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.
 
flooding in NO

politics aside...

I live in jax, FL and heard about the levy breaks early this am, national news is reporting it. IMHO the consider this old news, and are now reporting the latest developments, such as the twisters in carrolton and helen, GA, and rescue operations along the MS coastline. lets face it, those videos are easier for them to obtain and make better TV.
 
[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.
Click to expand...

What happened to no politics? The United States has plenty of manpower to respond to this disaster. There are like 10-12K National Guard troops left in Lousiana, and plenty of ACE troops left in the US.
 
Reporting very heavy flooding in Chalmette (east southeast of downtown N.O.) and a plan to transport people to the top of a levee by boat where they will await rescue by larger boats for transport to areas north of I-12. Also a new report of two deaths by people trying to return to Slidell.

To clarify an error in another thread, the Twin Span bridge does not cross the river. It is the long Interstate 10 bridge between Slidell and New Orleans. It must be avoided completely.
 
Some of the footage on Fox is incredible... Some roofs of homes are actually completely under water! There are families standing on their roofs, and it's just amazing. I just saw a live report from the the French Quarter, where water is now knee-deep, and reportedly still rising.

Also now, a reported is standing on the foundation of what used to be a house. Looks like what an F4 would do, but this damage from the storm surge that absolutely decimated many of the structures are there... Didn't catch the location, but I assume Gulfport. Haven't seen any live video beyond videophone, low-res stuff from Bay St. Louis.
 
How politics can be interjected (as usual)into a talk about a disaster is beyond me. I thought thats what the new Sx2 was suppose to stop (ya right). I dont care if they have 30,000 LA guradsman there it couldnt stop the levee from failing. The entire situation can be blamed on 2 things... Mother nature being herself and people who build a city on the coast in a swamp below water level!!!!! Everybody knew this was going to happen someday. there was no avoiding it. its like building the worlds biggest trailer park in Moore, Ok. it will be hit sooner or later and destroyed.

At least marshall law has been declared and looters will be delt with swiftly and without mercy. Too bad there arent any trees left to hang them from. Hate wasting $$ for bullets on scumbags.

My actual interest is these 3000lb sandbags the Army Corps of Engineers is going to airlift by helicopter and plug the Levee break. I have never seen or heard of these but its a cool idea if it works. Anybody else ever heard of these things??
 
How politics can be interjected (as usual)into a talk about a disaster is beyond me. I thought thats what the new Sx2 was suppose to stop (ya right). I dont care if they have 30,000 LA guradsman there it couldnt stop the levee from failing.
Click to expand...

I'm wondering how politics could be left out actually. The new S2 was to do away with that, but I would think this is a special case since guess what, it deals with weather, in this case a disaster. Yep, 30,000 LA guardsmen aren't going to stop a break but I bet they could help a few folks like those stuck in their attic. There is NO WAY they WOULDN'T be VERY useful at this time. I don't think it is silly at all to mention that fact. Just watching the news it seems like you see very few boats or choppers. 30,000 guardsmen from LA are really overseas? Ouch.

I think the thing that bugged me the most out of what I've seen was the lady crabbing loudly that she couldn't get back in. She was all mad they were told to leave and now can't get back in. She says next time they won't leave and added maybe they'll just stop paying taxes. I later saw one of those burning houses and couldn't help myself but hope if it was anyones that it was hers. They should have let her back in there, they really should have. Perhaps she was wanting in to help those in a situation to truly crab on and on about.
 
breaking...from governors conference...water is so high in St. Bernard Parish east of the Industrial Canal that water is actually being LET OUT of the Parish at this point.

...Alex Lamers...
 
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