ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE
WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.
POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN
AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING
INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY
THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW
CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE
KILLED.
AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR
HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE
CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.
ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE
OUTSIDE!
LAZ038-040-050-056>070-282100-
ASSUMPTION-LIVINGSTON-LOWER JEFFERSON-LOWER LAFOURCHE-
LOWER PLAQUEMINES-LOWER ST. BERNARD-LOWER TERREBONNE-ORLEANS-
ST. CHARLES-ST. JAMES-ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST-ST. TAMMANY-TANGIPAHOA-
UPPER JEFFERSON-UPPER LAFOURCHE-UPPER PLAQUEMINES-UPPER ST. BERNARD-
UPPER TERREBONNE-
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005
> LOTS OF CAPS LOCK WARNINGS
That's... frightening. Good luck to civilization, nature can be one hell of a tough bitch!
Also, quoted from www.nola.com/bourbocam :
> Get your hurricanes here!
which leads to http://www.nola.com/fqfest
errrr?
Is that big thing in the bottom corner it?
If it is, it's huge!
http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/6519/scentralsat440x2974pw.jpg
It just recently got upgraded from category 4 to category 5.
And yes, that's it, and it is huge. More pics:
http://www.wunderground.com/global/Region/g1/VisSatellite.html
http://www.wunderground.com/data/640x480/2xg1_ir_anim.gif
Streaming live Channel 4 news in New Orleans in WMV:
mms://beloint.wm.llnwd.net/beloint_wwltv
I feel sorry for them, but it seems to me that New Orleans is about to join the ancient Alexandria. If the city recovers at all, it definitely won't be in time for Mardi Gras. :(
also gbs (goons) tv stream:
http://203.35.168.197:8000/listen.pls
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
A bunch of direct links to mms: streams there.
In AD 2005, storm was beginning.
National Weather Service: What happen!
Forecaster: Someone set up us the hurricane.
Weather Alert System: We get signal!
NWS: What!
WAS: Weather screen turn on.
NWS: It's you!
KATRINA: How are you gentlemen!!
KATRINA: All your Gulf of Mexico are belong to us.
KATRINA: You are on the way to destruction.
NWS: What you say!
KATRINA: You have no chance to survive make your insurance claim.
KATRINA: Ha ha ha ha...
WAS: National Weather Service!
NWS: Take off every 'Southerner!'
NWS: You know what you doing.
NWS: Move 'Southerner.'
NWS: For great evacuation.
Some photos:
Flooded city from the air:
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050830/050829_flooded_no_hlrg7.hlarge.jpg
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/weather/0508/gallery.katrina.0830/content.1.1.html
Oil rig gets stuck under a bridge:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/weather/0508/gallery.katrina.0830/content.1.5.html
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050830/photos_sc_afp/050830110409_v0udx7gl_photo2
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050830/480/alrc10108301353
Lots more photos:
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/sm/events/ts/080304tropicalweathe/p:1
"Governor: Rest Of New Orleans Needs To Be Evacuated"
http://www.thenewmexicochannel.com/news/4887230/detail.html?treets=alb&tml=alb_natlbreak&ts=T&tmi=alb_natlbreak_1_03510208302005
"Heavily armed police have been trying to impose a form of martial law to stem looting." <- Says everything really. OUCH OUCH OUCH!
doesn't help much when the police are the ones doing the looting
> This journal has become the Survival of New Orleans blog. In less perilous times it was simply a blog for me to talk smack and chat with friends. Now this journal exists to share firsthand experience of the disaster and its aftermath with anyone interested.
PICTURES!
I wonder if the looting isn't being overplayed. I'll bet most of the stuff that's been looted would have had to have been written off anyway, due to being too damaged to sell.
(Also, "would have had to have been" probably sounds hilarious if a native speaker says it.)
Bodies floated down streets. Defeated survivors waded waist-deep and ghostlike through floods. Packs of looters rampaged through the ruins and armed themselves with stolen weapons, and gunfire echoed through the city.
Looting spiraled so out of control that Mayor Ray Nagin ordered virtually the entire police force to abandon search-and-rescue efforts and focus on the brazen packs of thieves who have turned increasingly hostile.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002463344_katrina01.html
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The evacuation of the Superdome was temporarily disrupted Thursday after shots were reported fired at a military helicopter and arson fires broke out outside the arena. No injuries were immediately reported.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5248439,00.html
wtf?
Also:
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- After opening the Astrodome in Houston to hurricane refugees, the state of Texas has agreed to take in 25,000 more evacuees from Louisiana and house them in San Antonio, the governor's office said Thursday.
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1083666&tw=wn_wire_story
GJ, Texas! ( '-')b
Also, link in >>20 seems to be down. Linked to http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/ in a frame anyway
Pics here: http://sigmund.biz/kat/index.html
(Headline: direcNIC.com Versus Looters)
PS: lol internet:
We're obliged to reader Paul Hatch to alerting us to the heroic struggle of web hosting outfit directNIC.com - owned by Intercosmos Media Group - which is currently continuing to operate from a 10th-floor datacenter in New Orleans' Business district.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/01/new_orleans_hosting_survivors/
more lol internet:
Flood Waters Can’t Sink Net Link
http://www.wired.com/news/planet/0,2782,68725,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1
Lousiana National Guard stream: http://216.22.26.45:8002/listen.pls
Also, I can't help but notice that >>20 is kind of a nut.
Yeah, but he's about the only primary source at the moment, so I trust him more then I do the other media.
New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday as corpses lay abandoned in street medians, fights and fires broke out, cops turned in their badges and the governor declared war on looters who have made the city a menacing landscape of disorder and fear.
"They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said of 300 National Guard troops who landed in New Orleans fresh from duty in Iraq. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will."
(((( ;' Д'))) wtfwtfwtf
Does anyone have any insightful articles about the situation in Alabama and Mississippi? I heard shit might be even worse there with smaller towns getting hit by the flood without anyone from the outside being aware of it at first.
This is world of terrorism.
This is very very mad killing 'usa' now!
Fuck ramsfeld!
Fuck hybrid american!
all round for deth.
Picture thread here: http://humblefool.net/news/res/10.html
Bush Admits Fault on Hurricane Response
"Scorched by criticism about sluggish federal help, President Bush acknowledged the government's failure to stop lawlessness and help desperate people in New Orleans.
"The results are not enough," Bush said Friday in the face of mounting complaints from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Bush promised to crack down on crime and violence, rush food and medicine to the needy, and restore electrical power within weeks to millions of customers across the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/09/02/national/w142153D44.DTL
Without providing evidence, a civil-rights leader and author claimed black victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans have resorted to cannibalism to survive because no one has come to help them.
Randall Robertson, writing in his Huffington Post weblog, said:
"It is reported that black hurricane victims in New Orleans have begun eating corpses to survive. Four days after the storm, thousands of blacks in New Orleans are dying like dogs. No-one has come to help them."
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46119
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randall-robinson/new-orleans_b_6643.html
This just keeps getting bett worse and worse.
Up next: Black people become infested with zombie virus, start New Orleans Living Dead Mardigras.
Horror Show
Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera were livid about the situation in NOLA as they appeared on H&C. When Hannity tried his usual spin job and said "let's get this in perspective," Smith chopped him off at the knees and started yelling at him saying, "This is perspective!" It was shocking.
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Hannity-Colmes-Smith-Rivera-freak-in-NO.wmv
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Hannity-Colmes-Smith-Rivera-freak-in-NO.mov
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/02.html#a4763
"Where's the beef?" and lotsa swearing ("I am pissed!") and griping ("I need troops, man!")
from Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans:
http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/us/2005/09/02/wwl.nagin.intv.affl
>>27
Everyone's getting a little bit nutty over this.
I just wish that heads will roll after this, i.e. some important, self-righteous people responsible for this mess getting fired.
If democracy is about the sovereignity of the people, it's the people's duty to punish those who harmed the people in a way that is only a few degrees less worse than waging war on them.
Reading between the lines, I think he's enjoying this a little bit too much, is all.
Excuse me, Senator, I'm sorry for interrupting. I haven't heard that, because, for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated.
And when they hear politicians slap—you know, thanking one another, it just, you know, it kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours. And there's not enough facilities to take her up.
Do you get the anger that is out here?…
I mean, I know you say there's a time and a place for, kind of, you know, looking back, but this seems to be the time and the place. I mean, there are people who want answers, and there are people who want someone to stand up and say, "You know what? We should have done more. Are all the assets being brought to bear?"
CNN Interview:
http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/bestoftv/2005/09/02/cooper.katrina.landrieu.cnn
Article commenting the interview:
http://www.slate.com/id/2125581/?nav=tap3
Satelite pictures:
http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/KATRINA0000.HTM
4WWL video stream:
http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/yahooPlayer.pl
Tropical Storm Maria (formerly Tropical Depression 14) is strengthening well to the east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands as thunderstorms flare near the center of the circulation. This is the earliest formation for the 13th storm in any season since 1851. It is expected to strengthen more and may attain minimal hurricane status by tomorrow. Maria's future track is forecast to change from west-northwest to north-northwest, taking the tropical storm well east of Bermuda, and at this point not forecast to affect the U.S.
http://www.weather.com/newscenter/tropical/?from=wxcenter_news
This made me laugh, if somewhat humorlessly:
You simply get chills every time you see these poor individuals, as Jack Cafferty just pointed out, so tragically, so many of these people, almost all of them that we see, are so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of questions for people who are watching this story unfold. [Emphasis added.]
Google seems to have put up up-to-date footage of New Orleans:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.964453,-90.038109&spn=.211356,.219177&t=e&hl=en
For comedic relief:
Mike Myers & Kenye West perform some surreal kind of political skit (not):
This is what you get for having the military handle things:
*“We’re here to do whatever they need us to do,” Sgt. 1st Class Ron Dixon, of the Oklahoma National Guard’s 1345th Transportation Company. “We packed to stay as long as it takes.”*
While some fight the insurgency in the city, other carry on with rescue and evacuation operations. Helicopters are still pulling hundreds of stranded people from rooftops of flooded homes.
(emphasis added)
Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans
http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1077495.php
http://forums.somethingawful.com/
"Donations are now up to $19,149.69, and you know what's truly amazing about this? The donation link has been up for LESS THAN SEVEN HOURS. That, in addition to my $3,000 donation, comes to a total of $3,164.24 donated EVERY HOUR."
>>46
Goons sure have a lot of money.
Pretty huge user-made linkage to everything Katrina @ MetaFilter:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03464940.htm
Sept 3
"two New Orleans centers that were set up as shelters [] became places of violence and terror"
""They killed a man here last night," Steve Banka, 28, told Reuters. "A young lady was being raped and stabbed. And the sounds of her screaming got to this man and so he ran out into the street to get help from troops, to try to flag down a passing truck of them, and he jumped up on the truck's windscreen and they shot him dead.""
""Last night at 8 p.m. they shot a kid of just 16. He was just crossing the street. They ran him over, the New Orleans police did, and then they got out of the car and shot him in the head," Batiste said."
""We found a young girl raped and killed in the bathroom," one National Guard soldier told Reuters. "Then the crowd got the man and they beat him to death." "
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5254078,00.html
Sept 4
Last 300 Refugees Leave Superdome
Lowtax sure is missing a bit of common sense.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/
"I guess the nice ladies and gents at Paypal are now using your funds for Project: Paypal Takes Your Money. Sorry your donations can't go to help those in need. Hey Paypal, you fuckers head on down to New Orleans and tell people who lost everything that, well, some folks donated TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS to you, but hey, you ain't getting it because we don't feel like it."
This would be upsetting except that this has happened to SA before and the staff knows perfectly well that Paypal can't be relied on for anything. Good work Lowtax.
I donated $15 towards that thinking it would help the Red Cross and all that, and now I am fucking pissed off that it will probably line the pockets of Paypal instead. After this shit I'm also tempted to close my paypal account and tell them to go fuck themselves.
Well, as long as Paypal continues to be almost the only one big accepted service for online processing of money transfers, they are going to be able to do all the shit they damn well please with their customers. If you want something to change you should stop accepting them and look for some reasonable alternative.
Now that I think of that, maybe somebody should start a thread for alternative methods and services in /net/.
The thing has made Slashdot:
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/05/09/04/050220.shtml?tid=99&tid=17
and BoingBoing:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/03/paypal_blocking_some.html
Paypal Alternatives:
http://www.paypalsucks.com/options.shtml
PS: I don't really like SA but this is ridiculous. Fuck PayPal!
PayPal Customer Service Agents are available to help you during the following times:
4:00 AM PDT to 10:00 PM PDT Monday through Friday
6:00 AM PDT to 8:00 PM PDT on Saturday and Sunday
Call us at: 402-935-2050 (a U.S. telephone number)
We may only discuss an account with the account-holder. Please have the following information available when you call:
Your telephone number
Your email address
The last 4 digits of your credit card or bank account registered with PayPal
For security reasons, we must verify the above details before discussing any account-specific information.
Mr. Lowtax should at least call... though if possible, other people should as well, just to complain.
>>56
I think it's suffice to say that Lowtax and goons are trying to take care of this already. But it's good to expose pay"pal"'s incompetence in the time when this money could come to good use.
via boingboing:
I am writing this to describe a horrific situation in NOLA that few are aware of, and those who are aware are doing little or nothing. As many of you have likely observed, the national media outlets are suggesting that hurricane relief is finally leading to vast improvements with each hour that passes. Food and water are being delivered, power restored, levees repaired, water drainage plans developed, and those still living successfully evacuated. Many are reporting that the final areas are being checked for survivors, as well as those who have passed at the hands of Katrina (and more often, neglect).
Unfortunately, this is not the case. As demonstrated on nola.com's blog section, many individuals know the exact locations and WORKING telephone numbers of family members, most of whom are elderly, sickly, starving, and in serious need of medical attention. When able to get through on emergency telephone numbers, a feat not to be taken lightly, they are dismissed or told that dispatch would be sent immediately, yet no one has come, even though calls have been placed for days.
http://www.nola.com/weblogs/nola/
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/03/katrina_blogs_report.html
http://somethingawful.com/
"But the donations are still going to the relief organizations in New Orleans, right?" I asked. She confirmed yes, they were. "Then transfer all the money to that fund. I doubt any of our readers will send in hate mail proclaiming their love of the Red Cross but adamant despise of the United Way."
Well it appears that thanks to Slashdot, BoingBoing, and maybe a bit of us that Paypal is doing what Lowtax planned to get done with the money, give it to the relief effort in New Orleans. Hopefully.
__ “One of the Worst Abandonments of Americans on American Soil Ever”__
The president of Jefferson Parish in New Orleans, Aaron Broussard, just issued an emotional appeal on NBC’s Meet the Press. By the end, he was completely broken down, sobbing uncontrollably (...)
Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/04/worst-abandonments/
Video:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/04.html#a4783
Lotsa relevant linkage
A collection of various articles that in my opinion are relevant about policy making and the Katrina effect on New Orleans.
I didn't join in criticizing Mary Landrieu (Senator of Louisiana) for not bashing GWB for his failures concerning Katrina. It was legitimate for her to put her efforts into securing help for New Orleans, and unfortunatly it's the President -- a President with a clear record of punishing those who criticize him -- who has help to give.
But apparently her patience has now been exhausted: and no wonder. She reports that the big levee-fixing operation she watched with GWB yesterday turns out to have been merely a show for the cameras.
With full text of a press release issued by her office:
http://www.markarkleiman.com/archives/katrina_/2005/09/fake_sympathy_and_fake_relief_efforts.php
