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[donkeybeatz]

As most of you know, there's a hurricane coming our way. It's a strong category 5 hurricane. The max I've seen with this storm was 190mph. It might have went down but it's still a cat 5.
I'm in Houston right now.

New Orleans is totally fucked. We're already below sea level and the landscape is like a bowl.

I hope we have a home to go home to...

Those jacked in the Matrix, do the rang-rang dance for me haha.

[Henge]

be safe man, good luck weathering the storm

batten down the hatches!

[Bryn]

[Dive]

Yea I been monitoring this on the news all day, they are using the Superdome as a refuge. Glad to hear you are away from the danger.

[Wiryu]

Glad to hear you're in a safe place. Good luck to you donkey.

[Ellianna]

damn, i can honestly say i know what you're going through since i'm in fl. Katrina was the cause of 9 deaths in fl when it came through as a catagory 1, i can only imagine the dmg they're gonna have in in Louisiana. Hope you guys are safe!

[DarkEpyon]

Take care and be safe my friend. Like Dive, I too have been watching this thing. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, in addition to everyone else in the same situation.

[unitself]

This hurricane sounds like a bad one. As of 8am (cst) this morning, things were not looking so well for the Superdome. I hope you are not one of those people held up in there, but better in there than waiting it out in your house. Living in Texas, I have been thru several hurricaine and even the small ones are really powerful and quite scary.

Be safe, my friend.

[Riel]

They downgraded it to a 4 this morning,but still it might hit pretty hard....hope everything turns ok DJ.

[DarkEpyon]

At the moment, it's a cat2.

[HC82]

Hopefully everything turns out ok for you, man. It's good to see that you're in a sheltered location.

[DivA]

[donkeybeatz]

I'm in Baton Rouge at this time. They're not letting us into the city till next Monday. I personally have no idea what damage was done in our neck of the woods. I only seen some videos from the city. Seems to be pretty bad judging what was said on the radio on the ride to Baton Rouge from Houston.

[DarkEpyon]

Hopefully your place didn't sustain TOO much damage. Just be prepared to clean up after that thing for a while.

[Dive]

Oh man New Orleans is pretty messed up. I wish you and your family the best.

Let me know if you need anything.

edit: Here is a whole bunch of information I gleaned from another site. Hopefully this will help out some.

http://flhurricane.com/
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Louisiana

According to officials nearly one million people were temporarily without electricity in Louisiana for several hours. Currently, 800,000 are without electricity. Numerous roadways are flooded or damaged and many evacuations are being conducted by boat and helicopter.

The Sheriff of Jefferson Parish reported through WDSU that he expects his district to remain uninhabitable for at least the coming week and that residents should not return to the area. Incidents of looting have been reported throughout affected areas of Louisiana, most notably in New Orleans. Lousiana governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco has ordered all roadways into the state closed, as reported by WDSU TV.

Currently some 7,500 National Guardsmen are en route to New Orleans as part of the disaster relief effort. The United States Navy has also annouced that four amphibious ships will be dispatched from Norfolk, Virginia sometime in the next few days to assist with the relief efforts.
[edit]

New Orleans

Main article: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans

Eighty percent of New Orleans is now flooded, with some parts of the city under 20 feet of water. Two levees were breached, including the 17th Street Canal levee. In an earlier report, three people died of dehydration during the evacuation phase and another two died at the Superdome. [11]. There has been no other update of casualties since. Many refugees are trapped in flooded houses and rooftops waiting to be rescued. On August 30, Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco ordered the complete evacuation of the city of New Orleans, including the thousands of people seeking shelter in the Superdome. [12] Shortly after 8:00PM CDT, New Orleans Mayor C Ray Nagin confirmed on WWL-TV that pumping station 6 at the 17th St. Canal Levee, which had been partially offsetting the levee breach at that location, had indeed failed. He suggested that people take refuge in a second story and discouraged more people from going to the Superdome.
[edit]

Jefferson Parish

As of 9:35 a.m. on August 30, residents of Jefferson Parish who have ID proving they live in the parish will be allowed to return to their homes to retrieve essentials in about a week, but will then be required to leave the parish for another month. The failed attempt to repair the 17th street Canal levee will likely cause additional flooding in the parish.
[edit]

Terrebonne Parish

In Terrebonne Parish, signs, trees, roofs and utility poles suffered the brunt of Hurricane Katrina's fury when the storm roared across Terrebonne and Lafourche [13].
[edit]

Plaquemines Parish

On 29 August, the President of Plaquemines Parish Benny Rousselle issued the following statement: "Do not return to the parish until further notice. There are no public services available and all roads are closed and impassable at this time. Parish President Benny Rousselle has requested that only employees in Drainage, Heavy Equipment, Public Right-of-Way Maintenance and Solid Waste Departments return to the parish if possible" [14].

As of 9:35 a.m. on August 30, Plaquemines Parish is under martial law [15].

Reports from various sources confirm that the southern part of this parish has been "reclaimed" by the Mississippi River.
[edit]

St. Bernard Parish

At 3PM, August 29, in St. Bernard Parish, approximately 150 people were sighted on rooftops in areas that were under approximately 8-10 feet (perhaps more) of water. Among those on the roofs was a WDSU reporter and St. Bernard resident on a Government Complex rooftop. Search and rescue teams are being dispensed to these areas. Presently no deaths have been reported [16].
[edit]

Mississippi

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency officials have also recorded deaths in Hinds, Warren, and Leake counties. About 800,000 people are suffering power outages in Mississippi according to the Clarion Ledger. This is almost a third of the population. Rescuers are now reaching and saving residents from rooftops [17].
[edit]

Hancock County

Limited information is coming out of Hancock County. Sporadic reports from citizen journalists are posted at WLOX-TV [18].

The Clarion-Ledger reports the bridge between Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian is out. The roads in Pass Christian are filled with rubble. Casinos were ripped from their moorings and pushed inalnd. Destruction was heavy to residences and businesses. Some looting reported. [19].
[edit]

Harrison County

Harrison County, Mississippi was hit particularly hard by the hurricane and the storm surge. Its two coastal cities, Biloxi and Gulfport suffered severe damages and many casualties were reported.

In the city of Biloxi, Mississippi widespread damage was reported as several of the city's attractions were destroyed. Various restaurants have been destroyed in addition to news that several casino barges had been pulled out of the water and onto land [20]. In addition, most of the currently reported deaths (as of 6am CDT, the total death toll is 55) occurred in Biloxi. Residents that survived Hurricane Camille state that Katrina was "much worse," with storm surge reportedly reaching further inland than the previous catastrophic storm.

Four people are confirmed dead due to fallen trees. Jim Pollard, spokesman for the Harrison County emergency operations center, said there were 54 deaths in Harrison County, Mississippi, Thirty of those confirmed deaths in Harrison County were at the St. Charles apartment complex, near the beach in casino resort town of Biloxi, said Kelly Jakubic with the county's Emergency Operations Center [21] [22]. The apartment complex was reported, by local news sources, to have collapsed with dozens of residents inside. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said that there were reports of 50 to 80 fatalities in Harrison County. [23] A spokeman for the Biloxi city, Vincent Creel, said that hundreds may have been killed when a 30-foot (9 metre) storm surge came ashore. [24]

Initial assessments at Keesler Air Force Base, located in Biloxi, indicate extensive damage, however there do not appear to be any fatalities of base personnel and their dependents who rode out the storm in shelters on base. As well, the pet shelter remained in good shape.

Interstate 10 between Gulfport and Biloxi is impassible due to debris in the vicinity of Biloxi River.

As of 5 PM 8/30, the following roads are closed until crews can clean the area [25]:

* Interstate 10 and Highway 90 from the Lousiana state border to the Alabama state border;
* Highway 49 from Jackson to Gulfport, Mississippi;
* Interstate 59 from Meridian to Picayune;
* Highway 63 from Lucedale to Moss Point;
* Highway 607;
* Highway 84 from Collins to Alabama;
* Highway 98 from Mobile to Hattiesburg.

Helicopter video from WBLT http://www.wlbt.com/ confirms the Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridge totally gone.

Mississippi newspapers are reporting that Beauvoir, the last home and Presidential Library of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, was totally destroyed. In addition to the home, the site also housed the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and was a Biloxi tourist attraction.

Authorities in Gulfport, Mississippi told CNN that 10 feet of water cover downtown streets [26]. An Armed Forces Retirement Facility within two blocks of the coastline was flooded on Monday, forcing patients, staff, and equipment to the upper floors. Additionally, three fire stations in the city reported various degrees of structural damage.
[edit]

Alabama

In Mobile, Alabama, Mobile Bay spilled into the downtown area to the depth of 2 to 3 feet. A flotel (floating habitat used by oil platform crews) broke loose of its moorings and slammed into the Cochrane Bridge.

Damage is quite heavy in coastal Alabama (similar to Hurricane Ivan in 2004), including significant structural damage. Even in the inland counties, some damage was reported - particularly related to fallen trees. [27]

More than 584,000 people are without power in Alabama.

Tornadoes have been reported near Brewton, Alabama.

Only two deaths have been reported in Alabama so far, both in a traffic accident related to Katrina.
[edit]

Florida
Damage to a mobile home in Davie, Florida following Katrina.
Enlarge
Damage to a mobile home in Davie, Florida following Katrina.

So far, 11 fatalities have been reported in Southern Florida, including three in Broward County, one in Miami-Dade County, and four in Miami [28]. A family of five feared dead was rescued by the United States Coast Guard [29]. Furthermore, more than 1 million customers were left without electricity [30], and damage in Florida was estimated at between $1 and $2 billion. The American Red Cross will be providing substantial support to those affected [31].

In addition, two traffic fatalities related to Katrina have been reported on the Florida Panhandle in Walton County. [32]
[edit]

Georgia

Western Georgia has been hit with bands of Hurricane Katrina resulting in heavy rains, damaging winds and several reports of tornadoes in Polk County, Heard County, and Carroll County. In Polk County, 3 homes were reported damaged by a tornado. At around 5 p.m. EDT, a fatal tornado in Carroll County resulted in the death of one person in a vehicle collision and caused damage to as many as 30 homes [33].

Severe weather has also been reported in northeastern Georgia, including tornadoes in White County and Hall County. In White County, a tornado struck the tourist town of Helen, ripping the top floor from an Econolodge hotel and damaging businesses at a nearby outlet mall. Thirty people were displaced by the storm, but no injuries were reported. In Hall County, several homes were reported damaged by a possible tornado in Lula [34].

According to WCTV in Tallahassee, a tornado in a feeder band moved through Decatur County to the west of Bainbridge in southwestern Georgia during the evening of 29 August 2005.

As of 4:00 p.m. EDT on August 30, 2005, tornado watches were still in effect through most of Georgia, as well as much of Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia.
[edit]

Tennessee

Currently, at least 80,000 customers are without power in the Memphis and Nashville areas [35].

Some damage has been reported, primarily due to fallen trees. However, there have been no deaths or injuries reported in Tennessee as a result of Katrina.
[edit]

Kentucky

Significant flooding has been reported in the Hopkinsville area. Many homes have been flooded and in addition, part of Christian County High School, located just outside Hopkinsville, collapsed.

One person was killed in flood waters.

The Governor of Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher has declared Christian, Todd and Trigg counties disaster areas due to flooding. [36]
[edit]

West Virginia

Significant flooding has been reported in several communities, including Sissonville, forcing some local evacuations. [37]
[edit]

Potential effects further north

Despite being downgraded to a tropical depression, isolated tropical storm force wind gusts (and possibly sustained winds once extratropical) will continue much farther inland, likely through the Ohio Valley and the eastern Great Lakes region [38], even once Katrina becomes extratropical. Tornadoes remain a possibility along the entire track, primarily on the east and southeast sides of the storm center.

In addition, heavy rainfall (3 to 8 inches/75-200mm with local amounts exceeding 10 inches/250mm) could combine with locally saturated ground from summer storms to cause potentially severe to locally catastrophic flooding in the Ohio Valley region by early Wednesday, the eastern Great Lakes region by late Wednesday and eventually even parts of Quebec and western New England by Thursday. Some areas in those regions are under moderate drought conditions [39] and could use the extra rain; however, severe flooding is still possible depending on the rainfall amounts. One potential problem spot is Toronto, Ontario which had a major flooding event on August 19 which caused $100 million in damage, and Katrina could cause further problems [40]. In addition, along the western end of the Appalachians, mudslides are also possible due to the mountainous terrain.

[DarkEpyon]

For a bit of humor, I give you Foamy the Squirrel.

The cartoon squirrel hit the proverbial nail on the head.

Seriously though, if you can, hop on over to the American Red Cross website and make a donation. I just did that myself. If it helps maybe feed a family of 3, I'll be happy.

[donkeybeatz]

[AC9breaker]

I'm sorry to hear that man. I'm with Dive, if there's anything I can do for you don't hesitate to ask.

[DivA]

[Crushinator]

Damn, donk. I'm sorry to hear your area got hit

I hope all your posessions aren't damaged badly X(

[ArekuReiesu]

Ditto with Dive and Breaker.

Keep strong bro.

[Dive]

[Vitamin D]

Damn man... been watching the news and it sounds horrible. Sorry that this happend. I hope things clear up soon for you.

[Alisha]

man i had no idea how bad this was till i heard they are evacuating people from sky dome to the astro dome and i thought it was bad that my basement god flooded from the remenants of the hurricane that came through ohio i hope things arent to bad for you DJ

[DivA]

[donkeybeatz]

Oh man this whole event was an emotional rollercoaster.
There were rumors that something happened to my uncle and his family right after we came into town to get out parents out. From what we saw on the news, the city wasn't exactly safe at the time. We had guns in each car just in case (we took 2 cars; mine and my bro's girlfriend's car).

Anyway, that rumor was squashed after my uncle from California got into contact with him. My WHOLE family from both sides knew about it within like 15 minutes. It was crazy. We couldn't find the source of the rumor. Personally, I heard from my little sister who heard from her friend. So rest assured, my uncle is ok and well.

There was a friend of mine who we couldn't get into contact with. She was one of the few that stayed back in town during the storm. I honestly prayed and hoped all week. I totally broke down one night. A week goes by and still can't get into contact because the phone lines are screwed up. Text messenging works but she was the only one who didn't respond.
I was talking to a friend today online and she tells me that a friend just received an email from her and that she's in Houston. A few seconds later, I get a phone call from her! Can you believe it? A phone call! So I talk to her and see how she's doing. She's ok so that's a relief. She's been stuck in the Convention Center for a couple of days. If you guys haven't been watching the news, the conditions were just as bad as it was in the Superdome. I'm glad she made it out of there.

So all of my friends are accounted for. Now I can sleep a little better.
New Orleans on the other hand... I hope it'll turn out OK. I honestly want to go back to town.
Where else can you party even after the sun comes up.

[Henge]

Good to hear your whole crew is safe and accounted for hopefully things will return to somewhat normal ASAP.

[Bryn]

I can't even imagine how stressful and nerve-racking this ordeal has been. I'm glad to hear that you've got in touch with everyone and they are safe.

[Ellianna]

my heart and prayers go out to you all donkey...i'm sitting here watching oprah's special where she's gone into the super dome and i tell ya what, the news didnt do justice to the devistation that i saw, the moment she walked in the door she said she was walking through urine and fecies and the stentch almost made her sick, ...bodies on the floor..gangs took over the super dome and tried to take over they had a surgeon walking through the air port, there really was no other way to describe other than it looked like a mash unit. other people are talking about guys that were waiting at the bathrooms and raping girls...
it worries me a lot because after seeing what florida has gone through in some of the harder hit areas and the bullshit they had to put up with with FEMA i can only hope they do more there, fema tried to make people pay back money, others were claiming damages that werent caused by the hurricanes and got money from it...damage here was no where NEAR and a year later people still havent even gotten just their roofs fixed ..people still live in fema trailors with no homes and fema wants the trailors back...it really pisses me off the way people get treated i only hope they dont pull this shit out there. after several days the cops that were working are now refusing to work, and at least one has commited suicide. i'm really disgusted ...so much more could and should be being done for these people .

[Dive]

[AC9breaker]

Its so frustarting to see all the political antics that go on as well. I'm glad to hear you and all your loved ones are okay. My thoughts and prayers go out to you guys.

[DivA]

i received this via e-mail this morning..
figured it would be something of relevance for ~athq.. to read..

[AC9breaker]

I dunno, but I felt a hint of conservative right wing inspired things from that e-mail.
Actually, that e-mail kinda bothers me. The way I understood it, that e-mail is saying that becuase of social stratification, becuase you are a minority, becuase you come from an impoverished area, because your poor, becuase of so many factors that can not be controlled by one single person its your fault that all the bad things that have occured in the wake of hurricane Katrina have happened.

I'm sorry but I can't seem to find a way to say this in a much more eloquent manner. I think thats a bunch of bullshit. It seems pretty obvious that the author of the e-mail hasn't lived in poverty stricken area so therefore I don't think he can understand the plight of the people who come from the ghetto and projects. The racism and Jim Crow laws of the past have been replaced by prejudice and social pitfalls. He goes to say to say that becuase these people have lived off of welfare that they don't understand the value of ownership. More bullshit. He is already assuming that everyone who came from these projects didn't have jobs and weren't getting paid 6 dollars an hour for some 12 hour a day job in hopes that they would someday be able to move out of the projects or the ghetto. While I do agree with some points from the e-mail though.

It would be wrong to solely blaim the president becuase it is our fault as a society as well. We ourselves let these type of things happen. But since the president is the one who is in a position to change these things we blame him for not doing anything. In fact, If I recall correctly our beloved president was on vacation the day Katrina hit and didn't get "back to work" till 4 days later. Fucking Dick.

The problems of Katrina stem from a much more dynamic reason then becuase "people from the hood have no respect." Katrina was a man made disaster, but not from the people who lived in the projects, but everyone.

[DivA]

[AC9breaker]

Right-wing is a reference to the voting ballot in that you are given two choices, Left or Right, Democrat or Republican. So its mearly a way of describing where people tend to stand on issues.

I think the following link articulates a point I wanted to make in my previous post a pretty insightful read, me thinks. http://www.alternet.org/story/25149/

[Ellianna]

[Henge]

I have alot of mixed feelings on whats happening in New Orleans.

On one hand, i feel FEMA and the Government's response in general could be alot better.Katrina more or less, released the destructive force of a nuclear bomb on the gulf coast, but since this is the "wrath of god" i don't think it has been reacted to in the same fassion.

everyone effected by this is a human being, and an american, and deserve relief, regardless of where they live or how poor they are. I guarantee you katrina heald no prejeduce, neither should any of our fellow americans.

On the other hand...

I am fucking disgusted by the people stealing shit like TV's and VCRs (stealing food and drinks from a destroyed store is different), shooting at those trying to help, raping women, stealing what little those who they can prey on have left just to satisfy their own needs. these people contirubiting to the problems instead of helping, IMO, need a bullet between the eyes, and i applaud anyone who would administer it. i mean, come on, fucking help the dying and injured.put down the guns, knives and TV's, quit attacking WOMEN AND THE ELDERLY and help ANY WAY YOU CAN, the fact that a fellow tribesman and friend had to carry guns just to be safe in his own city, is equally disheartening, this kind of shit is just WRONG. sorry if my words are harsh, this kind of nonsense stirs up very strong feelings.

[tanshin]

This is very interesting. This goes to show that if something devistating happened to the world, and all our comforts of regular lives are taken away, we will all resort back to behaving like the animals that we all really are deep down. As a nihilist, this kind of behavior doesn't surprise me a bit. The less intelligent of our species can't control their primal urges.

I'd like to go down there and take over the city, Kenshiro style. Stupid people.