SLIDELL AREA THREAD

[beaudodson]

Slidell news:


WGNO reporter in Slidell: Came in on 12
Lots of trees down on houses, loss of roofs, bowling alley had lost its side. Days Inn lost roof, could see in the rooms. Trinity rehab centersome damage, patients ok.

Some houses they saw had lost roofs, some had trees hit them. Trees and powerlines down everywhere in Slidell. Some people walking around, mostly deserted.

Only could make it a mile from interstate because of trees and powerlines.

People are not being allowed in because of the danger

High water in mall parking lot. roads near interstate don't have water on them, but reporters haven't gotten into town very far yet.

 

[beaudodson]

Blog post....

August 29, 2005
Katrina, 4:42 p.m., latest news
I don't know what you all are getting by way of national news reporting. We're listening to the local news (courtesy of the generator) and have heard a lot of disturbing news for the New Orleans area.

The top floor to a Days Inn hotel in Slidell is missing. The entire floor. There's no word if anyone was in the hotel waiting out the storm.

One reporter said there were bodies floating in the flood waters in Slidell. (For those who aren't familiar with the area, Slidell is essentially a suburb to the east of New Orleans, so they would have had some pretty bad winds.) I am very very much hoping this is a gross exaggeration, but they sounded pretty firm about it.

The Mayor of Kenner (a suburb to the west of New Orleans) just stated that 100% of the homes in Kenner were either flooded or had structural damage and he didn't expect people to get back into the area for two or more weeks.

All of the New Orleans areas are now under a "boil water" alert -- the water is now contaminated and not safe to drink. One of the news anchors said you have to boil it for twelve minutes to be safe. Of course, without electricity, that gets complicated, unless people have propane.

http://www.electricmist.net/

 

[Bill Hamilton]

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8130

 

[beaudodson]

Originally posted by Bill Hamilton
http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8130

Well that is fine. People seemed to be desperate for information.

 

[Anonymous]

Beau, as author of this thread, I appreciate your posts very much.

Although the moderator seems concerned about the reliability of some of the content, I am grateful to hear it, and do realize that these are preliminary comments from unknown sources which may or may not be accurate. Such is the nature of discovering the extent of a bad situation.

We're all grownups here and must use our discretion to take these early reports with the requisite grains of salt.

Thanks for your input....

 

[beaudodson]

No No that is fine. I am grouchy...long day. Yeah I understand the reason behind that rule. It is a good rule. I was just trying to help I know how desp everyone is for information right now.

I understand the rule...no big deal.

I am heading out to be deployed for the Red Cross in the morning. No telling where they will send me. Going to be a LONG LONG operation for recovery.

 

[Anonymous]

:wink:

Thanks for all the hard work you're about to do, me too, uggh.....

 

[Amos Magliocco]

The Director of FEMA told MSNBC that the I-10 bridge between Slidell and New Orleans may be compromised. For those who know the area, this is no small matter. The bridge is a long "causeway" and one of the main arteries into the city.

 

[Amos Magliocco]

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWL0829...ss.86c6840.html

WWL TV reporting massive storm surge damage in Slidell.

" The visual inspections of Ross and his photographer Mike Bland showed that Slidell has probably endured massive storm surge damage.

He said Lake Pontchartrain overflowed its banks and had chest-deep water from the Lake to the Old Spanish trail exit.

“You can’t tell where the Lake ends and Slidell begins,â€￾ he said"

 

[beaudodson]

More and more information is coming in from these areas. I believe the days ahead are going to really wake people up to the realizing of just what a real hurricane can do.

 

[Aaron Kennedy]

Just imagine if it didn't weaken before landfall....

Aaron

 

[Amos Magliocco]

WWL TV has the following headline on their webiste:

"Mayor Ray Nagin reports the Twin Span Bridge is "totally destroyed" and that 80% of the city is underwater. Click for streaming video."

I can't get the video to work. I am completely stunned at the news about the Twin Span, and equally amazed at the report of 80% of New Orleans underwater, if what the Mayor told the station is correct. It may be time to adjust our thinking about whether or not New Orleans "dodged a bullet.' I think the biggest false signal of the day was the quick reporting from the French Quarter showing things were relatively well. If the WWL report is correct, it may be that the Quarter is one of the few city sections relatively intact.

 

[anonymous in Louisiana]

flooding in N.O.

I saw helicopter footage this evening -- they flew over all of New Orleans, Kenner, etc. A huge majority of New Orleans had water in the streets. Kenner looked like a lake, and the water appeared to be two to three foot into a lot of the homes. Other areas (9th ward) had homes with water to their roofs. Some of downtown did not have much or any water, but it seemed to be the exception. I don't know much about the Quarter, but it seems to be the exception. There was footage of sherrifs getting their own boats (bass boats) into the water to rescue people on their roofs, and stories of a lot more people who needed to be rescued. I live in Baton Rouge and have been getting the information either from the live video feeds on the local station (WBRZ) or from the officials they were interviewing there. I've blogged some of it on the electricmist site someone linked to above. Hope this helps clear up the specifics.

 

[Amos Magliocco]

I think the total lack of information coming from St. Tammany Parish does not bode well. I found a message board on one of the media websites where residents away from home were begging for answers, asking about specific neighborhoods like Cross Gates where my parents lived for twenty years. It's very chilling. A friend pointed out in a private email that the lack of information or imagery almost always means bad news.

The only message the Parish Association president had for resident-evacuees tonight was, "Don't come back."

 

[Chris Sokol]

Think that the situation on the North Shore is ominous? Has anybody noticed that nobody, news media or the authorities, is even mentioning Pass Christian, Waveland, or Bay St Louis?

I used to live right on the lake in extreme south Slidell...Just down the street from Vera's restaurant. From what it sounds like, the house I used to live in is now gone.