On Third Anniversary Of Katrina, Officials Aren’t Confident New Orleans’ Levees Can ‘Handle’ Gustav

Think Progress- By Satyam at 8:29 pm

Three years ago today, Hurricane Katrina made landfall upon New Orleans. The storm was tragically followed by an abysmal disaster response from the Bush administration and ultimately took the lives of nearly a thousand of the city’s residents.

Last week, President Bush appeared in New Orleans to say that “hope is coming back” to the city, due to $126 billion in disaster aid sent to the region in the last three years. As the Progress Report notes today, there is still mountains of work to be done, including “significant debris management issues,” a clean-up fraught with environmental issues, and vacant homes.

Today, Tropical Storm Gustav “threatens to become a hurricane and poses the biggest threat to New Orleans since the killer 2005 storm,” the AP reports. In an interview with CNN yesterday, Mayor Ray Nagin expressed concern about the sturdiness of the city’s levee system:

Well we are ready to evacuate. The big question is, which shape are our levees in. For all the work that the corps of engineers has done, is it going to be sufficient enough to handle what is projected to be a category 3 that right now is poised and pointed towards New Orleans?

Watch it:

In a press conference yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told residents, “Don’t try to rely upon the fact that the levees are stronger than they were in Katrina to assume that that’s going to necessarily protect you from harm.”

ThinkProgress assembled a timeline of the administration’s failure to respond to Hurricane Katrina. See the timeline here.

A band of musicians who call themselves The Loose Marbles transformed the northeastern corner of Washington Square Park into a magnet for those strolling through, reading in, lounging around, and residing in Washington Square on Friday.  Spewing out song after song reminiscent of New Orleans jazz, the Marbles' raspy singer, tattered trombone, trumpet, clarinet, and acoustic guitar hypnotized the crowd that had grown around them.  Also enhancing the impromptu concert was the performance of the two dancers, Chance and Amy, whom the band picked up a few years ago when playing in a New Orleans street at the same time as a large swing dancing competition.

The members split their earnings between whomever shows to play; the band is no set group of guys.  They all have different backgrounds--musical and otherwise.  A blurry history with no definite beginning and end, the surest thing about The Loose Marbles is that their live music will take you to another place--New Orleans, Washington Square Park, the days of Swing, or wherever your hypnotized mind cares to wander.

The Convention Center was a different story.  Here it was all business as the National Guard moves in to provide security in the event of evacuation.  J. pointed out to me that there's something odd here when the collective memory of Katrina is of crime and violence.  Not that of a government unprepared, but of a desperate citizenry.  The National Guard is here, prisoners have been evacuated, and now we all wait to see what to do next.  Everything seems better organized than it looked in 2005.  There will be no "shelter of last resort," though.  And this worries me.  I worry that the city is dealing with the inevitability of people left in town by refusing help and preparing to shoot.  We will have to wait and see what happens, but I'll do that from Texas.

The response was slow. It happens that in one of his (few) criticisms of George W. Bush, John McCain spouts the Katrina situation as a major failure on the part of the administration. During the aftermath, it was said the US Army Corps of Engineers had told the administration the levees in New Orleans required repair or replacement, but the money didn't come. It had long ago been diverted to the war effort in Iraq.

Now Gustav is threatening to make landfall in the US, and New Orleans is more than prepared for their next showdown with mother nature. But what are the Republicans to do?

As Tropical storm Gustav inches closer to slamming into the Gulf Coast, a spokesman for presumptive presidential nominee John McCain suggested the RNC might decide to postpone its national convention events in St. Paul next week in the event of another hurricane disaster.

Spokesman Tucker Bounds said in an interview with Market Watch news service late Thursday, “Sen. McCain has always been sensitive to national crisis … and we are monitoring the situation very closely.”

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

Well, it sounds as if they're concerned. Concerned enough to stall their parties up here in Minnesota. But is concern the real reason? Unlikely. More likely this apparently magnanimous move has to do with media coverage. It was said many times that John McCain was genuinely sore about the lack of attention he garnered while the Democratic primaries were going on, when all eyes were on Obama and Clinton. In other words, the Republicans are worrying that they won't be in the spotlight if another disaster should happen. And in this system, often times media coverage means votes. The Democrats had their fair share at the DNC, so would losing this coverage shoot the Republican chances to hell?

Another thought that struck me was this: Perhaps this is a means to gain better PR in the eyes of the nation. George Bush looked like an uncaring jerk on his pedestal of the White House, safe and warm while many people suffered in the cold and dark. John McCain and his advisers likely do not want him to earn such an appearance. The slogan says "Country First," and that's just what they'll do...at least until the man gets elected into office. Then its McCain and Rich White Men First.

A third point, brought up to me recently: How do the protest permits work? Will they expire in a short amount of time? Will they become worthless in a week's span and then not be reissued for when the convention actually happens? Maybe Gustav is playing right into the hands of the Republicans. Maybe this hurricane will help their little party go off without a hitch, without dissent. Maybe its not what they're planning, and maybe their intentions are good, but I think I smell something a little fishy.

Anyway, I got a lot of reading done, and it was sort of a mixed bag since I ran out of reading once I got to my parents', read something my brother had left behind, and then made an impulse purchase at the airport. In addition, I continue to make my way through my big ol' stack of advanced reader copies from Anaheim (and from my generous children's lit professor).

Hawkes Harbor: I'm not sure why, but I had been operating under the belief that S.E. Hinton had died in the seventies or something. This is clearly untrue. Fans of the novels that made her famous might be a little disappointed by this offering, as I was. It's sort of... um... weird. There's a vampire. The time period jumps around a lot, which gets more than a little confusing. And a fair bit of it takes place in a mental institution. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but this isn't exactly the quality of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames: My brother's assessment of this one was pretty much correct--it's fine, but not really his best stuff. It's much more entertaining if you're familiar enough with Sedaris to hear him narrating things.

Babylon Rolling: I really couldn't put this one down. At first I was sure I would hate the way the narration style changes depending on the character who's the focus of the chapter, but it actually works quite well. One small critique: for a novel that does a certain amount of pondering about race, it was a little hard for me to tell the ethnicity of a few of the characters. (Was that the point? Am I just dumb? Entirely possible.) Anyway, it's about five families on the same New Orleans street just as Ivan is hitting, and now I simply must check out Pretty Little Dirty.

The Last Street Novel: This was my impulse purchase in the Boise airport. And if I'd been a little more careful about hanging onto the receipt, I could've gotten half my money back the next time I fly in there. (In my defense, I was flying on a redeye to Boston.) I decided to give street lit a second chance after my unpleasasnt reaction to Dirty Game, and I'm really glad I did. Although apparently Tyree is retiring from the genre, I'm planning to try out more of his work.

Half Moon Investigations: Finally! A children's book I didn't hate! In fact, it was fantastic. I was extremely wary at the outset--a precocious child who sounds like a hard-boiled detective! How adorable!--but I got into things pretty quickly. It also manages to sneak in a message about reputation, assumptions, and walking in someone else's shoes for a change. I'm not surprised this author has a best-selling series.

Well, here we go again - a storm is threatening Louisiana (or Texas - who knows?).  This week is the anniversary of Katrina's visit to New Orleans three years ago; let's hope our Republican friends gathering up in Minnesota next week remember to pay attention to the little sprinkle someone along the Gulf Coast is bound to get.

Here are some reminders:

MP3: "Talkin' Bout New Orleans" by The Meters

MP3: "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" by Allen Toussaint

MP3: "What's Going On" by Dirty Dozen Brass Band with Chuck D

MP3: "Fortunate Son" by the New Orleans Social Club

MP3: "Hurricane" by Levon Helm

MP3: "God Forsaken Town" by Reckless Kelly

MP3: "Children Of The Storm" by Mudcrutch

MP3: "Louisiana 1927" by Randy Newman

It was Hurricane Katrina that brought me to New Orleans a month after the storm to do relief work with Calvary.  And it was during this time that the Lord gave me a heart for the people of New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana.  Here are some pictures from that trip!

ULTIMO AVISO DE GUSTAV AQUÍ

Gustav ha alcanzado la categoría de huracán y se dirige hacia las islas Caimán y la costa oeste de Cuba

Los datos registrados por el avión caza huracanes indican que Gustav ya posee vientos sostenidos de 120 km/h con algunas ráfagas mas intensas, la presión central sigue cayendo y en el último reporte se encontraba en 980 hPa señal de que Gustav se está intensificando rápidamente, dentro de pocos días, Gustav podría alcanzar por lo menos la categoría 3 de la escala Saffir-Simpson. Estos vientos de intensidad de huracán se extienden hasta 45 km del centro de la tormenta mientras que el radio de los vientos de tormenta tropical ha aumentado hasta los 260 km.

Hace aproximadamente unos minutos, el ojo de Gustav se encontraba a 160 km al este de la isla Gran Caimán y a 610 km de la costa oeste de Cuba, se movía hacia el noroeste a 19 km/h por lo que con este movimiento se corrobora el ajuste de trayectoria. Con esta trayectoria, el ojo de Gustav estará pasando por las islas Caimán durante la noche.

Se espera que Gustav este dejando acumulados de hasta 250 mm en las islas Caimán, y por su paso por Cuba es capaz de dejar hasta 640 mm, acumulados que son extremadamente peligrosos.

Anexamos una imagen de satelite de alta definicion, hacer click en ella para verla en tamaño real.

I think that is why they are evacuating every one earlier than usual.  I just hope they are sending folks to places where they may get torrential rain or tornadoes.  My little kathouse stood up to katrina and experienced superficial damage.  I'd rather be in a ditch than a motel built in the 80s if there's tornadoes and flooding.   I was born in Oklahoma, raised in Iowa and Nebraska, and moved down here from Minnesota.  I know floods and tornadoes well.

So, the question is, do I stay or do I go?  Right now, I'm staying put.  Like I said, I don't want to head to Florida and be creamed two days later by Hanna or head to Texas and then have Gustav go west and rain hail and tornadoes on me in some poorly built motel room.   So, stay tuned folks as the center of my life the next few days becomes getting my house and act together.  Emily insists she's okay at LSU and wants to see the football game now scheduled at 10 am.  LSU has underground generators and very sturdy buildings so I have no doubt she'll be safe there.  I have a kitten, a cat that think its a doberman, and an goofy old retriever mix.  That's always a consideration too, however, after Katrina, I have to say the chances for animals actually being cared for is good this time.  They're making arrangements to evacuate pets if people have to take buses and seek public shelters.  Hopefully, that will make the vulnerable and old more willing to go.

I just thought I'd post a few more Katrina pictures here for you so you could remember three years ago.  What I'm actually going to post is the pictures I took after we got home and shared our common love of our wonderful city. Just remember, we're a resilient lot down here.

It’s a chilling thought and one that I don’t have time to fully analyze right now. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is taking the threat seriously and is leaving the Democratic National Convention in Denver, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

If you want to learn more, please read this excellent post from Wall Street Weather, which notes the upcoming New Moon in Virgo is conjunct the Sun of the Hurricane Katrina landfall chart.

Even though it’s said that lightning can’t strike twice in the same place, evidently hurricanes can.

If you’re a weather freak and want to keep an eye on the Big Easy, the ultimate source is  Mark Schleifstein, who writes for the Times-Picayune. Here’s his one of his latest articles.

Those who do not believe in a higher power may call this coincidence......

It has been three years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, so we sent the following questions to Randy Bacon, a New Orleans native and director of the Behrend Builders Shelter Repair program at the Washington DCJCC. Randy led a group of volunteers to New Orleans in May/June of 2006.

Where were you when Katrina hit? How did your family in New Orleans do both before and after the levees broke.
When Katrina hit New Orleans I was here in DC and watching the television non-stop to see what was going on.  My family waited until about 12 hours before the storm actually hit New Orleans before leaving.   They took 11 different cars filled with parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, spouses, nieces and nephews.  At some point I lost contact with every family member and once the storm made landfall they lost all cell phone reception.  It wasn’t until 6 days later that I was finally able to talk to one of my brothers.  He explained that everyone in my family was okay but scattered around at different hotels in different states.  He explained that they were running into problems accessing money from ATMs and wouldn’t be able to purchase food or pay for the hotels once all the cash on hand was gone.

What was it like the first time you went back to New Orleans after Katrina?

The first time I went back to New Orleans was when Behrend Builders orchestrated a volunteer project on which we took a total of 14 people from the DC area to go do some relief work in the hardest hit areas of New Orleans.  We intended on gutting 2 houses for families that had 8 to 12 feet of water inside the homes, but our volunteers pushed themselves and we did a total of 4 houses.  Each gutting job probably saved the families around $10,000 dollars per home.  We began by removing all personal items and then started at the ceiling and didn’t stop until we could see the concrete on the floor and in some cases the grass underneath the raised homes.  I have been back since and all of the houses we gutted have been repaired and are once again a HOME.

How did the Behrend Builder’s trip to New Orleans come-about?
The Behrend Builder trip came about when the previous Coordinator (Annie Mehlman) approached me to see how she could help me or my family.  I said we would be fine and she suggested we plan a relief trip to help those in need.
What do you think will happen if Gustav lands on the city? Is your family staying?

My family hasn’t made a decision on what they will do this time.   They will decide early tomorrow morning.

UPDATE: Randy emailed me this evening to say that his parents have decided to leave New Orleans and ride out the storm from a safer distance. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his parents and everyone along the Gulf Coast.

On the way to Rachel's, I had the feeling something was wrong with the brakes but forgot about it (I swear, I never learn to listen to the voice in my head). Of course, this haunted me later. On our happy blue sky way to Mississippi, I asked Rachel if she felt the road was slanted and how strange that was. She gave me a "you're crazy" look and we kept on driving. But life likes to mess with me and a few minutes later, the car started vibrating and down goes my back left tire. I managed to pull over on a wide section of the shoulder and we both got out and stared at the horror of the tire rubber in pieces. As much as I hate to admit it, I can't change a tire to save my life. I know the general procedure, but not confident enough to do it and feel safe driving. Two minutes later, a cop magically showed up and with no questions asked, changed our tire and we were on our way in 15. Talk about an angel! Didn't hurt he wasn't bad looking. I guess I just have horrible luck with road trip snafus. With the burning tire in the trunk, we headed to our destination.

Mrs. Sheila met us at the hotel and showed us our VIP room. It was massive with beautiful beds, large bathroom the size of some of our hostel room and a pretty flat screen. Apparently gambling a lot means a lot of free things and VIP treatment because after a swim in the pretty pool, free amazing buffet (you know, the casino kind where there's EVERYTHING) and some gambling, we came back to a dimly lit room with music turned on, chocolates on our pillow and turn-down service.

After a relaxing night, we got in the car with the burning tire to find out that Gustav was headed our way. Sigh. Vacation over. After some obligatory joking, we faced the reality. The "good news" is I was moving to Austin this weekend anyway with little stress due to everything being still packed up. The bad news is if there's an evacuation, the entire city is going to flee on the same day I leave. 5 hours to Houston turns into 15 and as much as I love road trips, sitting in the car at a standstill is not fun. Then came the realization that if I left early, I would also have to prep the house as if a hurricane was coming. Given that my parents are out of the country still and my sister isn't the most responsible person, I suddenly realized I had to undergo my first evacuation alone (I was in St. Louis during Katrina).

Locating important documents, cleaning the back yard, moving things slightly higher and packing my car ended up sending me into a frozen state; for about three hours, I hid in my room to avoid the 94 degree sun and watched a movie. My neighbors already cornered me and demanded that I knock on their door if we needed anything (Mr. L started cutting our grass when my dad got sick). But it is what it is and part of being an adult is facing the reality of the situation, so I packed the car (fourth time this summer) and somehow managed to get everything done without having another breakdown.

So off I go to my new life tomorrow; I desperately hope I'll have this life to return to. But like all true New Orleanians, I'm not going to worry until I have to worry. Most likely, it won't hit or we'll get some flooding, so until then, I'm going to take a breath and dive into the next chapter! Luck to all those leaving or staying. I'm sad to miss out on those hurricane parties. :P