South of New Orleans - NOAA overflight pics

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Wednesday September 14, 2005 · 8:58 AM PDT

2005/09/14 · 08:58

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), part of the Department of Commerce, has been conducting overflights of the storm-ravaged region over the past few days. They have put up a website with images taken from approximately 7,500 feet. Here's the LINK to the site.

The devastation shown in some areas takes your breath away. Pictures just north and northwest of the French Quarter in New Orleans not only show the extent of the flooding, but also the iridescent film of toxic waste floating on the surface everywhere - an unimaginable environmental catastrophe. Imagine wading through that stuff! Petroleum, toluene, household solvents, etc... And that's the stuff you can see.

The shots from the Gulfport, MS region are unbelievable. Near total destruction along the coast, going back more than a mile inland, as if the entire stretch was hit with a 300-mile per hour tornado. What caused the destruction, however, was a massive storm surge of between 18 and 23 feet of water - much like the tsunami in South Asia.

More after the fold, including a pic excerpt...

But the part that is most distressing, is the situation south of New Orleans, in the bayou areas of Placquemines Parish. Utter devastation. Nothing untouched. And clearly, no help coming anytime soon.

While New Orleans gets the media attention, and (finally) some response and relief from the government, the isolated areas south of the Big Easy are being neglected.

While nosing around the site, I came across one image from the lower delta that stopped me cold - a picture of a destroyed town and factory, where someone made a desperate plea:

This is cropped from a much larger shot, but there was no way to miss the SOS.

I think about who did this. How many people are in that one town? How many other towns are in the same situation - no help, no hope? Isolated, cut off from assistance, and no federal initiative to get in there. It's heartbreaking.

In Gulfport and New Orleans, government emergency management personnel, utilities workers, relief agencies and road crews can get to the survivors. But in Placquemines and other lower parishes, the remaining population is ostensibly marooned.

What can we do to get more visibility for their plight? How can we get them the help they so desperately need, before it's too late. I fear many have died in the last few weeks, for lack of sustenance or hope.

(Full disclosure: Dem in VA was born in Baton Rouge and both parents grew up just north of Lake Ponchartrain. A great aunt escaped the N.O. flood, but her house is completely submerged and assumed to be completely lost)

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