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| Official Hurricane Katrina Thread |
| 2005-08-29 |
| Link is to NOLA.com for on-site reports. Will try to keep up to date info here. Hurricane damage: Collapsed buildings, massive flooding During a morning teleconference, emergency preparedness officials from across southeast Louisiana reported flooding, building collapses, power outages and fires. Here's a run-down of what they reported: - In New Orleans, water topped a levee along the Industrial Canal. The city's 911 emergency system was out of service and Charity Hospital was on emergency power and windows had been blown out on five floors. The Police Department was operating on a backup power system. Three to four feet of water was reported on St. Claude Avenue at Jackson Barracks. And a 20-foot tidal surge knocked out four pumping stations; only one was able to get back into service. Also in New Orleans, a bridge connecting a parking garage to Memorial Hospital collapsed. - In Jefferson Parish, there was a report of a building collapse in the 200 block of Wright Avenue in Terrytown. Parish officials could not provide details other than to say they had been notified that people were inside the building. - In St. Charles Parish, significant flooding was reported on the east bank. - In Arabi, up to 8 feet of water was reported, and people are climbing into their attics to escape the flooding. "We're telling people to get into the attic and take something with them to cut through the roof if necessary,'' said Col. Richard Baumy of the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office. "It's the same scenario as Betsy.'' Baumy said 100-plus mph winds were preventing rescue efforts. At Bayou Bienvenue, water levels were reported at 9 1/2 feet, almost twice normal levels. - In St. John, massive power outages are reported. - In Gramercy, there was extensive damage to the town's 1 1/2-year-old fire station. - Terrebonne Parish reported a fatality from a heart attack. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #19 CNN reporter is crying on the air about the horrors she has seen. Bodies and the night full of people crying for help and dogs howling. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-08-29 23:28 |
| #18 didn't see any leftists or Kos "special children" out helping others, didya? "Screw Em" applies at home too, if it can damage W |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-29 22:48 |
| #17 I predicted the Left would find a way to blame President Bush for Katrina and indeed they did: Katrina Proves Bush Failed New Orleans Where Are the Louisiana National Guard? |
| Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2005-08-29 22:19 |
| #16 The one vignette I'll always remember from Katrina... Shep Smith is in the bars on Bourbon St. interviewing the stay behinds. "So why are you staying?" "Mind your own fuckin business!" "Interesting answer..." My wife and I were still laughing about it this morning. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-08-29 17:11 |
| #15 Looks like half the outer roof got peeled off of the Superdome. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-08-29 16:28 |
| #14 I think Gulfport is wrecked pretty bad. Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, predicted that the worst hit areas in Mississippi would be about a 15-mile stretch of coast including Waveland, Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian. The last time that area was hit by such a severe storm was in 1969 when the Category Five Hurricane Camille devastated the region. Broken utility poles, many with dangling power lines, spread through powerless neighborhoods. Along highways, billboards were shredded and debris piled up on some roadways. Winds, which officials estimated had climbed to 135 to 145 mph range midmorning today, caused structural damage and even forced water under the door at the Harrison County emergency operations center. Officials said they had to estimate wind speed because their measuring instruments had been blown away. There were increasing reports of damage. Trees were toppled across streets and onto houses from Pascagoula across Biloxi and Gulfport and westward to the Louisiana line. Power outages and damage spread northward with the storm's advance. "We've got major street blockage. There's buildings down. We've got boats in buildings and all the traffic signals are gone," said Gulfport Fire Chief Pat Sullivan. "We've got buildings wide open all throughout the city." The Gulfport Memorial Hospital in Biloxi experienced major damage and broken windows early today, said Lea Stokes, spokeswoman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. MEMA received reports that the Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino, one of the premiere gambling houses in Biloxi, had water on the first floor, Stokes said. Along with winds and storm surge, most of the state was threatened with flooding rains and violent storms. The rising water and wind pushed sailboats from the Mississippi Sound onto U.S. 90 in Harrison County. Portions of the highway were flooded and water continued to rise. Street lights on the route twisted in the wind while highway signs fluttered wildly. "This is a devastating hit — we've got boats that have gone into buildings," Sullivan said as he maneuvered around downed trees in the city. "What you're looking at is Camille II." |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-08-29 16:22 |
| #13 I'm reminded of the morning after Hurricane Andrew went thru Florida. The news crews were all chirpy that downtown Miami was more-or-less ok...and then someone realized that they had heard NOTHING from Homestead. Which essentially didn't exist anymore. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-08-29 14:07 |
| #12 it looks like the MSM's hurricane of a lifetime was more like the MSM's hurricane hype of a lifetime. Looks to me like New Orleans was incredibly lucky that the storm veered east a little and slowed a little. Biloxi and Mobile will be hard-hit. The flooding and damage in New Orleans hasn't even fully hit yet - wait until the waters flow down from the surrounding countryside before you get too cocky. Current estimates are damage as high as $25-27 BILLION dollars. We haven't begun to hear about the state of the ports -- and if they are closed, or the channel for the Mississippi has shifted right before we are due to harvest and ship grain from the whole mid-west, we are talking about many billions more in losses. And that doesn't address the oil platforms, the depots or the refinery -- all of whose condition is at this time unknown. |
| Posted by: lotp 2005-08-29 13:52 |
| #11 They were among a group bussed to a church, so they couldn't have been too sick. My guess is that there were far too few attendants. One of the three was found dead on the bus. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2005-08-29 13:14 |
| #10 Well, it looks like the MSM's hurricane of a lifetime was more like the MSM's hurricane hype of a lifetime. I woke up hoping that New Orleans was "only" under 10 feet of water instead of 30 feet. Most of New Orleans is under more like 10-30 milimeters of water. I bet most people don't even leave next time. |
| Posted by: FeralCat 2005-08-29 12:53 |
| #9 playing "When the Levee Breaks" by Zeppelin all day as bumper music on KFI |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-29 12:02 |
| #8 From NOLA Blog: 9:34 - Reports of widespread flooding now, although not at the doomsday scenario levels. But we've got several hours to go before we've seen the worst past. Scanner traffic is busy with calls of rising water, including 18 inches and rising against the levee in the French Quarter. Dispatchers questioning officers on the scene, trying to determine if there is a break in the river levee, or if water is pouring over the top. Independently, NOLA has received a flooding alert for the French Market area. Fairly heavy street flooding in front and behind the Times-Picayune . . . water appears about knee deep, whipped by the steady wind into whitecaps and breakers. Water is hubcap deep on the furthest vehicles in the employee parking lot, and rising quickly. |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-08-29 11:18 |
| #7 2nd hand info that Tulane freshmen (classes should have begun today) were bussed enmasse to a gym in Jackson Ms. Jeez.... welcome to New Orleans. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-08-29 11:10 |
| #6 Here are some additional links for more information: Michelle Malkin: She also has a long list of links. Scroll down. Brandon Loy: He has an excellent list of comments on current conditions. Brandon also has links to a couple of local N.O. bloggers. I checked out the New Orleans website, NOLA. There's a lot of good information there, but it's pretty much what's being repeated elsewhere. I'm thankful that my extended family mostly live north of the Red River, in what's considered "high country" in Louisiana. "High country" is considered anything over 50 feet above sea level. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2005-08-29 10:54 |
| #5 Seafarious, the 3 dead were elderly persons being evacuated from their nursing home. heat + stress + fragile condition + probably few attendents = casualties |
| Posted by: lotp 2005-08-29 10:43 |
| #4 From WeatherBlog: Pumps in New Orleans Not Functioning Or so says WDSU/WAPT. Not good. This likely means flooding will occur across quite a bit of the city as there are no way to pump the water out. No word on when the pumps could be returned to service. |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-08-29 10:07 |
| #3 WWL reporting: .. A LEVEE BREACH OCCURRED ALONG THE INDUSTRIAL CANAL AT TENNESSE STREET. 3 TO 8 FEET OF WATER IS EXPECTED DUE TO THE BREACH...LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO ARABI AND 9TH WARD OF NEW ORLEANS. St. Bernard Parish spokesman Larry Ingargiola says the parish's two shelters at Chalmette High and St. Bernard High are suffering major damage. He said Chalmette High shelter is losing its roof, and St. Bernard High has plenty of broken windows and glass. He estimates 300-plus refugees at the two sites. Entergy says 317,000 customers were without power as of 6 a.m. Cleco reported 40,000 without power in St. Tammany Parish. Air conditioning out at Louisiana Superdome due to power outages. St. Bernard Parish officials say most of the parish has no power. CNN is reporting sections of Superdome roof blown off and leaking. Fox reporter inside sez slits opened between panels, fairly small. |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-08-29 09:51 |
| #2 Heard a radio report this am that "3 elderly residents had died of dehydration." ??? Matt, hopes and prayers and all that. Steve, your wife didn't go 'visiting' again, did she? |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-08-29 09:47 |
| #1 WDSU 6's Katrina blog reports a tear in the Superdome Roof. Weirdly, the current weather bug in the upper right shows 80 degrees (F) and light rain at New Orleans airport. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2005-08-29 09:47 |