Best wishes & luck to any New Orleans members... - Page 2

delsoljb32 · #9 August 31st, 2005, 11:36 AM

yeah, its pretty bad. I went through Ivan, but we never had anything like this... my heart aches for them. I know what its like to suffer like this, though our suffering ended in a matter of weeks and months-this will take years and generations to overcome...

Mdnky, I just noticed your "Location", are you ok there? Any problems? IMO, there is going to be a mass exodus of that area of the country, so be prepared for a population explosion in Baton Rouge as well as north and east of nawlins/biloxi!

**mdnky** · #10 August 31st, 2005, 06:02 PM

We made it out with pretty minor damage all things considered. A lot of trees down, power outages, etc. Nothing really too bad. The wind gave it it's best, but even then I doubt we saw anything over 80 to 100 mph. Probably more like 50 to 60 mph. The apartment complex I live in lost power around 8am that morning and it was out until around 6pm for everyone but the back 4 buildings (which I live in, of course). We didn't get ours back on until 8 or so last night. I lost a good deal of food...had just stocked up the fridge/freezer, but other than that everything's fine.

LSU cancelled classes until Sept 6th...they're using the campus as an Emergency Medical Facility for the New Orleans and other evacuees. I've seen ambulances from as far away as Houston, TX and Phoenix, AZ so far.

Satcomer · #11 August 31st, 2005, 08:15 PM

I urge anyone living in New Orleans NOT consider moving back into the city unless some Dutch style multiple levees are installed.

fuzz · #12 September 1st, 2005, 12:31 AM

my heart and prayers go out to those affected by the hurricane. i've been glued to the TV and news websites. It's just really awful there. They've evacuate the remaining 50,000-100,000 people in NO. Then, they've got to plug the breached levees. Then they got to get power to the pumps, and then they can pump the water out. I noticed a lot of Louisiana cars in Houston since Monday. I hope they get everyone evacuated as safely and quickly as possible.

Satcomer · #13 September 1st, 2005, 02:57 PM

I noticed something. It seems the best and worst are coming out in the affected areas. I feel sad as human being.

lilbandit · #14 September 1st, 2005, 04:29 PM

What is being done to help those stuck in the city? All we get in Ireland are horrific pictures of people stranded, hungry, thirsty and distressed in and around the superdome. Why isn't some of the massive US military airlift capacity being used? I remember reading that emergency supplies were being dropped after the Asian tsunami within 3-4 days.

baldprof · #15 September 4th, 2005, 10:10 AM

I have just spoken with my sister who's home is west of New Orleans proper in River Ridge. Her home was not in the area which flooded. That appears to be totally confined to the city of New Orleans itself. They got no water in their home, but there is extensive tree damage.
The local police there continued to function and there was no civil dosorder.

My brother-in-law practices at the Oschner clinic. They did not flood, and were able to run on auxilary power. Full electrical power has been restored to the hospitals.

The main loss of life will turn out to be in Challmette. The people there ignored the orders to evacuate.

The New Orleans city schools, and the University of New Orleans have cancelled the school year basically. UNO was underwater.

My sister will be having a nice long visit with mom and dad in Lake Charles. Can you say "at each other's throats"?

She and I have a bet as to which stores will reopen first. My money is on Walmart.

brianleahy · #16 September 4th, 2005, 12:02 PM

Quote:

What is being done to help those stuck in the city?

A lot of people are being lifted from the roofs of buildings by Coast Guard helicopters, using a rescue basket on the end of a winch. I've seen many vid clips of Coast Guardsmen securing people into the baskets, and a few of Guardsmen having to actually chop through roofs with a hand axe to free people trapped in their attics.

This is a very slow process; the basket can only carry one person at a time, and the choppers can only fly for a few hours without refueling.

Others are being retrieved by police traveling through the flooded areas in boats.

The National Guard - serious military aid - did not arrive in any numbers until Saturday 9/3, and there is a lot of puzzlement as to why it took so long.

EDIT: Just to continue; the National Guard brought real relief, with tons of emergency food and supplies, and fleets of busses, helicopters and other vehicles to take people out of the city from the Superdome and Convention Center. Evacuations of those areas are now considered largely complete.