CITY OF NEW ORLEANS THREAD

God bless you, Doug, for helping how you can.

There is a "story" about starfish that I have to think about in times like this. I'm sure you've heard it, but humor me anyway.

A storm had washed thousands of starfish up on the beach and many people had come to see what happened. One lady was on the beach throwing starfish, one at a time, back into the ocean. Someone asked her "why do you bother.....there are so many, you won't even make a dent". She told them that she knew she couldn't save every starfish, but she had to help those she could.

You may not be able to help the thousands, but to the one person you can help, you're worth a million.
 
From NOLA.com

Looting, jail takeover
4:30 p.m.

New Orleans Councilman Oliver Thomas said he had been informed that there was "pandemonium" inside the Orleans Parish Prison on Broad Street and that prisoners had taken over the jail.

Thomas said he heard that about 1,500 prisoners were in the jail and that law enforcement officers had been unable to get in. He said about 30 guards were escorting 3,000 inmates away from the prison and that some prisoners have escaped.

Thomas said one of the reasons for widespread looting and violence was that most of the gun stores and gun shops in the city have been looted, putting a large number of weapons on the streets.
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http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/in..._08.html#075506
 
Plot thickens: CNN now reporting the bus that arrived in Houston was a runaway, stolen by that passengers, and driven by a 20-year-old into downtown Houston to take advantage of Astrodome's amenities. As the passengers unloaded, suspicions were raised by officials, and many of the passengers fled the scene, into the city.
 
The first bus of refugees arrived in Houston about an hour ago. So begins the great exodus.
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That bus is being held at the Astrodome and the occupants are not being allowed in. Louisiana officials say it is a rogue bus that was possibly jacked and not part of the official evacuation of the Superdome. Weirdness. :?
 
Are you seeing that interview on CNN with the black guy in the red shirt? The reporter was asking him all sorts of questions about what it was like in the Superdome, but the guy kept looking around nervously and avoiding the questions, haha.
 
Two more buses arrived. One from the Superdome, the other appearing to be another renegade bus.
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What channel are you on? i have just seen the one bus n CNN maybe I missed it.[/b][/quote]
 
Originally posted by nysee
Two more buses arrived. One from the Superdome, the other appearing to be another renegade bus.
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What channel are you on? i have just seen the one bus n CNN maybe I missed it.
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From WWLTV.com

12:38 A.M. - CNN: Two more buses have arrived at Houston's Astrodome. One of the buses, an Sierra Trailways tour bus, has been confirmed by Harris County officials as part of the official caravan from the Superdome. Officials were not able to confirm the status of the other, an Orleans Parish School Bus.

THURSDAY 12:29 A.M. - CNN: A Harris County judge is now describing an Orleans Parish bus that arrived at Houston's Astrodome late Wednesday night as a \"renegade\" bus, CNN reports. Astrodome officials were not expecting a caravan of Greyhound buses carrying Superdome evacuees until Thursday.
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http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG...OG.ac3fcea.html
 
This Washington Post article is the most clear-eyed and sober assessment of New Orleans future or lack thereof that I have read. It describes all the steps that would be necessary for rebuilding and how long they might take. The magnitude of this tragedy continues to unfold.


Some excerpts:
...By that time, a lot of people won't care because they will have taken the insurance money and moved away -- forever...\"This is the worst case,\" Hugh B. Kaufman, a senior policy analyst at the Environmental Protection Agency, said of the toxic stew that contaminates New Orleans. \"There is not enough money in the gross national product of the United States to dispose of the amount of hazardous material in the area.\"

\"The EPA's Kaufman, a designer of the Superfund legislation to clean up toxic waste, said New Orleans and the Gulf Coast face \"an absolute catastrophic situation\" that will take years to abate....

Once the water is gone, environmental officials will likely undertake a \"grid survey,\" sampling the formerly flooded areas to get soil profiles and determine how safe it is for residents to move back or rebuild....

The survey is likely to take six months. \"If it were me, I wouldn't go back until there was a solid assessment of contamination of the land,\" Kaufman said. And even then, he added, authorities will be monitoring levels of water toxicity along the coastline for years: \"There is no magic chemical that you can put in the Gulf to make heavy metals or benzene go away. You're stuck with it.\"
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