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Go to sleep my friend!
I swear to god Brendan they seem to be quoting your Blog on FOX
The story of the guy with the hammer and the crow bar ready to break though his roof ... that is from your site right?
I'm not willing to get into details, but... after what happened to the 9/11 and tsunami disaster relief: donate to the Salvation Army, not the Red Cross.
Isn't this just a little premature? Look, this was NOT the storm they said it would be, you all barely got touched, and it was not that much worse than what I went through in the midwest last night. Good heavens! Let's not make more of this little storm that is warranted. This was NOTHING compared to what others have gone through. You all just bought into the media hype and frenzy. The French Quarter wasn't even flooded for pete's sake, and a pair of shutters was blown off a building. Geez!
What media frenzy KF? There was no media frenzy, and that has been part of the complain we have been hearing on this blog. Barely touched? Tell that to the people who lost everything, who are sitting on a roof somewhere, or sitting in the Superdome wondering about that hole in the roof. Tell that to the people with houses around those 20 foot waves that this is all media-driven speculation. yeah.
There are both photographs and video on flooding in New Orleans.
Just watching the weather channel, they are showing pictures and video of the flooding in NO.
Exactly who is 'you all'?
Oh, guess I should also mention the houses destroyed and the flooding all along the coast.
Barely touched KF?......You obviously have never been through a hurricane, or you'd have never made such an asinine statement. While NOLA may have escaped the doomsday scenario they have taken an almost direct hit from a major hurricane and it will be likely months before the city is back to itself. I think we'd of heard if that happened to you last night in the midwest.
The French Quarter wasn't even flooded for pete's sake.
The Quarter is the high ground in New Orleans. A few miles from there are people on the roof. There is going to be billions of dollars of very boring damage to peoples houses, etc.
KF.....
We had Dan Rather in the neighborhood during the California fires.I lived thru it....bad.
I'm also from N.O.....this is exactly what it's being "Hyped" to be, and Brendon has nailed it...more may be to come a day that might of wiped our beloved city off the map.
In New Orleans, the opera's not over until the fat lady in the french quarter shows up in her fishnet stockings onstage again to sing.
Let the money flow......if you need some, email a pal, a relief agency, even me. I'll donate a dollar ;-)
Still praying for New Orleans.....and very grateful for all your work here, Brendon.
Two thumbs up~!!
I'm with the Admiral on this one. I won't give a single penny to the Red Cross.
That's not to say don't give money for the relief. There are going to be plenty of people who need it.
If anyone can give other options for donations, that would be great.
YIkes!! what it going on here?
There are people who are suffering, and Died. This is not a time to bicker! Lets pray for those in perril.
KF, essentially no one knows the real extent of damage yet. Though it looks like New Orleans Metro itself has been largely spared, with only heavy localised flooding, the communities on the North side of the lake and along the North East coast on a hundred mile string look as if they are under a terrible pummelling from winds and surge.
I think the local stations have been balanced so far, though Fox has been a hyperbolic joke as usual. No, it wasn't the Doomsday scenario, but then on the stations they said it probably wouldn't be once they found Katrina shifting to the East. It takes pretty much a direct hit for that.
You can expect to rely on the local stations like WLL, as if they lie to their local viewers, they'll have hell to pay later. They'll have the loyalty and the gumption to stick to the facts they know, and seem to be doing so. Unlike Fox, who like to give the worst spin of everything.
I think New Orleans will escape with few casualties, however, Biloxi, Gulfport and maybe Mobile will have a very bad time of it. For them it may well be a 'doomsday' scenario.
Another point to remember is that the human being is remarkably resilient when provided with a warning. Despite the mass property damage, tolls tend to stay low nowadays. Hope that trend continues. As for Fox and CNN comparing it to the Great Tsunami, that's a sick joke. There was no warning for the Tsunami, and if you see the footage for Aceh, you'd see the sea sliding several dozen miles inland at a height of two to three stories. Basically no escape for a high population. Nothing at all like Katrina, and the comparison is hysterical, selfish and calculated to pull viewers - and it makes me pretty angry.
I don't think we'll have a good idea of the damage for a fair few hours yet. No point in trying to really judge its historic nature until we do, though I think it'll be big. (Maybe a toll in the sixties or there abouts... grim but could be worse...)
Smiro's right. Let's keep it tight on the subject folks.
Personally, I usually donate to Oxfam, who are very good in general poverty aleiviation, free trade promotion and disaster relief. I wouldn't write Red Cross off completely, as they still have a lot of branches who do a lot of good - and it has a proud history, despite it's recent fall.
Thanks for the clean-up and clarification, Peter.
Everyone's likely doing about as well as they can. ;-)
thank goodness most people bought insurance for this type of disaster ... NOT
whats the problem with the Red Cross?
Well, I think part of the problem is, people thought they were donating for the Tsumani and uhm, no, the Red Cross said they were donating to the Red Cross and that they would decide how to spend their resources. Something along those lines. So, while maybe the Red Cross knows how to best soend their resources as this is their primary function--I am not so sure but ok--but if you think you are donating for a specific purpose, you dam well expect the money to go to it, and not sit around while the red Cross determines where the greatest need is or whatever. There are other issues with the Red Cross, but this is the one that first came to mind.
I agree with the posters encouraging
kindness and compassion, this is a
natural event with effects just impossible to understand in scale, and the flooding alone causes more damage that it is possible to comprehend, not to speak of loss of human life, loss of all other forms of life, trees broken and destroyed that have taken centuries to grow, many buildings damaged in downtown, so our prayers and best wishes to go all there. The relief effort has not even started, and they are brave and good souls too.
One note, I took a break for lunch and had the misfortune to see TV news people running around on the street in the strong strong wind for no good purpose AT ALL and they encourage civilians to do the same. Please tell them to GET BACK INSIDE and stop trying to improve ratings! We know how strong wind can be, and flying debris can kill, maiim and cripple in an instant. Please dont grandstand.
Be safe.
hey nf. the worst is potentially yet to come when the surges are expected to come later tonight.. that is when most of the flooding will occur.
Id imagine the Red Cross would be the best organization to donate money too as they are as well prepared as any could be to start to tackle the relief effort in new orleans.
Brendan better wake up soon :)
We are blogging the heck out of this one.
The hit on Gulfport was very close to our worst case scenario. From what I am hearing there is not much left south of I-10. If people stayed that live within a quarter mile of the beach I doubt they made it. There is water in places I never thought would get water.
The MS gulf coast (representing about 25% of our state budget in gaming revenues) is hit to the point no one can get a crew in to report. New Orleans may be ok but Mississippi is not. The surge appears to be worse than Camille.
To the person who said to donate to the Salvation Army: it's not exactly a perfect organization, either. I don't know if they still do this (the information is hard to find because I imagine it's information they don't really want getting out), but I know someone who used to do accounting for them. If two "officers" were married, then the paycheck for both of them was cut to husband. The wife's name never appeared on the check. I'm not saying don't donate to SA - donate to whoever you want for the hurricane relief - but remember that whatever your beef with the Red Cross, the SA certainly has its own problems. Just my .02.
Brooke, I think right now, the concern is on whether the money will get there. While your story is disturbing, that sounds like something we can discuss later. I wanna know my money is going to feed a homeless survivor in Louisiana or Mississipi this week, not some other needy person a year from now.
The main reason why Red Cross held onto those funds was that only so much money can be spent in the immediate aftermath. There are already existent programs in place to cover some of the short term, and that the long term structual, economic and agricultural effects would be the real cash drainers. Therefore in the coming month or so to throw too much money at the problem would result in a squandering of cash.
I think Red Cross were concerned about Dafur as well, and that not enough was being done - and so they decided to divert some of that Tsunami money to the starvation fund. Possibly, nay, probably a correct decision, but they perhaps should have informed donators that they were contributing to an organisation, not a specific disaster relief. It was a problem of perhaps taking donations for granted, rather than corruption. They still are a top class organisation, and I hear that quite a bit of badmouthing at them from blogs is in reaction to their criticism of Iraq. Red Cross report on the toll of all wars, it's justifiably what they're there for - it only gets reported in Iraq's case because it's Iraq.
So while they've lost some confidence through blunt tactics, I can't hold much dislike towards them.
Thanks for the kind comment, Giraffe. Just remember folks that I am at the heart of the storm here, in Wales, UK, around several thousand miles away and six miles ahead on the clock - and so what I say goes, okay? :) Really, I've just been following reports all day. While you folks have been sleeping I've been reading up, and vice versa thanks to time difference. I think all the stations are in agreement that the big risk for Orleans is in the delayed storm surge flood, which will possibly occur in a few hours. This is only a possibility, however. We're in the realms of theoretical here.
As for the footage, it seems a somewhat bad but not that serious (relatively speaking) in New Orleans itself. My real concern is for those smaller towns on the Northern coast and along the Southern gulf coastline. The longer it takes to get any information out of them, the more serious it may be.
Remember, we'll hear about the least effected parts first, before the truly battered ones.
Still, cautious optimisim on my part that the hurt may be kept low, if frustratingly not the economic impact.
As for where I grew up, we had a large resivoir burst above the large village in the 1900's which destroyed it and killed 81 people - and that's the big history for us. (Holmfirth, 'Last of the Summer Wine' country)
It's late. I'm rambling.
Hugs and prayers for you all out there. I'm thankful you seem to have dodged the bullett again in New Orleans, for all the damage wrought.
Thank you Peter, and thanks for the
heads up from your study re the storm surge, yes, I keep thinking, there will be more water, and water keeps coming once there is a break, a leak or a breech, and most of the pumps
are down I hear, or at least some of them and if water is NOT pumped out of the "bowl" of New Orleans, it
STAYS there. Large cities need to "breathe" circulate, move things
and people around, and if that is
hampered and stopped for any appreciable time, it stops being a city and becomes a disaster very quickly. Many people will want to try to come back I hear some already are. The relief and rescue crews havent even been allowed out in many places. So patience and prayers and good wishes are in order by all hands, I think.
posted by Nola at 4:00 PM approx,
Twelve boats have been sent out from the Jackson Barracks to look for people stuck on top of
their houses in eastern New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish, state staff said at a 3:30 pm briefing.
The search and rescue teams are responding to people who have made calls (presumably cell phones as 700,000 plus customers are out of power in the region)...asking for help, while also looking for people who haven’t been able to call or reach help .
A few people have already been rescued and taken to the Katrina-Dome, while others were taken to Jackson Barracks.
Speaking at a press conference at the state Office of Emergency Preparedness, state and FED staff said the top priority remains people who are still in physical danger.
Lots of Flooding
about 4:00 PM from NOLA,There is some roof damage to several Xavier University Buildings along Howard Avenue and on South Jefferson Davis Parkway. Aluminum panels peeled off the roof lay on the parking lots and in the street. A couple of pieces floated in high water on Jefferson Davis Parkway, where a few palms are completely uprooted and the median is almost invisible.
Jefferson Davis Parkway north of Interstate 10 and streets in that area are filled with 2 to 4 feet of water. There are downed trees and power poles and many traffic signals are bent and hanging from their poles.
Homes and businesses with minor to moderate roof damage were common on Tulane Avenue from Jefferson Davis Parkway to South Carrollton Avenue, businesses and homes flooded in water up to 5 feet deep. Despite the damage, few broken windows can be seen throughout the area.
There is flooding on side streets like South Genois and South Cortez streets. Airline Drive on other side of the interstate interchange is filled with water - at least 5 feet as far as the eye could see.
Thanks for keeping us updated. Get some well-deserved rest.
For those of us interesting in donating to different charities and posting further comments about Katrina, here's a site I found that's pretty good:
http://www.karmus.com/viewcard/100309
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