Hurricane Katrina

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

Hurricane Katrina: 'Do Not Call 911'

LiveJournal business manager Mark Kraft is gathering information for Gulf Coast residents bracing for Hurricane Katrina, collecting reports from several LiveJournal diarists who are fleeing or preparing to ride out the storm. Kraft passes along a grim prediction from meteorologist Jeff Masters: I put the odds of New Orleans getting its levees breached and the city submerged at about 70 percent. This scenario, which has been discussed extensively in literature I have read, could result in a ... (read more)

2005/08/28

In January, the PBS series Nova broadcast a 12-minute segment that illustrates the nightmare scenario of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans: 50,000 dead, one million homeless, and a new lake where New Orleans used to be. By my estimation, the water level would be high enough after a levee overflow to put this Bourbon Street webcam underwater -- even though it's 20 feet off the ground. Sven Latham found more New Orleans bloggers in a latitude/longitude search of Blogwise, including one who ... (read more)

2005/08/28

Bloggers Run From Hurricane Katrina

Looking around New Orleans with GeoURL, I've yet to find a blogger sticking around for Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans TV station WWL is in 24-hour hurricane news mode, which is incredibly unnerving to experience, as I learned in Palm Coast, Florida, during Hurricane Floyd. A direct hit of a category 4 storm would cause Old Testament flooding in New Orleans, which averages eight feet below sea level and survives only because of levees. Residents have lived for years in dread of a storm that ... (read more)

2005/08/28