Uninhabitable for weeks, 1 million homeless, gas prices are rising, 25% of domestic oil is produced there...This is scary. "Super, catastrophic hurricane." The 4th strongest Atlantic storm ever. That's what I'm reading on the news sites and wires.

I hope EVERYONE is going to be okay.

heath

Another not-so-pretty scenario pointed out by a researcher at LSU says that the fuel storage, which is all above ground, could be ripped away from moorings and then you have all the chemical plants which could result in a release of Benzene among other things. Also, bodies are buried above ground because they have to and it's possible there will be a bunch of those floating around. In short, both the air and water would be too contaminated for inhabitation for quite some time.

My thoughts and prayers for those in and around the strike zone.

-gb-

I really hope it doesn't come to that, guess we'll know soon. Honestly, the media coverage of this is making me sick. Starting last night the networks ratcheted up all the doom and gloom predictions with stories like these. It seemed like CNN, MSNBC and FOX were all trying to outdo the others dire predictions. At least the weather channel was being a little more objective and pointed out that an air mass to the West might slow the storm down a little.

The news right now says New Orleans was spared, but hit east Louisiana/west Mississippi.

heath

Very true Boyd. However, New Orleans is more vulnerable to a major hurricane than other cities because of it being below sea level. The fact that they now appear to have been spared the worst is only by natural forces. Had the eye have come 50 miles further west, those predictions may have come to fruition. The video feeds coming in now as I type this message still show that New Orleans has been hit pretty hard.

-gb-

Oh I wasn't making light of the situation at all, obviously the potential for a huge disaster was there. What bothered me was the sensationalism, which kept getting kicked up another notch with each passing hour last night in the hopes that you would stayed tuned....

Yeah, I guess we should expect that in this day and age. Back when we had no internet, cable, xm radio, and only 3 or 4 local tv channels there wasn't that much competition. We were pretty much a captive audience.

I guess the upside to having this many news outlets in current day is that we have video of things we would never have had 35 years ago. That of course, always helps pull us into the story a little more. Perhaps it even helps more of us that are unaffected feel moved to reach out and help in some way. At least I hope so.

-gb-

Only in New Orleans...
 

One of the hotels in town apologized for only being able to serve a hot breakfast of sausage, eggs and croisants.

Now thats riding a storm with style.

Just saw videos of New Orleans on CNN. Oh man what a mess!!!!
Prayer and hope for those living there.

And the water is still rising.

50 deaths in Mississippi alone...

heath

The human tragedy is devastating; I know all our thoughts are with those who have been directly impacted. And although it's thankfully not nearly as tragic, there is a much broader, indirect impact upon all of us: the disruption of gulf shipping, which will result in significantly higher gas prices by the end of the week. Here's hoping that our Louisiana and Mississippi neighbors get to return home and begin rebuilding soon,

Hollywood action movies pale in comparison
 

Geez, 80 PERCENT of New Orleans is under water! ...and not just a little bit, we're talking 20 FEET of water in most areas! If you haven't done so...take a look at the video on the news sites. It's pretty bad down there.

I'd like to acknowledge the police, fire, military etc. There is a video of the national guard saving people on their houses...they look like Hollywood stunt men. Who needs action movies when we have real life stuff like this happening and it's being captured on video by the news crews.

Hmmm....maybe this why there is a Hollywood slump? Since 9/11 we've all learned to appreciate who the real heros are more, so paying $9 to watch some stupid CGI run around and save fake people doesn't seem to appealing for 2 hours!

Imagine being on the roof of your house, surrounded by flood water. Imagine standing and sitting on hot shingles with the temperature during the day at 95+ degrees (heat index 100 to 110). Imagine having no food and no water. Imagine at night having a constant swarm of mosquitoes buzzing around you. Imagine if you counldn't get out of your attic and onto the roof, and had to stay in the attic all day with temperatures of 120 - 130 degrees. Imagine being in that condition for 24 to 48 hours, or longer before someone could rescue you.

It's almost impossible for me to comprehend as I watch the newscasts, that just 200 miles to the east of me that all of this is happening. I feel somewhat guilty because yesterday we had a northly breeze all day, the temperature was cooler, not a drop of rain, the day was "nice". Katrina actually caused Southwestern Louisiana to have some of the nicest weather that we've had in a while. But at the same time, massive devestation was taking place just a few hours drive to the east.

Me too Kyle. We had that same nice breeze here in the Dallas, TX area all day Monday and a pleasant evening for sitting outside. All compliments of Katrina. Some of her outer rain bands made it as close as 50 miles east of here.

The more I watch the video coming from that area, the more incomprehensive it all becomes.

-gb-

Kyle,

Up here in New England we have to deal with that guilt during the winter. Sometimes there are nor'easters that come up the coast and devastate the entire eastern seaboard. Yet, just 50-200 miles inland they just get a few inches of snow or just even freezing rain.

Unfortunately, (actually I feel fortunate most of the time) I'm 20 minutes from the Atlantic ocean and get the brunt of any nor'easter that comes up the coast.

Everyone on earth has mother nature to deal with...I guess it's more or less where you live that dictates what wrath you'll have to content with. Cali has quakes (I was there for the 1994 quake), New England has storms (I was here for the Perfect Storm) and the south has hurricanes...(I was there during the 1998 hurricane Irene) and the upper mid-west has fires (I was there for the 2000 fires in Utah!)

I really hope we help the people down there like we've helped every other country. I REALLY can't wait to see what other country comes to our aid...as usual...no one will offer help or put on any sort of fundraiser for the US.