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Senate Lifts Offshore Drilling Ban In Huge Spending Bill
Senators have passed a spending bill that aids Gulf Coast disaster victims and subsidizes federal loans for automakers. President Bush is expected to sign the measure despite some reservations.
The $634 billion bill provides money to keep the government running until the next president takes office.
The 78-12 vote Saturday also lifts a quarter-century ban on oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. That's a big victory for Republicans.
The Democrats have once again caved into Bush's demands.
Republicans say ending the drilling ban should lower gasoline prices. Democrats say it won't mean additional oil production for years.
Then why did lift the ban?
The lifting of the offshore oil drilling moratorium does not mean drilling is imminent. But it could set the stage for the government to offer leases in some Atlantic federal waters as early as 2011.
The low-interest loans for automakers are intended to help the companies develop technologies and retool factories to meet new standards for cleaner and more fuel-efficient cars.
After hard lobbying, automakers won up to $25 billion in low-interest loans to help them develop technologies and retool factories to meet new standards for cleaner and more fuel-efficient cars.
The legislation also contains 2,322 pet projects totaling $6.6 billion, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group. That included 2,025 in the defense portion alone that cost a total of $4.9 billion. Senators have passed a spending bill that aids Gulf Coast disaster victims and subsidizes federal loans for automakers. President Bush... more -
Bush to visit hurricane-struck Texas
Scheduled to go to Gulf Coast Tuesday to express sympathy for Ike victims
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Bush warns of 'disaster fatigue'
President skips political fundraisers to assess damage along Gulf Coast
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Tree teams work to save storm-hit canopies
Hurricanes that whip the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Southern states take a human toll, but they also claim another victim on an enormous scale — the majestic trees, many draped in Spanish moss, that form canopies over historic streets across the region. Hurricanes that whip the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Southern states take a human toll, but they also claim another victim on an enorm... more
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Hurricane Ike approach Time Lapse video
About 1 mile SouthEast of downtown Houston, Texas
A few hours before Ike's landfall in Galveston.
NICER CLEANER HD VERSION @ http://vimeo.com/1721081 About 1 mile SouthEast of downtown Houston, Texas A few hours before Ike's landfall in Galveston. ... more -
Killer Ike blasts Bahamas, floods Haiti, hits Cuba
CAMAGUEY, Cuba (AP) -- Hurricane Ike bore down on Cuba after roaring across low-lying islands Sunday, tearing apart houses, wiping out crops and worsening floods in Haiti that have already killed more than 300 people.
With Ike forecast to sweep across Cuba and possibly hit Havana head-on, hundreds of thousands of Cubans evacuated to shelters or higher ground. To the north, residents of the Florida Keys fled up a narrow highway, fearful that the "extremely dangerous" hurricane could hit them Tuesday.
At least 58 people died as Ike's winds and rain swept Haiti Sunday - and officials found three more bodies from a previous storm - raising the nation's death toll from four tropical storms in less than a month to 319. A Dominican man was crushed by a falling tree. It was too early to know of deaths on other islands where the most powerful winds were still blowing.
Ike's center hit the Bahamas' Great Inagua island, where the roofs of its two shelters both sprung leaks under the 135 mph (217 kph) winds. As the storm passed, people inside peeked through windows at toppled trees and houses stripped of their roofs.
"It's nasty. I can't remember getting hit like this," reserve police officer Henry Nixon said from inside a shelter holding about 85 people.
Great Inagua has about 1,000 people and about 50,000 West Indian flamingos - the world's largest breeding colony. Both populations sought safety from the winds and driving rain, with the pink flamingos gathering in mangrove thickets. Biologists worried that their unique habitat could be destroyed.
"There's a possibility that the habitat can't really be replaced, and that they can't find an equivalent spot," said Greg Butcher, bird conservation director for the National Audubon Society. "You might have a significant drop in the number of flamingos."
At 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT), Ike had weakened slightly to a Category 3 hurricane with top winds of 120 mph (195 kph). It was about 30 miles off Cuba's northern coast, moving westward at 14 mph (22 kph).
The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted Ike's eye would make landfall early Monday and could hit Havana, the capital of 2 million people with many vulnerable old buildings, by Monday night. CAMAGUEY, Cuba (AP) -- Hurricane Ike bore down on Cuba after roaring across low-lying islands Sunday, tearing apart houses, wiping out... more -
Hanna heads toward US as Ike a few days behind
* Hanna could become hurricane before hitting Carolinas
* Hanna death toll rises to 90 in Haiti
* Ike grows to Category 4 storm, could threaten Bahamas
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Powerful Hurricane Ike charged across the Atlantic toward the Bahamas and the U.S. east coast on Thursday while Tropical Storm Hanna's death toll from floods and mudslides in Haiti grew to 90.
Hanna churned just east of the far-flung Bahamian chain of 700 islands on a path that was expected to take it to the U.S. East Coast near the South Carolina-North Carolina border on Saturday as a weak hurricane.
Ike posed no immediate threat to land and it remained too early to say if it would threaten Caribbean islands, the U.S. East Coast or the U.S. oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico.
Ike hurricane weakened slightly on Thursday after growing explosively in the space of a few hours on Wednesday from a tropical storm to an intense Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale.
Tropical Storm Josephine also marched across the Atlantic on a westward course behind Ike but it had begun to weaken.
The burst of storm activity followed Hurricane Gustav's rampage through the Caribbean to the Louisiana coast, where it slammed ashore on Monday west of New Orleans, largely sparing the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina three years ago.
The flurry of storms was a clear signal that this six-month hurricane season is on track to be a ferociously busy one, though not like record-busting 2005 when 28 tropical storms, including Katrina, rolled across the Atlantic and Caribbean. * Hanna could become hurricane before hitting Carolinas * Hanna death toll rises to 90 in Haiti ... more -
Hurricane Katrina: After the Levees Broke
Confronted with the approach of Hurricane Gustav, by Sunday afternoon a historic evacuation of Louisiana's Gulf Coast, the largest evacuation in state history, had been completed. Two million people had joined in an exodus that left New Orleans standing in near silence, quiet as a ghost town. Policemen and National Guardsmen were carrying guns as they stood watching over the city's empty streets, while the nation anticipated that Hurricane Gustav could rival Hurricane Katrina in its destructive power.
This article presents a number of stunning photographs that show the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and a video showing New Orleans as a “ghost town” after the flooding. In addition, it includes a deeply moving, memorable photo-gallery that documents Katrina's shattering aftermath, which is accompanied by music audio. Confronted with the approach of Hurricane Gustav, by Sunday afternoon a historic evacuation of Louisiana's Gulf Coast, the larges... more -
FEMA Is Eager to Show It Learned From Katrina
Inside the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sunday, no one needed to be told that after three years of cramming, test time had finally come.
Representatives of more than a dozen federal agencies tried to ensure that everyone knew what part they had to play as Hurricane Gustav churned toward the Gulf Coast.
Nature has a way of upending disaster-response plans. But there was a certain confidence Sunday that the federal government had learned its painful lessons and that there would be no repeat of the ineptitude that defined the response to Hurricane Katrina three years ago.
The evidence was visible both in the command center in Washington and on the ground across the Gulf Coast. The Coast Guard, Defense Department, National Guard and FEMA all have far more personnel, equipment and emergency supplies in the region than they did three years ago before the hurricane, officials said.
FEMA, for example, had 18 search-and-rescue teams ready to go, compared with 7 before Katrina landed. It had 240 truckloads of water and packaged meals and 400 more truckloads of blankets, cots and tarps, far more than three years ago.
The Defense Department was coordinating the airlift of more than 1,000 patients from Gulf Coast hospitals and nursing homes.
The Coast Guard had about 500 extra personnel assigned to the response, said Vice Adm. Bob Papp, ready to operate 31 helicopters brought to the region, and two squads with small rescue boats, among other equipment.
Critical to the response was a decision by officials in New Orleans not to set up emergency shelters within the city limits, as they did at the Superdome in 2005. That means the tens of thousands who have evacuated are now at a safe distance from the city, and providing them with food and shelter will be much less complicated.
But problems were still cropping up, including word from several hospitals and nursing homes that their own evacuation plans had fallen through. But federal officials said they had found the planes and other equipment necessary to handle the load.
State officials in Louisiana abandoned an effort to register people as they boarded buses to evacuate after computer problems surfaced. City and state officials, with help from the federal government, also struggled briefly to find an alternative supply of buses after only about 200 of 700 buses they had procured for the evacuation actually showed up.
FEMA activated its new family locator service, a call-in system that helps separated family members find one another. And it was providing shelter space for cats and dogs owned by families evacuating from the region.
Questions remain as to how the government will respond over the long term if faced with tens of thousands of displaced storm victims. FEMA now has much greater capacity to handle telephone calls and Internet requests for emergency aid. But its ability to weed out fraudulent aid claims has not been fully tested. Auditors estimate that waste and abuse cost the government more than $1 billion after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
The agency’s plan for large-scale emergency housing is also not entirely clear. The agency has said it will not use thousands of travel trailers, which turned into a debacle after Hurricane Katrina because of the slow pace of installing them and then problems with unsafe levels of formaldehyde in their interiors.
The levee system in New Orleans, which is the responsibility of local officials and the Army Corps of Engineers, is still not sufficient to handle a Category 4 or 5 hurricane, leaving the city vulnerable to major flooding if Hurricane Gustav arrives at such strength, said Jane Bullock, a former chief of staff at FEMA. Inside the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sunday, no one needed to be told that after three years of cramm... more -
The Gulf Coast waits: Will it be another Katrina?
With a historic evacuation complete, and gun-toting police and National Guardsmen standing watch over this city's empty streets, even presidential politics stood still Sunday while the nation waited to see if Hurricane Gustav would be another Katrina.
The storm was set to crash ashore midday Monday with frightful force, testing the three years of planning and rebuilding that followed Katrina's devastating blow to the Gulf Coast.
Painfully aware of the failings that led to that horrific suffering and more than 1,600 deaths, this time, officials moved beyond merely insisting tourists and residents leave south Louisiana. They threatened arrest, loaded thousands onto buses and warned that anyone who remained behind would not be rescued.
"Looters will go directly to jail. You will not get a pass this time," Mayor Ray Nagin said. "You will not have a temporary stay in the city. You will go directly to the Big House."
Col. Mike Edmondson, state police commander, said he believed that 90 percent of the population had fled the Louisiana coast. The exodus of 1.9 million people is the largest evacuation in state history, and thousands more had left from Mississippi, Alabama and flood-prone southeast Texas.
Late Sunday, Gov. Bobby Jindal issued one last plea to the roughly 100,000 people still left on the coast: "If you've not evacuated, please do so. There are still a few hours left."
Louisiana and Mississippi temporarily changed traffic flow so all highway lanes led away from the coast, and cars were packed bumper-to-bumper. Stores and restaurants shut down, hotels closed and windows were boarded up. Some who planned to stay changed their mind at the last second, not willing to risk the worst.
"I was trying to get situated at home. I was trying to get things so it would be halfway safe," said 46-year-old painter Jerry Williams, who showed up at the city's Union Station to catch one of the last buses out of town. "You're torn. Do you leave it and worry about it, or do you stay and worry about living?" With a historic evacuation complete, and gun-toting police and National Guardsmen standing watch over this city's empty streets, ... more -
Bush unlikely to go to RNC on Monday as hurricane looms
President Bush is unlikely to attend the Republican convention in Minnesota as scheduled Monday because of concerns about Hurricane Gustav, the White House said Sunday.
More at link... President Bush is unlikely to attend the Republican convention in Minnesota as scheduled Monday because of concerns about Hurricane Gu... more -
Bush offers full federal help as Hurricane Gustav nears Gulf
President Bush, confronted with the prospect of a second monster hurricane striking the still-battered Gulf Coast, checked in with governors and federal officials Saturday to make sure Washington was doing all it can. President Bush, confronted with the prospect of a second monster hurricane striking the still-battered Gulf Coast, checked in with gov... more
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Oil prices trading higher as Gustav spins toward Gulf of Mexico, threatens oil pla...
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices rose for a third day Wednesday as Tropical Storm Gustav spun toward the Gulf of Mexico on a possible collision course with offshore oil and gas installations.
Also Wednesday, the Energy Department reported a surprise drop in U.S. crude supplies. However, the report did not seem to be affecting trading as oil investors focused their attention on Gustav.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC said they have begun evacuating some workers from offshore rigs scattered throughout the Gulf, home to about a quarter of U.S. crude production and much of its natural gas.
Though it was too soon to know where the storm would hit, some models showed Gustav taking a path toward Louisiana and other Gulf states devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita three years ago in a double blow that sent energy prices soaring.
"A bad storm churning in the Gulf could be a nightmare scenario. We might see oil prices spike $5 to $8 if it really rips into platforms," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose as high as $119.63 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before easing back in early afternoon trading to $117.03, still up 76 cents. The contract added $1.16 on Tuesday to settle at $116.27 a barrel.
The storm also boosted natural gas prices, which gained 18.9 cents, or 2.28 percent, to $8.467 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gustav struck Haiti on Tuesday as a hurricane, pummeling the impoverished country with 90 mph winds and heavy rain before moving toward Cuba. At least 11 people were killed in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Gustav was later downgraded to a tropical storm but was expected to regain strength, possibly becoming a dangerous Category 3 storm by next week, forecasters said.
Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill, said a big threat was to oil refineries dotting the Gulf Coast from Texas to Louisiana. A shutdown in refining there would likely lead to a sudden jump in retail gas prices around Labor Day weekend, a time when many Americans take to the road for end-of-summer vacations.
"There's a strong chance that by Friday we could see some fairly significant pump price increases," Ritterbusch said. "Crude can be replaced and brought in via tanker, but bringing a damaged refinery back up again can take a long time, as we saw with Katrina and Rita."
Prices were also supported by a weaker dollar, which boosted the demand for oil among investors who buy commodities as a hedge against inflation.
The euro recovered ground against the dollar Wednesday after hitting a six-month low the previous day. It bought $1.4714 in New York trading, up from $1.4650 Tuesday.
Crude prices have gone up for three straight days, halting a steep, monthlong slide as oil traders at least temporarily shift back toward a focus on short-term market events like Gustav.
But evidence of falling U.S. oil demand is keeping a lid on oil prices. The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said Tuesday that year-over-year oil demand was down 5.6 percent in June.
"We're getting some pretty powerful data that suggests slower growth and higher gasoline prices have really crimped oil demand in the U.S," said David Moore, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly inventory report that crude stockpiles fell slightly by 100,000 barrels to 305.8 million barrels for the week ending Aug. 22.
That compared to the 1.5 million barrel increase analysts surveyed by energy research firm Platts had expected.
"I think Gustav is overshadowing the EIA report. It doesn't appear to having an impact," Flynn said. NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices rose for a third day Wednesday as Tropical Storm Gustav spun toward the Gulf of Mexico on a possible colli... more -
United States Gulf Coast prepares for tropical storm Gustav
Gustav swirled toward Cuba on Wednesday after triggering flooding and landslides that killed at least 11 people in the Caribbean. Its track pointed toward the U.S. Gulf coast, including Louisana where Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc three years ago.
"We know it's going to head into the Gulf. After that, we're not sure where it's heading," said Rebecca Waddington, a meteorologist at the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. "For that reason, everyone in Gulf needs to be monitoring the storm. At that point, we're expecting it to be a Category 3 hurricane." Gustav swirled toward Cuba on Wednesday after triggering flooding and landslides that killed at least 11 people in the Caribbean. Its ... more -
Three years after Katrina: 'Little progress'
As President Bush begins another visit to a region devastated not only by a tremendous hurricane but an excruciatingly slow recovery process, the international humanitarian agency Oxfam America called on both presidential candidates to renew the federal government's commitment to rebuilding the region.
President Bush's visit to Mississippi and Louisiana, days before the third anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, comes as a new report from Oxfam America reveals how little progress has been made and what still remains to be done to restore the region and repair the communities affected three years ago.
"If the history of the Katrina recovery were written today, it would be a tragedy. Far too little progress has been made despite the remarkable effort and ingenuity of the people of the region who are fighting to restore their homes and their lives," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America. "Much of the progress has come at the hands of Gulf Coast residents - in spite of significant hurdles placed in front of them by the federal government. The next administration must act quickly to remove those hurdles so Gulf Coast residents can truly and finally recover from the storms."
Oxfam's report, Mirror on America, which will be released Tuesday, reveals just how much work remains to be done, and provides recommendations to speed an equitable recovery, including:
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More than 35,000 individuals still living in FEMA trailers in the Gulf Coast
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Only 12 percent of African-American evacuees who returned to New Orleans after the hurricanes were able to find work, compared with 45 percent of white evacuees;
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In Louisiana 82,000 apartments were damaged or destroyed by Katrina and Rita, but the highest official estimate proposes to replace only about 25,000 affordable units;
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In Mississippi, federal money that was mandated for use in rebuilding low income housing was, instead, diverted to improving the shipyards in Biloxi;
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Compliance with federal labor laws has been ignored, leaving workers coaxed to the region on promises of high salaries and free housing, found neither and have since been abandoned.
President Bush rightly commended many who have worked hard to rebuild their homes and their lives. Unfortunately, so many have done so on their own, with less help than they could have used from the federal government.
Rebuilding the region has proved to be difficult. Many living along the Gulf Coast have been hit by a double injustice. On one hand they can't afford the rising costs of rent, housing, insurance and utilities. On the other, they can't find the kind of jobs they need to offset those increased expenses. It is not too late, however, for the many thousands who still need help.
"A new administration will face the challenge of correcting the mistakes of its predecessor and a critical opportunity to rebuild the Gulf Coast better and stronger," said Rhonda Jackson, Louisiana State Policy Specialist for Oxfam America. "The time is now to renew our promise and commit to a full Gulf Coast recovery." As President Bush begins another visit to a region devastated not only by a tremendous hurricane but an excruciatingly slow recovery p... more -
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 -
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 -
Acorns of Hope
The destruction of trees along the coastal plain of Louisiana during Hurricanes Rita and Katrina has recently been acknowledged as the worst ecological disaster in American history. Erosion is now an immediate threat to those determined to rebuild, as the Gulf of Mexico continues to eat away at the unsecured shoreline. Louisiana native and arborist Bob Thibodeaux recently began a five-year mission to plant 10,000 high-quality live oaks along the coast. Arborists and cyclists from across the U.S. and Canada participated in the main event of this year-round project - a 250 mile bike ride with plenty of stops to plant trees, meet locals, and eat some amazing gumbo.
This video follows the first year of the Acorns of Hope project. There are thousands of trees left to plant and four more scheduled rides.
Get involved @ www.bobstree.com The destruction of trees along the coastal plain of Louisiana during Hurricanes Rita and Katrina has recently been acknowledged as the... more -
Bombs Left Behind
Long after a cease fire in the Iraeli-Lebanese conflict, thousands of unexploded bombs--cluster munitions--still cover the battlefields and are wounding many unintended victims--civilians. Also, FEMA promises go unmet to the residents of the Gulf Coast still living in trailer homes. And a leading economist comments on the state of America's fiscal health. Long after a cease fire in the Iraeli-Lebanese conflict, thousands of unexploded bombs--cluster munitions--still cover the battlefield... more
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