Katrina is a slore.

In my parent's town of Pass Christian, MS if you didn't leave the police department made you sign a waiver that said you understood if something should happen that emergency teams might not be able to get to you. Some people just don't leave. I know some of my parents friends who went through Betsy in 65 and Camille in 69 didn't want to leave be/c they felt they could handle Katrina. They did leave though so that was good. They are in Starkville, MS.

Levy breaking?
 

A friend of mine from Auburn just told me that the news is reporting that some of the Levys in New Orleans are breaking/have broken = massive flooding...anyone confirm?

I was discussing this with my friend who lives in Florida last night. She said many people don't evacuate during hurricanes because often you can't get back to your house for several days (too much standing water, bridges being out, etc.). In that time, houses sometimes get looted by undesireables who have also stayed behind. Her dad didn't evacuate last fall during Ivan (?) for that very reason. Not always logical, but there you go...

Re: Levy breaking?
 

Yep. 80% of the city is flooded. There are also reports of bodies floating in the water.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/3...ina/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/3...ans/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/

I'm just sick to my stomach right now. Although my family is safe, there are tons of people, neightbors, etc. that aren't. :(

I have heard of unconfirmed reports that the Levee in midtown (near Lake Ponchatrain) is out. That is near my highschool, Mt. Carmel Academy.

Check out these websites:

www.nola.com

www.wwltv.com
they have information about the levees.

www.sunherald.com


ETA: Break in 17th Street Canal Levee is now 200 feet wide and slowly flooding the City of New Orleans. Huge sand bags are being airlifted to try to stem the rush of water in that area. The expectations are that the water will not stop until it reaches lake level.

Fuck the valueables. They can all be replaced. Lives cant.

People that stay behind for that shit are just greedy. Either insure the hell outta your stuff, or take what ya can if ya cant afford insurance. If ya cant afford insurance, ya probably dont have that much stuff to take. Either way a damn TV and computer and stereo arent worth a life. You can take my shit. I'll be with friends and family and have the important stuff with me.

Precident is a fools exercise. I cant believe people think that because their house survived a previous storm it will survive the next one. Each storm is different. Each hurricane that hit florida last summer was different. It always amazes me that people think they can one up nature. WHen the mayor of NOLA told the people who were staying to take an axe with them so they could chop their way out of their attics when trapped, that should have been enough to get them to leave. But I guess not.

All my friends got out and are chilling in Houston.

I think part of human nature is to think "It won't happen to me". We see it when members of our orgs haze or drink insane amounts of alcohol. We see it when there are hurricane evacuations. We see it when people choose to ride motorcycles without helmets or drive without their seat belts. We tend to take our chances, even if we've been warned. And, if we didn't take SOME chances, we'd be homebound and fearful all the time. There are times that we have tornado warnings that people all rush outside to "see what's going on" instead of heading back to the basement as we should. There are people who do extreme sports which are quite dangerous.

You wouldn't catch me staying in a situation like that though!

I hear ya lifesaver - there is NO AMOUNT of crap that would make me stay. We have tornados here all the time so I an emergency kit, but I wouldn't risk my life to go back and get that either!

My company has operations in all affected areas and right now, they are trying to account for all employees - everyone that left is accounted for . They made those that stayed (to take care of elderly/invalid family members) leave contact info and so far, they can't account for everyone.

Jefferson Parish President: Residents will probably be allowed back in town in a week, with identification only, but only to get essentials and clothing. You will then be asked to leave and not come back for one month.
from www.wwltv.com

I just recieved pictures in my .mil address showing (what used to be) Keesler AFB. It's devastating. My prayers are with everyone on the gulf coast.

PLEASE DONATE TO THE AMERICAN RED CROSS DISASTER RELIEF FUND...this is the biggest disaster relief operation the American Red Cross has ever attempted.

1-800-HELP-NOW
www.redcross.org

If you are in the affected areas and need help, call 1-866-GET-INFO

Right...the times we've had to evacuate, the photos and important papers come, and that's it. Everything else can be replaced.

Some pics are online on the eDodo Rumor Mill (it's an online community of Air Force Academy grads, former cadets and a small but vocal community of current and former AF enlisted)... http://www.edodo.org/rumormill/viewtopic.php?t=10211

Keesler sure got royally bitch-slapped by Katrina...

Has anyone ever gone and participated in a clean-up after a disaster like this? I'm assuming there are ways to volunteer to go down there and work, but I'm wondering how long it would take before they would start letting non-military and non-emergency personnel in to help.