Katrina's aftermath

Louisiana pleas for continued federal funding

As they try to assess the damage from Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana officials pleaded with the White House Tuesday to waive federal rules that would push a portion of the cleanup and recovery costs onto the state.

Calling the destruction “well beyond anything that has happened in our history,” the state’s congressional delegation asked President Bush to authorize the federal government to pick up all of the post-disaster bill.

Normally, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) pays 75 percent of the costs of debris removal and rescue efforts while state and local governments pay the rest. Frequently, FEMA will pay the whole tab for the first 72 hours.

The delegation asked that FEMA pick up 100 of the costs even beyond that, as was done in Florida last year after a series of hurricanes.

The request came as water continued to breach a major levee in New Orleans, pushing flood waters ever higher and prompting Gov. Kathleen Blanco to order an evacuation. New Orleans’ water pumping system has collapsed and much of the southeastern part of the city is under water.

“Louisiana sits at a perilous crossroads,” the nine-member delegation wrote. “This incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state. Without your direct intervention, we will not receive this much-needed assistance.”

There was no immediate response on the request from the Office of Management and Budget.

"We've been very fortunate that the loss of life in Alabama has been very, very minimal," said Jim Walker, the state's homeland security director.

Nevertheless, Walker characterized damage in the state as "extensive."

"We do have water in the streets, still, in Mobile. We have coastal roads that have been closed," he said. "We've got roads that are out. We've got a bridge that's out."

That bridge is the Cochrane-Africatown USA Bridge on U.S. 98 in Mobile, which is the detour route used for transporting hazardous materials not allowed in downtown tunnels on Interstate 10.

The bridge was closed Monday when an oil rig broke loose in the storm and jammed under it. Officials fear it could have damaged the structure. (Full story)

The closure will force trucks carrying hazardous materials to make a 70-mile detour, said Tony Harris, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Transportation.

The Bankhead tunnel, which takes U.S. 98 under the Mobile River, also was closed by water covering its entrances, Harris said.

The Interstate 10 tunnels in downtown Mobile were open, but only one lane in each direction was available because of pumping operations to keep the tunnels dry, according to the Alabama DOT. Pavement in the tunnels was wet, but there was no standing water.

I-10 was passable through Alabama, but only to the Mississippi state line, Harris said.

Aerial footage of Dauphin Island off the coast showed flooding, but most of the structures appeared to be mostly intact.

In the coastal town of Bayou La Batre a number of boats swept up by the storm were pushed deposited inland in wooded areas.

In a demonstration of Katrina's reach, more than 182,000 of the customers without power Tuesday were in the Birmingham area and another 132,000 were in and around Tuscaloosa, both more than 150 miles inland.

Alabama Power spokesman Bernie Fogarty warned customers they would be in for a "prolonged outage."

Of course, because no one in the North cared about Hurricane Hugo and it go no coverage whatsoever. And the only reason this storm (apart from the fact that it may be the most deadly since Galveston at the turn of the 20th century, of course) is getting interest is because its in a tourist location. Uh huh. Riiiight.

Tulane University

Current Status

August 30, 11:45 a.m.

Dear Tulane Faculty, Staff, Students and Friends:

As you all know by now, New Orleans and the surrounding parishes were severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The physical damage to the area, including Tulanes campuses, was extensive.

Unfortunately, conditions in the city continue to deteriorate, making it virtually impossible to begin recovery efforts. On a very positive note, in Tulanes case, we are very thankful that all of our people are safe, including all the students and staff who evacuated to Jackson, Mississippi.

We have started the process of assessing the condition of our campus facilities and determining how long it will take us to reopen. This assessment process will take days because many of the answers will be determined by how quickly the city and its services become operational. The situation is further complicated by the fact that! there is no power in the city, water levels continue to rise, all city roads are blocked, and the vast majority of our workforce had to leave the parish as part of the mandatory evacuation order. It is unclear at this time when people will be allowed to return to the city.

Given the uncertainties, we cannot determine at this time when employees and students should return to campus. We will do the best we can to keep you appraised of our situation and progress.

Also, I want to remind you that the universitys main website is not operating at this time and we do not know when we will be able to bring it back on-line. Due to this, the Tulane email system is not functioning. However, this website (emergency.tulane.edu ) will continue to have the most up-to-date information about university operations and the Tulane Alert Line at 1-877-862-8080 and 1-504-862-8080 will also have! the most current information available. These communication vehicles are the best source of information about Tulane since phone and cell service are unreliable.

I realize that you have many more questions than we have answers at this time. However, Im sure you understand the complexity and difficulty of the situation we face. Nonetheless, we are determined to move forward as quickly as possible and make Tulane University an even stronger and healthier institution. We have been in New Orleans for 171 years and we look forward to another century in this great city.

Scott S. Cowen

pat robertson and jerry falwell are southerners who said 9/11 was god's retribution for america's sin.

First footage of Slidell and Eden outside of New Orleans is coming in on WWL.

Eden by a miracle has been spared with only a rapidly receding 4 foot flood. Slidell... well, some of the footage looks Tsunami level. 20 foot surge from the lake quoted. The centre looks sort of intact if heavily flooded, but the lake fringe - about two blocks deep ... there doesn't seem to be anything left at all. Just debris. I pray enough evacuated.

"Been hit and been hit hard." - Slidell Police Chief. "Water lines torn loose... no communications, isolated from outside world... just local communications... concerned people with famalies may try to come back... can't supply basic needs of life. Many, many days until electricity restored... Need to get the message out that the emergency care workers have had no fatalities or injuries, to reassure the famalies." --- (Paraphrased) "As to city fatalities, we don't know. But seemingly no major fatalaties as of yet."

xpost right stence but you and jody don't jump up to blast anyone who suggests pat robertson and jerry falwell might be assholes.

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20050830/capt.capm10208301856.bush__capm102.jpg

I attribute this more to stupidity than apathy, for what it's worth.

i'll admit that i feel lucky to be in a city where "acts of god" like this are rare if not nonexistent, but we're still a big-league target for terrorism obv.

What part of the Southern Shoreboard is "rural"? This is a stupid fucking argument. You can't go across any section of shoreline in the US without bumping into a city or vacation destination.

anyway new york is just as susceptible to hurricanes (see: 1820s) so laugh away when it happens here, just don't expect me to not call you an asshole then, too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/05/americas_katrina_hits_us/img/8.jpg

look. just please stop it with your "northerners drive like this" shtick. your attitude is exactly as smug as the attitude you're criticizing.

we have red states, you have blue states, we have centers of conservatism and fundamentalist religion, you have "liberal" tourist meccas. we even have uneducated poor people and some of them aren't even white!!

This is pretty much exactly where I live (Mag and State, a block from Webster) and very close to where Kyle/Fetchboy indicated he would be staying. So that's a slight silver lining for the shit-covered stormcloud of today.

i am disgusted by both of those "commentators," and i am disgusted when people do it on the left to those in the south. WHERE DID I SAY FUCKING OTHERWISE YOU FUCKING MORON?

sorry if i don't find one of the best cities in america underwater, some of the poorer parts of america devestated, and god knows how many people dead 'hilarious' or 'justified' because some of their elected officials are republican. i'm an asshole that way.

HELLO YOU DUMBSHIT WHERE DO YOU THINK MY FAMILY'S FROM??!??!? WHERE DO YOU THINK MY GRANDFATHER'S BURIED??!?!?