Hurricane Katrina to possibly become a Cat 4

[mysteriew]

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today said he’ll work with local law enforcement authorities in Southeast Texas to deal aggressively with hotels and any other businesses accused of exploiting Hurricane Katrina refugees.

"Desperate people have come to Texas in droves, leaving their homes to escape the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. We will bring legal action against any business that takes advantage of these citizens and their dire circumstances," Abbott said in a statement.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA082905.katrinatexas.en.645ac46.html

 

[Casshew]

No, they are poor. They have no means for evacuation. It costs money for travel.

People get scared too.. they feel safe at home and don't want to leave - it's their security - rather than going to a strange place, where they don't know how they will be treated or what it will be like. They just are holding on to hope that they will be okay at home. Then they get caught up in it.

There will be a lot of casualties from people that were afraid to leave their homes - it's really sad, many elderly I bet

 

[mysteriew]

People get scared too.. they feel safe at home and don't want to leave - it's their security - rather than going to a strange place, where they don't know how they will be treated or what it will be like. They just are holding on to hope that they will be okay at home. Then they get caught up in it.

There will be a lot of casualties from people that were afraid to leave their homes - it's really sad, many elderly I bet

People also hang on to illusions- "this house has been standing for X number of years, and has gone through hurricane's before" "if I am here, maybe I can save my home" and some people just truly believe they can live through anything. Some don't have the money to go, some don't want to leave pets. There are many reasons- primary I think is that no one wanted to believe that this one was the "big" one.

 

[Buzz Mills]

People get scared too.. they feel safe at home and don't want to leave - it's their security - rather than going to a strange place, where they don't know how they will be treated or what it will be like. They just are holding on to hope that they will be okay at home. Then they get caught up in it.

There will be a lot of casualties from people that were afraid to leave their homes - it's really sad, many elderly I bet

I can see where many people would be indecisive too, holding out hope that they won't be in the path of the hurricane. Since evacuation orders are usually not given, until the probability of the hurricane, striking their respective area, is very high, and that isn't more than just a few days before it hits, they wait too long to get ready to evacuate. Then since there aren't that many highways out of any given area, if you hesitate making the decision to leave, with the flood of people trying to get out, it may be too late to try to get on the road, and even if you do, finding a place to stay is going to be a real challenge, as everything gets filled up quickly.

They said there were over 50 deaths in Biloxi? most of the deaths coming from one apartment complex--no details as to the circumstances.

 

[Buzz Mills]

If you live in a flood prone area, it would pay to know how high your home sits above the level of the river, and also where there is safe high ground.

 

[mysteriew]

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5585751.html

Announcing itself with shrieking, 145-mile-per-hour winds, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast just outside New Orleans on Monday, submerging entire neighborhoods up to their roofs, swamping Mississippi's beachfront casinos and killing at least 55 people.

Jim Pollard, spokesman for the Harrison County emergency operations center, said 50 people were killed by Katrina in his county, with most of the deaths at an apartment complex in Biloxi. Three other people were killed by falling trees in Mississippi and two died in a traffic accident in Alabama, authorities said.

 

[mysteriew]

The storm's impact is far from over. Forecasters say it could dump eight or more inches of rain in the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys.

http://www.wfmy.com/news/Topstory/topstory_article.aspx?storyid=47677

 

[mysteriew]

They lined up by the thousands, clutching meager belongings and crying children. A few hours later, the power went out, turning the building into a hot and muggy mess. Then the part of the roof blew off.

As CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan reports nearly 10,000 came to the Superdome with no where else to go. They were either too sick, too old or too poor to flee from the storm.

"They're in for another miserable night," Terry Ebbert, chief of homeland security for New Orleans, said Monday afternoon. But he later added: "They're safe."
http://wfrv.com/topstories/topstoriestv_story_242010342.html

 

[mysteriew]

Hurricane Katrina left the French Quarter battered but still ready to party Monday, with the first bars on Bourbon Street serving up drinks by mid-afternoon, and locals and tourists venturing out in droves to gawk at what the storm left behind.

"We fared," said Jimmy Brennan, part-owner of the famous Brennan's Restaurant on Royal Street. "I hate to say it, but it turned into a hurricane party. ... We've had a great time."
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/nation/12510004.htm

 

[Dark Knight]

Early death toll is at 55 persons. Insurance claim estimates, according to the AP, could be $26 billion dollars, surpassing Andrew's $21 B.

 

[mysteriew]

BellSouth Corp., did not immediately quantify the extent of storm-related service disruptions.

Sprint Nextel Corp.'s long-distance switch in New Orleans failed soon after the storm hit.

AT&T Corp.'s facilities in the area were operating on backup generator power but some were completely down, likely because of flooding. Long-distance calls could not be properly relayed along AT&T's Gulf Coast fiber-optics routes.

AT&T's traffic-management software was able to reroute some calls when spare capacity existed elsewhere, but spokesman Jim Byrnes said thousands of calls still were failing to get through.

The company said Internet data networks were operating fine.

MCI Inc. spokeswoman Linda Laughlin said one fiber cable east of New Orleans was cut and other facilities had "some water issues." But she said customers faced at most a few seconds' delay as MCI rerouted calls to other cables.

There were no reports of the storm knocking down any cell phone towers, but many stopped working because of power problems.

Many of Sprint's cell towers in the New Orleans area switched to batteries or generators but could not be recharged because crews could not reach them, Fleckenstein said.

Cingular Wireless cellular customers were getting service at "significantly reduced levels" in the Biloxi, Miss., and New Orleans areas, with smaller interruptions reported in Jackson, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., and Mobile, Ala. The company blamed power outages.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=1078497

 

[mysteriew]

They're safe, but miserable.

The eight- to nine-thousand people being sheltered in the Louisiana Superdome want out.
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=18222

 

[Becba]

CNN is reporting their may be a breech in the levee of lake Ponchatrain. The hospital at Tulane University is reporting an inch of water every 5 min.

This means all the people on theor roofs may end up swimming for their lives.

We have friends in Gulfport that we don't know if they got out or not. Relatives in Biloxi. And my hubby's van was parked at a dock in Gulfport so we know it is gone. Insurance won't cover the value of it. Our deductable is more than the value. But what is funny is when we spoke of it we both just kind of said too bad. This storm has put things into perspective.

 

[mysteriew]

CNN is reporting their may be a breech in the levee of lake Ponchatrain. The hospital at Tulane University is reporting an inch of water every 5 min.

This means all the people on theor roofs may end up swimming for their lives.

We have friends in Gulfport that we don't know if they got out or not. Relatives in Biloxi. And my hubby's van was parked at a dock in Gulfport so we know it is gone. Insurance won't cover the value of it. Our deductable is more than the value. But what is funny is when we spoke of it we both just kind of said too bad. This storm has put things into perspective.

Are you safe?

 

[Becba]

Are you safe?

Yes. I live on the beach in Panama City FL. Hubby is Captain of a research vessel that works out of Gulfport. That is why we lost the van.
We do have family and friends in Gulfport, Biloxi and areas of LA.
Could not get thru to them yesterday but that hopefully means they evacuated.
A woman on CNN just said all the homes in Ocean Springs are gone.
I am worried that the number of lives lost to this storm will be huge. And in New Orleans the breech to the levee is said to be 2 blocks long. All of NO will be underwater. Those that survived may die.

 

[mysteriew]

I just read an article about the superdome tonight about the conditions there. It said that some people were wanting to leave. I guess they thought they were safe now. I hope they weren't able to leave.
I posted some articles about phone service in the area, hoping it might help someone who is having difficulty getting through. Not sure how it could help, but...........

 

[mysteriew]

Has anyone heard from Magnum PI?

 

[Becba]

I just read an article about the superdome tonight about the conditions there. It said that some people were wanting to leave. I guess they thought they were safe now. I hope they weren't able to leave.
I posted some articles about phone service in the area, hoping it might help someone who is having difficulty getting through. Not sure how it could help, but...........

They won't let them go into the city yet.
I heard on CNN. They are hinting the broken levee will flood the superdome.
Seems the levee has such a breech that NO will all get swamped and the Superdome is one of the first areas.
I hate watching this.
I saw a man crying that his house split in two. He can't find his wife.
They are bringing people in on boats and lots are trapped. Everyone needs help and they have to get them a few at a time.

 

[mysteriew]

My local news was just on. They said that it is believed that about 80% of NO is under water to some degree due to the breech in the levees. Estimate costs at $26 billion. Katrina is now moving into Ohio- we are now under a flood watch. It is just starting to rain in Cincinnati. They are expecting 2-4 inches of rain in the next 24 hrs.
Cincy isn't covering much of Katrina as they are having their own minor disaster right now. A railroad car carrying styrene began to leak and they are having to keep it constantaly under spray to keep it cool as when it hits oxygen it becomes explosive. 850 homes have been evacuated.

 

[mysteriew]

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationw...,7345913.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines

Mayor Ray Nagin said several bodies were seen floating in the Bywater and Eastover neighborhoods. An estimated 40,000 homes were flooded in St. Bernard Parish east of the city.

Red Cross shelters were filled in Mississippi. In Alabama, residents of coastal and low-lying areas were told to evacuate. Waves from Mobile Bay swamped downtown Mobile, Ala., with up to 11 feet of water, and at least two deaths from a highway wreck attributed to the weather were reported. Three nursing home patients in New Orleans died, apparently as a result of stress, as they were being evacuated. Elsewhere, officials said it was too early to state casualty numbers.

Buildings crumbled in Hattiesburg, Miss., about 90 miles north of New Orleans. In Biloxi, Miss., emergency management officials said Gulfport Memorial Hospital had suffered major damage.

Some casinos along Highway 90 were flooded, and the interstate was littered with boats and other debris. The Jackson County Emergency Management Agency relocated to the courthouse after the roof came off its building in Pascagoula, Miss.

Fatalities feared, unknown

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said the storm hit "like a ton of bricks," and he feared there could be "a lot of dead people" found along the coast once emergency workers were able to assess the situation.

"This is a devastating hit," said Gulfport Fire Chief Pat Sullivan. "What you're looking at is Camille II."

There was no indication when people would be able to return to their homes.

That could be awhile. Forecasters said Katrina, which was downgraded to a tropical storm last night, could spawn tornadoes as it crept northward and would bring heavy rains to the Tennessee Valley, the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions.

Bush administration officials said he was expected to use part of the country's 700 million barrels of emergency petroleum stockpiles to offset possible shortages caused by the storm.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...ug30,1,2305594.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

In Wiggins, Miss., a hill community 20 miles north of Gulfport, Olene Walters, 56, one of the town's holdouts, ventured out into the winds and returned in shock.

The storm had stripped the roof off her beauty parlor and pulverized the Lake-A-Way RV Campgrounds she owns five miles outside of town.