CITY OF NEW ORLEANS THREAD

B Ozanne

EF5
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May 3, 2004
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Ah...where is everybody on this forum? NO is flooding big time. 1" every 5 minutes.

"All indications are that this is absolutely worst-case scenario," Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, said Sunday afternoon. The center's latest computer simulations indicate that by Tuesday, vast swaths of New Orleans could be under water up to 30 feet deep. In the French Quarter, the water could reach 20 feet, easily submerging the district's iconic cast-iron balconies and bars..."
 
Can you provide a source indicating that New Orleans is continuing to flood. Other than the areas already under water, are any new areas threatened?
 
HOLY SMOKES!!! Are any TV stations covering it? I wonder if the people wandering around outside are even aware the water is rising?
 
I know, I'm really baffled -- NONE of the major news network web sites are mentioning it beyond a small "levee breach" item on CNN. CNN broke the story of the breached levee last night at 3:25 a.m. (I got a breaking news email) but no other news outlets seem to be discussing it -- including the local station WDSU, whose live stream I'm watching! Right now, they're blathering on about insurance and whether or not you'll have to pay for the damage if a building fell on your car.

So you've got WWL personnel evacuating their studio due to the rising water, and meanwhile the other local station isn't even reporting the problem.

The only mention I could find in the national media is this, buried in page two of a story on NBC's site:

Significant evacuations’ overnight
In New Orleans, Col. Rich Wagenaar of the Army Corps of Engineers said a breach in the eastern part of the city was causing flooding and “significant evacuationsâ€￾ in Orleans and St. Bernard parishes. He did not know how many people were affected by the flooding.

Authorities also were gathering information on a levee breach in the western part of the city, most of which sits below sea level. An Army engineer said that breach began Monday afternoon and may have grown overnight.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9063708/

Either the rising water isn't really as bad as the reports we have heard are suggesting, or this is a communication lapse demonstrating the kind of chaos and confusion a huge natural disaster can create.
 
Fox is, Sheperd Smith said that he went to bed last night and the NO business district was dry, this morning the water is rising. He said New Orleans is under martial law, and that no civil rights exist for those in NO. They want everyone who possibly can to get out... Scary stuff, the situation has gotten much, much worse.
 
CNN just reported that Tulane Medical Center has postponed their evacuation plans. The water is rising more slowly now and they believe their generators can remain dry longer than previously imagined.

I think there's several reasons why nobody is focuing on the levee breech and rising water. First, there's not much to report beyond the few sentences they've repeated and we've posted since last night. I heard some official say that the Corps of Engineers met about five hours ago to tackle the problem. Second, there is so much complete and utter devastation in every direction that every piece of information is a crisis of similar urgency. Everything is news, everything is vital and on an epic scale. I don't know how a news editor could begin to prioritize.

In the next two hours I expect we'll begin to see video from helicopters over Slidell and the twin span between Slidell and the city. I expect those images will shock us as much as anything we've seen.
 
Shepard just said that things are much worse then they were yesterday, he says the water is rising, but no one really knows why, it could be seepage, from the lake, from the levees, they dont know...
 
It's pretty obvious that no one in a position to really know (definitely not me) wants to be the bearer of bad news and say that there are multiple, growing levee breaches; most of the city is filling up with water; their plan to fix such breeches is unworkable due to the other destruction of the hurricane; and a lot of the resources that should be available for disaster relief of this magnitude are overseas in Iraq. :x
 
Shepard just said that things are much worse then they were yesterday, he says the water is rising, but no one really knows why, it could be seepage, from the lake, from the levees, they dont know...
Click to expand...

Back in 1993 we had as many levees that failed because water went under them as over them.
 
and a lot of the resources that should be available for disaster relief of this magnitude are caught in another quagmire overseas called Iraq.
Click to expand...

Thing is, I'm guessing that not even THOSE resources could get into N.O. right now.

When "outsiders" can finally come in I'm betting you'll see a mobilization of American help like we've not seen in our lifetimes. Many, many people are heartbroken over their fellow Americans' pain and wanting to help.
 
...a lot of the resources that should be available for disaster relief of this magnitude are caught in another quagmire overseas called Iraq. :x
Click to expand...
Yes, David. Marines, tanks, and gunships would most certainly save NO from flooding. :roll:
 
Benjamins

But that $177 million dollars/day we spend could fund a *little* bit of the recovery efforts....
 
[Ignores sarcasm in spirit of Sx2 :wink:] For starters my understanding is that over 3,000 of the LA Guard are overseas with their heavy transportation equipment. It is also my understanding that a significant part of the Army Corps of Engineers is deployed for Iraq reconstruction. Until recently -- silly me -- I thought these agencies were specially trained and equipped for flood control, homeland security, and disaster relief.
 
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