wwp@yahoogroups.com:
Re: Panos from Katrina
Dave 360texas.com 2005-Sep-06 19:23:00
The State of Texas has received 230,000 Katrina survivors. Many are
in the Fort Worth - Dallas Metroplex area. There are 6 centers in
Fort Worth.
I suspect you have already been to this US List site.
http://www.familylinks.icrc.org/katrina/people
Dave at 360Texas.com
Fort Worth, Texas
--- In #removed#, G. Donald Bain <#removed#> wrote:
> I lived in new Orleans for two years, working at Tulane
University. So
> this has been occupying a lot of my attention over the last few
days.
>
> I am trying to establish contact with a few close friends still
living
> there, but so far without success. I assume they are safe
somewhere,
> but perhaps without electricity and telephone. The disruption of
normal
> life for a million people is incredible.
>
> My interest centers on the Uptown areas, where Tulane University
is
> located and where I lived, plus Jefferson Parish (the first
suburban
> county west of the city), where some close friends live. The media
are
> obsessed with dramatic shots of rescuing people from rooftops in
the
> deeply flooded area, and not giving much attention to the rest of
the
> city, and the broader disaster area. My best information has been
from
> blogs. There were several first hand accounts of trips through
various
> parts of the city with medical crews.
>
> The claims that 90% of the city was flooded seem a bit exaggerated
to
> me. The Uptown area, the Garden District, and the French Quarter
were
> all on the edge of the water, and mostly escaped major damage.
These
> are the areas that tourists mostly see, so the famous look and
feel of
> New Orleans will be back, eventually. My guess is perhaps 80%
flooded
> at the peak (within city of New Orleans proper), with maybe 60%
flooded
> up into the living spaces. Many houses in New Orleans have an
above
> ground basement story, so they have two meters or so safety from
> floods. But the worst areas were submerged up to their rooftops.
>
> Everyone in New Orleans knows about the dangers of flooding, so
the
> media comments about being caught unprepared are kind of silly. I
> remember looking down Napoleon Avenue and seeing oil tankers
sailing up
> the Mississippi River, their water-lines above the rooftops. Every
drop
> of rain that falls in the city needs to pumped out, and it is the
> rainiest major city in the U.S. Three times in recent years (once
when
> I was there) the pumps failed during a heavy thunderstorm and the
city
> flooded, within hours. I remember kids paddling canoes down my
street,
> with only the roofs of the cars visible. Those floods were blamed
on
> poor maintenance of the pumps, linked to corruption and neglect.
But it
> seems that this time the pumps have not been a problem.
>
> I lived on Prytania Street near Napoleon Avenue, a block south of
Saint
> Charles (with the famous streetcar line). The post-hurricane
> floodwaters reached within a block of there, so it was made a
major
> center for rescue and relief. On television I saw the actor Sean
Penn
> loading up his boat there - I may even have seen my old house in
the
> background.
>
> A lot of people seem to think the Mississippi River flooded the
city.
> Actually the river is very low right now, due to drought further
north.
> The storm surge raised the river and pushed boats up the banks,
where
> they now sit high and dry. The flooding came from Lake
Ponchartrain,
> north of the city, and the canals connecting to it that run
through the
> city. This is usually where the water is pumped out, since
Ponchartrain
> is almost at sea level, much lower than the river level. Ironic
that
> the flooding was via this reverse route. The lakeshore and canals
have
> broad earthen levees to above the normal level of the lake. A few
years
> ago concrete walls were built along the tops to provide an extra
margin
> of safety, calculated for a major hurricane. Unfortunately, this
> hurricane was just a bit bigger than the walls were built for. The
> water overtopped them, then rapidly eroded into major breaks. It
was
> apparently very close, maybe a matter of inches.
>
> I am getting all kinds of contradictory information about criminal
> activity. It is certainly to be expected, New Orleans has always
had a
> very high crime rate. Nobody was surprised to see looting break
out.
> But people firing at rescue helicopters and bridge repair crews?
> Amazing. I knew a lot of law enforcement people when I was down
there
> (I administered a criminal justice program, among other things),
and I
> will be interested to hear what they have to say.
>
> Two of the blog reports had completely different views on the
crime
> situation, both first-hand accounts on the same day in the same
areas.
> One reported groups of dangerous looking armed men, which they
avoided,
> another said there were lots of armed men but they all seemed to
be
> "good guys". Both of these reports were within unflooded or
shallowly
> flooded areas. There are lots of other accounts of serious crime -
the
> hotel the mayor was staying in was broken into by armed men, and
he and
> his staff had to run up 28 floors to safety.
>
> I think the racial angle is being exaggerated also. The city is
67%
> black, and some of the worst flooded areas are more like 90%.
Class
> aligns largely with race, and the poorest people, the ones without
> means to get themselves out of the city, are also mostly black.
This is
> the deepest of the Deep South, and I am sure there is some racism
> involved, but it wrongs the people working so bravely to deal with
this
> catastrophe to accuse them of racial bias. Bureaucratic ineptitude
is a
> more telling accusation.
>
> Amazingly, there was a full-scale rehearsal for this disaster just
two
> years ago. Government agencies modeled a category three hurricane
> (Hurricane Pam) and postulated levee failures and the evacuation
of a
> million people. Eerily close to what actually happened. Yet the
> response when it did happen was uncoordinated and slow. I would
> personally like to see every political appointee in FEMA and maybe
> other key agencies summarily fired.
>
> So for now I am reading the blogs and the survivor databases and
> sending out e-mails that keep bouncing back. There is still a
chance I
> might drive down to Louisiana (a mere 4600 miles/7400 km round
trip) to
> help out a friend or two, maybe even move them west. Out here
where all
> we have to worry about is wildfires, landslides, and earthquakes.
>
> Thought some of you might be interested.
> Don
>
[snip for space]