Hurricane Katrina Disaster Updates

tybee204

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I lost a thread in moving. I dunno what happen. Something glitched so please continue here.
 
tybee204 said:
I lost a thread in moving. I dunno what happen. Something glitched so please continue here.

If it was the thread I'm looking for, it is probably just as well it was lost.

Thank you for collecting all these topics together.
 
LOL I probably hit wrong button trying to figure out where to put this forum.
 
Storm victims were raped and beaten, fights and fires broke out, corpses lay out in the open, and rescue helicopters and law enforcement officers were shot at as flooded-out New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday.

"This is a desperate SOS," the mayor said.

Anger mounted across the ruined city, with thousands of storm victims increasingly hungry, desperate and tired of waiting for buses to take them out.

"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon."

In hopes of defusing the unrest at the convention center, Mayor Ray Nagin gave the refugees permission to march across a bridge to the city's unflooded west bank for whatever relief they can find. But the bedlam at the center appeared to make leaving difficult.

A military helicopter tried to land at the convention center several times to drop off food and water. But the rushing crowd forced the choppers to back off. Troopers then tossed the supplies to the crowd from 10 feet off the ground and flew away.

National Guardsmen poured in to help restore order and put a stop to the looting, carjackings and gunfire that have gripped New Orleans in the days since Hurricane Katrina plunged much of the city under water.

A National Guard military policeman was shot in the leg as he and a man scuffled for the MP's rifle, police Capt. Ernie Demmo said. The man was arrested.

"These are good people. These are just scared people," Demmo said.

Outside the Convention Center, the sidewalks were packed with people without food, water or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement. Thousands of storm refugees had been assembling outside for days, waiting for buses that did not come.

At least seven bodies were scattered outside, and hungry people broke through the steel doors to a food service entrance and began pushing out pallets of water and juice and whatever else they could find.
http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=101563
 
tybee204 said:
LOL I probably hit wrong button trying to figure out where to put this forum.
Is that why the boards were slow a little while ago?
 
While you are out and about on the web, or if there are refugees in your area please watch for Aaron Sloneker (9 yo) or his father James Sloneker. Aaron lived with his father in Poplarville, Mississippi. I would be interested in any news of the father, the son, or the town of Popularville, Ms. Please PM me with any info. And thank you in advance for keeping an eye out.
 
A reporter is embedded in a convoy to the disaster area with supplies. They will be recording the trip and Rich Jaffe will be submitting a blog of the trip- what they see in the different areas they go to. Here is his first blog entry.

http://wkrc.com/news/blog/jaffe.aspx

It looks like we've assembled a great team! Six deputies from the Butler County Sheriff's department, 7 volunteer truck drivers from three different companies, one ex-law enforcement ,now civilian from Wyoming, photographer Chris Hursh and myself. Yesterday none of us knew we'd be here together chasing a trail of destruction unlike anything this country has ever seen.
None of us really know what to expect. None of us knows how long we'll be gone. We don't know where we'll sleep, eat, or stop. All we know is Katrina is calling, and mixed in with that siren's call are the calls for help from thousands of victims along the Gulf Coast. We do know they desperately need the four truck loads of supplies we're hauling.
 
``They don't have a clue what's going on down there,'' Mayor Ray Nagin told WWL-AM Thursday night. ``Excuse my French -- everybody in America -- but I am pissed.''

At 4:35 a.m. today, an explosion rocked a chemical storage facility near the Mississippi River east of the French Quarter, said Lt. Michael Francis of the Harbor Police. A series of smaller blasts followed and then acrid, black smoke that could be seen even in the dark. The vibrations were felt all the way downtown.

Francis did not have any other information about the explosions and did not know if there were any casualties. At least two police boats could be seen at the scene.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco called the looters ``hoodlums'' and issued a warning to lawbreakers: Hundreds of National Guard troops hardened on the battlefield in Iraq have landed in New Orleans.

``They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded,'' she said. ``These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will.''

At the Superdome, group of refugees broke through a line of heavily armed National Guardsmen in a scramble to get on to the buses.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...90205,0,5624628.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
 
About 4:35 this morning, a series of massive explosions rocked the riverfront a few miles south of the French Quarter. The cause of the blasts or the extent of any possible damage was not immediately known.

An initial explosion sent flames of red and orange shooting into the pre-dawn sky. A series of smaller blasts followed and then acrid, black smoke that could be seen even in the dark. The vibrations were felt all the way downtown.

The explosions appeared to originate close to the east bank of the Mississippi River, near a residential area and rail tracks. At least two police boats were at the scene.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/12543574.htm
 
(AP) At 4:35 a.m. Friday, an explosion rocked a chemical storage facility near the Mississippi River east of the French Quarter, said Lt. Michael Francis of the Harbor Police. A series of smaller blasts followed and then acrid, black smoke that could be seen even in the dark. The vibrations were felt all the way downtown.

Francis did not have any other information about the explosions and did not know if there were any casualties. At least two police boats could be seen at the scene and a hazardous material team was on route.

It was the opening strike in yet another day of sadly deteriorating conditions since Katrina slammed ashore Monday morning.
 
OK, I just watched cnn and he interviewed two nurse midwives at the airport. The airport has been turned into a make-shift triage. all the sick and wounded are going there.

They looked so kind; they are working around the clock - they say they need way more help. They are getting ALL the sick and wounded around there. They cannot handle it all; no charts of course. The soldiers are helping them and they say THE SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL.

The medical people there are really having their hands full and also hands tied for so many reasons.

There is a huge fire at the railroad near the French Quarter.

Dr. so and so, from the Baylor College of Medicine says they are there and they are "there for the long haul" to help these people. (Houston)

Michael Chertoff has called the Federal Response "magnificent". The media are "choking" on these words as they look around seeing dead bodies with rats eating them.

The mayor describes the response as "inadequate". An expert speaker on CNN says no one can help but feel the response is inadequate. He says the President should be the FIRST ONE to be asking, "Why aren't things going better, faster"? He points out that FEMA identified this probability long ago.

Mary Landreau gives "praise for the response". Choke, choke (she's running for something, right?)

And on goes the rescue effort, like a herd of turtles in a cloud of dust. (Mtex)
 
I am starting to get a lot of emails from the front.....family and friends. The Ritz Carlton Hotel has been turned into a hospital by doctors, nurses and pharmacists who were attending a convention. They were infectious disease physicians with no hands on but it is changing quickly. The police escorted them to Walgreen's where they broke in and wipe out all the things they needed for their hospital. The looters were right there waiting with armed police pointing their rifles at them.

Dr. Henderson said there is no National Guard presence near the Ritz and they hear gunshots all night long. He has limited access to the internet through the hotel. He said this is a soul edifying experience.
 
A new fire has broken out. I didn't get the exact location but it is off of Canal St. near several large hotels. I am concerned about the explosion/fire that erupted this moring at the chemical warehouse. As if they don't have enough problems now they have toxic smoke in the air.
 
That is really scary. Are the soldiers able to do anything? I guess once they got all those guns, what can you do? It's like being in Iraq. Just horrible. I feel so sorry for these people - doctors and others are not prepared to go into gunfire to get their supplies.

My husband would like to go; but I doubt they need too many surgeons yet; mostly infectious and internist I would think. OBGYn. He's going to wait and see if some of them start making it up here.
 
I just heard his interview with cnn , and I am impressed .He put it out there straight up . He cares for the people and the city . He's for real . This is the type of person that should be up front . When the big boy's get to hear this interview he may not have a job anymore . If you ask me , I would say Ray for president :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
 
I happen to have on Fox News and does anyone notice that the Coast Guard guy (for lack of better formal name) looks a lot like President Bush? WOW!!
 
redeskimo said:
I just heard his interview with cnn , and I am impressed .He put it out there straight up . He cares for the people and the city . He's for real . This is the type of person that should be up front . When the big boy's get to hear this interview he may not have a job anymore . If you ask me , I would say Ray for president :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
That's what they need...someone to stand up and tell what is exactly going on and quit sugar-coating it, IMO. :clap:
 
Ray can talk now.....and don't get me wrong, I think he tells it like it is and I agree with lots of what he says.....but he needs to also look at the city's preplanning for a major disaster. They underestimated and didn't plan for catastrophic disaster.
 
less0305 said:
Ray can talk now.....and don't get me wrong, I think he tells it like it is and I agree with lots of what he says.....but he needs to also look at the city's preplanning for a major disaster. They underestimated and didn't plan for catastrophic disaster.
True!! After they get these people out and hopefully into "homes" (whatever or wherever that may be) they definitely, IMO, need to address this and know they will. I'm disappointed with the response...understatement...but I hope we can learn from this.
 

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