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Will we treat this hurricane right this time around?
It's very, very unlikely that this will turn into another Hurricane Katrina, but will the US Government ever learn its lesson?
On another note, maybe this is a sign that the new border fence isn't too good of an idea? After all, the grass is never greener when there are no fences!
Hurricane Warning Issued on Texas, Mexico Coasts as Dolly Takes Aim
MIAMI —
A hurricane warning has been issued for parts of the Texas and Mexico coasts as Tropical Storm Dolly churns through the Gulf of Mexico.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Monday that the warning in Texas extends from Brownsville to Port O'Connor. The government of Mexico also issued a hurricane warning from Rio San Fernando northward to the U.S. border.
Forecasters say it's likely Dolly will become a hurricane, but they don't expect it to become a major hurricane.
At 11 p.m. EDT, Dolly was located about 435 miles southeast of Corpus Christ, Texas. It was moving at about 17 mph and had maximum sustained winds near 50 mph.
Residents along the Texas-Mexico border kept a watchful eye on Tropical Storm Dolly on Monday, stocking up on plywood, generators and flashlights as forecasters predicted the storm would strengthen into a hurricane later this week and make landfall.
The storm was expected to bring high winds and dump 10 to 20 inches of rain in coastal areas near the U.S.-Mexican border. Emergency officials feared major flooding problems and urged coastal residents to prepare.
Shell Oil said it was evacuating workers from oil rigs in the western Gulf Of Mexico, and the federal government was trying to decide whether they could begin construction on a new border fence, which was to be combined with levee improvements along the Rio Grande in Hidalgo County.
It's very, very unlikely that this will turn into another Hurricane Katrina, but will the US Government ever learn its lesson? ... more -
Officials spread Katrina lies in support of offshore oil drilling
Former Senator turned energy lobbyist Trent Lott (R-MS) falsely claimed, during a Tuesday MSNBC appearance in support of drilling for oil offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, that Hurricane Katrina didn't cause oil spills.
"We didn't have one drop of oil [spilled] when we had the biggest hurricane in recent history, Hurricane Katrina," Lott said on Tuesday. "I think that the American people," he added, "are saying 'Look, do whatever is necessary, do it all, and do it now.'"
Former Senator and lobbyist John Breaux, a Democrat hailing from the gulf state of Louisiana, said that opponents of offshore drilling should reconsider. "We've shown that for the last sixty years you can do it safely, you can develop all natural domestic resources here in the United States, and it can be done safely."
Oil spills, in fact, numbered over 100 in the hurricane's aftermath, plaguing New Orleans and nearby areas and also contaminating the Mississippi River. The Coast Guard, MSNBC itself reported in September of 2005, estimated that 7 million gallons of oil, between 44 separate facilities around southeastern Louisiana, had been spilled as a result of the storm.
Hurricane Ivan had caused spills out of offshore platforms in 2004, and while satellite photos were said by advocacy group SkyTruth to have revealed 7,000 square miles of oil slicks floating in the Gulf after Katrina, the Coast Guard's Capt. Frank Paskewich disputed it. "As for now, I am confident that we have no received any reports of significant oil spills offshore," he told Reuters.
On Monday, Nancy Pfotenhauer, energy lobbyist and senior energy adviser to Arizona Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, told MSNBC's David Schuster that "we withstood Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, and we didn't spill a drop." In the past month, the same talking point has been spread by government officials such as Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator McCain, and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.
Former Senator turned energy lobbyist Trent Lott (R-MS) falsely claimed, during a Tuesday MSNBC appearance in support of drilling for ... more -
Casino regulators received items meant for Katrina victims
The agency that regulates Mississippi's casinos got pillows, stoves, dinnerware and other items meant for Hurricane Katrina victims.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission was among 11 state agencies that received the household items from the state's surplus agency.
A breakdown of what each agency received shows the commission took a coffee maker, a case of pillows, wash kits, two dual-burner stoves, plates and utensils, two cases of hand sanitizers and 20 five-gallon containers.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections also got 20 coffee makers, 15 tents, four cases of pillows, five cases of men's underwear and other supplies.
Sixteen states, including storm-ravaged Mississippi, took the items.
The agency that regulates Mississippi's casinos got pillows, stoves, dinnerware and other items meant for Hurricane Katrina victims. ... more -
FEMA gives away $85 million of supplies for Katrina victims
"FEMA gave away about $85 million in household goods meant for Hurricane Katrina victims, a CNN investigation has found.
These items, stored by FEMA, were meant for Katrina victims but were given to state and federal agencies.
The material, from basic kitchen goods to sleeping necessities, sat in warehouses for two years before the Federal Emergency Management Agency's giveaway to federal and state agencies this year.
James McIntyre, FEMA's acting press secretary, said that FEMA was spending more than $1 million a year to store the material and that another agency wanted the warehouses torn down, so "we needed to vacate them."
"Upon review of our assets and our need to continue to store them, we determined that they were excess to FEMA's needs; therefore, they are being excessed from FEMA's inventory," McIntyre wrote in an e-mail.
He declined a request for an on-camera interview, telling CNN the giveaway was "not news."
"These are exactly the items that we are desperately seeking donations of right now: basic kitchen household supplies," said Kegel, executive director of Unity of Greater New Orleans. "These are the very things that we are seeking right now. FEMA, in fact, refers homeless clients to us to house them. How can we house them if we don't have basic supplies?"
The article continues with details -WTF is up with FEMA??? "FEMA gave away about $85 million in household goods meant for Hurricane Katrina victims, a CNN investigation has found. ... more -
New Flooding in New Orleans
Its not everyday that a story literally shows up on your front doorsteps. Check out what's happening with New Orlean's Infrastructure nearly three years after Katrina.
How can you tell if the infrastructure in New Orleans is sound? Should what the Army Corps of Engineers does be taken as final fact and truth? Should they be critiqued? Ever???
See how New Orleans residents are feeling about their relationship with the government agency responsible for keeping them safe.
Its not everyday that a story literally shows up on your front doorsteps. Check out what's happening with New Orlean's Infrastructure... more -
FEMA supply 'debacle'
In June, CNN revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had warehoused $85 million worth of household goods for two years before giving them away to federal agencies and 16 states.
FEMA is a total joke! In June, CNN revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had warehoused $85 million worth of household goods for two years b... more -
Makers knew Katrina trailers tainted with formaldehyde
Manufacturers knew there were high levels of formaldehyde in the trailers provided to Hurricane Katrina victims, but sold them to the government anyway, according to a congressional report released Wednesday.
The report by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is at odds with an analysis done by Republican staffers on the same committee. The Republican report found that trailer manufacturers should not be held accountable for the high levels of formaldehyde — a preservative commonly used in building materials — in trailers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency set up to house people displaced by Katrina in 2005. Republicans say it is the government's fault for not having standards for safe levels of formaldehyde in trailers.
But Democrats say their staff interviewed employees from one of the manufacturers — Gulf Stream Coach — who said they, too, were suffering effects from formaldehyde exposure, including nose bleeds, shortness of breath, dizziness and bleeding ears. One employee told investigators that there was a foul odor throughout the plant.
Gulf Stream Coach, Inc., received the bulk of the FEMA trailer contracts after Katrina, collecting more than $500 million.
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the Democrats' investigation found that Gulf Stream did test trailers, but treated the test results as a public relations liability instead of as a health hazard.
"It found pervasive formaldehyde contamination in its trailers, and it didn't tell anyone," Waxman said Wednesday.
[Credit: Eileen Sullivan - AP; Photo: ohmygov.com]
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So, if anyone is keeping up, trailer manufacturers can be held accountable for their actions but telecoms can not. Just wanted to make this clear. Manufacturers knew there were high levels of formaldehyde in the trailers provided to Hurricane Katrina victims, but sold them to the ... more -
Herd of White Elephants Going Extinct
After high formaldehyde levels were found in travel trailers used to house the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the federal government said it would use them again only if it had no other choice.
Which raises the question — what should be done with the almost 100,000 trailers now sitting idly at sites around the country, at a cost to the government of $130 million a year?
It looks as though most could end up being sold for scrap.
FEMA has acknowledged that formaldehyde can be a health problem for people living in some trailers, but it has not said the same for people living near storage sites.
The agency says the ongoing litigation has stalled its efforts to dispose of the more than 94,000 travel trailers it now has sitting — empty and unused — around the country.
Taking care of the empty trailers costs money — $28 million a year, just in Mississippi.
FEMA had been selling the trailers but stopped last year because of the concerns about formaldehyde.
After high formaldehyde levels were found in travel trailers used to house the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the federal government sa... more -
Rush Limbaugh's Bigot Theater
Update June 19, 2008 - OAKVILLE, Iowa - As floodwaters take aim at the tiny towns lining the Mississippi River, the heartland ethic of neighbors helping neighbors proved to be a potent force against the rising water Tuesday.
Volunteers up and down the river in Illinois and Missouri joined sandbagging operations in the frantic effort to contain the Mississippi as forecasters predicted near-record crests from Quincy, Ill., to Winfield, Mo.
"There's one thing about Midwesterners," said Don Giltner, mayor of Louisiana, Mo., a picturesque river town north of St. Louis where 40 square blocks were under water Wednesday, three days before the Mississippi's expected crest. "We're resilient as hell. We're all worn out. We've put in a lot of long days."
Storms and flooding across six states this month have killed 24 people, injured 148 and caused more than $1.5 billion in estimated damage in Iowa alone — a figure that's likely to increase as river levels climb in Missouri and Illinois. More at Yahoo News...
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I praise the resilience of these fine folks but unlike Limbaugh I don't need to thoroughly damn other American victims in order to give them praise. thethinkingblue
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On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated coastal areas of the Gulf Coast states of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, including the city of New Orleans.
It was among the greatest of natural disasters to ever strike the United States.
Katrina, which cut across Florida, had intensified into a Category 5 storm over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, reaching top winds of 175 mph (282 kph) before weakening as it neared the coast.
Windspeeds over 140 mph (225 kph) were recorded at landfall in southeastern Louisiana while winds gusted to over 100 mph (160 kph) in New Orleans, just west of the eye. As the hurricane made its second landfall on the Mississippi/Louisiana border, windspeeds were approximately 125 mph (200 kph). Gusts of over 80 mph (129 kph) were recorded in Mobile and 90 mph (145 kph) in Biloxi, MS.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so true, but words are important just the same. What is happening in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region, is beyond pictures and beyond words. To see the human suffering, live on your TV and not see any help, has to be one of the most calloused happening of our time! Right here in America, the land of plenty, it is completely horrendous and unbelievable.
The babies, old people, desperate mothers, hungry, thirsty little children and the dead bodies floating in the sludge mixture of the Pontchartrain river and filthy debris left in the storm's wake, played out a nightmare scenario that no movie set could have duplicated with more heart wrenching agony.
All of us, who watched our TV screens displaying the suffering of people searing in the heat of the smoldering, hot southern sun, felt so helpless.
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Now, Limbaugh, an arrogant ideologue that loves Howard Kurtz and hates the black victims of NOLA. He wants you to understand, it was all their fault for not escaping Hurricane Katrina! Wake, up! You drive by media fools. They were lazy, lazy people that deserved their fate. If only they were white and responsible. Just listen to this horrific rant as Limbaugh is all 'agush' with admiration over the way in which Iowa and the Midwest has responded to the flood disaster that befell the area last week. But to just congratulate the residents in their determination and courage in fighting the disaster isn't enough for the AM talk blow hard. Limbaugh could not pass up the opportunity to once again trot out his old, well known disdain for poor blacks in the south who were victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. To hear Limbaugh describe it, Iowa is more American, more honorable ... you know ... more white than Louisiana. Also see video here: thethinkingblue.com/limbaughbutt.html
Update June 19, 2008 - OAKVILLE, Iowa - As floodwaters take aim at the tiny towns lining the Mississippi River, the heartland ethic of... more -
So many issues...how can those in debt help?
Maybe I am just growing into this, but it feels like there are so many different issues going on right now and I want to help out, but which issue do I help with?
I mean look at it:
- The floods
- Tornadoes
- FEMA trailers
- The Red Cross is out of money
- Hurricane Katrina Victims are still struggling and now they are in danger of another hurricane this season
- Energy Crisis
- Gas prices
- Global Warming
- World Poverty
- Water is running out...especially in Southern California
and that's just a few here in the US...there are also huge global issues!
Ahh...why do I feel overwhelmed! What do we do...what is it you choose to do? I am not about to sit back and watch from a distance, I am ready to help, but I am also gaining about $30,000 of debt...
How do I make money enough money to pay my debts and rent while also helping out?! Does anyone have the answer? Maybe I am just growing into this, but it feels like there are so many different issues going on right now and I want to help out, but... more -
Respected New Orleans news anchor charged with DWI, public urination
Seen as a hero to many in the Greater New Orleans area, Norman Robinson, 57, news anchor for 17 years in New Orleans, crashed his car in a New Orleans neighborhood on Saturday morning.
When he got out of his vehicle, he urinated on a police officer. His blood alcohol was .131, 1.6 times the legal limit. He was booked at 9:00 a.m. but released on bond shortly.
WDSU (the local NBC news affiliate) officials met the same day to decide Robinson's fate, but issued the statement: "Norman is a colleague, a friend and an asset to this community. We wish him and his family the best as they address this situation."
Robinson hosted "6 on Your Side Live" after Katrina and personally berated FEMA for doing very little. In the 90's, he confronted Klans Master David Duke and his run for Louisiana governor during a live debate. He was also a White House correspondent for CBS. Seen as a hero to many in the Greater New Orleans area, Norman Robinson, 57, news anchor for 17 years in New Orleans, crashed his car ... more -
Hecka of a Job FEMA
Massive amounts of donated goods designed to help those that suffered through hurricane Katrina never get to a single victim. Instead, other cities benefit from continued hardship and government incompetence. Massive amounts of donated goods designed to help those that suffered through hurricane Katrina never get to a single victim. Instead,... more
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Hurricane Katrina Documentary seeks ideas
In the summer of 2006, Still Picking Up the Piece’s was filmed by Patti Brown, a Red Cross Volunteer, and edited by myself Shaun Boyte and sent out on DVD. It was a short 20 minute documentary that included incredible interviews from survivors of Hurricane Katrina. It also showed the vast amount of damage still left to clean up and showed how desperate and thankful the citizens of the Gulf were of volunteers. When we sent out the 100 copies across the nation, we got an unbelievable response and word that it had encouraged dozens of groups to go help out and a few large donations. But two years later, the people from the documentary are seeking help once more, so I am going back to tell the stories as our media has completely forgotten so many are without homes still and without ways to kick start their lives again.
While I have contacts who appeared in the first documentary with great stories, I am still seeking opinions on what you believe should be covered. If you have time to stop by the site, please do to find more details, or donate if you feel like you would like to be a part of the project.
Thanks for your comments and ideas In the summer of 2006, Still Picking Up the Piece’s was filmed by Patti Brown, a Red Cross Volunteer, and edited by myself Shaun Boyte... more -
FEMA gives away $85 million of supplies for Katrina victims - CNN.com
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- FEMA gave away about $85 million in household goods meant for Hurricane Katrina victims, a CNN investigation has found.
Unfreakingbelieveable! NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- FEMA gave away about $85 million in household goods meant for Hurricane Katrina victims, a CNN investi... more -
A Genius Outside the Academy
The Hip Hop Caucus tour featuring Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. Yearwood is a minister, community activist, military chaplain, and one of the most influential people in Hip Hop. A powerful and fiery orator. The Hip Hop Caucus tour featuring Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. Yearwood is a minister, community activist, military chaplain, and one of ... more
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Katrina: "Worst kind of weapon you can imagine"
"It's as if the entire Gulf Coast were obliterated by a -- the worst kind of weapon you can imagine" Bush said when he visited Mobile, Alabama in 2005
"We have a responsibility to help clean up this mess, and I want to thank the Congress for acting as quickly as you did. Step one is to appropriate $10.5 billion. But I've got to warn everybody, that's just the beginning. That's a small down payment for the cost of this effort. But to help the good folks here, we need to do it.
"My dad and Bill Clinton are going to raise money for governors' funds. The governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama will have monies available to them to help deal with the long-term consequences of this storm.
"Again, I want to thank you all for -- and, Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job. The FEMA Director is working 24 -- (applause) -- they're working 24 hours a day."
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 2, 2005
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/2005090...
"It's as if the entire Gulf Coast were obliterated by a -- the worst kind of weapon you can imagine" Bush said when he visited Mobile,... more -
First campaign blunder for McCain...
Could it be that John McCain has committed the first major gaff of the campaign by stating that he supported every investigation into the Katrina fiasco. Unfortunately for John we can go back and look at his voting record and guess what?? He voted against an independent investigation not once but twice!!!! Could it be that John McCain has committed the first major gaff of the campaign by stating that he supported every investigation ... more
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In Louisiana, McCain claims he voted for every Katrina investigation - except he d...
"During his press conference today in Baton Rouge, John McCain declared in strong terms that he's voted for every investigation of Hurricane Katrina.
The only problem, as the DNC has been pointing out to reporters, is he voted twice against Democratic proposals to investigate the levee failures.
After a local reporter at his Baton Rouge press conference asked why he voted against forming a commission to investigate the levee failures in New Orleans, McCain insisted that he supported every investigation -- and added that he was "not familiar" with what the reporter was talking about:
McCain voted against establishing a commission to investigate the levee failures, in a September 2005 party-line vote in which all Republicans voted against the Democratic proposal. He then repeated that party-line GOP vote against a similar Dem proposal in February 2006.
Late Update: McCain spokesman Brian Rogers e-mailed us the following comment:
"It doesn't bode well for Senator Obama's pledges to run a campaign of hope and change when on the first day of the general election he's launching the same tired negative attacks that the American people are so sick and tired of. As Sen. McCain said, he wasn't familiar with the specific votes the questioner was asking about. Instead he was speaking to his strong support for the Homeland Security Committee's comprehensive, bipartisan investigation of Hurricane Katrina, which was already fully underway when these other proposals were suggested"."
By Eric Kleefeld "During his press conference today in Baton Rouge, John McCain declared in strong terms that he's voted for every investigation of Hur... more -
Police shoot man refusing to move from FEMA trailer
A nearly 10-hour standoff with a police SWAT team ended Wednesday morning when police fatally shot the mentally ill occupant of a federally supplied FEMA trailer in one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina.
The man locked himself inside a partly gutted home adjacent to the trailer. Police got into the downstairs part of the home, but the man shot at them twice, causing no injuries, officials said. Authorities shot the man around 2 a.m. after he pointed a handgun at officers who tried to arrest him, police said. The man later died at a hospital. A nearly 10-hour standoff with a police SWAT team ended Wednesday morning when police fatally shot the mentally ill occupant of a fede... more -
FEMA’s deadline to close trailer parks leaves many hopeless
Nearly three years after the Hurricane Katrina made thousands of victims, leaving thousands others without houses, the Federal Emergency Management Agency succeeded to meet its deadline and close all six trailer parks by Sunday, but said it would still take a few more days to move everyone into apartments or motels.
The decision to close the parks came after an investigation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between Dec. 21 and Jan. 23 found that formaldehyde fumes from hundreds of trailers and mobile homes were on average about five times what people are exposed to in most modern homes.
Formaldehyde is a common preservative and embalming fluid and a chemical used in the manufacture of the trailers. It can cause respiratory problems such as bronchitis and is known to cause cancer. In fact, formaldehyde has been classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Following this investigation, the FEMA established May 31 (a day before the start of the hurricane season) as deadline for closing the parks. However, many people have shown concern about where they will live and how they will be able to pay their rents. The FEMA has been under fire for its decision to empty the parks before they have found permanent housing. Also, there are many people who cannot afford a place to stay given the high prices after Katrina stroke New Orleans in 2005.
While some of the people that have lived in the FEMA trailer parks will benefit of housing subsidies until March 2009, those of them who can’t prove where they lived before Katrina destroyed their homes will benefit of the aid for another month only. After that, they’re on their own.
“I’m under more stress now than in the hurricane. They don't even do me the courtesy of responding. It's just, ‘When are you going to leave? When are you going to leave?’ They don't seem to care where we end up,” Ghulam Nasim, 79, a retired doctor who packed his things, but remained in his trailer said, according to the LA Times. And like him are many other residents who lack alternatives.
By Saturday, a day before the deadline, the former largest FEMA trailer park, Renaissance Village, had only 40 still occupied trailers out of the 575 that housed the Katrina victims until a few days ago. Nearly three years after the Hurricane Katrina made thousands of victims, leaving thousands others without houses, the Federal Emergen... more
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Hurricane Katrina
