Rowhouse Logic - Breathtaking Inanity

I put a short update at the bottom of the post I have dealing with Katrina, but since the post is long and dull I wanted to put an update up top as well. Sadly, many of us were too quick to assume that New Orleans had avoided the toxic gumbo scenario. From the Washington Post:

The sense of relief that residents felt Monday morning when the city was not immediately inundated by a storm surge overflowing its protective levees was replaced late Monday night and Tuesday morning with dread because of a levee that was damaged by the hurricane.

Water flowing from the damaged levee near Lake Pontchartrain could have equally catastrophic effects, only unfolding more slowly.

I don’t have time today to get into this any further, though I’d like to. Matt has a good round-up if you’re interested. It’s probably not as over the top as it seems to say that we may be losing a city.

Update - 4:49 It’s almost too hard to think about what’s happening. From Kate:

The water continues to rise as thousands more come to the Superdome, where there is no fresh water and a collapsed sanitation system. Hundreds of evacuees at the Superdome are in need of urgent medical care. According to a nurse who is at the Superdome and managed to get through a call to MSNBC, they are working on evacuation methods to get the most sick to Baton Rouge. Some are diabetics and have run out of insulin. Some have come to the dome with injuries they received during the storm. Meanwhile, Tulane hospital is working out an evacuation plan for its over 1,000 patients because water is rising all around the building (over six feet so far). The threat of disease is acute and real throughout the city, as the flood water grows more and more polluted with sewer and chemical runoff, not to mention the bodies of dead animals and, most horrific, deceased New Orleanians. I fear that since there is little commuication within the city, many residents don’t know the threat they are facing and are continuing to walk through the water, oblivious to the pressing need for them to take higher ground and get out of town.

There is little news coming out of the city because everyone is being asked to evacuate, including journalists. WWL is broadcasting on all bands of FM now according to Fox News (which, surprisingly, is the only cable station talking about the true devastation of this). The mayor is sending messages to the press who then try to get the word out to residents. There are many residents who no doubt have no idea what is happening around them, because they do not have electricity and no battery-operated radios. They only know what they can see around them. Looting is taking place, which is probably good. If residents can get food and drink to sustain them for a while, that is better than going without.

This is a disaster of epic proportions.

According to this article, the Superdome, and indeed the entire city, needs to be evacuated right now. One can only imagine how this will happen and how many might die. Gov. Kathleen Blanco says “The situation is untenable,�

I don’t like to ask for donations on this ste, but if there was ever a reason to break with tradition this is it. Here’s a link to the American Red Cross donation form. Here’s a link with several organizations to choose from. Do what you can.

No more from me for a while. I’m not sure I’d even know what to say anyway.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 30th, 2005 at 3:07 pm and is filed under General, Katrina. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.