Good luck, Louisiana

In case you haven’t heard, Hurricane Katrina made landfall today at 7:15 AM Eastern time. New Orleans — all 1.3 million people — has been ordered to be evacuated.

Apparently, only a little less than 1 million made it out in time, leaving about 300,000 hunkered down in various places in the parish.

Good luck, Louisiana and Mississippi.

In case you haven’t heard, Hurricane Katrina made landfall today at 7:15 AM Eastern time. New Orleans — all 1.3 million people — has been ordered to be evacuated.

Apparently, only a little less than 1 million made it out in time, leaving about 300,000 hunkered down in various places in the parish.

Good luck, Louisiana and Mississippi. You’re gonna need it.

7 thoughts on “Good luck, Louisiana”

  1. 10,000 people at risk

    So 10,000 people who couldn’t evacuate New Orleans in time piled into the Superdome for shelter. Then the Superdome’s roof ripped open. And the worst of the storm hasn’t even hit yet…

    —
    Matthew P. Barnson

    1. Superdome news

      I’ve been watching nola.com for info. This article says the roof rip isn’t too bad. And remember, the people aren’t camping out in the seats… they’re taking shelter in the structure itself. You know, where the snack bars and bathrooms are.

      “The superdome is not in any dangerous situation,” Gov. Kathleen Blanco said.

      1. Yeah, but…

        Yeah, but big chunks of New Orleans and Louisiana are ocean right now. Over a hundred phone calls of people taking shelter on their roofs? Sheesh.

        —
        Matthew P. Barnson

        1. The latest…

          Due to broken levees, pretty near the whole dang town is now under water. The Superdome, its population rising to over 20,000 people, is being evacuated because escape routes are flooding and supplies are growing scarce. It’s bizarre to me how the danger after the hurricane is even worse due to secondary flooding. Major shopping centers, marinas, and homes burning down to the water level because the fire department can’t get to them…

          Gas lines spewing gas. Power lines in the water. People stuck inside of homes, screaming for help as rescuers suspend operations due to massive danger to rescuers in boats due to stuff lurking under the water. People electrocuted to death by power lines in rising water. Thousands of pets drowning and crying out as water continues to rise around them. Apparently, hundreds of bodies floating in the water, being shoved aside as rescuers attempt to reach survivors. Hospitals shut down due to floods threatening generators. Looting, shootings, and carjackings in parts of the city accompany dwindling water and food supplies. Another ten feet of water falling into the city from the broken canal levee.

          It looks like the city will be underwater for several weeks, at least. Much of the damage will be irreperable, though the mayor promises the city will rebuild.

          It appears the human and property loss is staggering. As far as property damage, according to FEMA it’s the worst disaster in U.S. history. It remains to be seen how many people died, but it sounds really bad according to rescue workers.

          Not to mention Mississippi. Biloxi and Gulfport coastlines looks like they’ve been nearly completely levelled by tornados and storm surge. Highway 90’s bridge was blown away. I-10 ripped to pieces. Hundreds of miles of houses peeking above floodwaters.

          The weird thing is, this disaster isn’t actually that much worse than previous disasters. It’s that our population is so much more, that the toll is higher. We have more people living on the coasts, so the cost of this kind of thing is worse. It’s horrible, but I can’t help but think that disasters will only continue to get “worse” as the population of the planet continues to increase exponentially.

          —
          Matthew P. Barnson

  2. They Didn’t Get Any Luck

    It is awful. Those poor people.

    I have a cousin who lives in Mobile and still waiting to hear how they turned out.

      1. I Heard This Morning

        I heard this morning from my father that Mobile is underwater. However, my cousin lives 10 miles north of Mobile, where everything is fine. There’s loss of electricity but given the mammoth damage, I think anyone living near the destruction path can consider electricity loss a minor inconvenience.

        I wasn’t able to get through to contact either. And given that electricity is out, I don’t want to burn someone’s cell phone battery if it’s not an emergency.

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