Today, I have more of everything: news, right-wing reaction (it's worse than you think), blog posts, reports from the area and ways to help.
(Also check out Part 1)
More news stories:
More right-wing reaction:
- Andrew Sullivan attacks Kos for "minimizing" 9/11 (by saying Katrina is a bigger disaster) and for attacking President Bush, then attacks President Bush.
- Michelle Malkin attacks liberals for not condemning looters harshly enough.
- Repent America blames the hurricane on gays.
- Columbia Christians for Life blame the urricane on abortion.
- Fred Barnes says they were asking for it.
- Jonah Goldberg complains about liberals playing the "class card" by playing the class card.
- Ann Coulter uses the opportunity to insult New Yorkers by saying they won't be willing to help out.
- Moxie makes a bunch of ad hominem attacks against liberals such as: "Since when do liberals care about dead children?"
- Alan, Esq. takes a legitimate question from a liberal and calls us all loonies because of it, then makes a concluding sentence that has nothing to do with reality.
- Tech Central Station attacks global warmign and refers to Robert Kennedy as an "enviro-predator."
- Riding Sun sets up a bunch of liberal straw men and knocks them down quite poorly.
- In addition to posting a whole bunch of positive links for aid and related topics, Instapundit attacks global warming, compares himself to hurricane victims because of de-linking, and calls for the shooting of looters taking "valuables" (as opposed, you know, to rule of law, the Court system, civil rights and all that stuff).
- Jack Chambliss on Fox: "[T]he founding fathers never intended, Article One, section Eight of the Constitution, never intended to provide one dollar of taxpayer dollars to pay for any disaster or anything that we might call charity. What we now have is the law of unintended consequences taking place, where FEMA has come into New Orleans, a place where, ecologically, it makes no sense to have levees keeping the Mississippi River from flooding into New Orleans, like it naturally should."
More blogs:
More from-the-scene reports (NOLA):
- The biggest hurricane-related health problems so far have been stomach ailments caused by eating spoiled food and drinking contaminated water, state epidemiologist Raoult Ratard said Wednsday.
- Looting in New Orleans was so widespread Wednesday that police were forced to prioritize their overwhelmed enforcement effort.
- As homeowners walked and biked into their lakefront neighborhoods from the cleared roads, they saw much of the same wreckage whether they were in Lacombe, Mandeville or Madisonville. Enormous trees rested on crushed roofs and cars, and putrid sludge covered the once-flooded ground. And except for those people with generators, no one had power.
- Texas Southern University will open its doors to any student currently enrolled at colleges affected by hurricane Katrina.
- Looters commandered a fork lift, which they used to ram into the metal and peel open the protective covering to get inside the store. That allowed a steady stream of looters, many wheeling shopping carts, to stock up, primarily with food, candy, any soft drink or water or alcohol, and cigarettes.
- Harbor Police Chief Robert Hecker said Wednesday afternoon that there was "a lot of damage" on port property around the wharves, but life-saving and security duties are taking precedence over a close assessment of how serious the damage might be.
- Neighbors in the area near Hickory and Short streets Uptown said a body has been floating nearby in five feet of water since the unidentified man was shot five times on Monday.
More from-the-scene reports (WWLTV):
- Cleco estimates one month minimum to get power back to all customers.
- N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin declares Martial law in the city and directs the city's 1,500-person police force to do "whatever it takes" to gain back control of the city. He will also enlist the aid of troops.
- American Red Cross spokeswoman Sarah Marchetti said at least 30 companies had made donations by Wednesday morning, and the number was expected to climb.
- Walter Maestri voiced his concern that relief isn't coming fast enough for the evacuees.
- 10 to 15 feet of water still in some areas. The river levee was damaged, eroded during the storm.
- If Mayor Nagin's estimate that thousands perished under Hurricane Katrina is true, this would be the nation's deadliest natural disaster since at least the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
- Officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimate it will be weeks before all the water that flowed into the city through breached levees can be pumped back out. After that, it will take several years -- and many billions of dollars -- to rebuild homes, offices, streets and highways.
- Texas public schools will enroll children of Hurricane Katrina refugees sheltered within each district.
- Because of the evacuation of Orleans Parish prisons and jails, capacity of state prisons has increased 72%. Law enforcement officials said any stories of a massive breakout of Orleans Parish Prison were inaccurate. The prisoners were moved to a nearby on-ramp by guards and were transported to other facilities in the state.
- The new units brought the number of troops dedicated to the effort to more than 28,000, in what may be the largest military response to a national disaster.
- 78,000 people are in shelters.
- LSU offers UNO, Tulane and Loyola students chance to enroll for school at the Baton Rouge campus to continue their learning, waiving most fees for those who have already paid other universities.
- Survivor from Chalmette: We spent two days on a roof, swam to a storefront, food was pouring out, we ate it, we drank the water. We had to do something. There's no help.
- Man rescued after spending night on Chalmette High School roof for two days: "It's all gone."
- Tugboat captain: We have so little help. Send us some food and water immediately!
- Tugboat captain who rescued those in Chalmette. "Without more help, many people will die."
- Truong: A man said he was carjacked at gunpoint. Other residents of the Uptown-area say they are afraid to leave their homes because of the lack of security.
- Congressman William Jefferson said BET will host a telethon to raise money for the flood victims. The telethon will be Friday, September 9.
- WWL-TV's Mike Hoss said the I-10/Causeway interchange has turned into a massive first aid station. 50 ambulances are stationed there, and those who need immediate medical attention are being kept there in tents. Black Hawk helicopters and other rescue copters are constantly ferrying evacuees in to the area.
- Army Corps: Water has become level with the Lake in the city so no more water should flow into the city, except at high tide.
- Director Walter Maestri: We have no food or water for the evacuees. Says emergency workers have seized the food and water and drinks from Sam's Club, Wal-Mart and other groceries for evacuees, but he said that is all gone. Says water supply is gone.
- The Dallas school district says it'll enroll in district schools the children of any Hurricane Katrina refugees that ask for it.
- WWL-TV: Lakefront Airport is totally submerged.
- Slidell Mayor Ben Morris: Electricity is six to 12 weeks away.
- Sen. Landrieu: The whole parish of St. Bernard is gone.
- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says hundreds, if not thousands, of people may still be stuck on roofs and in attics, and so rescue boats were bypassing the dead.
And more ways to help:
Finally, a note: Watching the coverage on television, both I and my wife have been struck by the fact that it looks like the cable networks are picking the most ignorant and uneducated people in these areas to interview on the air. I'm not sure why they're doing this, but it does a disservice to the vast majority of people who live in these states.