Hurricane Katrina Blog Posts
August 27th, 2005 at 18:53I’ve started looking for weblog posts by various New Orleans and Louisiana residents to get more of a firsthand perspective on the approaching hurricane. Here’s what I’ve been able to come up with so far.
“Electric Mist”:http://www.electricmist.net/archives/001626.html who is located in Baton Rouge comments:
bq. The traffic coming out of New Orleans is insane. No one can find a hotel between here and Houston, and I’ve been told that it’s also pretty booked as far away as Dallas. There’s a lot of advice being bandied about on TV about it being better to head north or east, but the path of the hurricane is going to be north-east when it hits land. At the best, if you can get far enough away, you’re only going to have heavy rains, but if you’re east, you’ll have that a lot longer than those in the west. Hence, most people head west.
The pictures I saw on “cnn”:cnn.com showed a virtual traffic jam on the interstate heading out of New Orleans. I read an estimate somewhere that a complete evacuation of New Orleans would require 72 hours so a lot of people are still going to have to ride this one out.
“Yaddoshi”:http://www.livejournal.com/users/yaddoshi/18693.html seems to think that everyone is taking things too far:
bq. My stance is the same as usual – everyone is overreacting as usual, thanks to the news and the human sheep mentality I watch and am forced to interact with on a daily basis… People are putting plywood on the outside of their windows as usual (morons) and a number of businesses are already shut down.
It will be interesting to see if he has the same attitude a few days from now. It seems to me that it’s better to be over prepared than under prepared.
“Richard at New Orleans Metroblogs”:http://neworleans.metblogs.com/archives/2005/08/katrina_and_her.phtml echoes this sentiment:
bq. Dear Evacuation Monkeys: This one is different. You officially have my permission to freak out.
Brendan83 (who might actually be a classmate of my friend Steve’s since he’s also going to medical school in New Orleans) “writes”:http://www.livejournal.com/users/brendon83/2567.html:
bq. Katrina will probably be a category 3 or 4 when it hits, but we will be long gone before then. I have spent most of today picking up anything that could potentially blow or float away in the yard, helping my dad load his work machinery onto his trailer, and packing up everything that is valuable to me into a small duffel bag and a box. Everything else, its fate lies with the hurricane.
“Michael Homan”:http://michaelhoman.blogspot.com/2005/08/hurricane-katrina.html is going to be sticking it out:
bq. Hurricane Katrina has her eyes set, seemingly, on my fair city of New Orleans. Therese and the kids are either heading to Jacksonville or Purvis Mississippi at 4 AM Sunday morning. Me, the dogs, and various other critters are battin’ down the hatches.
Hopefully he and everyone else staying put will pull through.
*Update 8/30/05:* Rob Kline has asked that I point people towards “katrinahelp.info”:http://katrinahelp.info a collaborative Wiki that has been setup to get people information and assistance in dealing with Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath.
August 29th, 2005 at 6:49 pm
Have you heard anything about Waveland or Gulfport MS. I have family there and I have not heard a word about the area.
August 30th, 2005 at 6:11 am
The media is doing a wonderful job so far in showing the devastation, but it does not, by any means, give you the sinking feeling of actualling being there to live it. Our area was hit several times a fews years ago here in Eastern North Carolina, we lived it. My heart goes out to those who have to live it and continue to live it for months and years to come.
August 30th, 2005 at 6:37 am
Gulfport doesn’t sound like it did very well. Here’s “what I found”:http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/12513444.htm at the SunHerald:
bq. Gulfport: Fire chief estimates 75 percent of buildings have major roof damage, “if they have a roof left at all” . . . the storm surge crossed the CSX railroad tracks. . . Heavy damage to Memorial Hospital . . . First floor of the Armed Forces Retirement Home flooded . . . 3 of 4 walls have collapsed at Harrison Central 9th Grade School in North Gulfport. . . At least three firehouses have taken significant damage . . .
August 30th, 2005 at 8:10 am
I live in Ohio, far from the madding crowd, and at a much higher altitude. But it’s very flat hereabouts, and the soil is industrial grade (almost) clay – very slow absorption. It’s beginning to rain, the remnants of Katrina. We are expecting a lot of rain, in fact. WE, thousands of miles from New Orleans, could get flooded out!
August 30th, 2005 at 8:48 am
Jason,
We have created a wiki that is modeled after the tsunami wiki site (see reference above).
We are looking for people to help classify and code on this site. This structure was very effective during the tsunami, and will be useful for this disaster as well.
Will you please ask your readers to help us, and will you create a reference to this site?
Thanks and regards,
-Rob Kline
August 30th, 2005 at 9:34 am
Rob, I will be happy to mention katrina.info from here and in a few other more prominent places on my site.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:35 am
Hello there,
I am a producer for the Fox TV show “A Current Affair”. I am looking for any home video anyone out there has taken from the hurricane…either during, evacuating or the aftermath. You have been through it, let us see it!
Please send me an e-mail at deb.cote@acurrentaffair.com or call at 201-305-7290. Compensation can be discussed. Thanks!
August 30th, 2005 at 9:57 am
Art, I hope the flooding doesn’t get too bad up your way. The scary part about these Katrina remnant is that they could end up being a double whammy. Not only will they have the potential to flood states further north like Ohio in your case, but a lot of that water is going to end up in the Mississippi again and headed for the already inundated New Orleans again.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:00 am
Wanting to hear from a sister Linda Gros who was a maid at the Holiday near Marrera, La.
Would appreciate any info.
Thanks
Bill Howard/
ST. Peters, Mo
August 30th, 2005 at 10:35 am
I’d really like to hear Yaddoshi’s stance on this storm now and if he still feels that the media overreacted. I don’t think he will hae the ability to blog about anythng for quite some time from his hoime of New Orleans. Seeing as ALL of New Orleans is 20 feet underwater as we speak. If Katrina hadn’t taken a jog to the east before landfall there would be very few lives left in New Orleans.
I’m in Pensacola Florida, literally a stone’s throw away from the Alabama border and we had torrential winds, unbelievable rainfall and quite a bit of damage in my area, a couple of pics on my blog.Lots of trees down. I know it’s because we are directly on the beach where I live but we are 2 states away. When the pictures are gathered, I still don’t think that people will comprehend what it’s like to go through something like this and it’s aftermath.
Almost a year exactly from when Ivan hit us and we are still less than 50% rebuilt. When talking to residents here about Ivan, there are very few who can hold back their tears.
Everything here is closed and alot of it underwater. The flooding and storm surge from Katrina (making landfall 2 states over) were the same height as Ivan was here. All the trees are marked here with Ivan’s watersurge height and Katrinas surge matches them almost exactly.
I left a voice activated recorder in my garage and you would NOT believe the sounds captured on those tapes. Notice I say “tapes”. That’s because I went through six 180 minute tapes before the storm weakened. It’s shocking!!
Dawn
August 30th, 2005 at 10:56 am
Dawn, thanks for the comments. As windy as your first picture looked I’m glad that fence just blew over rather than apart. We had a wind/thunderstorm pass through where we live in Spokane earlier this summer and I found the 75+ mph gusts we experienced plenty scary with all the tall pine trees we have in our neighborhood. We even had one break in half in our front yard. Thankfully it just missed our neighbor’s truck and fell parallel to the road rather than across it. Needless to say that was nothing compared to what you experienced with Katrina and Ivan, but it definitely gave me a reference point for all stories I’m hearing.
August 30th, 2005 at 11:33 am
Not that I’m glad that you have experienced the wind from such a storm but it’s good to talk to someone so far away who has a healthy appreciation for what these storms are like. MANY people have no idea of the devastation left in their wake.
Sorry to take up so much comment space here but…
Sept. 16th last year is when Ivan hit. I am still on the waiting list for a roof. I have, or should more accurately say, I had a blue roof still until yesterday. Many people here are in the same boat.
Here’s a link to photo galleries from Ivan, I realize this is NOT Katrina but while we wait for the aerial photos from Mississippi and Louisiana, have a look. Though I’m not sure that a link will work in your comments section.
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/guides/hurricane/galleries.shtml
and again, Ivan wasn’t as strong as Katrina.
Thanks for all you’re doing. Sorry about the typos. I’m really not that illiterate, I just didn’t take the time in my last post to spell check. I’m going to help a neighbor remove a tree from their roof and put up a tarp. They have already helped me retarp mine. It’s all about community in times like this.
Have a good one.
Dawn
August 30th, 2005 at 11:48 am
I’m hoping to hear anything about Diamondhead, Mississippi. Does anyone know anything at all. I have friends and family in the community and cannot reach anyone.
Thanks,
Ron Beagle
August 30th, 2005 at 11:55 am
Any info on Empire or Buras La.? It took a direct hit first but the news channels have not mentioned it since.
August 30th, 2005 at 12:07 pm
My family lives on 33rd Avenue in Gulfport, MS. All phones are out even cell towers. I’m trying to get information on the conditions of the corner ot 28th street and 33rd avenue. Any constructive ideas? Please.
August 30th, 2005 at 12:27 pm
I have been able to get word out of Gulfport that my Stepbrother that lived 2 blocks from the beach at HWY 90 has lost everything. He rode the storm out in his office building in downtown Gulport but said he’d never do that again. He doesn’t have sufficient clothing, food, water, etc. Can’t leave the building or the area. His car is underwater.
I can’t get information in or out of Biloxi, Ocean Springs, and Hattiesburg. I have family there and haven’t seen any news coverage of the damage or any had anyone to tell me that they are okay.
My aunt and her daughter had gone to the hospital early am hours of 8/29 due to preganancy/labor pains. I don’t even know how things are at the hospital in Biloxi.
If anyone has any information about the area of Seaman Road in Ocean Springs or the area of the Biloxi hospital please post a reply!
Thank you!
August 30th, 2005 at 1:00 pm
I live on the coast south of tallahassee, florida but am from the poplarville area and have family in waveland, my family in poplarville are ok but MAJOR damage beyond what Camile did in ’69 but my aunt Beaty and cousin Mary and Joey Farve are here with us too! they live at 1410 Longo St. in Waveland and we have not been able to locate my cousin that stayed behind, his name is Greg Necaise and he coaches at Bay High (football) if ANYBODY knows if he is ok please let me know!!! Thanks and God Bless you ALL!! Ray
August 30th, 2005 at 1:01 pm
Anyone heard of any other countries coming to our aid? We have always been there for them. Where are they for us?
August 30th, 2005 at 1:01 pm
I have friends that Live on corner of Jim Money road and drift wood in Biloxi, anyone know how it is there?
August 30th, 2005 at 1:03 pm
My husband’s family and some family owned property are in Pass Christian, MS. I haven’t heard anything about this area eventhough it’s right downwind from Gulfport and Biloxi. House is on East Railroad. Anyone hear anything please post a reply.
August 30th, 2005 at 1:04 pm
God bless those affected, you are in my prayers.
August 30th, 2005 at 1:07 pm
My daughter and grandchildren were supposed to be in Lacombe, N shore of the lake. No news coverage from that area. Anyone know any news? Very worried in Washington State.
August 30th, 2005 at 1:12 pm
Jim,
Venezuela has made offers of food and fuel to the United States.
August 30th, 2005 at 1:55 pm
I have a nephew, Tommy Parker, who lives in Diamondhead, MS and we haven’t heard anything from him since yesterday morning. Has anybody heard how Diamondhead made out? Do you know of any way to get information from the region?
August 30th, 2005 at 3:20 pm
I would be more than happy to house any homeless person from Katrina. We have a spare bedroom and bath in my Wilmington, NC home. We have had our share of hurricanes and I know the devastation. I wish to help.
August 30th, 2005 at 4:12 pm
ebony, contact cnn, one of their reporters, a female, made it to the town just below Pass Christian. She spoke with an alderman from Pass Christian. Sorry, thats all I know.
on another note:
God bless Venezula! I had asked my roomate that same question, really doubted if any one would offer us help, we’re considered so wealthy that we never need help.
August 30th, 2005 at 4:58 pm
We feel so bad for all of you in New Orleans Ms. and ALa. if we can help out familys here from Tampa Florida let us know. God Bless you all. Help is on the way!
August 30th, 2005 at 5:03 pm
What is going to happen to the flooding when all of the rain in the Ohio Valley reaches the New Orleans area? It can’t be good!
August 30th, 2005 at 5:04 pm
To the maynards.
Isaiah 13: 5-11 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his wrath to destroy all the land. Howl for the day of YHWH is at hand. It shall come as destruction from the almighty…Behold the day of the Lord comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it…And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible
August 30th, 2005 at 5:05 pm
Jessica Parsons, we are worried about you and hope you and your loved ones are safe. Please call us collect.
Lauri and Jack
August 30th, 2005 at 5:48 pm
I am really disgusted with the lack of support/help the U.S. is getting from the rest of the world. In a perfect world other countries would rush to our aid.
In my perfect world I would bring all of our troops home; rebuild New Orleans (on higher ground); seal-off our borders; the U.S. would be a nation of producers rather than a nation of consumers; be taxed on what I spend rather than what I make; shoot to kill all looters; snuff-out all pedophiles, drug dealers, and wife-beaters; and never, never, never commit any U.S. military personnel to any task other than defending U.S. soil.
August 30th, 2005 at 6:08 pm
Hello All,
We cant locate my Aunt Katie she lived in Slidell, does anyone have info on that area? Thanks Candace God Bless You ALL
August 30th, 2005 at 6:17 pm
Candace, I just read the following comment regarding Slidell by Peter Evans over at “brendanloy.com”:http://brendanloy.com
bq. Slidell… well, some of the footage looks Tsunami level. 20 foot surge from the lake quoted. The centre looks sort of intact if heavily flooded, but the lake fringe – about two blocks deep … there doesn’t seem to be anything left at all. Just debris. I pray enough evacuated.
bq. “Been hit and been hit hard.” – Slidell Police Chief. “Water lines torn loose… no communications, isolated from outside world… just local communications… concerned people with famalies may try to come back… can’t supply basic needs of life. Many, many days until electricity restored… Need to get the message out that the emergency care workers have had no fatalities or injuries, to reassure the famalies.” — (Paraphrased) “As to city fatalities, we don’t know. But seemingly no major fatalaties as of yet.”
August 30th, 2005 at 6:31 pm
This is a link to the salvation Army’s “Satern” (Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio)
http://qso.com/satern/emailfrm.htm
You supply as much information as you hvae on the people or person you are looking for and your inquiry is sent to the disaster area.
The site is VERY busy to say the least due to heavy traffic volumes. If you get a “can not display” mesage, just keep trying, it took me about 7 attempts to get to the page.
The link to the salvation Army National headquarters is:
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/
This is where I found the link, scroll down about a quarter of the way and you will see it under “Connect with loved ones”
I hope this helps.
Dawn
August 30th, 2005 at 6:55 pm
Agree 200% with Marky. I live in Chas. SC. Not a wealthy person, but I have one crib and one couch if there is a mom with a child who needs comfort and care.
August 30th, 2005 at 7:02 pm
Anyone know anything about the Hurley, Lucedal, Wade area in George County Mississippi? My mother lives about 10 miles north of I-10 in that area.
Thanks.
August 30th, 2005 at 7:09 pm
Hi, For any contractors or small home owners in the new orleans area, I have got wood that I am willing to part with dirt cheap to help out the home owners that do not have the money to pay full price to rebuild, ex: 2 x 4 stud .90 thats less than 1/2 price, josh@mcgowancg.com if anyone is interested.
August 30th, 2005 at 7:14 pm
Thank You Jason,
I just found out that when she couldnt evacuate (roads jambed) she returned home, only to then leave with neighbors and head towards Biloxi. Im so worried. Thanks again for the info
August 30th, 2005 at 7:18 pm
Also does anyone know if anyone has created a “survivor list” of people that might be in the shelters but unable to call family?? Candace
August 30th, 2005 at 7:27 pm
The U.S. does not need help from other countries. It has more than enough resources to help these people. The U.S. is the richest country which is why it is expected to help other countries when they’re in crisis situations. Do you expect Indonesia to help the U.S. just because the U.S. helped them during Tsunami? If the U.S. was poor you’d see a lot of help especially from the UN.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:08 pm
The president needs to send every resource available including the Army, Navy, Air Force helicopters and extra Coast Guard while people are still able to be rescued. I hope that the surrounding states will send Game and Fish officers equiped with boats rescue teams. The looting an violence in the New Orleans area is going to soon turn into a very sad situation as criminals use this situation to pray on people and property. When people start turning against each other and law enforcement officers because of the lack of security. Along with rescue, heavy National Guard units need to be set up to prevent violence.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:45 pm
Well, Al, I never said anywhere in my post that the U.S. needed help. I simply wondered if anyone offered help. Please don’t try to read words in to my post that aren’t there.
Pray for the Gulf Coast victims.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:54 pm
I am looking to find status on all from RPM Pizza office in Gulfport. (my prayers go out to all of our stores that have been affected) I hope everyone is safe. We evacuated to Augusta, GA on Saturday, and are awaiting any news that we can/should return to Gulfport, or elsewhere if the office is going to be temporarily relocated. Most (228) cell phones cannot receive called, but many can be text messaged. If you have tried to call loved ones but cannot get a ring, try to send a text message.
August 30th, 2005 at 11:18 pm
I was in 2 seperate typhoons in Okinawa as a Marine and took part in search and rescue operations afterwards. That was over 20 years ago. This may not be a good time to critisize others, but it really frustrates me to see hundreds of perfectly healthy people being rescued from their rooftops. Why did they not go to the Superdome for selter? They were warned that this one was going to be really bad.
I shudder to think how many elderly or otherwise challenged people are trapped in their attics and unable to break through their roofs – nobody knows they are there, and rescuers are too busy saving the healthy ones who could have prevented their predicament.
The numbers are not known yet, but I fear the death toll will be in the thousands when all is said and done. Many of them could have been prevented if not for the brave souls who are now preventing the truely needy from being saved.
I hope that in a few days my observations are proven wrong, but if they are not, I hope the selfish are wrought with grief knowing what they have done.
August 31st, 2005 at 4:58 am
I’m sorry if this offends anyone here, but I don’t think our federal tax dollars should be used to rebuild or even clean up New Orleans, and instead a new New Orleans should be built above sea level next to Baton Rouge. New Orleans, once drained, should be cleared of debris and glass, structures should be taken down and moved to the new site, and then New Orleans should be cordoned off as a national park, with the highest areas used for park structures and monuments. Otherwise, after billions are spent to rebuild, there will probably be irrepairable damage to the infrastructure, and problems that arise for years on out — things that were missed in the initial assessment, whenever that happens. This is without mentioning carcinogens, mosquitos, and biohazards floating around and perhaps remaining stuck to structures after the water is pumped out. Things like unknown water damage to foundations of buildings, etc. Plus, time constraints will make the rebuilding very expensive, as opposed to building a new planned city from scratch, where residents can re-locate, near the already-existing infrastructure of Baton Rouge. The truth is that it’s just a matter of time until New Orleans sinks permanently, and businesses are already moving to Baton Rouge so anyone remaining in the area will be unemployed for months. Besides, it’ll just flood again when the next hurricane, and in the meantime New Orleans will continue sinking further below sea level.
August 31st, 2005 at 6:43 am
message to marky:
First – this is a blog about the hurricane and the aftermath -
Second – since you opened the floodgates of hypocrosy:
Read your double-minded statements dude!!
Here are your statements
marky Says:
bq. I never said anywhere in my post that the U.S. needed help. I simply wondered if anyone offered help. Please don’t try to read words in to my post that aren’t there.
From your earlier post:
bq. I am really disgusted with the lack of support/help the U.S. is getting from the rest of the world. In a perfect world other countries would rush to our aid
and…
bq. and never, never, never commit any U.S. military personnel to any task other than defending U.S. soil
So my question is…
Why would you be disgusted with the other countries, not helping, if you want to close up our borders – pull all the troops out and not help anyone else?
It is because of double minded fools like you Marky – that other countries hate America…They view us as self serving nation, when in fact we are the most generous nation in the world.
In the book I read, it says – serve others with a glad heart and don’t look for praise or anything in return…
America is blessed to be a blessing!
We are a rich nation, a powerhouse, the world hates us and defending our borders reaches beyond them, if we close them up we become sitting ducks… We are not a stupid nation, we only have stupid and ignorant people – like you – who get on their high horse and speak with two tongues.
I am proud of all our servicemen and women who volunteer to protect America and place their lives in ahrms way by defending other countries -it keeps the wars in places like Baghdad – not Boston.
Patriot
August 31st, 2005 at 7:27 am
Hey Candace, Fox news is live from Slidell this morning, Lots of info on all TV News outlets. FOX,MSNBC and CNN doing a great job. God bless and God Speed to all the rescuers and victims.
August 31st, 2005 at 7:50 am
Here’s a “missing persons board”:http://www.nowpublic.com/node/17228 for people trying to locate friends and family.
Also, here’s a “weblog with specific information on Slidell”:http://slidell.weblogswork.com/.
I think this post has pretty much run its course. Since we’re starting to see more opinion and argument than requests for assistance and offers to help I’ve closed comments on it.