Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Hooray for New Orleans! :) Getting back and cleaning up

We can all let out a collective sigh of relief this morn as the damage was so much less than expected and looks like people will be able to return on Wednesday! This is very good news after such a scary situation.

They are beginning to let certain people back in the city (emergency personal, first responders).
Checkpoints are up on all main arteries into greater N.O.

Many people are understandably impatient to get back and there have been some problems at the checkpoints. Officials are asking residents to please wait for the Wednesday ok.

We wish everyone a safe return.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Leave, Please Leave!!!

I hope and pray that everyone is out of NO. I realize some feel obligated to stay and help others etc. But you can't help if you're dead!!

It looks pretty bad and most everyone's saying the levee's will be overtopped.

Cat 4 storm now with possibility to downgrade to a 3 (when it hits the marshy, sediment filled coast) but that doesn't help much as the storm surge is the problem with a gigantic storm such as this.

Saying landfall will be Mon around 1pm (central time i believe)

We hope and wish the best of luck for you all-S

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Watching Gustav

Today I continue to watch the forecast for hurricane Gustav. The situation is looking more bleak with major concerns as to the strength of the winds and related storm surge and whether the levees will hold.

The dangerous storm is expected to make landfall sometime after midnight tues.


Voluntary evacuations of Orleans Parish began at 8 am today.

Looks like manditory evacuation is in effect for Orleans Parish Sunday. Traffic is already congested on I -10 west to Baton Rouge. Tomorrow will be the first usage of contraflow. That is the use of inbound traffic lanes for outgoing traffic.

I feel really bad that this is happening and cannot imagine what it must be like for the people living there.

New Orleans has only begun to move from recovery to renewal, and the prospect of having much of that wiped away is so sad.

This is the day that many thought they had escaped the worst of Katrina only to find that the city was to drown in water after the levees failed.

An official with the army corp of engineers stated that the hurricane protection is only 20% complete but is the best in its history.

The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) slated to be closed, is a site of major concern as there are predictions of a 17 foot rise in water as it rushes into the city if the hurricane is a category 3. National Geographic report

Looking at this from the outside, up here in Maine, I would be very scared and would want to get out as soon as possible. I send all my love and hope for the best to the people of New Orleans. May you be comforted, may you be protected, and may you be safe.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Show is hung and e-book is available

The third anniversary of Katrina is today. New Orleans acknowledges the day with bell ringing and candlelight vigils. See the link to the left.

The NOLA Project art show is up at the Bangor Public library as of today. It is a show of the work I did during and since my trip to New Orleans. I am happy with the overall look of the show. Hope to get some comments there and also here on the blog.

Accompanying the show is an online e-book for those who would like to see the work but are not in the Bangor area. Its pretty neat to be able to produce one of these and it feels like a nice addition to the paintings and photos.

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Democratic candidate Barack Obama took a swing at the administration during his acceptance speech in Denver Thursday evening, calling the Bush administration a government "that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes," referring to post-Katrina New Orleans.


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Still praying Gustav will miss New Orleans. To early to tell where or how much of a storm. As of Friday morning, New Orleans officials say that if it calls for an evacuation, it would come sometime on Saturday. Hopefully Gustav will spin itself out and not cause any further trouble.

Suzanne

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Hurricane Gustav and the Cone of Uncertainty



Cone of uncertainty-I have never heard this term before.

Gustav is forecast to be a major Category 3 hurricane with top winds of 120 mph about 300 miles south of New Orleans on Sunday afternoon, according to the 4 p.m. forecast of the National Hurricane Center.

As Hurricane Gustav churns over Haiti and looks like it may touch Cuba, I worry about its possible path towards New Orleans. At this time it is way to early to say where it is going or what kind of strength it may have. Computer models put New Orleans in its cone of uncertainty.

from Wunder blog weather undergound
The final landfall location of Gustav depends on the strength and speed of a trough of low pressure forecast to move across the Midwest U.S. late this week. At present, there is no way to guess which location in the Gulf of Mexico is the most likely. Keep in mind that the cone of uncertainty is correct only about 2/3 of the time--1/3 of the time, we can expect the storm's position to be in error by more than what the cone of uncertainty suggests.

Forums are active with speculation and fear from those affected by a possible storm that seems certain to intensify over water and will most likely hit landfall somewhere in the gulf--let us all think positive thoughts that it won't be New Orleans and everyone will be safe and secure everywhere.



Let's take a Look at Strom Protection



The flood protection provided by the U.S. government to New Orleans

These images are in thanks to John M. Barry

John M. Barry is a prize-winning and New York Times best-selling author whose books have won more than twenty awards. Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, won the 1998 Francis Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians for the year’s best book of American history.

New Orleans, you are in our thoughts.

Suzanne

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Looking back at the storm

This is a video from UTube that breaks your heart all over again.


There is so much info and video out there. I would love to be able to put it all here on my blog but its easy to find for your self.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

video

Video on the housing crisis in New Orleans