Hurricane Katrina

Graham Ross · Post by **Graham Ross** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:48 pm

I heard that the water in New Orleans is contaminated from the waste dumped in the gulf of Mexico. Is this true ?

Also, could this have been prevented ? Or is it a disaster waiting to happen ? Before the hurricane hit we saw thousands leaving the city and they were talking about a very smooth evacuation, but it seems some were left behind, wasn't it compulsory ?

It is very sad and I hope the city recovers and I hope they find ways to minimise the loss of life and suffering in the future

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:13 pm

3-part posting, graham.

1--The floodwaters in the area are contaminated, but it's not as bad as it could have been.

2--As far as preventing it....from all the news reports, what's caused the horrendous flooding in New Orleans wasn't the hurricane, per se, but the failure of two key levees in the city. Put simply, the city sits between the Mississippi delta to the east and southeast, and Lake Pontchitrain to the immediate north. The city's also below sea level, meaning any large hurricane would pretty much flatten the city regardless of anything else that happens. As far as evacuation....over 75-80% of the population(residents and tourists) left voluntarily after the evac order was given. Those who stayed back either mostly couldn't leave for various reasons or wouldn't leave.

3--While it is a very sad day for New Orleans and for the United States right now, the city will recover. Like I've said earlier, it may takes years...but that city's gonna recover.

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 4:11 am

Thanks, T-K. In case anyone's wondering, there is a bit of good news coming out of New Orleans. According to news reports here in the States', a large convoy of La. Guard and cavalry have made it into the heart of central New Orleans, to the convention center where there were thousands of people who looked as though they were out of hope. Since then, two more convoys with more troops and supplies have made it there, so maybe they're starting to turn the corner. In other areas of the city, rescuers with armed guards have begun rescuing more people out of the city, still encountering scattered gunfire from small groups of armed criminals but they're back out now. At least they're finally starting to make it to the city and begin what is apparently becoming a very, very long recovery period for the city. I'll try to keep everyone informed later in the evening over here.

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:52 pm

The situation in New Orleans as of 2 September is still pretty chaotic, but there appears to be a turn in events there. Earlier today, they began flying the most critically injured and those most in need out of three hospitals in the downtown New Orleans area over to the city's intl. airport, which has become a triage center essentially. In other parts of the city, particulary in East New Orleans, it's still a wild-west scene. During one news broadcast, gunshots could be heard in the background, a few single shots and then what sounded like a 16 on a 3-shot burst. They're still rescuing people from rooftops with Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters, but some of the boat crews have begun the grim process, not of search & rescue but of search & recovery. More Guard personnel as well as medics and military police have arrived at both the convention center and at the La. Superdome, where a basic medevac set-up is in place. It's still pretty grim there, though. A lot of the news from the convention center is, put simply, brutal. Meanwhile, engineering crews are continuing to try to repair the broken levees around the city, but are still unable to stanch the flow of floodwater into the city. They're now estimating that it could take, once the levees are repaired, upwards of 80+ days to pump the floodwaters out of the city. As far as casualty estimates, no one wants to think about it. Low numbers are in the hundreds, but the high estimates mentioned so far are in the thousands. It's a pretty grim situation there, but they're slowly starting to turn the corner. It's just going to take a lot of time and effort. I'll try to keep everyone abreast of the situation from this end.

Kapel · Post by **Kapel** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 4:03 pm

All the best

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 8:00 pm

Thankyou for your efforts Mfer

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 10:30 am

While the situation in the downtown New Orleans area this time yestreday could be described as chaotic and brutal...what a difference 24 hrs. can make. News reports are that, in one of the biggest airlifts since Berlin in the late 1940's, everyone who was in either the convention center or the Superdome have been evacuated to the New Orl. Intl. Airport, while over 17,000 additional Guard and active-duty troops have arrived to begin securing the downtown area and assist local authorities in reestablishing civil authority. Not all the news, though, is good. CDC officials noted in numerous interviews that within the next couple of days, one or two mobile morgue facilities will be set up to begin the grimmest of duties...processing the expected hundreds, if not, thousands of bodies to be found throughout the area.

In East New Orleans, which has remained flooded throughout the week, there's still a wild-west setting of sorts, as rescuers, Guardsmen and parish authorities from surrounding parishes are continuing rescue and recovery efforts by boat and air. Scattered gunfire can still be heard by those in the area, but the operations in place are continuing. On the Mississippi Gulf coast, rescue and recovery efforts are on-going, as emergency personnel are continuing their efforts from Gulfport to Bay St. Louis, through to Pascagoula. According to officials there, the number of fatalities in MS may approach 1,000 or more. I'll try to continue feeding updates later in the evening and tomorrow morning. But it appears that the corner is starting to be turned. Slowly, but surely, it is starting to get better.

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 10:40 am

The situation in the New Orleans area is starting to get better some, as more and more troops and police enter the city, especially the eastside of N.O., as police from several cities, including several dozen from New York City, began relieving beleaguared New Orleans police in several precincts, some after days of dealing with looters and criminals. Search and rescue/recovery efforts are ongoing, but the fatigue is beginning to show, as a Coast Guard chopper crashed during rescue efforts; all aboard survived and were picked up by a Marine chopper orbiting ahead. Engineering crews are continuing their efforts to repair the two broken levees that spilled their deadly waterflows into the city; it's still a very slow fight for them, and not just because of the floodwaters. One engineer convoy with levee contractors was fired upon by about a dozen armed gunmen near a bridge; police and Guardsmen returned fire, killing five of the gunmen.

Meanwhile, the center of New Orleans is now secure, as a command post was set up near the central business district, with 24-hr patrols now ranging out into the French Qtr., the Vieux Carre district and the Gentilly Ridge area, areas that thankfully did not flood during or after the storm. Over in Mississippi, there were tears of joy and celebration as power crews restablished electrical service to parts of Hattiesburg, MS; down along the coast, a dusk-to-dawn curfew remains in effect for areas ranging from Biloxi, over to Gulfport, and down the coast to Pascagoula, MS. I'll have another update later in the evening or in the early morning on Monday.

rah · Post by **rah** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:09 pm

What amazes me is the people over there taking advantage of a bad situation to make it worse. How did it get this way? Is it the gap between rich and poor? Have these people been trodden on so many times that this is their only chance to fight back?

Usually when a disaster like this happens people pull together. I have never seen anything like this except for the famines in Afrika. I certainly haven't seen anything like this in a western country.

Just my observation, probably wrong.

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:17 pm

rah wrote:What amazes me is the people over there taking advantage of a bad situation to make it worse. How did it get this way? Is it the gap between rich and poor? Have these people been trodden on so many times that this is their only chance to fight back?

Usually when a disaster like this happens people pull together. I have never seen anything like this except for the famines in Afrika. I certainly haven't seen anything like this in a western country.

Just my observation, probably wrong.

Look out Rah, the way things are going here, with the cost of fuel etc, added to the political/racial situation in some parts...we could be next

rah · Post by **rah** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:25 pm

too true. Damn the bloody conservatives in this country. Yeah I know ed, I will stop there.

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:35 pm

We can b#$% about the fuel costs tho cos it could affect motor racing here

rah · Post by **rah** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:23 pm

julian mayo wrote:We can b#$% about the fuel costs tho cos it could affect motor racing here

The future: Solar supercars, they automatically go slower in the rain!

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:47 pm

rah wrote:
julian mayo wrote:We can b#$% about the fuel costs tho cos it could affect motor racing here
The future: Solar supercars, they automatically go slower in the rain!

Wind power, Skaife would win every time tho

rah · Post by **rah** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:14 pm

and thats just using his nose as a sail.