I hope nobody from here lives in New Orleans

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Kariann said:


I just saw that and it brought tears to my eyes. I keep watching and keep thinking about how many thousands of people have nothing left or no home to go to. I'm really afraid that the count of casualties will only go up as the clean up starts. There are still people being rescued from roofs in New Orleans so it makes me wonder how many people were left in their homes.

I just saw the story you were both referring to. I got the tissue box the moment he started talking. Watching CNN now...
 
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shari schultz said:
This is all so incredibly sad:sad:
I just watched a reporter interviewing a man who lost his wife as they were trying to escape to their roof. She told him that he should take care of the children and the grandchildren and disappeared into the water. The reporter was holding back tears as she talked to him. He just kept saying "I don't know what we're gonna do, I just don't know" as a child clung to him and another stood nearby. :sad:

i saw that--made me cry.
 
kellyahern said:
Oh great, msnbc is now saying there might be a prison riot in New Orleans :no:.

I had seen earlier this evening on CNN that they had to evacuate some prisoners from a prison there and they showed them all lined up sitting on what appeared to have been some kind on ramp to a road with a few guards walking up and down. When I saw that I was wondering if all would remain orderly. On CNN someone...I was within earshot of the tv said they hadnt confirmed the riot and hostages at the prison. I did hear where they were going to evacuate 2 prisons to other state prisons.
 
Kariann said:


I had seen earlier this evening on CNN that they had to evacuate some prisoners from a prison there and they showed them all lined up sitting on what appeared to have been some kind on ramp to a road with a few guards walking up and down. When I saw that I was wondering if all would remain orderly. On CNN someone...I was within earshot of the tv said they hadnt confirmed the riot and hostages at the prison. I did hear where they were going to evacuate 2 prisons to other state prisons.

Yeah, I haven't heard anything else about that, which is good.


msnbc had a video earlier of a dog sitting alone on a floating piece of rubble. :( I know it might seem silly to worry about that, but it reminds you that it's someone's pet, and then you start wondering where the family is . . .
 
kellyahern said:


Yeah, I haven't heard anything else about that, which is good.


msnbc had a video earlier of a dog sitting alone on a floating piece of rubble. :( I know it might seem silly to worry about that, but it reminds you that it's someone's pet, and then you start wondering where the family is . . .

Kelly, your concern about the dog is not silly at all. :hug: Unfortunately, the Red Cross has a policy not to allow pets in shelters. This policy MUST be revised, or if not, there should be a facility set up where people can bring pets along. In South Carolina, there is an old arena that has been set up as a shelter for people with pets when they've faced hurricanes. Every community prone to hurricanes should have several of these.

I watched the CBS Evening News tonight, and they showed a young woman returning to the site of her apartment complex in Biloxi, where about 30 people died. She was crying over her dog, Josie, who she had to leave behind. :sad: :sad: :sad:

People who don't have pets often don't realize how they touch your heart. They look to you for love and care, and for them to have to fend for themselves in a time of disaster...:sad:

I am going to contribute to this charity in the very near future: www.noahswish.org. They are going to travel to the hurricane-affected areas to rescue animals.
 
two guys with AK47's opened fire on the police, a shoot out resulted and they fled to the french quarter

amazingly nobody was hurt

ridiculous
 
Diane L said:

I am going to contribute to this charity in the very near future: www.noahswish.org. They are going to travel to the hurricane-affected areas to rescue animals.

I don't mean to sound like an ass here, but shouldn't we be more concerned about rescuing human beings first? :eyebrow:
 
DaveC said:


I don't mean to sound like an ass here, but shouldn't we be more concerned about rescuing human beings first? :eyebrow:

Of course we should care about saving human beings, Dave. Caring about animals does not mean that you don't care about people. We should care about people AND animals.

That's what I think, anyway.
 
Well I'm not saying we should abandon pets to their fate, but I'm saying that we should be helping our fellow homo sapiens out first. Then, and only then, should we shift the focus to animals.
 
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/New...01_ROB586049_RTRUKOC_0_UK-WEATHER-KATRINA.xml

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Army engineers raced to staunch rising floodwaters submerging historic New Orleans as helicopters plucked frantic survivors from rooftops and hundreds were feared dead on Tuesday after Hurricane Katrina tore across the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Authorities made plans to remove thousands of storm refugees from the Superdome stadium and other shelters in New Orleans and forged a bold scheme to airdrop giant sandbags to plug breaches in the city's protective levee system as water from Lake Pontchartrain poured into the city.

Looters struck, adding to the city's misery. They waded through flood water to ransack electronics stores, drugstores and supermarkets. They rolled carts full of merchandise and carried bundles and boxes of beer from downtown stores.

The economic cost of the hurricane could be the highest in U.S. history, as much as $26 billion, according to risk analysts' estimates.

"It looks like we've been nuked," said Hayes Bolton, 65, as he guarded the rubble of his pawn shop in Biloxi, Mississippi, near where the homes of his grandmother, mother and aunt were destroyed by the storm.

"This is just a tragedy. It makes you want to crawl in a hole."

As New Orleans coped with a flood, Mississippi grappled with the prospect that hundreds of people may have died when a 30-foot (9 metre) storm surge blasted ashore, a city spokesman said. Cadaver dogs were being brought in to help find the dead.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said there were reports of up to 80 dead in the Biloxi area, but U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the state's unofficial estimates were "probably way too low."

Biloxi spokesman Vincent Creel told Reuters "It's going to be in the hundreds."

Rescuers struggled through high water and mountains of debris to reach areas crushed by Katrina when it struck the Gulf Coast on Monday. The storm inflicted catastrophic damage as it slammed into Louisiana with 140 mph (224 kph) winds, then raged into Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.

PLUCKED TO SAFETY

Across the region, hundreds of people climbed onto rooftops to escape the rising water that lapped at the eaves. They used axes, and in at least one case a shotgun, to blast holes in roofs so they could escape through the attics.

Police took boats into flooded areas to rescue some of the stranded and others were lifted off rooftops by helicopter. The Coast Guard helped rescue 1,200 in New Orleans on Monday night and thousands more all along the Gulf Coast on Tuesday.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco urged residents to hold a day of prayer on Wednesday to "calm our spirits" and give thanks for survival. "The situation is untenable," she said. "It's just heartbreaking."

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin reported bodies floating in the floodwaters, which may have measured 20 feet (6 metres) deep in places.

Officials said a 3-foot (0.9-metre) shark had been spotted cruising the flooded streets.

"What I saw today is equivalent to what I saw flying over the tsunami in Indonesia. There are places that are no longer there," said Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana after flying over the damaged area.

New Orleans is a bowl-like city mostly below sea level and protected by levees or embankments. The levees gave way overnight in at least three places, including a 200-foot (60 metre) breach that allowed the lake waters to pour into the city centre.

The U.S. military planned to use helicopters to drop 3,000-pound (1,360-kg), gravel-filled sandbags into the breaches, the worst up to 20 feet (6 metre) deep. Authorities were also considering plugging the gap with shipping containers filled with sand.

Blanco said a plan was being developed to evacuate the Superdome, which had no electricity, and other shelters.

Governors in the stricken states called out more than 7,500 National Guard troops to help control looting, remove debris and deliver aid.

ABC News said the looters in New Orleans numbered in the thousands and carted away anything that was unguarded while a few overwhelmed police officers stood idly by.

In another area, a special weapons team showed up with machine guns prominently displayed in a show of force.

"This ain't no time for this kind of foolishness but people trapped, a lot of them hungry, they don't have no water, need medicine. I need insulin right now," a woman told ABC.

Four people were confirmed dead in St. Tammany Parish, east of New Orleans, a local official said.

Most of the deaths appear to have been caused by the storm surge, which swept as far as a mile (1.5 km) inland in parts of Mississippi.

"From the destruction I've seen, I think there'll be some people we never find," Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway said after a helicopter tour.

Biloxi Fire Captain Michael Thomas said an entire apartment complex collapsed and officials believed there are many bodies in the building. At a nearby cemetery, coffins drifted out of mausoleums. "Caskets are everywhere," he said.

Katrina dragged a casino as big as a football field 100 yards (metres) over a seafront street and set it down in a parking lot.

In Mississippi's Hancock County, emergency workers went from house to house and put black paint on those where people died, CNN said. They planned to return later to pick up the bodies.

PATH OF DESTRUCTION

Before striking the Gulf Coast, Katrina last week hit southern Florida and killed seven people.

It knocked out electricity to about 2.3 million customers, or nearly 5 million people, in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, utility companies said. Restoring power could take weeks, they warned.

The storm swept through oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico, source of 20 percent to 25 percent of U.S. production of the commodities. U.S. oil prices on Tuesday jumped $3.65 a barrel to peak at $70.85 as oil firms assessed damage.

Convoys of Humvees and military trucks streamed south on Interstate 65 through Alabama with loads of fuel and power generators. Special Forces boat crews were dispatched to conduct search and rescue operations in flooded communities.
 
Insane...awful.

I was at school all day, the last news this morning was positive and then to come home to find out what a disaster it was.

And i havent even seen the news...just photos.
 
I was wondering.....to what extent do you guys think this has got to do with global warming? :hmm:
 
my husband brought that up as well :hmm:
GB apparently doesn't believe in it, or not much for that matter :madspit:


off to bed - hi & bye U2Man
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capt.ladp21608302120.hurricane_katrina_ladp216.jpg


:sad:
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[q]White House to tap reserves
Energy Secretary Bodman says U.S. will lend oil to refiners hurt by Hurricane Katrina.
August 31, 2005: 7:59 AM EDT
Special Report +full coverage
Oil Crunch
Oil retreats under $70
Bodman: White House to tap oil reserves
Gas crisis looms
OPEC president to propose output hike
Video More video
CNN's Allan Chernoff discusses Hurricane Katrina's effect on oil and gas prices. (August 30)
Play video

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said in a series of televised interviews Wednesday that the White House plans on tapping the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help refiners hurt by Hurricane Katrina.

Bodman said in the interviews that officials have not determined the amount of crude oil that will be drawn from stockpiles, but that it would be a loan to refiners.

"The SPR was put in place specifically for this kind of an event," Bodman said in one interview. "We now have, in some instances, problems with getting crude to some refineries."

The reserve is the government's emergency stockpile of crude oil, which is overseen by the Energy Department. The oil reserves are estimated at more than 700 million barrels stored in underground caverns in Louisiana and Texas.

U.S. crude oil prices dipped 25 cents to $69.56 following Bodman's comments. Crude prices jumped $2.61 a barrel Tuesday before settling at $69.81.

Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana and Mississippi on Monday, halting crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for roughly a quarter of U.S. oil output. Nine refineries were also closed along the coast due to the storm, Reuters reported Tuesday.

An official announcement[/q]
 
A girl at the Ryan Adams board posted this:

~~~

Subject: My life was ripped away this week

Hey everyone. I just got back online for the first time since I left my home in New Orleans on Sunday.

I evacuated to Texas with a bunch of random people... roomates, neighbors, co-workers. we got out at pretty much the least minute. it took 15 hours to get to Houston (about 300 miles, normally about 5 hours.) there was major panic and rushing to get out as fast as possible, so there was no time to pack really... of course looking back on it, had I known I would have no place to return to, I would have spent a few more minutes getting things together that are not replaceable - photos and such. as it stands, i have nothing to my name right now except 5 days' worth of clothes. I have no job, no money, no home and can't get in touch with any of my friends and family who stayed behind.

I'm not even sure why I am posting this here... I guess this is a familiar and comforting place. Last friday night, my biggest concern was what movie we were going to see. Now I have to rethink my whole life. I feel very fortunate that I got out of NOLA, because there are people there now who are enduring much worse. At least I am in a safe place and lucky enough to have a friend who put me up for this week (I'm in corpus christi now.) the only thing I can do is hope I can buy enough gas to drive up to my sister's place in elizabeth, New Jersey.

The way I feel is completely undescribable. The sense of loss and devastation is comparable for me only to 9/11... but this is so much more heart wrenching becasue I know these people. Really, new orleans is a 'small town' in the sense that it's neighborly and full of a unique community spirit. i have so many people in my life who have now lost everything.

Please keep those people in your thoughts - the ones trapped in the city, waiting to be rescued. and the ones who have nothing to return to.
 
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[q]Katrina Prompts Global Support for Victims

By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer 48 minutes ago

VIENNA, Austria - From papal prayers to telegrams from China, the world reacted with an outpouring of compassion Wednesday for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in messages tinged by shock that a disaster of this scale could occur in the United States.
ADVERTISEMENT

Islamic extremists rejoiced in America's misfortune, giving the storm a military rank and declaring in Internet chatter that "Private" Katrina had joined the global jihad, or holy war. With "God's help," they declared, oil prices would hit $100 a barrel this year.

Venezuela's government, which has had tense relations with Washington, offered humanitarian aid and fuel if requested.

The storm was seen as an equalizer — proof that any country, weak or strong, can be victimized by a natural disaster. Images of flood-ravaged New Orleans earned particular sympathy in central Europe, where dozens died in raging floodwaters only days ago.

"Nature proved that no matter how rich and economically developed you are, you can't fight it," says Danut Afasei, a local official in Romania's Harghita county, where flooding killed 13 people last week.

Throughout Europe, concerned citizens lamented the loss of life and the damage caused to New Orleans, often described as one of North America's most "European" cities.

French
President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder sent messages of sympathy to
President Bush. Chirac, who has famously quarreled with Bush over the
Iraq war, addressed this letter, "Dear George."

Pope Benedict XVI said he was praying for victims of the "tragic" hurricane while China's President
Hu Jintao expressed his "belief that that the American people will definitely overcome the natural disaster and rebuild their beautiful homeland."

Britain's
Queen Elizabeth II also sent a message to Bush saying she was "deeply shocked and saddened" at the devastation caused by the hurricane and expressing her condolences, "especially to the families of those who have lost their lives, to the injured and to all who have been affected by this terrible disaster."

The U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland — a capital at the foot of the Alps hit by flooding last week — said calls were rushing in from Swiss individuals and institutions looking for a way to donate to relief efforts.

"We are getting calls from the Swiss public looking to express their condolences, (and) people are also asking for an account number where they can make donations," said spokesman Daniel Wendell.

The Internet-edition Vienna daily Der Standard had recorded 820 postings commenting on a front-page story on the hurricane. In one of the postings, signature "Emerald" asked where money could be donated to the victims, but the question sparked a debate about whether a rich country like the United States needed such aid.

In response, one posting, from signature "far out," argued that hurricane victims who are poor still needed support.

Amid the sympathy, however, there was criticism.

As U.S. military engineers struggled to shore up breached levees, experts in the Netherlands expressed surprise that New Orleans' flood systems failed to restrain the raging waters.

With half of the country's population of 16 million living below sea level, the Netherlands prepared for a "perfect storm" soon after floods in 1953 killed 2,000 people. The nation installed massive hydraulic sea walls.

"I don't want to sound overly critical, but it's hard to imagine that (the damage caused by Katrina) could happen in a Western country," said Ted Sluijter, spokesman for the park where the sea walls are exhibited. "It seemed like plans for protection and evacuation weren't really in place, and once it happened, the coordination was on loose hinges."

The sympathy was muted in some corners by a sense that the United States reaped what it sowed, since the country is seen as the main contributor to global warming.

Joern Ehlers, a spokesman for World Wildlife Fund Germany, said global warming had increased the intensity of hurricanes.

"The Americans have a big impact on the greenhouse effect," Ehlers said.

But Harlan L. Watson, the U.S. envoy for negotiations on climate change, denied any link between global warming and the strength of storms.

"Our scientists are telling us right now that there's not a linkage," he said in Geneva. "I'll rely on their information."

___

Associated Press Writers Susanna Loof in Vienna, Bradley S. Klapper in Geneva, Alexander S. Higgins in Geneva, Anca Teodorescu in Bucharest, Romania and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, Netherlands, contributed to this story.[/q]


and just a side note, gas around my university went up in price today :sigh: to $3 for reg unleaded.
 
I just read this e-mail from a fireman in Baton Rouge, who is in deep shit working for relief efforts in New Orleans...

" To my friends and family in San Diego, Boston, New York and Dallas as well as my brother firefighters everywhere... What you see on TV is NOTHING compared to what is going on here... Hell times TEN ! Please don't watch from the sidelines WE NEED HELP!!!!!!" Keith

















"..... suddenly, MY problems don't amount to shit." Laird
 
Islamic extremists rejoiced in America's misfortune, giving the storm a military rank and declaring in Internet chatter that "Private" Katrina had joined the global jihad, or holy war. With "God's help," they declared, oil prices would hit $100 a barrel this year.


What in fuck is wrong with these people?

I'm so pissed at that I could scream.
 
LarryMullen's_POPAngel said:
What in fuck is wrong with these people?

I'm so pissed at that I could scream.

Here's a cue from our homegrown extremists:

Gays 'Responsible' For New Orleans Devastation Group Claims
by Fidel Ortega 365Gay.com Miami Bureau

Posted: August 31, 2005 3:00 pm ET

(New Orleans, Louisiana) An evangelical Christian group that regularly demonstrates at LGBT events is blaming gays for hurricane Katrina.

Repent America says that God "destroyed" New Orleans because of Southern Decadence, the gay festival that was to have taken place in the city over the Labor Day weekend.

"Southern Decadence" has a history of filling the French Quarters section of the city with drunken homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets and bars" Repent America director Michael Marcavage said in a statement Wednesday.

"Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city." Marcavage said. "From ‘Girls Gone Wild’ to ‘Southern Decadence’, New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. May it never be the same."

"Let us pray for those ravaged by this disaster. However, we must not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long," Marcavage said.

"May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits, and bring us trembling before the throne of Almighty God," Marcavage concluded.

As 365Gay.com reported on Tuesday, organizers for Southern Decadence have cancelled the event and are promising full ticket refunds.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Wednesday that hundreds are known dead and the death toll will reach into the thousands. Some estimates, CNN reported, indicate the final death toll in New Orleans alone may top 100,000.

Water levels eased off slightly on Wednesday, but most of the city remains submerged and it is believed it could be months before the city is inhabitable.

Repent America most recently demonstrated at the Philadelphia Phillies tribute to gay fans earlier this month.

Last year 10 members of Repent America marched to an area near the front of a stage at Philadelphia's Outfest and began to yell Biblical passages.

Police attempted to get the protestors to move to to an area on the edge of the Outfest site. Instead they went deeper into the gay crowd. Using a bullhorn they condemned homosexuality. They then got into an argument with a group of Pink Angels, who screamed back.

It was at that point police intervened.

Four members of Repent America, including Marcavage, were charged with ethnic intimidation, criminal conspiracy and inciting to riot. The charges carry sentences up to 47 years behind bars. But, in court, a judge dismissed the charges saying the protestors were in a public park and police had violated the group's First Amendment right to free speech.

Marcavage has been arrested, detained or cited by police around the country since founding Repent America in 2002, including at a demonstration against same-sex marriages in San Francisco.

Nevermind that the gay part of New Orleans was probably the least damaged sector of the city.

Melon
 
According to my CNN Breaking News email:

10,000 more National Guard troops are being called up for duties on the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast

Hmmm, I thought I heard yesterday that most of the extra reserves were currently stationed in Iraq and not available to help out :hmm:
 
ACT OF GOD DESTROYS NEW ORLEANS
DAYS BEFORE "SOUTHERN DECADENCE" 8/31/05

PHILADELPHIA - Just days before "Southern Decadence", an annual homosexual celebration attracting tens of thousands of people to the French Quarters section of New Orleans, an act of God destroys the city.

"Southern Decadence" has a history of filling the French Quarters section of the city with drunken homosexuals engaging in sex acts in the public streets and bars. Last year, a local pastor sent video footage of sex acts being performed in front of police to the mayor, city council, and the media. City officials simply ignored the footage and continued to welcome and praise the weeklong celebration as being an "exciting event". However, Hurricane Katrina has put an end to the annual celebration of sin.

On the official "Southern Decadence" website (www.SouthernDecadence.com), it states that the annual event brought in "125,000 revelers" to New Orleans last year, increasing by thousands each year, and up from "over 50,000 revelers" in 1997. This year’s 34th annual "Southern Decadence" was set for Wednesday, August 31, 2005 through Monday, September 5, 2005, but due to massive flooding and the damage left by the hurricane, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco has ordered everyone to evacuate the city.

The past three mayors of New Orleans, including Sidney Barthelomew, Marc H. Morial, and C. Ray Nagin, issued official proclamations welcoming visitors to "Southern Decadence". Additionally, New Orleans City Council made other proclamations recognizing the annual homosexual celebration.

"Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city," stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "From ‘Girls Gone Wild’ to ‘Southern Decadence’, New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. May it never be the same," he continued.

New Orleans is also known for its Mardi Gras parties where thousands of drunken men revel in the streets to exchange plastic jewelry for drunken women to expose their breasts. This annual event sparked the creation of the "Girls Gone Wild" video series.

"Let us pray for those ravaged by this disaster. However, we must not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long," Marcavage said. "May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits, and bring us trembling before the throne of Almighty God," Marcavage concluded.

"[God] sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)

:banghead:
 
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