Blogged Out

File Under: Katrina's Aftermath

Wow. The Senate has passed a $10.5 billion aid package for the deep south, looting has become a huge, huge problem (affecting evacuations), and officials warn that the water may linger for months.

- Orders have been given by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco to National Guardsmen that they can "shoot and kill" looters if needed. But only to restore order.
- Evacuations are underway, but restless citizens say that they are not fast enough. There are tens of thousands of people in New Orleans, and the mayor is asking for help getting these people out. It's an urgent "SOS", as he called it.
- Conditions in New Orleans are horrendous. The stench is described by some as unbearable. The floodwaters are filthy, and garbage and human waste are mixed in with the water. Health officials warn that there may be another catastrophe in the coming days - sickness.
- 15,000-25,000 people are still at the Superdome. There were simply not enough buses to ferry them all to the Houston Astrodome.
- The National Guard force will be raised to 30,000 in the deep south, and 3,000 regular Army soldiers may possibly be sent in to deal with armed looters and gangs. The boost would bring to nearly 50,000 the number of part-time Guard and active-duty military personnel in the biggest domestic relief and security effort in U.S. history.

Meanwhile, the Delta Institute is going to keep half an eye on Typhoon Nabi, which has reased super-typhoon status, and is essentially the same strength Katrina was at it's peak. The wind speeds will increase enough to be called "violent", which is at the top of the wind designation list. But there are cooler ocean temperatures near Okiwana, where it's expected to hit on Monday, so it will probably start to dissipate before hitting land. But we'll update you when it hits land.

And another update on a story that we mentioned earlier in the day... Al-Qaeda's #2 man, Ayman al-Zahahiri has all but claimed responsibility for the 7/7 London bombings. In a video that aired Thursday on al-Jazeera, a man identified as one of the four bombers read a farewell statement. Quoting the AP article,

"He did not say outright that his terror group carried out the bombings on the London transport system that killed 56 people including the four bombers, but said they were a direct response to Britain's foreign policies and its rejection of a truce that Al Qaeda offered Europe in April 2004."

US officials warn that a claim of responsibility does not mean that they actually planned or directed the attack. It's just that they're claiming responsibility. But historically, al-Qaeda doesn't claim credit for, or boast, about very much at all.

.... I've got to tell you, it's kinda *refreshing* to report on something else. The reason the Katrina coverage was short is because, well... I'm getting "blogging burnout". It takes alot of time and energy to scour the wires and write up a summary for an hour or so. I love doing it (this is my element!), but... Every wire story that I'll read (I'll usually skim through at least a dozen, looking for an addition peice of information), has at least 2 stories of death and survival. Reading those stories, day after day, looking at the devestation... Immersing yourself into a story like this is not easy.

Thankfully, I have the luxury of just clicking away. But for those who are stuck in New Orleans, with no food, no water, no sanitary conditions, no way of knowing what will happen next, no electricity, having to see the floating corpses... I can't even imagine what it's like down there. No amount of print, radio, or television reports can bring the true scope of this nightmare to light.

The destruction is so widespread. We're used to perhaps a town or small city being ravaged by a Hurricane. And a week later, we move on. Nothing to it at all. But this isn't just New Orleans, or Biloxi... This is all over. We may not know even a fairly accurate death toll for weeks, maybe months.

TDI will still bring you the latest news and information from Katrina. But if there are shorter days, well... you'll know why.