Hortense Davis is waiting at the Houston Greyhound station for a bus that may not be coming.

The 73-year-old woman called the Red Cross today to find out what she should do about the storm. She said she was told to go to the bus station and tell them she had no money and needs to get out of the city.

“But when I got here, they said they couldn’t help me,” she said. “So now I’m just sitting here.”

Davis is trying to evacuate to Lufkin because she is scared hurricane Rita is going to causing major flooding in Houston.

“I’m stuck here,” she said. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

And yet, people are still busy arguing about the buses that didn’t show up in New Orleans instead of sending hundreds of buses RIGHT NOW to Houston, where God knows how many Hortense Davis’ are without vehicles and without any way to get out of town.

[snip] Where are the buses? Where’s Michael Chertoff, and where’s R. David Paulison? Most important, where’s Bush? Rita is about 39 hours from land. Somebody needs to get their asses moving. And focus.

I have to have a take-back, Matt. The worst scenario has come to pass. One of the lakeview levees was breached yesterday and the water from the lake is filling up New Orleans. It is absolutely devastating. The staff of the Times-Picayune has evacuated because it is too dangerous to stay. Many of the highways in and out of the city are flooded, complicating evacuation efforts even more. There are thousands of lives at risk. I fear we will have a heartbreaking loss of life in the city, and scores of homeless New Orleanians for months to come. Over one millions refugees…

Grandfather stayed at 6000 Bellaire Drive (right by vets) and he said this morning that the first floor of his house is under water. He still refuses to evac though. My friend’s parents were rescued from roof of lakeview 1 story home on chappelle and canal. Lakeview is destroyed and water flowing like a river down canal to the quarter.

The biggest threat to life in New Orleans is poverty. That is why so many are unable to evacuate, regardless of what Senator Landrieu had to say this morning. She talked about people being stubborn and not heeding warning, and no doubt this is true for some. But for most in the city who stay, it has nothing to do with stubborness and everything to do with resources. How the hell do you get out of town when you have no vehicle and no money, and where are you going to go? Where are you going to stay? Not everyone has credit cards, let alone spare cash to pay for hotel rooms. The entire evacuation system is designed for people with resources. Unfortunately, New Orleans is a city with a large percentage of its population living below the poverty line. Out of less than 500,000 residents, 100,000 don’t have vehicles or the resources to get out.

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.

[snip]

The damage to the 17th Street Canal and its levee means that the water from Lake Pontchartrain is now free to flow down to inundate hundreds of thousands of homes and other buildings here.

Once it flows in, the water will not drain from New Orleans because of the very levees that protect the city and that largely held during the hurricane. Those levees, built to keep water out, are now keeping the water in, and reports from across the city indicate that water levels are rising.

At the Superdome, designated by Mayor Ray Nagin as one of 10 refuges of last resort for people who were unable to evacuate, National Guard troops allowed dozens of refugees to sleep on the walkway surrounding the huge building as conditions inside deteriorated, but authorities refused to let them leave.

As many as 10,000 people took shelter in the Superdome starting Sunday when Nagin ordered the mandatory evacuation of the city. As the hurricane struck Monday morning, the high winds tore off much of the outer skin covering the Superdome’s 9.7-acre roof and punched two holes clear through it, allowing rainwater to leak in.

By Tuesday, bathrooms were filthy, trash barrels were overflowing and stadium aisles and steps were slick with humidity because of the lack of air conditioning since the power failed during Katrina’s onslaught. Under those conditions, some of the refugees were allowed to take their bedding out onto the concourse to cool off and breathe some fresh air.

Thousands are still stranded in Jefferson Parish. The waters are rising in New Orleans, in the CBD. They don’t know how bad the breech is in the lake, the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. I’m listening to the news and they are talking about they are making plans to get people out of the Superdome because of the rising waters. Anyone who is still in the city they are urging to get out. The Huey P. Long bridge is the one that is safe. Gretna is reporting flooding and people who are trapped can’t be reached in Gretna. The Governor is saying the devastation is greater than their worst fears. Now they are saying in the Lower 9th, already devastated, water is coming in fast. Failed pumps and levees are sending water through the streets in New Orleans. The downtown streets are filled with water. Canal Street is a canal. Water is lapping at the French Quarter.

“The water is not just trouble, it is toxic.”

Shepard Smith on Fox News, who yesterday was overly optimistic from his reports in the French Quarter, appears to be the first on the news networks to actually get it:

IT’S OVER FOR NEW ORLEANS. Please donate.

Smith said martial law has been declared, and all journalists have been ordered out of the city. The situation is getting exponentially worse, there are no resources, it is only going to become more and more “impossible to sustain life” in New Orleans. There are people dying there right now, trapped by the rising floodwaters — up to approximately 87,000 people, according to the mayor’s own (obviously rough) estimate. The worst-case scenario is unfolding, and New Orleans will be uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.

UPDATE: As posted in comments, WWLTV is reporting that Jefferson Parish and Plaquemines Parish are under martial law and the floodwaters are expected to rise to lake level.

UPDATE 2: The mayor has now ordered an emergency evacuation of the entire city. Important to note: Mayor Nagin estimated that about 80% of the city’s 485,000 people evacuated before the storm. That has to be a very rough estimate and HOPEFULLY VERY LOW. If about 20% of the residents are still in the city, that’s approximately 97,000 people. Only 9,000 or so are at the Superdome, and only several hundred have been rescued from their homes. That leaves about 87,000+ trapped in homes rapidly flooding with toxic water, with no food or water or way to get out.

UPDATE 3: Bush is finally canceling his vacation and speeches in front of hand-picked audiences and returning to Washington as the enormity of this disaster becomes clear. Somebody apparently told him it’s time to look like he’s in charge again.

UPDATE 4: Conditions at the Superdome are drastically deteriorating. Local reporter on scene tells CNN a man intentionally jumped to his death from the second level balcony in the dome. Water is rising around the dome, as victims with serious injuries are brought to the dome where they could soon be trapped.

UPDATE 5: There are numerous reports of rampant “looting” in the city, but given the extreme life-or-death nature of these conditions, the vast majority of the thousands still in New Orleans are certainly just desperately grabbing any food, water and supplies they can get to stay alive.

UPDATE 6: Jeanne Meserve on CNN reports it is now estimated 15,000-20,000 people are at the Superdome. Rescuers are bringing victims to the dome, which is still above but surrounded by rising water. Hopefully the mayor was way off on his guess that nearly 97,000 people were in New Orleans when the storm hit yesterday.

2:01 P.M. - Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard says there is no plumbing and the sanitary situation is getting nasty. He told WAFB-TV that he is carrying around a bag for his own human waste.

2:00 P.M. - Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi says “this is going to be the most expensive natural disaster that’s hit the United States in history.”

2302. Park Plaza - Help Needed
by JenNZach, 8/30/05 15:28 ET
Received a message that there are 500 people stranded in the Park Plaza hotel at 1500 Canal Street. Please send this to someone who can help!

2395. I have news from Lakeview
by jimboIII, 8/30/05 15:58 ET
Just talked to a friend of mine at West End Blvd and Harrison Avenue. 10 foot of water in street, 7 foot at doorsteps. He is in a canoe trying to make it to his home on Lakefront. Many boats in area performing rescues.

2396. 4002 Dale St & Chef Menteur (Entire family in New Orleans)
by mzdiva2u, 8/30/05 15:58 ET
Hello, I am very worried about my mother who was in her home during the hurricane. She has a neighbor who is unable to work and I am very concerned. If anyone can provide any information I would be greatly appreciative. I am aware that this location was one of the heaviest hit…but many residents have been rescued??? Any info..Please HELP…My entire family is in NEw Orleans!!!

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.

3:59 P.M. - WWL-TV reporter Jonathan Betz reports widespread looting and WWL-TV cameras showed people walking out of Canal Street stores with racks of clothes and electronics. Some looters concentrated on basics and supplies, while others made no secret of their desire to get what they could.

3:53 P.M. - N.O. Mayor Nagin: Priorities - 1. Rescuing people. 2. Fixing levee breaks. 3. Taking care of refugees in Superdome and hospitals.

3:43 P.M. - Senator Vitter: New Orleans will “absolutely” be rebuilt.

3:25 P.M. - With conditions in the hurricane-ravaged city of New Orleans rapidly deteriorating, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday that people now huddled in the Superdome and other rescue centers need to be evacuated.

“The situation is untenable,” Blanco said during a news conference. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

9:17 P.M. - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says hundreds, if not thousands, of people may still be stuck on roofs and in attics, and so rescue boats were bypassing the dead.

PLEASE HELP HERE IF YOU CAN

There are well over a 1200 people still in the Tenet Memorial Hospital on Napoleon in New Orleans. Predictions are that flood waters will continue to rise to another 9 feet tonight. Latest info is that they have started helicoptering out people, but verY small numbers, less than 100 since 1 pm. Giving you this update because we may have no electricity before long. Our phone numbers are 504.897.4531 and 504.897.4530, we cannot call out. Feel free to call us or give numbers to media to call us. They are estimating that it may take several days to evacuate these people - water electricity food security all will be gone by then.

Please help by notifying the press and the government. People are hoping that friends around the country can help out. Thanks for giving people hope.

Peace, Bill Quigley

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Children’s Hospital under seige
Tuesday, 11:45 p.m.

Late Tuesday, Gov. Blanco spokeswoman Denise Bottcher described a disturbing scene unfolding in uptown New Orleans, where looters were trying to break into Children’s Hospital.

Bottcher said the director of the hospital fears for the safety of the staff and the 100 kids inside the hospital. The director said the hospital is locked, but that the looters were trying to break in and had gathered outside the facility.

The director has sought help from the police, but, due to rising flood waters, police have not been able to respond.

Bottcher said Blanco has been told of the situation and has informed the National Guard. However, Bottcher said, the National Guard has also been unable to respond.

Tuesday We decided to check out of our hotel in Wilmar, AR and go to an old friend’s house in Dallas. We are officially refugees. We don’t know if we have a house. We don’t have any clothes. We don’t have anything. We are sleeping tonight on a blow up mattress in my friend’s office / music room.

We don’t know when we will be able to go back home. We don’t know if we have a home.

I will keep you posted.

Katrina has spared New Orleans a direct hit. Although the damage will be incredible, it could have been much, much worse. At 10am CDT the eyewall of Hurricane Katrina moved ashore along the Louisiana-Mississippi border between New Orleans and Gulfport, almost the exact spot Hurricane Camille devastated in 1969. The worst of Katrina is now being experienced everywhere along the coast. The National Weather Service is reporting that the levees in Orleans and St Bernard parishes have been overtopped by the storm surge, and there are reports of life-threatening flooding, roof damage, and building collapses in the city. However, the storm’s passage to the east of the city means that New Orleans has escaped the catastrophic blow a direct hit would have delivered, and heavy loss of life is not expected in New Orleans.

CNN is definitely the channel to be watching. At least being in Atlanta, most of their people at least know the geography. According to MSNBC, Baton Rouge is in Alabama, and according to FOX, Biloxi is in Louisiana.

This image of Katrina, now rated the fourth-strongest hurricane of all time, and the biggest to approach Louisiana in two centuries, is straight out of The Day After Tomorrow.

 

When Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans on Monday, it could turn one of America’s most charming cities into a vast cesspool tainted with toxic chemicals, human waste and even coffins released by floodwaters from the city’s legendary cemeteries.

Experts have warned for years that the levees and pumps that usually keep New Orleans dry have no chance against a direct hit by a Category 5 storm.

Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks…perhaps longer. At least one half of well constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. All gabled roofs will fail…leaving those homes severely damaged or destroyed.

The majority of industrial buildings will become non functional. Partial to complete wall and roof failure is expected. All wood framed low rising apartment buildings will be destroyed. Concrete block low rise apartments will sustain major damage…including some wall and roof failure.

High rise office and apartment buildings will sway dangerously…a few to the point of total collapse. All windows will blow out.

While damaging winds are a concern with any hurricane, New Orleanians know the biggest threat to their city is water.

“We actually live in a bowl. We live underwater,” said Frank Hijuelos, director of New Orleans Office of Emergency Preparedness.

The city lies, on average, 6 feet below sea level. It’s bordered by the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain on two sides. Those bodies of water ultimately feed into the Gulf of Mexico, which lies less than 100 miles from New Orleans. Besides being surrounded by water, the city is also marbled with canals and bayous that are essential to the city’s daily functions.

Many of Louisiana’s national guard forces are currently deployed to Iraq, but the general in charge of the Louisiana troops “has 1,500 troops ready to be deployed, with another couple of thousand that they can tap into pretty quickly,” Mr. Nagin said in the CNN interview.