Tuesday August 30, 2005

New Orleans threat increasing; Red Cross operation "largest ever"

The New Orleans Times Picayune reports that water is still rising -- which means that many of New Orleans' neighborhoods that were considered relatively untouched from Katrina are now in serious danger of going under.

A large section of the vital 17th Street Canal levee, where it connects to the brand new "hurricane proof" Old Hammond Highway bridge, gave way late Monday morning in Bucktown after Katrina's fiercest winds were well north. The breach sent a churning sea of water from Lake Pontchartrain coursing across Lakeview and into Mid-City, Carrollton, Gentilly, City Park and neighborhoods farther south and east.

As night fell on a devastated region, the water was still rising in the city, and nobody was willing to predict when it would stop. After the destruction already apparent in the wake of Katrina, the American Red Cross was mobilizing for what regional officials were calling the largest recovery operation in the organization's history.

That story was written yesterday. But it's getting worse, even as you read this. Today, the Times Picayune has decided to evacuate. It's gotta be serious when the journalists pack up and go.

Yesterday was tense. Today I'm getting goosebumps as I think that one of the US's most unique cities -- with a remarkable history, culture and always fascinating people -- will be wiped out, to some degree, in a matter of days.

But that's an entirely selfish view. While I whine away, something much more fundamental is happening here: thousands of poor, sick or simply stranded people are just trying to stay alive.

You know how to help.

( Aug 30 2005, 09:44:32 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]