Let the Howling Begin

The latest numbers on Katrina are grim. More than 2.7 million people are without power. Many may not get power for weeks. Utilities from outside the region are mobilizing to send down reinforcements in manpower, equipment, and materials. Oh, and now they're saying that the damage from Katrina was worse than expected?!

Sorry, but that doesn't compute. I was watching TV like everyone else over the weekend and I heard them specifically say that this could be the last time that we ever see New Orleans as we remember it. It was a category 5 storm when they spoke those words - and the best way to put it is that this was a category 5 tornado some hundred miles wide that would rearrange the landscape so thoroughly that it would appear to be the hand of God itself reached out to show its presence.

Scientists now theorize that a jet of drier air from the West slightly weakened the system to a category 4 storm and shifted it eastward slightly. And the damage was extreme regardless of how we categorize the system.

Major infrastructure throughout the region was badly damaged. Most seriously is the levee system around New Orleans. It was the failure of the levees that has resulted in the flooding that we see there. More than 80% of the city is underwater and the pumps are either inoperative or ineffective to keep up with the rising waters.

Looting has been reported in numerous locations, particularly in New Orleans. Bastards. Who should be shot. On sight. The stuff they're stealing belongs to other people. There is no excuse.

The Pentagon is mobilizing to assist in the recovery and relief efforts. As we saw in the tsunami, the navy is particularly effective at this kind of thing - they can provide potable water, inshore activities via overflights, and coordinate with local authorities to distribute aid.

Elsewhere, we can see the signs of politicizing the hurricane's effects. You've got 'scientists' and politicians claiming that the hurricane is a direct effect or result of global warming. Considering that hurricanes are part of nature, and happen periodically with varying intensities, I'd be interested in knowing how any of these 'scientists' can claim that this storm is the result of global warming - but more to the point - these scientists are claiming that this is the result of man's impact on the environment.

They would particularly like to pin the blame for this on the US, which has thus far refused to join in the Kyoto Accords (principly because it does not address output of third world nations like India and China that happen to be among the fastest growing economies).

And I'd like to remind my readers that there were some environuts who were just as willing to believe that the US was behind the December 2004 South Asian tsunami that killed 270,000.

It appears that it will take more than a week to restart the refineries in the Gulf.

UPDATE:
It now appears the death toll is going to rise significantly as authorities make their way into areas that were cut off by the storm. The toll is now more than 100 in Mississippi alone.

Confederate Yankee had been wondering about all those prisoners. Turns out that they took the opportunity to riot and now are holding hostages at Orleans Prison facility near the Superdome. It's getting real ugly down there.

The blogfather, Glenn Reynolds has a pretty comprehensive list of resources for giving aid and comfort to those who are in the middle of this disaster.

UPDATE II:
And we shouldn't forget that New Orleans isn't the only hard hit city along this devastated coast. Alabama took it on the chin, and they're in real trouble. And one of the things to keep in mind is that many of the rescuers relief efforts have to truck in from unaffected areas, and essentially have to clear debris to get to the hardest hit areas.

Expect to hear more about the military mobilization to assist in this recovery and relief effort. And now they're talking about power taking months to be restored (although with the sheer devastation involved, not many people will have anything to return home to).

UPDATE III:
And speaking to my powers of prediction, Drudge is reporting:

The Pentagon late Tuesday ordered five Navy ships and eight maritime rescue teams to the Gulf Coast to bolster relief operations as worsening conditions overwhelmed the initial response.

The NEW YORK TIMES plans to report later tonight: One Navy amphibious assault ship, the Bataan, with six Sea Stallion and Sea Hawk helicopters that could be used for search and rescue missions.

The ships will carry food, fuel, medical and construction supplies, as well as hovercraft that can be used for evacuation and search-and-rescue missions.

The Navy was also considering sending the hospital ship Comfort.

Developing...

That's going to be the tip of the mobilization.