Hurricane Katrina

FYI - For those who have been at work - the levee gave way in two place in New Orleans today - 80% of the city is underwater and is considered a complete loss. 1 million now homeless - SuperDome needs to be evacuated - it is crumbling. Now that the storm is gone, the situation is actually gettting worse.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Having lived in SW Florida for 9 years and having experienced just a glancing blow from Hurricane Andrew (6 hours of 50 mph winds), having seen the utter destruction in Homestead and Florida City, I know you cannot win when it comes to Mother Nature. Two years later, the scars from Andrew were still deeply visible. It will take a long time for that region to heal. I wish them all the luck.

For those of you who have not experienced a hurricane but may one day, run like hell when you have a chance.

Brian
 
Well now the after effects are hitting here. The stores are running out of food. Gasoline is getting non-existant as more and more evacuees pour in from S La. and Ms. I went a little while ago and the major food store had 3 loaves of bread and 2 gallons of milk. Ice is not to be found and the only remaining plcae with gas has 20-30 minute lines. My church has over 100 people in the gym but at least they have food, water, electricity and toilets.
I am a volunteer search and rescue worker with a body finding bloodhound. I have already been contacted to go to Ms. The water in NO will take much longer to recede. I will be going down Thurs. to Biloxi and Gulfport. I am not sure if I will even take a camera. Tghe last time I was called it reminded me of the time I worked in Guam after the typhoon. Not for the weak stomached.
 
We've got friends living in the Garden District. Luckily they were in New York at the time. One of my favourite places to travel has always been Gulfport-Biloxi. We stay in Bay St. Louis at a casino. Guess we won't be going there this year. Just hope everyone is ok. Sad part is one of my favourite camera shops is in Bay St. Louis also. Bet it's a total loss.
 
I lived Bay St Louis for 3 years and then Gulfport for 4 years. Been trying to contact old friends there but no luck. I see on the news churches that I visited in the past for youth activities and they are totally gone now. I ma very afriad for some of those friends.
 
I personally find watching the news of this story to be devastating. Such a convergence of factors which have combined and resulted in such disaster.

For those so inclined donations can be easily made online to the Red Cross which will help provide much needed immediate assistance to those effected by the storm.

http://www.redcross.org/
 
It was common to call New Orleanians "crazy" for their flippant attitude toward the fact that the city is below sea level, a big hurricane could destroy it, etc etc. I guess it turns out that living in denial was the only sane option. Now that the levee's broken, things have got to be pretty insane down there--like the rug pulled out from under reality. I know the city pretty well and I can't comprehend it-- but folks in Amsterdam probably can relate to it. I'll bet most of them refuse to try.
 
I know our prayers are with them all; this is going to get much worse before it begins to get even a little better. The flooding and resultant problems in New Orleans combined with the storm surge and hurricane devastation of the Gulf Coastal towns is just going to be horrific as it unfolds. This area is going to need a great deal of assistance in dealing with challenges I doubt they could have fully imagined in their disaster planning. It is sad. I hope that Natalia and her family is safe, along with other members.
 
If I can be a little crass and commercial for a moment - I filled both our cars up with gasoline on Sunday when news broke. That was $2.51 per gallon for regular unleaded here in Wilson, NC. This morning it was $3 per gallon. Now it is $4 per gallon. News says $8 per gallon by the weekend. President Bush has authorized release of some strategic oil reserves, but it still has to be refined and distributed. Will be an interesting Labor Day holiday (three day holiday in the US this weekend).

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

PS - I am buying a bicycle tonight after work.
 
More info - the Governor of Texas has agreed to turn the Houston Astrodome and Ford Park into long-term shelters for those who need to be evacuated from the New Orleans Superdome (which is falling down). Preparations are being made to move 25,000 people to Houston, Texas from New Orleans. Governor of Texas says "We're all one big American family right now." You go, Texas!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Bill, you get used to gas prices exceeding $6 per gallon, believe me. Here it is around 6.50 and rising.
 
Byuphoto said:
I am a volunteer search and rescue worker with a body finding bloodhound. I have already been contacted to go to Ms. The water in NO will take much longer to recede. I will be going down Thurs. to Biloxi and Gulfport. I am not sure if I will even take a camera. Tghe last time I was called it reminded me of the time I worked in Guam after the typhoon. Not for the weak stomached.
Click to expand...

Bring the camera. Times like these, it helps to document what it was really like, because we tend to forget.
 
Socke said:
Bill, you get used to gas prices exceeding $6 per gallon, believe me. Here it is around 6.50 and rising.
Click to expand...

Well, sure, gasoline has always been expensive in Europe. But you guys are so small! I can put six or seven of your countries in the back of my SUV and drive around with you. The other day, I found Hungary in my back pocket when I put my clothes away - forgot to take it out when I was done playing with it. So what if gas is $6.50 per gallon in the EU? It takes about 20 minutes to drive across the whole continent anyway.

GRIN!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Good one Bill. the second largest county in our state is larger than the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. San Francisco is 600 miles away, Seattle 500 miles, Portland 400 miles, Salt Lake City 250 miles. People in Europe, and even some people in the Eastern U.S. cannot comprehends the distances we deal with out here. The rising fuel prices add up real quick here.
 
kiev4a said:
Good one Bill. the second largest county in our state is larger than the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. San Francisco is 600 miles away, Seattle 500 miles, Portland 400 miles, Salt Lake City 250 miles. People in Europe, and even some people in the Eastern U.S. cannot comprehends the distances we deal with out here. The rising fuel prices add up real quick here.
Click to expand...

Just before entering the Army, waaaay back in 1960, my mother and I traveled from Missouri to Santa Monica. There was a young French man on the train. He could not believe he had been traveling from New York to by then somewhere in Arizona, four or five days, and still wasn't in California. And that was before the trains made the even more convoluted routes they make now.

The last time I came back from Korea, I needed to travel from norther Virginia to Ft Campbell, KY. If I went by train, it would have required going south, then to Chicago, then to Nashville and on by bus, for about two days of travel. The bus took less than 24 hours with a lot of stops.

It was worse for my wife, who is from Korea. Right after we got married, we went from Ft Knox to Missouri, 12 hours. She didn't even know a car could travel that long at a time. 😉
 
bmattock said:
If I can be a little crass and commercial for a moment - I filled both our cars up with gasoline on Sunday when news broke. That was $2.51 per gallon for regular unleaded here in Wilson, NC. This morning it was $3 per gallon. Now it is $4 per gallon. News says $8 per gallon by the weekend. President Bush has authorized release of some strategic oil reserves, but it still has to be refined and distributed. Will be an interesting Labor Day holiday (three day holiday in the US this weekend).

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

PS - I am buying a bicycle tonight after work.
Click to expand...

The price of gas in the Washington, DC area jumped $0.34 cents ( http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=560611&nid=25 ) in most places just overnight. People are speculating that most stations have had to hire another person just to keep changing the price signs.

After reading your post, Bill, I am sort of afraid of what I may see when I go home tonight. I think I am going to start slugging again.
 
Still nothing from Natalia? Of course, she might not have power, might not even have a computer anymore. Maybe evacuated to someplace and not have internet access. Even if all is relatively well, RFF is probably low on her priorities. Who else is from NO that frequents this site?
 
the price of gas here in WI jumped 40 cents overnight.. I'm hoping the announcement that the government is ready to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves will allay fears of a shortage and the price will drop

and yeah, I hope Natalia is ok.. I bet she and her family took off days beforehand and are safe at relatives or friends'
 
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