Katrina Wednesday Roundup

The Financial Times considers the military presence in New Orleans to be an occupation in a war zone. Sorry, but we've got real wars going on around the world, and I'm not just talking Iraq or Afghanistan. This is a massive humanitarian operation to help people throughout the Gulf Coast. There's a huge military operation going on, but it is to save lives of thousands and to clean up more than 90,000 square miles affected by Hurricane Katrina.

To recap, this storm did not just hit New Orleans, Louisiana.

It affected the following states:
Alabama
Florida
Georgia
Louisiana
Mississippi
Tennessee

and there are others that I'm probably leaving off. Florida was first hit by Katrina when it came onshore as a Cat 1 storm. It dumped up to 15 inches of rain across South Florida before heading into the Gulf of Mexico, where it strengthened into a Cat 5 storm of incredible size and hurricane force winds extended nearly 200 miles out from the eye. By a twist of fate, the storm weakened slightly and turned to the east at the last moment, saving New Orleans from a direct hit. It wasn't enough to save New Orleans from flooding, but it did mean that all along the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama coast the massive storm surge ripped up everything in its path. In some places, the surge came more than 2 miles inland. The wall of water at the shoreline was up to 30 feet in some places.

Now, as the waters recede, the true extent of the damage is still being discovered. People who were either unable or unwilling to evacuate to higher ground died in their homes, on their roofs, or in trees when everything else was underwater.

The scene of devastation is repeated up and down the entire coast. In Slidell, rescue workers and people who are returning to check on their homes have found bodies in the trees. Cars are on top of houses. Boats are in houses. Houses are no longer there. Wreckage is absolutely everywhere you turn. The stench is unimaginable. And through it all, there are pockets of people who weathered the storm and now refuse to leave because it isn't safe to stay - the threat of disease and the lack of sanitation are too great.

While the generosity of Americans is unparalleled, creeps and charletains are spoofing real efforts in order to phish and steal charitable donations. Beware of pledges in incoming email because they may be fakes. Instead, go directly to the websites of the organizations that you intend to donate to. Many websites, like Google, Amazon, and Yahoo let you donate directly to the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army. Do not be fooled and let some chump in Singapore take the money you've donated to help someone in Gulfport, Biloxi, Slidell, Pascagoula, or New Orleans.

Others are also wondering about the disparity between the coverage of New Orleans and the other affected areas (Mississippi and Alabama). Meanwhile Brendan Loy will be appearing on FoxNews to discuss his coverage of Katrina. Let's be blunt - his coverage is as good or better than the networks with all their resources. Brendan has not only been doing reporting, but asking all the right questions.

A Florence, KY businessman has taken it upon himself to deliver a ton of water to Slidell. He's already made one trip, and is preparing for a second.

After delivering 3,900 bottles of drinking water to Hurricane Katrina survivors in Louisiana, Florence Antique Mall owner Mike Detzel is planning another delivery this weekend.

Detzel plans to leave Florence Friday at 6 p.m., and public donations of relief supplies can be dropped off at the Florence Antique Mall, 8145 Mall Road, during business hours: Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, is calling for federal investigations into the response.

In Washington, President Bush and Congress pledged Tuesday to open separate investigations into the federal response to Katrina and New Orleans' broken levees. "Governments at all levels failed," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., reiterated her calls for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be made autonomous from the Department of Homeland Security and for an independent commission to investigate the federal response to the disaster, saying neither Congress nor the administration should do it.

"The people that I met in Houston - they want answers and they want to know what went wrong and they want to know what they are going to be able to count on in the future," she told NBC's "Today" show Wednesday, two days after visiting refugees at the Astrodome. "I don't think the government can investigate itself."

Oh, and did I mention that Sen. Clinton is a leading contender for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2008 and has a Senate campaign to look out for in 2006 as she is against Pirro in New York. Yet, through all her bluster, the idea of separating FEMA from DHS has some merit. I've suggested that DHS was just adding another bureaucracy to the mix and didn't really improve national security. FEMA has always been considered lackluster in its response to natural disasters, and the scorn heaped upon it for Katrina may be warranted.

The NY Times is reporting that Baton Rouge may be reaching the breaking point because of the influx of New Orleans survivors. And, wait for it, race is the card the Times is playing:

Make no mistake. The overwhelming response of people in Baton Rouge to Hurricane Katrina has been one of compassion and sacrifice with every church in town, it seems, housing or feeding evacuees.

But there have also been runs on gun stores, mounting frustration over gridlocked roads and an undercurrent of fear about crime and the effect of the evacuees.

After the chaos of the storm, which did some damage here, and a long weekend, Tuesday was the first day most residents returned to work and school. Before the evacuation, blacks made up about half the population of Baton Rouge and almost 70 percent of New Orleans, and in conversations in which race is often explicit or just below the surface, voices on the street, in shops, and especially in the anonymous hothouse of talk radio were raising a new question: just how compassionate can this community, almost certainly home to more evacuees than any other, afford to be?

There is a limit as to how much any locale, no matter how affluent, can absorb in a short period of time. Baton Rouge is forced to absorb a population nearly 1/3 the size of its existing residents in the span of a week. No one really knows how long that situation will persist. Yet, the Times wants to play up the racial aspects? Pathetic. Truly pathetic.

The scene in Biloxi, MS is being repeated throughout the Southeast as churches come together to help each other and their congregations. Tampa search and rescue teams recount their efforts. Kentucky food kitchens are pitching in to help feed Biloxi residents who lost everything.

The kitchens left for Mississippi early Labor Day. They met in Bowling Green to form the convey of hope and hot food needed by both victims and relief workers on the storms front lines.

The four kitchens come from Ashland, Frankfort, Owensboro and Bowling Green.

The kitchens stopped in Bowling Green to buy more supplies, overnighted in the Birmingham, Alabama area, checked in in Jackson, Mississippi for assignment by the Army's Headquarters there, then made there way to Biloxi.

UPDATE:
Photos of the military response to Katrina.

UPDATE:
Mapping of the wrecked coastline is underway to determine how the hurricane changed the landscape. The scientists are looking at how the hurricane changed the topography of barrier islands as well as how and why the storm was particularly deadly.

They and other researchers are mapping changes in beach formations, patterns of damage, debris fields, wind and water flow, and inland and offshore topography for clues about why this storm was so destructive, and so deadly.

The work is part of scientists' continuing efforts to engage coastal officials and policy makers on how to make the coast safer - and on whether some parts of the coast can ever be made safe enough.

"We have never learned that lesson," said Abby Sallenger, a scientist with the United States Geological Survey who has studied storm effects on the East and Gulf coasts for years. Dr. Sallenger does not advocate wholesale retreat from the coast, he said, but "the coastal research community should come together and come to some conclusions about where it is safer to go."

Also, check with your state and local tax officials to see what steps are being taken to assist taxpayers in the affected areas. Many states have already posted notices that they will be following the federal IRS guidelines, which applies to taxpayers in the Hurricane Katrina Presidential Disaster Relief Areas. Affected taxpayers include businesses and individuals located in the disaster areas (31 LA parishes, 15 MS counties, and 3 AL counties as of the IRS Information Release 2005-84), those with tax records in the disaster areas, and relief workers.

UPDATE:
Here's a photo essay as the disaster unfolded. Akron, Ohio is adopting Biloxi to help with the rebuilding. Folks are starting to feel a little upbeat, though I'm sure that wont last as the daunting task of clearing the debris and rebuilding takes hold. These folks need all kinds of support, and we need to make sure that the local, state, and federal government operates to maximize the monies made available for the rebuilding.

As this article shows economic activity through the region has essentially come to a screeching halt but the national economy is still chugging along, though it will do so at a slower pace as a result of the Katrina's impact.

Here's another photo essay showing folks coming together to help out.

Also, Congress has agreed to pass a $52 billion supplemental aid package for hurricane relief. Congress is also looking at legislation that would empower FEMA to remove debris from private property.

How much has PC slowed the federal response? Beats me, but don't you think that time spent for sexual harassment classes for firefighters headed to NOLA could have been replaced by something more practical?

Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.

Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.

Here's yet another question - how many of those folks in the Gulf Coast have phone service? Power? Anyone? What are they thinking? These people need to be in the field alright, but doing the hard work of clearing debris, finding victims, and helping the survivors.

And don't think the housing industry hasn't realized what has happened. The manufactured housing companies are gearing up for a huge surge in needs.

The WSJ had an amazing story today as retold by Rich Lowry which provided critical snippets. He points to a levee system that wasn't nearly as high as they should have been due to ground subsidence, flooding that started as the storm came ashore, and that the flood waters rose as much as a foot a minute. Under those conditions, it's amazing that anyone could have survived if they hadn't already left town.