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NOLA Relief Efforts
The aftermath of Katrina may well be what destroys the city.
The 17th St levee break is allowing the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into the city. If they are unable to somehow plug the two-block-long break, worst case scenario, the flood levels could equalize out with the lake — Don't forget, NOLA is 10 feet below sea level — and turn NOLA into a toxic soup.
Residents who managed to evacuate some parishes are being told that they will be allowed to go back to their homes next week, but only to rescue personal belongings. It will be at least a month before they can return home for good, assuming they have a home to get back to.
Heavens knows what the word on the ground is for possible return to NOLA, although the city and state officials are urging people to stay away. Due to the rising floods, emergency shelters are now being evacuated and the people who sought shelter there are being sent elsewhere.
Tens of thousands of people are trapped in the Superdome. The toilets have ceased working and the flood waters are starting to get in.
4-WWL New Orleans was forced to evacuate their studios because of the floods. However, they are blogging updates very rapidly. According to 4-WWL, dead bodies are floating in the flood waters, but all rescuers have been told to push the bodies aside and concentrate on saving the living.
Reading the news is bad enough, but whatever you do, do not click on the CNN videos. You will cry. Hard. The reporters who've been interviewing survivors and listening to the screams for help as the floodwaters rise are in near-tears.
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insomnia is blogging updates of LJers who are trapped in NOLA as well as other updates to conditions on the ground. He's unable to keep on top of the other hard-hit areas in Mississippi and Alabama as the aftermath of damage in the Gulf States is catastrophic.
The The American Red Cross is about to undertake its largest domestic operation in history. They are going to need all the help they can get. Right now, the Red Cross needs money more than anything else. You can choose "Hurricane 2005" relief on the donations page.
My knowledge of the chaos and destruction in Alabama and Mississippi is far less, but it looks like those areas are devestated and flooding as well.
In addition, to everyone in Georgia on my FList: I hope you are okay. Katrina's northeastern quadrant sent tornadoes your way, so I hope you were spared the destruction.
The 17th St levee break is allowing the waters of Lake Pontchartrain into the city. If they are unable to somehow plug the two-block-long break, worst case scenario, the flood levels could equalize out with the lake — Don't forget, NOLA is 10 feet below sea level — and turn NOLA into a toxic soup.
Residents who managed to evacuate some parishes are being told that they will be allowed to go back to their homes next week, but only to rescue personal belongings. It will be at least a month before they can return home for good, assuming they have a home to get back to.
Heavens knows what the word on the ground is for possible return to NOLA, although the city and state officials are urging people to stay away. Due to the rising floods, emergency shelters are now being evacuated and the people who sought shelter there are being sent elsewhere.
Tens of thousands of people are trapped in the Superdome. The toilets have ceased working and the flood waters are starting to get in.
4-WWL New Orleans was forced to evacuate their studios because of the floods. However, they are blogging updates very rapidly. According to 4-WWL, dead bodies are floating in the flood waters, but all rescuers have been told to push the bodies aside and concentrate on saving the living.
Reading the news is bad enough, but whatever you do, do not click on the CNN videos. You will cry. Hard. The reporters who've been interviewing survivors and listening to the screams for help as the floodwaters rise are in near-tears.
insomnia is blogging updates of LJers who are trapped in NOLA as well as other updates to conditions on the ground. He's unable to keep on top of the other hard-hit areas in Mississippi and Alabama as the aftermath of damage in the Gulf States is catastrophic.The The American Red Cross is about to undertake its largest domestic operation in history. They are going to need all the help they can get. Right now, the Red Cross needs money more than anything else. You can choose "Hurricane 2005" relief on the donations page.
My knowledge of the chaos and destruction in Alabama and Mississippi is far less, but it looks like those areas are devestated and flooding as well.
In addition, to everyone in Georgia on my FList: I hope you are okay. Katrina's northeastern quadrant sent tornadoes your way, so I hope you were spared the destruction.
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I've already donated money and I need to call my local Red Cross in the morning and see if they need anything from me (trained volunteer).
I wish there was more I could do. I kept going back and forth between the news & photos and my June New Orleans and surrounds photos and it is just devastatingly sad.
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(Anonymous) 2005-08-31 04:00 am (UTC)(link)The week I started school, the Times-Picayune published the results of a simulation that predicted 100,000 dead if a Cat 5 hurricane made a direct hit--not from storm damage but from disease, snakes and other wildlife, and a lack of clean, drinkable water. In other words, exactly what's happening now and what will continue to happen over the next few days and weeks.
I still have friends and ex-classmates there. I dearly hope that they heeded the order to evacuate. An animal-rescue organization that I volunteered with currently has dozens of cats and kittens in its care, some in foster homes and others in local stores that host adoption centers. I hope the volunteers managed to take all the animals with them when they (I hope) evacuated.
The water reportedly continues to rise as more and more pumps and levees fail. Even areas of the East Bank of Jefferson Parish, where I lived, that were reportedly in relatively good shape are now in danger of flooding. That's the problem with the levees: They keep the water out most of the time, but once it gets in, they keep it in. Factor in the pumps breaking down, and you've got a lot of water with no place to go.
The news coverage is unbelievably difficult to watch and read, particularly as there is much to indicate that things will get considerably worse before they get better. I literally do not recognize the downtown areas I see in news footage. Landmarks are gone or submerged. Entire neighborhoods are devastated, many of them already the poorest areas of a city that has unfathomable poverty.
So many unique features of New Orleans may be gone, perhaps forever. The Spanish architecture of the French Quarter (yes, it was Spanish, not French, influence that produced those trademark balconies and galleries). The huge oak trees shading St. Charles Avenue. The stately historic homes of the Garden District and Uptown. Large sections of the 20-mile causeway across Lake Ponchartrain--one of the longest bridges of its type in the world--are reportedly damaged. I watched July 4th fireworks while crossing that bridge a little over a year ago.
It feels almost grotesque to be watching the news coverage. It's like helplessly watching a car accident in slow motion in front of you.
--BaileyTC