My heart is very heavy as the extent of damage from Hurricane Katrina becomes more and more clear. This is a monumental natural disaster, what President Bush called “one of the worst natural disasters in U. S. history” and one whose recovery will “take years.” Let me try and summarize the current situation as best as I can…
New Orleans, Louisiana 
Much of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana is destroyed. 80% of the city is under water with no end in sight. 2.3 million are withou electricity in the southeast including the entire city of New Orleans. The mayor of New Orleans Parish, Ray Nagin, said that deaths in the city would “most likely” number in the thousands. Emergency personnel are so overwhelmed that they are literally pushing aside corpses floating in the water as they instead focus on finding more survivors. Mayor Nagin has called for an entire evacuation of the city saying that the city would be uninhabitable for 2-3 months. An entire U. S. city uninhabitable for months.
The evacuation is beginning with the 25,000 who took shelter during the storm in the Superdome, a stadium in downtown New Orleans. The structure that possibly saved thousands of lives could be slowly killing them. With no air-conditioning or electricity, food, water or bathrooms, and with a damaged roof and water leaking in, the thousands who sought shelter in the Superdome are being evacuated to the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Hundreds of buses will transport the refugees with the first group arriving late Wednesday night. That this is not expected to be a short stay is illustrated by the Houston School District welcoming displaced students for the upcoming school year.
Looting is out of control in the city as residents have overwhelmed the city’s police force who have been focused primarily on search and rescue efforts. Michelle Malkin reports that after confronting some looters at a Chevron, a police officer was shot in the head. Some think that the looting has subsided...
Probably there’s nothing left to loot and once the TV and stereo snatchers found they couldn’t eat or drink them, the glamour wore off pretty quickly. I’d be willing to bet that within a couple of blocks of stores there is a lot of snatched stuff sunk under the water. It’s hard to lug a set of Michelins through chest high sludge, I’m guessing.
...though it also seems to be getting worse in parts; increased hunger and thirst will lead to more aggressive and violent confrontations.
Just recently, the AP is reporting that with looting having “spiraled so out of control that Mayor Nagin ordered virtually the entire police force to abandon search-and-rescue efforts and focus on the brazen packs of thieves who have turned increasingly hostile.” It's shameful that the police will have to stop the rescue and recovery of human beings in peril to quell rampant looting. How important are new shoes or a microware when there is nothing to eat or drink?
While the hurricane exacted an enormous amount of damage upon the New Orleans, most of the flooding that has inundated the city was caused when 2 levees gave way AFTER the hurricane passed. Most of the city of New Orleans, by elevation, lies below the water level of both the Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi river.
The graphic to left shows how the city of New Orleans sits below the water-line of both Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. With the city below the water level, it relies upon these levees, and constantly running electric pumps, to keep the city dry. When these levees failed, the city, shaped much like a bowl, took on the water of Lake Pontchartrain until it found equilibrium between the city's flooded level and the lakes's own level. It is this water that is covering the city and will continue to until those levees are repaired and they can get the water pumped out. Until then, the entire city is a big bowl of lake water polluted with dead bodies, gasoline, garbage and human waste.
Getting the water out of the city will be a slow and difficult process. Normally, when cities flood after hard rains or snowmelt, time restores the city as gravity gradually empties the water back into the river basin from whence it came. This is not possible in New Orleans; gravity will keep the water in the city until it can be pumped out. This will take months. The city as it was known may be gone forever.
Mississippi Gulf Coast
Arguably the brunt of the storm focused on the gulf coast between New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama with ground zero being the Mississippi cities of Gulfport and Biloxi. Video footage of these areas show destruction on a truly unimaginable scale. It can best be described as something you would see in an over-the-top special effects laden movie with apocalypse-like destruction.
A storm surge, estimated at 25 feet wiped out 90% of ALL coastal buildings from Gulfport to Biloxi. All the casinos that lined the Gulf coast are destroyed. These casinos employed thousands of people and brought in $500,000 a day in revenue; no more. Streets and homes were flooded up to 6 miles inland by the storm surge. Parts of Gulfport are under 10 feet of water. The damage was not confined to coastal regions. 80% of the state of Mississippi are without power. The state capital of Jackson is estimated to be without power for weeks. 60 miles north of Gulfport in Hattiesburg, the mayor reports that most homes in the city are damaged.
Much like many other natural disasters, Hurricane Katrina was particularly devastating on the poor. Mississippi has a mean income of $18,000, the lowest per capita income in the country. With many of the poor living paycheck to paycheck and the hurricane coming so late in the month, many did not have the money for the gas and food and hotel required to evacuate. Less than a week away from their paychecks, many decided to ride the storm out and protect their belongings from looters. Many have paid with their lives. Totals on the dead are spotty as most cities are still trying to focus on rescuing those still alive. Those communities who are trying to deal with the dead are finding their morgues filled and a lack of refrigerated trucks to transport the bodies.
One thing that I found particularly disconcerting has been the demeanor of the on-scene TV correspondents. Usually calm and collected, I am seeing hints of despair and hopelessness from what I think is frustration in seeing the breadth of the destruction and the dire straights the city faces. It seems like the tragedy is taking a very strong emotional toll upon even seasoned reporters. That those who are supposedly hardened against getting emotionally involved in their stories seem to be vulnerable is a cause for concern. This disaster will be the Tsunami of 2005. More people will be found to have died as a result of Hurricane Katrina than in the Twin Towers attacks and an entire city will have to be rebuilt, if that is even possible.
Response
The response to this disaster is clear: you should give some of your money to relief agencies to support those affected by the devastation. 
It is as simple as that. Bloggers all over the world are joining together to raise money for Hurricane Katrina relief. While there are many charities that are accepting donations, I suggest that you donate to The Salvation Army or American Red Cross. More charities can be found at Instapundit and The Truth Laid Bear has more information on some other charities you can donate to as well.
Check out some other creative opportunities like Amy at Open Book suggested like The World's Largest Sleepover in Texas. The site has a list of needed articles for the thousands that are coming and staying in the Astrodome. Another great idea is Bill Hennessey's. He has created a clearinghouse called KatrinaHomes for those who wish to share a home for a displaced family.
For an almost up-to-the minute report on the fund raising efforts as well as the details of Hurricane Katrina, see Michelle Malkin's fantastic blog or Hugh Hewitt's blog. Additionally, you can find more information on Katrina by following any of the links at the top right hand side of this page under the heading 'Katrina.' [ Top ]
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