Katrina Live Threads, Part XV

U.S. commercial air carriers continue transporting tens of thousands of evacuees from the New Orleans airport to destinations throughout the nation.

Rooftop air rescue efforts continue. One rescue chopper crashed late today. Crew members are reported safe. Gunmen who fired upon bridge repair contractors were killed by law enforcement.

To date, an estimated 70 countries and U.S. businesses have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars, supplies, food and equipment to assist the United States' efforts in Katrina's aftermath. Lt. General Honore described the damage to Mississippi today, "all infrastructure south of Jackson, MS is either damaged or destroyed." Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice visited the devastated areas, and attended Sunday church services in Mobile, Alabama.

Elsewhere, Sean Penn's rescue boat, sans plug and full of his personal entourage,reportedly sank during launch in New Orleans. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) threatened to punch President Bush, and Jefferson Parish President Broussard decried that the bureaucracy of FEMA has committed murder.

New Orleans Emergency Operations Center - is now open:
504-463-1000
504-463-1001
504-463-1002

All information is subject to change. Many stations are relying on their corporate parents to configure and maintain Internet streaming. Because of the intense interest in the feeds, they may be unavailable at times because of network congestion or a problem feeding the video to the streaming servers.

WWL-TV New Orleans - WWL-TV is operating from studios at Louisiana Public Broadcasting. CBS has a relay during the morning and afternoon. When available, use the CBS relay first as they have greater streaming capacity. They have a secondary stream from Yahoo. WWL-TV is also offering a special low-bandwidth audio-only stream for dial-up users.

WDSU-TV New Orleans - The news staff has started to return to temporary news studios near New Orleans. However, expect evening coverage from Hearst-Argyle sister stations WAPT Jackson and WESH Orlando when the New Orleans staff needs to take a break.

WGNO-TV New Orleans - New Orleans' ABC affiliate has returned to the air with WBRZ-TV and launched video streaming with continuous Katrina coverage.

WPMI-TV Mobile, AL - WPMI is webcasting from 5:30am - 10:30pm CDT. When off air, you can view pre-recorded reports on demand. This feed is often unreliable.

WKRG-TV Mobile, AL - This station is providing good coverage of the situation to the east in Mississippi and Alabama. However, the station is now signing off at around 10:30pm CDT like WWL and WPMI.

WJTV-TV Jackson, MS - The CBS affiliate in Jackson is providing live coverage for both the Jackson area and south Mississippi (knowing a lot of media in that area is off the air).

WFAA-TV Dallas, TX - WFAA-TV is here because Dallas is one of the evacuation cities.

United Radio From New Orleans: WWL-AM, WNOE-FM, "KISS-FM," WRNO-FM, WYLD-FM, and WJBO-AM (Clear Channel & Entercom) who have joined forces as United Radio From New Orleans, and they are streaming.

Gulf Coast Storm Network (Clear Channel Radio) - Clear Channel offers radio listeners across the gulf coast access to a simulcast emergency radio service. This service seems primarily focused on Alabama and Mississippi, but does cover Louisiana to some degree.

Due to the number of requests to assist, the following list of some charities is provided.
This is not intended as an endorsement for any of the charities.

www.redcross.org or 1-800 HELP NOW - note: website is slow, and lines are busy
Salvation Army - 1-800-SAL-ARMY or Salvation Army currently looking for in-state volunteers - (888)363-2769
Operation Blessing: (800) 436-6348.
America's Second Harvest: (800) 344-8070.
Catholic Charities USA: (800) 919-9338, or www.catholiccharitiesusa.org.
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee: (800) 848-5818.
Church World Service: (800) 297-1516 or online at www.churchworldservice. org.
Lutheran Disaster Response: (800) 638-3522.
Nazarene Disaster Response: (888) 256-5886.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance: (800) 872-3283.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is accepting donations at its 3,800 stores and Web site, www.walmart.com.
National Black Home Educators Resource Association http://www.nbhera.org/ Southern Baptist: NAMB - http://www.namb.net/
Samaritan's Purse - http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

A report from Ground Zero - Biloxi, MS

via email:

Still no word coming in from Biloxi Miss. Kessler Air Force Base, where Liz works, has issued a "Don't Move" order to all it's troops, which means Liz can't leave Panama Beach, the place she last told them she was. Very little of Kessler remains standing from what we hear. To stay apprised of what's going on at Kessler check out http://www.keesler.af.mil/ .
At one point it looked as though Vlad and Liz were going to lose their hotel room since the resort had bookings for the Labor Day tourists. This has since been resolved and they now have the room through the weekend...though the hotel did jack up their room rate. The "Don't Move" order, however, doesn't extend to civilians. So Vlad, being Vlad, has loaded up the truck with as much extra water, gas, food, and tools as he can carry and this morning has decided to try and navigate what's left of the highways and is going to try to get into Biloxi. If he's able to get to the city he is going to assess the situation with their home and remove whatever the storm hasn't destroyed or the looters haven't made off with. If there is any amount of salvageable stuff he is going to start shuttling it to his Aunts home near Mobile, Alabama.
He has been told that where ever you go down there, plan on the trip using twice as much gas as you would estimate due to the impassable conditions of the roads. In addition to that, gas prices and availability are far from certain. He's heard the last available gas before he gets to the effected area is in Pensicola, Fl., some 100 mi from Biloxi.
[Friday 10pm]
Vlad Update 5 - From Ground Zero
The last I had heard from Vlad this afternoon, he was talking to an MP in Alabama who was turning him around because he didn't have the right permit to travel. Vlad then headed of to what ever was passing for the local seat of government to get his paper work.
He just called me from his 'neighborhood'. It's likely what's left standing will have to be leveled. As soon as he pulled up some of his neighbors, who were hanging around a grill in front of one of the remaining structures, came up and welcomed him back. They asked him if he brought a firearm with him, otherwise he could borrow one of theirs while he assessed his property. Vlad assured them he was covered. The neighbors all took turns lifting up their shirts and displaying their hardware. "Lots of looting going on" they said. "A bunch of houses have already been hit." Vlad declined their offer to share in the BBQ and headed off to find his ...house. As with everything else so far, some bad, some not so bad. One remarkable thing is that the four walls stood. That was the difference between some things being salvageable instead of a total loss. Great luck seeing that the storm surge, once it got to Vlad's house, judging by the watermark on the outside of the house, crested at 10 feet. Liz's car was whisked off the parking pad and wedged into a fence. The motorcycle is probably dead. Both car and cycle spent the last week submerged in salt water and probable won't run again. The exterior storage unit Vlad built was smashed all over the neighborhood. The patio furniture, probably washed up in the Dominican Republic.
Inside the house was a little better. First off, everything is a "horrendous mess". Although the water was 10 feet outside, the walls holding only let 5 feet of water into the house. All the ceilings have collapsed. A good portion of the shingles were ripped off the roof. There is a thick coating of fuzzy white mold on "everything, absolutely everything". Everything wreaks. Everything they can salvage will have to be extensively cleaned ("and where the hell do we clean it...", Vlad mused. All the furniture is a total loss. Some of the hard wood antiques might be saved with a great deal of restoration. His sword collection is a fused and rusted hulk. Some things like the clothes that they bagged and put on the top shelves of closets are recoverable. Things that are metal and glass seem to have done the best. Mostly what there is to save is the little stuff. . "I bring gas, water, tools, everything I think I'll need, and the one thing I want now is a cardboard box to put stuff in." There isn't an intact one anywhere to be found. Since there really isn't that much to save Vlad is foregoing the trip to his Aunts, where he was going to drop off whatever he took, and is instead going back to Liz.
All things tolled, best case scenario Vlad might be able to save maybe 30% of what he owns... if it doesn't deteriorate before he gets back. He pulled a couple of tarps over the holes in the roof in case it rained again, in an attempt to save what's left. In the end the house will have to be bulldozed.
The Military Police told him he'd probably want to get out of there by dark. "This is not a place you want to be after sundown" they said. They're still not letting the military personnel out of the shelter. It should be at least 3-4 weeks before they let non-essential troops, like Liz, come back. Before he left Vlad made a deal with hid neighbors who were going to stand as armed guards on their own property. He gave them one of his 5 gallon containers of gas and told them he bring them back as much as he could next trip if they would watch over hit lot too.
Vlad drove back to Liz in Panama Beach tonight. On the drive back he said "You just wouldn't believe some of the sights...Stuff blown up 30...40 feet up in the trees, still hanging there,...like clothes, lumber, shopping carts...crazy...like something out of Aster's backyard." (If you know Aster you'll understand)

Is this what happened to Snowball (for all those who have been wondering what happened to him)?

From same link as 874:

Agencies trying to save stranded pets

Pets may get rescued from homes

By Sandra Barbier
Staff writer

(snip)
The Jefferson Parish Animal Shelter has not received many calls about rescuing pets from homes, shelter director Bert Smith said. Whether they do "will depend on the kind of calls we get. We'll try to deal with any situation as best we can."
The shelter has been operating with a short staff and poor communications for several days, he said.

It evacuated 215 animals last Sunday to the Washington Parish Fairgrounds. The hurricane knocked out the area's water and electricity Monday. "We were sleeping in our cars," Smith said.

Shelter workers emptied the fairgrounds with the help of Best Friends, which took 130 of the animals, and individuals who volunteered to temporarily keep the rest, he said.

"We got back here Friday and were called to pick up pets at the I-10 and Causeway," where evacuees were waiting for buses to take them out of New Orleans, he said. "There were thousands and thousands of people and hundreds and hundreds of pets . . . They weren't letting them (evacuees) take their animals with them."

Smith said the human and animal misery and suffering overwhelmed shelter workers, who picked up 55 cats and dogs and a ferret. "It was back-breaking," he said. The animals were taken to Jefferson Parish's west bank animal shelter, which had water and electricity.

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