***scroll down for updates***

According to Brendan Loy, CNN is reporting that the Superdome’s roof is beginning to peel off. According to WeatherBlog, WDSU/WAPT is reporting that the Superdome is now leaking. Jon Donley of NOLA.com says a New Orleans building collapse has been reported, possibly with people inside. Donley also reports that windows have begun blowing out : “most frantic calls about downtown hotels, where a number of windows have blown out. Guests huddling in halls. Water blowing in through windows, leaking through ceilings.”

According to WeatherBlog, MSNBC and local media have joined CNN in reporting that the Superdome roof is coming apart. Officials are concerned that the debris will fall onto the people inside:

Local media as well as CNN, MSNBC are reporting that at least a twelfth of the roof over the Superdome has come off, and more is coming off with each passing moment. They are evacuating the lower levels as a precaution as debris is coming down onto the field.

***

Many readers passing along thoughts similar to Joseph L.’s:

Michelle, I’d be interested to know how this hurricane is being covered throughout the world. Will the international community come to our aid as quickly and with as much help (both financially and physically), as we did in the aftermath of the tsunamis (and virtuallly every other disaster, be it earthquake, flood, or fire)? Also, will those on the left who called the USA “cheap [and stingy],” call-out the rest of the world if they don’t pony-up big?

Update! Nancy Bohrer writes that folks at this blog, many from outside the U.S., are in the process of organizing charitable efforts for Katrina victims.

***
Bloomberg coverage of Superdome leaking: “Nobody’s panicking; people here are very orderly.”

National Guard prepping:

Though thousands of National Guard personnel from Louisiana and Mississippi are serving in Iraq, officials say more than enough personnel were available for disaster duty Monday as Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore.

“Only about half of available forces are mobilized in Louisiana and forces are available from neighboring states if needed,” said Lt. Col. Mike Milord, a spokesman at National Guard headquarters outside Washington.

Some 3,500 Army National Guardsmen from Louisiana were deployed to help hurricane victims and another 3,000 were on standby.

About 3,000 members of Louisiana’s 256th Combat Brigade already are in Iraq. Six members were killed by a bomb on Jan. 6 and another two died in a blast four days later.

In Mississippi, the Guard had 853 troops on hurricane duty, preparing to remove debris and provide security, Milord reported, a small slice of the more than 7,000 available National Guard troops in the state’s ground and air components.

***
11am EDT update: President Bush may release strategic oil reserves. Announcement expected at 1pm EDT.

Eye of the storm is moving. Via National Hurricane Center:

KATRINA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH NEAR 16 MPH…AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TODAY AND TONIGHT. ON THIS TRACK THE CENTER WILL MOVE OVER SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI TODAY AND INTO CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI THIS EVENING.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 125 MPH…WITH HIGHER GUSTS.
KATRINA IS NOW A CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
SCALE. WINDS AFFECTING THE UPPER FLOORS OF HIGH RISE BUILDINGS
WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY STRONGER THAN THOSE NEAR GROUND LEVEL.
WEAKENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS AS THE CENTER MOVES OVER LAND. HOWEVER…HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD AS FAR AS 150 MILES INLAND ALONG THE PATH OF KATRINA.

1116EDT…Fox News Channel’s Shep Smith reports from the scene that “The French Quarter looks very good…New Orleans got lucky again…”

Mississippi is flooding.

Bill at PunditGuy has comprehensive webcam/video/photo links and resources.

***
On risk, resilience, and rackets…

Here’s a timely reminder from the late Aaron Wildavsky.

And Thomas Sowell wrote on “The compassion racket” during last fall’s hurricanes in Florida.

Below the Beltway weighs in on libertarians and emergencies.
***
Previous:

Katrina blogging: Dire outlook
Hurricane Katrina: Relief efforts
Hurricane Katrina blogging

comments (0)   trackbacks (25)