Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Hurricane Katrina

Anyone else watching this thing? My roommate is supposed to wake me up in the morning and let me know whether or not we have to vacate our apartment. I might pack up and head to Georgia with a few people if this storm gets any worse...pray that there's some Gulf Coast when I get back. Personally, it would be a god-send if it moved a little more west tomorrow, but we shall see...

Jen

Fingers crossed - hope everything turns out ok

**crosses some fingers too**

Mom already called me and woke me up at 6:30 this morning. (So much for sleep, right?) She and dad are in Orlando this weekend on a conference and are safe, but she told me to just get the hell out of town than stay in their house (by myself) which is the usual plan. So we're just waiting for the official word from campus to leave, but I seriously doubt they'll tell us to stick around with a 5 churning not too far away. Um, keep me in your thoughts, ok? It's pretty damn scary. It's amazing to think, though, after 17 years here this is only the first time I'm evacuating.

Jen

I've been keeping an eye on Katrina -- she's scary. From what I'm seeing, this could be the worst storm in thirty years or more. I quote from the Weather Channel guy on location -- "If you're not scared, you should be."

Jen, I'll say a prayer for the safety of you and our other Gulf Coast friends ... and, less importantly, also for the oil refinery near New Orleans; if that gets wrecked, gas prices will skyrocket

PJ

Yikes, Jen! Stay safe!!! Sending good thoughts and good luck your way!

Sara

Jen,

Hope you have already evacuated. The Weather Channel is having round-the-clock coverage of Katrina. I've been watching on-and-off for new updates on the situation there.

I'm far from the coast (DFW), but still hope everyone is safe out there on Katrina's path.

**crossing fingers for everyone's belonguings and lives**

malu

P.S.: Let us know as soon as you can of your situation (this is for everyone on the hurricane path)

I'm from south Louisiana and we are watching the storm closely. We have family staying at our house, ane are praying everything will work out fine. Hey, I also hope the storm doesn't mess with the oil refineries - gas prices are plenty high enough!!

Stay safe, Jen!

And stay safe yourself, Shelly

Have you been to the store yet to get eggs, milk, & bread? I think those are required by law

PJ
who's just heard that her brother-in-law who lives in New Orleans is going to stay there...

I hope you'll be safe from this monster!

simona

I just heard how bad this had gotten over on another forum, and thought of y'all. Stay safe!

And Jen, I hope you are taking your mom's suggestion!

Hi,

If any of you are in the path of this hurricane move.

This is kind of phenomenon are very unpredictable and very dangerous.

Don't let you guard down.

MAF
My prays with everyone.

I can't belive it...I was in New Orleans a week ago!! And I'm very sorry because it's a fantastic city..I've loved it!!

I've been watching the reports on CNN this morning and feeling great worry for all of you in the Gulf Coast area and for everyone in southern Lousiana and Mississippi. It looks like New Orleans has been spared the very worst, though hearing that the Superdome is coming apart was shocking, but places like Biloxi and Gulfport are in a very bad way.

I think what astonishes and appals me almost as much as the terrible destruction is what the news organisations expect of their reporters and crews. These people are among the only human beings outside, exposed to the elements. There's one reporter and his crew in a car in Gulfport, a place described as a ghost town - everyone's evacuated. Everyone but the reporting team! And every time they go to Gulfport this reporter gets out of the protection of his armoured car and into 100+mph winds and torrential rain.

In Biloxi, with gusts of 90+mph, a reporter and crew are standing outside a hotel which is falling apart! Bits of roof tiles, vinyl siding, window-frames and glass and even bits of trees are blowing everywhere, and these people are stnding out in it. In New Orleans CNN has a reporter standing outside the Superdome, a building which was supposed to withstand anything but whose roof is peeling off due to the weather. They've got another guy on a pier in Baton Rouge, where the Mississippi has risen about 10 feet and where an enormous barge is floating loose and banging against the same pier, and the winds are so strong he can barely stand upright.

Are we that hungry for news that we want people's lives to be put at risk just to bring us a story? In Baton Rouge a student being interviewed said, almost gleefully, that this was a "fun place" to watch the storm from. Anyone who could describe this sort of weather, a hurricane which has already destroyed lives, property, natural resources and so on to such an extent, and which will cause destruction running into perhaps billions of dollars, not to mention hardship and anguish for so many people who may return to their homes in a few days' time to find that they've lost most of what they owned, and maybe their jobs too if the businesses where they worked are destroyed too, needs to re-evaluate his priorities.

/rant


Stay safe, everyone in Katrina's path! And, whenever you can, let us know that you're okay. Jen, Shelley, anyone else in that part of the US, we're keeping you in our thoughts.


Wendy

You didn't see the stupid guy on CNN, did you? He and his camera man walked out of a hotel loading dock (I think in New Orleans).. the camera man stayed between the walls, but the news guy walked out towards the street and crouched behind a trashcan. As he was holding onto the trashcan, a metal bar broke off in his hand. He let the bar go down the street and finally came back inside. The desk anchor said he had a lot of courage, but not a lot of sense.

I hope our Gulf folcs are all right, but I know a lot of people down there are without power and internet. We'll be waiting.

/me mumbles about Gulf coast customers calling up about their internet in the middle of a hurricane, and soon after... had heard one customer even said "I was wondering why my power was flickering"

Yes, I saw that and was appalled at him deliberately letting the bar go. Hope it didn't hit anyone further down the street!

I'd take out the courage part and just leave in the plain stupidity.

LabRat

Ditto. I saw that too. Moron! You know, I wonder how many of these news reporters not only endanger their own safety and lives, but hamper rescue efforts by either being in the way or needing to be rescued themselves!

On the other hand, there was a CNN cameraman who went out in one of the rescue boats in New Orleans yesterday evening, without his camera, helping to get trapped people off the roofs of their houses and onto dry(ish) land.

But then this morning CNN had a report from Biloxi, Missouri, where an apartment block collapsed killing 30 people. 55 are believed dead so far in the town. What was the big story? Some idiot had come to Biloxi from California to, and I quote, "see the hurricane." He came to a city which was being evacuated because it was facing the worst storm in decades. And he came to be a sightseer. In a city where dozens are dead, where thousands have lost their homes and all they possess, all he was interested in was the 'thrill' of watching and filming the storm. Standing on the fourth floor of a car park videoing the storm surge, 25 feet and more of water coming up from the bay. Well, he got his thrill, he got his videotape and he'll have his few hours of fame on CNN - but what a selfish, compassionless moron. All he could do was smile and talk about what an amazing experience it had been, while less than a mile from where he was thrillseeking 30 people are still inside what used to be their homes, dead. I can only imagine how angry I'd be if I was a Biloxi resident who'd lost my home or, worse still, seen loved ones swept away by the water and debris.

Disasters do generally bring out the best in people in terms of helping one another - but they seem to bring out the worst in some people, too.


Wendy

And this ain't over yet. New Orleans is flooding.

There's a lot of information to be found here: http://www.brendanloy.com/ He's not an official anything, just a hurricane buff who's been phenomenal in pulling information together.

PJ

Yeah, I'm watching the video on TV about the flooding in New Orleans. In some places the water is so high, it goes up to the roof of the houses. I'm watching on the local news, the coast guard is rescuing about 10 people from of a roof. My uncle lives there and we have no idea how his house is; he is staying in Destin.
There are also fires burning, and people are still trapped on their roofs. The rescue workers are trying to get roads cleared enough to get to the stranded people. It's really a terrible situation. People are also looting homes and taking people's belongings.

The newscasters are saying that New Orleans looks like downtown Baghdad.

Here at my house, all is well. We got a little rain and alot of winds.

Glad to hear you're okay, Shelly!

??? I thought downtown Baghdad would be all dry & dusty? I guess it depends on your point of view... Oh well, they've been broadcasting continously for two-three days, so I guess they're entitled to stretch their analogies a bit.

I haven't heard anything about my brother-in-law yet. Supposedly, he was taking shelter in a very solidly built house on relatively high ground, but I don't know if it'll be high enough...

PJ

Well, I figure the comparison was more down to 'looking like a bomb just hit it and now a heap of rubble' rather than wet or dry.

LabRat