Katrina Tuesday Roundup

Will New Orleans officials be grilled over their handling of evacuating hospitals before Katrina struck? What steps were or were not taken to move patients out of the danger zone - to higher ground before the mandatory evacuation? Was there a plan in place to evacuate the hospitals at all? Was it used? How effectively were the patients moved?

Apparently, the media is reporting that around 40 patients were found dead at one hospital. That would suggest a couple of things - that an evacuation plan was not followed, though it is just as likely that the plan was flawed and not followed.

Or, some of those patients could have been dead for some time and sat in the morgue until hospital workers moved the deceased patients to higher floors to escape flood waters. Much about that particular story needs to be fleshed out.

Mobile homes are going up in Slidell.

The government is beginning what urban planners are calling the single biggest burst of federal housing development in U.S. history. Last year in Florida, the Federal Emergency Management Agency set a record by installing 15,000 homes in the aftermath of four hurricanes there. In the wake of Katrina, they hope to open 30,000 homes every two weeks, reaching 300,000 within months.

The numbers might drop if the demand does not meet expectations. But more than 140,000 people are now packed into emergency shelters, while hundreds of thousands of others fill hotels, homes of friends or relatives or are temporarily relocated across the United States. The building blitz is intended to bring as many people as possible back to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

"It is like pushing a big rock down a hill," Brad Gair, head of FEMA's Katrina housing task force, said of the project. "It takes a little time to get it moving, but once it gets moving it moves very fast. And that is where we are getting right now."

At four giant staging areas across the region, FEMA is assembling tens of thousands of mobile homes and trailers. In Baton Rouge alone, at a former Defense Department logistics center, thousands of them are already lined up as far as the eye can see.

This is meant to be temporary housing until affected areas are cleared of hazards and people can get back in to see whether their homes can be repaired or rebuilt. Also standing in the way is knowledge that many people were not adequately insured against flood or hurricane damage or their policies were insufficient to cover all the damage sustained. This will definitely affect how quickly some areas will be rebuilt and the nature of the rebuilding.

Also, considering that many of these facilities will be built in hurricane and tornado country (particularly those who were relocated to Texas), one has to wonder whether another hurricane hitting in the region could result in additional loss of life - trailer parks are particuarly susceptible to wind damage. The faster these people find permanent housing, the better.
A strange assortment of relief aid is coming in. That's to be expected via the Kansas wire news story:

Pallets of bottled water were stacked high in the warehouse when a state official called to say there were eight truckloads of water that couldn't find a home. Could Sargent take them?

"We've gotten water, water and more water," she said.

As for used clothes, "If you took everything we got this weekend and put it in New Orleans, it would raise the elevation so it wouldn't flood again," Sargent said. "We don't want any more used clothes. No one does."

Just because Americans are giving enthusiastically doesn't mean they're giving appropriately, or that their largesse is always eagerly received.

Those are lessons Santa Monica, Calif., entrepreneur Tom Browne has come to understand.

Browne wanted to take some donations to Katrina victims. He e-mailed a friend, who e-mailed a friend, who posted a request for donations on the Internet.

What started as a small, private mission became a public event, an avalanche not just of packaged food and water but clothing and camping equipment -- as well as thigh-high gold lame boots, a talking President Bush doll, a Santa suit, Halloween costumes and lots of high-heeled shoes.

"People were cleaning out their garages," said Browne, 49. "At a certain point, I started thinking: 'Enough is enough.' "

I think a lot of people were thinking Mardi Gras.

Is anyone thinking of where all the hurricane debris is going? More here (subscription required).

The mixed news on the Gulf Coast casinos continues. Some casinos may be able to reopen by the end of the year, but others may need more substantial repairs or replacement. Particularly hard hit were the barge casinos - those that were directly on the water. Some were thrown on land by the huge storm surge. Those casinos provide $500,000 in tax revenues on a daily basis. That's a huge hit for states in need of revenues to deal with the widespread destruction and damage to infrastructure and communities.

The barge-based casinos are completely destroyed -- most tossed onto land and some across U.S. 90. The hotels are still standing and are structurally sound.

In fact, emergency personnel brought in to help with the recovery are already being housed at the Imperial Palace hotel, said Rep. Bobby Moak, D-Bogue Chitto, chairman of the House Gaming Committee.

State law allows casino resorts along the Gulf Coast and on the Mississippi River, but the gambling hall must be based over water.

Larry Gregory, executive director of the state gaming commission, said he has talked to officials at all of the casinos and they are "very optimistic and want to come back to Mississippi."

However, there are concerns about investing millions of dollars if they can't be assured that investment will be protected.

"There are some reservations because of the risks that exist with the barges over the water," Gregory said. "They all want to rebuild, but they are mixed because right now because they have to be over water."

This week, Gregory and Gaming Commission Chairman Jerry St. Pe will be meeting with the CEOs of all 13 casinos that were located on the coast.

"We will be addressing their concerns and issues," he said. "We are going to have to get into high gear and all of the people involved in the industry have to come up with a consensus on what is good for the Gulf Coast."

When Katrina hit, the 12 casinos that were operating were creating $500,000 a day of tax revenue. The Hard Rock Casino was scheduled to open three days after the Category 4 hurricane came ashore, causing destruction from New Orleans to Mobile.

In addition to the tax revenue, casinos employ 15,000 people.

It is possible that the hurricane spelled the end of the casino barge - and force changes in state law such that casinos on land may be permitted under certain circumstances. Given the huge economic impact those casinos have, this will probably be addressed quickly so as to let the casino operators know if, where, and how to rebuild.

UPDATE:
NOLA.com has more updates, including that water tankers are queuing up in Baton Rouge for delivery to New Orleans.

Lt. Col. Cliff Couture, who is taking his orders from the state Office of Emergency Preparedness, said he had reached agreements with other parishes, including Jefferson, to fill the trucks but so far has been able to dispatch only a small number, some to St. Bernard Parish for its fire and police and a few to Red Cross sites. “I might only be using 20 trucks right now,” he said.

But with New Orleans officials looking for 10 truckloads of water a day and demand for drinking water expected to increase when residents are able to return to now-flooded neighborhoods, more and more of the trucks will be put into service, Couture said

The fleet of trucks, owned by companies in Florida and Texas, were brought here under contracts with the Federal Emergency Management Administration. A FEMA employee who would not give his name said the trucks would be used to bring bulk water into areas of metro New Orleans.

Potable water is going to be a significant issue for quite some time as reservoirs and groundwater was badly affected by Katrina. Chemical runoff from the flooding puts drinking water at risk throughout the region.

Also, seven pumping stations are now working to drain New Orleans.

Elsewhere, Congress is considering a major legislation to assist in hurricane recovery:

Senate's Finance Committee Monday unveiled the first comprehensive proposal to aid the recovery of individuals and businesses who suffered devastating economic damages from Hurricane Katrina.

The proposals include tax breaks for businesses that hire workers who lost jobs because of the hurricane and penalty-free withdrawals from retirement accounts to help people with their immediate cash-flow problems.

Some of the tax benefits are modeled after relief given to businesses and people who returned or relocated to lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center towers were toppled in the 2001 terrorist attacks.

"With this first initiative from the Finance Committee - and there will be more in other areas where we have jurisdiction - we want the victims through all of the affected areas to know that they can count on us to create a set of measures that will return vitality and vigor to the Gulf region," said the panel's chairman, Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

Meanwhile, two members of the House's Tax Writing Committee, Republican Peter King and Democrat Charles Rangel, both of New York, announced that they are introducing legislation to create what would be the nation’s largest empowerment zone in which businesses would qualify for tax breaks and low interest loans for redevelopment projects in hurricane ravaged communities.

UPDATE:
St. Bernard Parish is still inaccessible by road. The parish has nearly been dewatered, but there are serious issues remaining. The Parish is calling on Congress to not spend any more money on the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.

Plaquemines Parish has updates.

The Louisiana Dept. of Labor has made available a toll-free number for displaced evacuees looking for work. Call 1-866-310-1585 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday thru Friday or visit the department's website at http://www.LAWORKS.net

UPDATE:
It's funny that now President Bush has taken responsibility for failures in the federal response, we see a renewed interest in the state and local response. Actually, at my homey little blog, I've been saying you have to look up and down the food chain and that when the final analysis is done, the state and local officials who were supposed to get people out of the way of this storm before it hit failed to do their sworn duty. Ace has the chapter and verse. I will simply restate the New Orleans Supplement 1A (Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Evacuation and Sheltering Plan):

"The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating."

The Louisiana State Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) further states, (and it is common boilerplate evacuation procedure within a state or local jurisdication) that state and local employees and other resources from unaffected or lightly affected areas can be utilized to help out in heavily affected areas.

In plain English, this means that New Orleans can and should use municipal and school buses to evacuate people who don't have any other means of getting out of town. That's what needs to be done before a storm hits - you don't wait the storm hits or after the storm hits. And the responsibility for evacuating before storms hit is on the state and local officials.

Also, Sean LaFreniere has a list of all international aid and assistance for the Hurricane Katrina disaster.