Shutting down the blog and Deja Vu in Mexico

Thank you everyone who has read my blog. I am shutting it down now, will not be posting again unless something happens to make me want to restart it.

It is 2+ yrs post Katrina. The gulf coast is not up and going again yet, though much work has been done, continues to be done, continues to need to be done. It will never be like it was. Things change and a rapid reconstruction vs many many yrs slow growth means things will be different. The Big Easy is not so big, and not so easy a place to live since many of those without means to reconstruct have not been able to.

The canals have been cobbled back together, unsure how well or if they will hold for another hurricane or big flood. People are rebuilding, though many have given up and moved on. There is still a great need for help, financially and body-wise. If anyone has thought about taking a trip to MS/LA to see what is going on, perhaps to help in some way, there are lots of organizations doing good work who could use another person for even a day.

Again, thank you for reading here. Remember to vote. And have an emergency kit together because we have been shown that in time of emergency we can rely on ourselves and each other. There will be no cavalry coming to help, unless you are one of the Rich and Powerful.



Meanwhile, in Mexico, 300,000 people are trapped in their homes from flooding.


Article here.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled severe floods in the South Mexican state of Tabasco where rivers burst their banks after heavy rain. The centre of the state capital, Villahermosa, is under between 2m (6 feet) and 6m of water with only rooftops visible from the air. Some 300,000 are still trapped in their homes in Tabasco, waiting to be rescued by boat or helicopter.

Overall, the floods have claimed at least five lives in southern Mexico. Officially, one person has died in Tabasco due to the floods, and four people were killed in the neighbouring state of Chiapas, where several thousand homes have been affected. President Felipe Calderon has ordered the entire air force to help bring supplies into the region and move people out.

'Everything gone'

Villahermosa is completely overwhelmed by murky, filthy water, the BBC's Andy Gallacher reports from the city. Soldiers, first-aid workers and volunteers are scouring the streets in small boats, handing out fresh food and water, both of which are now in short supply.

The Mexican government has admitted that the scale of this disaster has taken them by surprise and for those still trapped in the remote areas of Tabasco aid is still a long way off. As the massive operation continues, there are now fears that disease could spread and forecasters say more heavy rain is on the way....(more)

Another article here.

Much of Tabasco capital remains underwater
Hundreds of rooftops rose like islands from a murky snake-infested sea of floodwater that gave this besieged city a look eerily reminiscent of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Soldiers and sailors in combat gear clutched automatic weapons to ward off looters and other criminals as rescuers worked into the night Saturday. Various media said eight people had died, one in Tabasco state and seven in neighboring Chiapas state, but state officials couldn't confirm the reports.

About 80 percent of Tabasco was underwater, but some rivers receded slightly Saturday. Villahermosa, the state's capital and largest city, remained largely flooded. Emergency crews struggled to maintain calm amid one of this country's worst-ever natural disasters. "It is catastrophic. We're never going to recover," psychologist Guadalupe Soto, 40, said as she peered across muddy, waist-high water at her submerged two-story house.

Villahermosa also was prey to horrifying rumors — that crocodiles, which normally live along the banks of some rivers, had invaded the floodwaters in the city's center, or that a dam upstream was about to burst....(more)

Looks like the coast is mostly just wet.

A few tornadoes, a bunch of rain, but nothing too bad otherwise for gulf coast weather for now. Much relief amongst friends down there. As usual, there are a couple more things developing in the Atlantic. Invest 96 and 97 which may or may not do something. Reading weather stuff makes me wonder what"Invest" means. Anyone know?

Tropical storm warning issued for metro New Orleans

Link to article here.

The National Weather Service put metro New Orleans under a tropical storm warning at 10 a.m., as rain, strong winds and coastal flooding are predicted to hit the area starting Saturday afternoon.

The warning covers Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes, in addition to coastal Mississippi counties.

Meteorologist Jim Vasilj of the weather service's Slidell office, said predictions call for 20 to 25 mph winds increasing to 35 mph to 40 mph during the day, with gusts topping those speeds.

About 2 to 4 inches of rain is expected to fall, with isolated downpours of up to 6 inches, Vasilj said. The storm might also cause coastal flooding in areas around Lake Pontchartrain and down Plaquemines Parish.

"It should start kicking in Saturday afternoon, then it should be weakening Saturday evening as it exits and moves toward the Baton Rouge area," he said. "By midnight, it should pretty much be past."

The service also issued an inland tropical storm warning for Washington Parish and Pearl River County.

Area emergency officials continued to make preparations Friday, just in case the bad weather over the eastern Gulf of Mexico continues to strengthen.

A contractor for the Army Corps of Engineers began the estimated eight-hour process of closing the Company Canal in Westwego to storm surge.

It marks the first closure across the waterway since the corps began emergency work to take a string of vulnerable floodwalls out of the flood protection system this summer.

Jerry Spohrer, director of the West Jefferson Levee District, said he hopes the bad weather turns out to be merely an excuse to test the new equipment.

"It's an excellent exercise to assure that we know how to close this gate," he said. "Hopefully we don't need it."

A tropical storm, maybe weak hurricane, is headed for MS/LA, FEMA trailers evacuating.

Looks like rain is headed to the gulf, along with some winds and 1-2 ft tide increase. Not as bad as a full fledged hurricane, but still those in trailers need to seriously consider evacuating. I heard from a friend in MS that construction is finally started on their property and they hope someday to move out of their FEMA mansion for good.


Link here.l

Harrison County recommends evacuating FEMA trailers; shelters open at 5 p.m.

The Harrison County Emergency Management Agency is gearing up after this morning's issuance of a tropical storm warning, meaning tropical storm conditions are expected to impact the area within 24 hours. It plans to open shelters at 5 p.m. today.

It is important for all residents residing in less than sturdy structures, specifically FEMA trailers or other similar structures, to actively monitor local media and be prepared to move to safe shelter if needed. Residents living in low lying areas should be prepared to move to higher ground if needed.

Currently Harrison County is expected to receive flood levels 4 to 7 feet above normal. The rising water could potentially impact dwellings located in any low lying areas that typically flood with heavy rains. The National Weather Service has advised that Harrison County can expect 2 to 4 inches of rain in the next 24 hours.

An evacuation recommendation is issued for all residents who reside in a FEMA trailer, mobile home or other similar structure. Residents are encouraged to leave the immediate area of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and seek shelter in a sturdy structure.

The Harrison County Emergency Management Agency and Coast Transit Authority are working in conjunction to provide emergency transportation assistance to residents in need of that service.

For transportation assistance residents should call 896-8080. For patients with special medical needs, please call 865-4111 or 865-1251.

Harrison County Emergency Management Agency, in conjunction with the American Red Cross, has designated the following public schools as shelters of last resort:

• Lizana Elementary School - 15341 Lizana School Road

• North Bay Elementary, Biloxi - 1825 Popps Ferry Road

• Central Elementary School, Gulfport - 1043 Pass Road

• Harrison Central High School - 15600 School Road

• Harrison Central Elementary - 15451 Dedeaux Road

• D'Iberville High School - 3320 Warrior Drive

• Saucier Elementary School - 24052 First Street

• Good Deeds Community Center - 15101 Madison Street

Residents should be prepared to provide for themselves and their family for a period of at least three (3) days.

A family shelter supply kit should include:

• Ready to eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables. No cooking will be permitted at the shelter

• One gallon of water per person per day (figure for 72 hours)

• Cooler filled with ice

• Canned juices, milk and soup.

• First Aid kit that includes your family's medications.

• Battery-powered radio, flashlight and extra batteries.

• Sanitation supplies.

• Special needs items for infants, elderly or disabled family members.

• Clothing and bedding (cot or sleeping bag).

• Extra set of car keys, credit cards or travelers checks.

• Keep important family papers in a water and fire proof container.

Please monitor sunherald.com and local television and radio stations for updates regarding these shelters.

Blackwater license being revoked in Iraq

For Blackwater's license being revoked in Iraq (article below) I am reposting my Black SUV picture from NO 9/05. We saw several black SUVs, along with "private guards" that weren't Police or National Guard. The picture may not be exciting, but we tried to avoid them, not look directly at them, not give offense to be stopped. I am wondering, will the bush administration actually let the Iraqi gvt HAVE the power to deny Blackwater their license? Will the Blackwater mercs come back to the USA? This could be interesting.




Direct link to article here.

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government said Monday that it was revoking the license of an American security firm accused of involvement in the deaths of eight civilians in a firefight that followed a car bomb explosion near a State Department motorcade.

The Interior Ministry said it would prosecute any foreign contractors found to have used excessive force in the Sunday shooting. It was the latest accusation against the U.S.-contracted firms that operate with little or no supervision and are widely disliked by Iraqis who resent their speeding motorcades and forceful behavior.

Underscoring the seriousness of the matter, the State Department said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned to call Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to express regret and assure him that the U.S. has launched an investigation into the matter to ensure nothing like it happens again.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said eight civilians were killed and 13 were wounded when contractors believed to be working for Blackwater USA opened fire in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad.

"We have canceled the license of Blackwater and prevented them from working all over Iraqi territory. We will also refer those involved to Iraqi judicial authorities," Khalaf said.

The spokesman said witness reports pointed to Blackwater involvement but said the shooting was still under investigation. It was not immediately clear if the measure against Blackwater was intended to be temporary or permanent.

Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., provides security for many U.S. civilian operations in the country.

The secretive company, run by a former Navy SEAL, has an estimated 1,000 employees in Iraq and at least $800 million in government contracts. It is one of the most high-profile security firms in Iraq, with its fleet of "Little Bird" helicopters and armed door gunners swarming Baghdad and beyond. (more to article at link)

Katrina: The Gathering

I found a deck of "Magic" game cards about Katrina. Good job guys. Here are a few, just for fun.

Link here.

Katrina: The Gathering
This is the combined effort of Ubiq and myself to use our mighty ubergeek powers to laugh in the face of that which cannot be explained. No offense is intended, unless offended is a Bureaucrat or Politician creature.

2 year anniversary. Here are some numbers and graphics

Recovery by the numbers, link here.

Electrical permits, link here.

Demolition permists, link
here.

I downloaded them and tried to say to post graphics but photobucket seems to not be working right right now. Will try later, but they are at those links and quite interesting.

Data Archive of past Hurricanes, Cyclones, Typhoons

I found this interesting website of data.
Click here, and pick your storm. There are several maps, showing wind direction and speed, pressure, route of storm and temperature of the ocean (watch how the ocean temp lowers after the storm passes, bringing colder water to the surface), and rain. There is a Help button up top which gives more info on each map, and if you click on the arrows on the third box up top it changes day/time as the storm progresses. Neat.

FEMA knew at 11 o'clock on Monday that the levees had breeched. They didn't tell anybody. Heck of a job.

Direct linkhere.

Greg Palast: Hurricane George: How the White House Drowned New Orleans
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Fri, 08/24/2007 - 2:13pm. Guest Contribution

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Greg Palast

[Thursday, August 23] It's been two years. And America's media is about to have another tear-gasm over New Orleans. Maybe Anderson Cooper will weep again. The big networks will float into the moldering corpse of the city and give you uplifting stories about rebuilding and hope.

Now, let's cut through the crybaby crap. Here's what happened two years ago -- and what's happening now. This is what an inside source told me. And it makes me sick:

"By midnight on Monday, the White House knew. Monday night I was at the state Emergency Operations Center and nobody was aware that the levees had breeched. Nobody."

The charge is devastating: That, on August 29, 2005, the White House withheld from the state police the information that New Orleans was about to flood. From almost any other source, I would not have believed it. But this was not just any source. The whistleblower is Dr. Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, the chief technician advising the state on saving lives during Katrina.

I'd come to van Heerden about another matter, but in our talks, it was clear he had something he wanted to say, and it was a big one. He charged that the White House, FEMA, and the Army Corps hid, for critical hours, their discovery that the levees surrounding New Orleans were cracking, about to burst and drown the city.

Understand that Katrina never hit New Orleans. The hurricane swung east of the city, so the state evacuation directors assumed New Orleans was now safe -- and evacuation could slow while emergency efforts moved east with the storm.

But unknown to the state, in those crucial hours on Monday, the federal government's helicopters had filmed the cracks that would become walls of death by Tuesday.

Van Heerden revealed: "FEMA knew at 11 o'clock on Monday that the levees had breeched. At 2 p.m., they flew over the 17th Street Canal and took video of the breech."

Question: "So the White House wouldn't tell you the levees had breeched?"

Dr. Van Heerden: "They didn't tell anybody."

Question: "And you're at the Emergency Center.'

Dr. Van Heerden: "I mean nobody knew. The Corps of Engineers knew. FEMA knew. None of us knew."

I could not get the White House gang to respond to the charges.

That leaves the big, big question: WHY? Why on earth would the White House not tell the state to get the remaining folks out of there?

The answer: cost. Political and financial cost. A hurricane is an act of God -- but a catastrophic failure of the levees is an act of Bush. Under law dating back to 1935, a breech of the federal levee system makes the damage -- and the deaths -- a federal responsibility. That means, as van Heeden points out, "these people must be compensated."

The federal government, by law, must build and maintain the Mississippi River levees to withstand known dangers -- or pay the price when they fail.

Indeed, that was the rule applied in the storms that hit Westhampton Dunes, New York, in 1992. There, when federal sea barriers failed, the floodwaters wiped away 190 homes. The Feds rebuilt them from the public treasury. But these were not just any homes. They are worth an average of $3 million apiece -- the summer homes of movie stars and celebrity speculators.

There were no movie stars floating face down in the Lower Ninth Ward nor in Lakeview nor in St. Bernard Parish. For the 'luvvies' of Westhampton Dunes, the federal government even trucked in sand to replace the beaches. But for New Orleans' survivors, there's the aluminum gulag of FEMA trailer parks. Today, two years later, 89,000 families still live in this mobile home Guantanamo -- with no plan whatsoever for their return.

And what was the effect of the White House's self-serving delay?

I spoke with van Heerden in his university office. The computer model of the hurricane flashed quietly as I waited for him to answer. Then he said, "Fifteen hundred people drowned. That's the bottom line."

They could have survived Hurricane Katrina. But they got no mercy from Hurricane George.

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

For the rest of the story, get the DVD, "BIG EASY TO BIG EMPTY: The Untold Story of the Drowning of New Orleans," as reported by Greg Palast from Louisiana for Democracy Now - with Amy Goodman and the music of "the city that care forgot." Watch a clip at (click here).

Financing dispute stalls Katrina cottages (more red tape)

Link to article and comments here.

Eight months after FEMA announced plans to distribute $388 million for alternative housing along the hurricane-battered Gulf Coast, Louisiana's $74.5 million share stands untapped because of bureaucratic haggling and, more recently, a dispute between the state housing board and a group of private contractors slated to build the structures.

Those circumstances leave the state several months away from handing any storm victims the keys to the so-called Katrina Cottages named for the killer hurricane of two summers ago.

The latest rub, said an organizer of the private consortium, is what cut the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency will take as the state's coordinating entity for the program, which Congress approved in 2006 to test alternatives for the FEMA trailers that still dot the coastline two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Ben Dupuy, a partner in the Cypress Group, the lead of four firms in Cypress Cottage Partners, said Tuesday that housing agency executives have proposed an administrative fee of as much as 10 percent, an amount that would come in addition to whatever management fee the private partnership collects as part of its contract.

Louisiana officials are aiming to build 450 to 600 structures that are designed to withstand hurricane-force winds but not necessarily serve as permanent housing. The higher the housing agency's cut, Dupuy said, the fewer units available to the thousands of Louisiana residents still living in trailers or out of state, waiting for an option to return.

Dupuy said Cypress and LHFA walked away from a daylong negotiating session late last week without an agreement. The budget outline, described by varying officials as conceptual, remains on the preliminary agenda for the agency's board meeting scheduled for today at its Baton Rouge headquarters.

"The LHFA has not yet shared what they're planning to go ahead with" at today's meeting, Dupuy said. "If it's the last thing we spoke about last week, then the two parties are not in agreement."

Gov. Kathleen Blanco selected LHFA as the coordinating agency in January, weeks after FEMA announced preliminary award amounts for the program and about the time federal authorities began budget negotiations with the four participating states.

A housing agency spokeswoman did not return messages Tuesday, though an attorney for the agency described the process in a recent interview as long but fruitful. "We are still waiting on some last-minute budget issues," said Keith Cunningham. "They are going to be resolved before (today's) board meeting."

Individual units average about $54,600, including site acquisition, construction and administrative costs estimated in the Cypress proposal submitted to the state last fall. The number of units actually built will vary according to what size families are selected as recipients. Larger families get larger, more expensive units.

Dupuy said he wants a $66 million construction budget, which he said would include a program management fee of about 7.5 percent, though he said that is not necessarily all profit. That amount assumes that the remainder of the state's $74.5 million grant would be divided this way: $3 million to LHFA; $2 million for the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps, for its role in helping identify potential recipients; and $3.5 million for research, development, environmental fees and reimbursement costs to Cypress for what the partners have already put into the program.

Any budget outline is subject next to FEMA's endorsement. Because FEMA has been involved in the negotiating loop since January, that step might ordinarily be viewed as a formality. But it is unclear whether federal officials would approve a budget if it entails terms that left the Cypress Group unwilling to sign a contract.

Diane Perry, a spokeswoman in FEMA's New Orleans office, said she could offer no details, adding that the negotiations are being handled out of the agency's national headquarters.

Also left unsettled are the qualifications and selection process for recipients and the exact locations of four planned Katrina Cottage communities. They are penciled in for Jackson Barracks, the Treme neighborhood, Abbeville and Lake Charles.

Besides portending a longer wait for potential cottage recipients, the circumstances underscore the complexities and contention that have marked the program since FEMA first invited Gulf Coast states to submit proposals to compete for a $400 million allocation.

From the outset, Louisiana officials decried FEMA's decision to make the program competitive, rather than based on need. The state's politicians ratcheted up the rhetoric after FEMA announced Dec. 22 that Mississippi was getting $281 million to Louisiana's $74.5 million and about $15 million each for Texas and Alabama.

Top FEMA executives initially defended the distribution, but later retreated, telling a congressional panel convened by U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., that the agency could have spread the awards more evenly considering Louisiana lost 3¤1/2 to four times as many residences as Mississippi.

The award amounts have stood, nonetheless, with Mississippi's budget outline winning FEMA approval in April after four months of negotiation. Mississippi placed its first home on a recipient's property in June and as of Tuesday had identified 753 potential recipients, with 108 already in new housing units.

Separately, the Cypress consortium has lost one of its members, ICF International, the private firm often hammered for its handling of the state's Road Home program for displaced homeowners. Dupuy said ICF opted out in January, about the time budget negotiations began. Asked whether ICF's public relations troubles involving Road Home contributed to its departure, Dupuy replied, "It was a mutual agreement."

Recent letters among Louisiana and FEMA officials illuminate additional frustration of recent months. Several Louisiana members of Congress urged FEMA Director David Paulison on July 12 to expedite the release of the state's grant, and they noted Mississippi's April approval in their appeal.

Paulison answered July 30 by pointing to FEMA's continued participation in talks. But he also tacitly acknowledged difficulties between Cypress and LHFA by informing the members of Congress that FEMA by law could meet only with the housing agency. Cypress, Paulison said, remained nothing more than a "potential contractor" that had yet to ink any document tying it to the deal.

Louisiana Recovery Authority Director Andy Kopplin, whose agency coordinated Louisiana's original proposal to FEMA, chimed in on Aug. 8 with a letter to Housing Agency President Milton Davis. Kopplin lamented a "lack of coordinated and constructive communications between the LHFA and Cypress and to a lesser extent FEMA regarding budgetary and programmatic issues."

Volunteers in NOLA

Link here.

Volunteers worth millions as the city still recovers

$263 million worth of service given so far, report estimates

By John Pope
Staff writer

By rolling up their sleeves to perform tasks such as feeding and sheltering evacuees, tutoring youngsters and gutting and rebuilding houses, about 1.1 million volunteers have contributed services worth nearly $263 million in the two years since Hurricane Katrina hit, according to a federal report released Monday.

About 600,000 men and women have donated their time in the storm-stricken area in the past year, 9 percent more than the 550,000 who came in the first year after the storm, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service. That government organization is an umbrella agency for several volunteer groups, including AmeriCorps.

"The generosity of the American people has been overwhelming," said Donald Powell, federal coordinator for rebuilding the Gulf Coast, during a news conference at Beauregard Middle School in Violet. The gathering was held not only to discuss the report, but also to give the shuttered school the temporary name of Camp Hope, a shelter for volunteers that houses about 200 people each week.

The previous Camp Hope had been at a nearby elementary school.

Because the scope of destruction was so vast, volunteer activity will have to continue at this level for at least eight more years, said Jim Pate, Habitat for Humanity's local executive director.

Calling the volunteer turnout "the bright side of the American spirit," Powell said he isn't worried about Katrina fatigue.

"I think that's evident today," he said, gesturing toward about 60 cheering volunteers in the audience.

The midday news conference was held in the un-air-conditioned cafeteria, where the temperature hovered around 90 degrees as electric fans barely stirred the hot, heavy air. Powell appeared in shirtsleeves and Pate wore shorts.

"I'm hot in here," U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said.

"You guys are cool in here," he said, pointing to the volunteers seated in front of him, "because you guys are the ones who have been working out here making a difference. By carrying the community on your backs, you are the essence of public service."

The calculations that resulted in the figures disclosed Monday were the work of the Corporation for National and Community Service. To determine how many people had come, the agency took head counts from about 40 organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, that have dispatched volunteers to the region, spokesman Sandy Scott said.

The 1.1 million people have performed about 14 million hours of work. To find the worth of an hour of volunteer work, Scott said the agency got a figure of $18.77 from Independent Sector, a coalition of corporations, foundations and volunteer groups. Using that amount, the government reached the $262.8 million total.

As the work continues, the need for volunteers will change, Scott said. While people who could gut houses and haul away muck were important in the first wave, Scott said the call has gone out for volunteers with tutoring, construction and medical skills.

Volunteers are vital, said David Dysart, St. Bernard Parish's recovery director. "Without you, this wouldn't be possible," he told the AmeriCorps workers. "Camp Hope rocks." Two volunteers, Crystal Wells of San Diego and Patrick Semanski of the San Francisco area, received the President's Volunteer Service Awards.

Did you hear that FEMA and Texas is all prepared for Hurricane Dean?

Just in case it moves north or its outlying rain causes a problem. I had a question posed to me by another cynical friend. Will those people living in northern Mexico go north to escape Dean, if it heads that way? What will happen at the border?

Katrina goat puts bad days behind (Brownie moves on)

Full article here.

Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed New Orleans, Michael Brown, who bore the brunt of the criticism for the federal response to the storm, has moved into a career promoting disaster-response and data-mining technology for government agencies and private customers.

Brown, who served as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency when Katrina blasted New Orleans and the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, has not returned to New Orleans in nearly two years. His last stop was on Sept. 11, 2005, the day before he resigned under pressure.

The next time he sees New Orleans, Brown ruefully suggests, it may be in response to lawsuits resulting from Katrina, which left more than 1,000 dead and tens of thousands homeless.

But while Brown may be gone from government, some of the private companies he now represents say they stand ready to help the government cope with new storms barreling into the Gulf of Mexico, as well as other potential disasters.

Living in Boulder, Colo., Brown has become a traveling salesman for companies selling computer software, high-tech machinery and communications technology. One of the companies focuses on anti-terrorism efforts, trying to help airlines detect potentially dangerous patterns among the flying public. Others specialize in Brown's old field of disaster response, helping communities rebuild and providing technology so the military and first responders can manage casualties on the ground.

Battle over 35 deaths at St. Rita's to begin

Reading about this incident up until now gave me a very strong opinion about it. As more information comes out I find I have judged too quickly. It will be very interesting to see what comes of this, who is held responsible, what really happened. I hope it will bring enough notice to perhaps go after those higher up, governmentally I mean, though that may not happen. Was there a mandatory evacuation order? Was there a way to comply with that? Who is responsible for the massive flooding and subsequent deaths?

At any rate, this incident was tragic.

Link to article
here.

ury selection starts Monday in high-profile trial of a couple accused of abandoning their nursing home to Katrina's fury

High on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, St. Francisville weathered Hurricane Katrina's initial onslaught with scattered power outages and some downed trees.

Then came the waves of evacuees, including several hundred people who took shelter in a school in the picturesque town 25 miles north of Baton Rouge and 115 feet above sea level.

"We obviously didn't have any flooding and there wasn't much wind damage, but we were bulging at the seams for weeks and weeks," West Feliciana Parish tourism director Kitty Martin said. "The town probably doubled in size overnight."

Nearly two years later, St. Francisville is about to be inundated by another Katrina-spawned wave of visitors as a West Feliciana Parish jury will be asked to render a judgment in what was perhaps the catastrophic storm's deadliest episode: the drowning of 35 residents at St. Rita's nursing home in St. Bernard Parish.

The home's owners, Mabel Mangano, 64, and her husband,Sal Mangano, 67, face 35 countsof negligent homicide for not evacuating the nursing home as Katrina bore down on southeastern Louisiana in late August2005

(clip some of article)

Trapped by floodwaters

The hurricane's monstrous storm surge pounded over and through St. Bernard's levees,unleashing raging floodwaters that knocked able-bodied men off their feet. At the nursing home near Poydras, residents confined to their beds or wheelchairs were quickly overwhelmed by the rapidly rising water, which turned the single-story building into a tomb within 20 minutes.

Authorities have said the Manganos ignored a mandatory evacuation order and refused an offer of two buses to take their residents to safety the day before Katrina made landfall.

The couple's attorneys dispute that parish officials properly declared a mandatory evacuation. They said the Manganos made a reasonable decision to"shelter in place" because the home had never flooded and no one anticipated the levee failures that would leave virtually the entire parish underwater.

(more clipping)

Painting another picture

Defense attorneys have emphasized that - contrary to some erroneous reports shortly after the hurricane - the Manganos themselves did not evacuate and rode out the storm at the nursing home along with their two children, several grandchildren and about a half-dozen staff members.

"Unless you view the whole Mangano family as a pod of suicidal whales swimming up on a beach, how can you call their actions reckless?" Cobb said before the gag order was issued."They had no earthly idea this could happen. No one did."

He said the Manganos stocked up with a two-week supply of fuel, water, food and medicine, as well as making other preparations, such as buying a washing machine because the home's large commercial washers couldn't be run on a generator. About 10 residents were evacuated by relatives as thestorm approached, leaving 59residents at the nursing home.

After the hurricane passed,Sal and Mabel Mangano began preparing the home's traditional Monday lunch of red beans and rice as their adult grandson,Tanner Mangano, stepped outside under clear skies to assess the damage.

He has said he heard a noise that sounded like a freight train.Then he saw a wall of water 6feet high rushing across the highway with dogs and pigs scrambling to get out of the way.

A couple of the men swam to nearby houses to get boats. When they returned minutes later, people were already clinging to the nursing home's gutters as the water quickly rose to within inches of the ceiling.

The death toll at St. Rita's likely would have been higher if not for one fortuitous fact: Because the residents' mattresses were wrapped in plastic liners,they floated.

The extended Mangano family and staff members used the mattresses as makeshift lifeboats, ferrying residents out through broken windows and onto the roof. From there, they were taken by boats to the second floor of the nearby Beauregard Middle School and eventually to a makeshift shelter at the Chalmette port, along with more than 8,000 other parish residents rescued from the floodwaters.

The Manganos and their employees managed to save two dozen residents, a feat that Cobb characterizes as nothing short of heroic.

(more clipped)

Stone Soup:"The hurricane thing is over, but the homeless thing is not"

Click on the picture to enlarge it enough to see.