Hurricane Katrina

Broadcasting live from the New Orleans Convention Center on Hannity and Colmes last night, Fox News anchor Geraldo Rivera cried, holding a 10-month-old child as he discussed the extremely inhumane conditions 15,000 evacuees have been forced to live under. Outside, a visibly despondent Shepard Smith pointed out locked exit doors on the center and road checkpoints that prevented the exit of people housed for six days without food, shelter, sanitation, and medicine. "Let them go," Rivera begged. ... (read more)

2005/09/03

Pastor: God Destroyed New Orleans

Agape Press, the publishing division of the American Family Association, issued a press release Friday quoting a New Orleans pastor who celebrates the devastation in New Orleans for wiping out "much of the rampant sin common to the city." Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans in Metairie, said that he warned for years God would pass judgment on the city: New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern ... (read more)

2005/09/03

Kaye Trammell, an assistant professor of communication at LSU, began a Hurricane Katrina weblog as she rode out the approaching storm last weekend in Baton Rouge. She writes in this morning's Washington Post about the experience: We on-the-scene citizens don't mean to replace journalism. We don't have the resources. But we can provide first-person accounts in our own voices of what is happening. Because blogs are so easy to create, they will only grow in number, and many will be covering crises ... (read more)

2005/09/03

Dying of Thirst in New Orleans

As thousands of evacuees languished in the New Orleans Convention Center for four days, only one authority came to reassure them, according to NBC photographer Tony Zumbado: I went back with Harry Connick Jr. He spoke to them and told them he would do anything he can to help them. They seemed to appreciate that. He's the only person of authority -- believe it or not, a musician -- to go in there and tell them that things are going to be ok. Connick's upholding a fine tradition of entertainers ... (read more)

2005/09/02

I'm getting hammered by some people for my proposal that liberals and conservatives stage comparable relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims. One of the conservative bloggers I approached with this idea sent an e-mail that's still cooling off: You're sick ... trying to make a competition out of other's suffering. You should be ashamed of yourself. As I told him, competing to outraise another group is a routine charity practice. Look at all the weblogs in competition on TLB's Blog for ... (read more)

2005/09/02

Go to the Back of the Bus Line

Today at the Superdome: Friday's evacuations began at about 9 a.m., halted for about an hour and then resumed two hours later. At midday, the evacuation was interrupted briefly when school buses rolled up so some 700 guests and employees from the Hyatt Hotel could move to the head of the line to be evacuated -- much to the amazement of those who had been crammed in the stinking Superdome since Sunday. "How does this work? They (are) clean, they are dry, they get out ahead of us?" exclaimed ... (read more)

2005/09/02

CNN.Com has begun a Hurricane Katrina survivor's database: If you were in Katrina's path and want to post your name here, please send an e-mail to the Hurricane Victims Desk. For each person you are reporting for the list, include first and last name, age, hometown, state and a brief message. You may also include a phone number or e-mail address where those on the list may be reached. Since it went online a few hours ago, 380 names have been added. Rex Hammock has compiled links to several ... (read more)

2005/09/02

Rabid Ideologues for Hurricane Relief

The Drudge Retort belongs to a large network of liberal weblogs that's trying to raise $1 million for urgent Hurricane Katrina relief. Donations go to the Red Cross for the specific purpose of helping thousands of people affected by a disaster of biblical proportions -- 90,000 square miles of four states were devastated by the storm, thousands may be dead, and more are dying by the hour. Site visitors have donated almost $100,000 in one day, which is good but still a long way from the goal. ... (read more)

2005/09/02

Katrina Volunteers Needed in Houston

The water overflowing through the broken levee on Lake Pontchartrain has crested, which gives officials a better chance to complete the evacuation of New Orleans and end the increasingly post-apocalyptic situation in the city. A server admin holed up in the central business district reports no increase in flooding. The evacuees in the Superdome, who number more than 23,000, are being taken by bus to the Houston Astrodome. The Red Cross in Houston needs volunteers to help these people. Call ... (read more)

2005/08/31

Reading this Katrina weblog entry reminded me that Hurricane Andrew in 1992 was one of only three category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S. in the last century. My wife M.C. Moewe covered that monster storm for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She interrupted a Disney World vacation with her parents, driving to South Florida in time to experience the eyewall passing overhead in the company of local police. For most of the three-hour trip, her car was the only one heading south. Covering ... (read more)

2005/08/29

Read More Entries