HumidCity

image courtesy of Skeleton Krewe

And There Was Much Rejoicing! (Yayy!!!) More to come once people get home from work and start typing. I will try to add some updates later but no promises.

Citizen Crime Watch * Pistolette * City Business

Dangerblonde * People Get Ready

Gentilly Girl * Ken Foster

Its a long fall from the lionized victor over Edwin Edwards to the most worthless DA in New Orleans history. Many of us hope he breaks something (or several somethings) at the end of it.

Now that we, the taxpayers, get to pay off the fiduciary penalties of this racist ass I have one question for our FORMER DA.

While you were depriving your department not only of its caucasians, but also of computers, voicemail, and the simple necessities of the job, how many of our children and neighbors die horribly?

Ask Pontius Pilate, blood on your hands never washes clean.

Good riddance to bad rubbish. (of course maybe it is all to get his lawsuit paid for…)

Mayor Approves Parking on Neutral Ground

NEW ORLEANS, LA (October 22, 2007) - Due to severe flooding conditions that are expected to persist throughout the remainder of the day and later in the evening, New Orleans City Hall and all city government offices will close at 3 p.m., today. Essential offices will remain open.

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin has granted permission for the citizens to park on the neutral ground this evening. Citizens will not be ticketed for parking on the neutral ground and the city will not be liable for any damages to private property due to expected flooding or storm related hazards. Normal parking enforcement will resume at 9 a.m., Tuesday, October 23.

The National Weather Service reports that the city can expect a lull in the weather until approximately 5 to 6 p.m. This will provide the time for the Sewage and Water Board pumps to clear the streets. The pumps dispense one inch of water in the first hour and an half an inch every hour after. The city can expect another round of bad weather from approximately 5 to 10 p.m. During that time we can expect one to two inches of rain per hour. So far, the city have experienced anywhere between 3-6 inches of rain with the chance of 10 inches of total rain before tomorrow morning. The EOC is at a level one activation (OEP Staff Only).

As of 1 p.m. this afternoon, the Sewage and Water Board reported that all pumping systems are fully operational and working properly.

The Mayor’s Office of Emergency Preparedness recommends the following:

* You should monitor forecasts and be alert for other warnings.
* Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop.
* Ensure ditches and catch basins are cleared of debris.
* If you have to drive in a flooded area take care. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH WATER IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF THE DEPTH.
* Don’t drive through fast-moving water, such as at a flooded bridge approach - your car could be swept away
* Drive slowly and steadily to avoid creating a bow wave, and allow on-coming traffic to pass first.
* Keep the engine revving by slipping the clutch otherwise water in the exhaust could stall the engine.
* Modern vehicles are fitted with catalytic converters in the exhaust system. The catalyst normally works at high temperatures and may crack if it is submerged in water. Replacement catalysts are expensive.
* The air intake on many modern cars is located low down at the front of the engine bay and it only takes a small quantity of water sucked into the engine to cause serious damage. All engines are affected but turbo-charged and diesel engines are most vulnerable.
* Be considerate - driving through water at speeds above a slow crawl can result in water being thrown onto pavements, soaking pedestrians or cyclists.
* If your car stalls, immediately abandon it and climb to higher ground. Watch your footing. Just six inches of fast-moving flood water can sweep a person off his or her feet.
* Test your brakes as soon as you can after driving through water.

This is horrible and should be passed on widely. Via LiveJournal New Orleans Community:

Compromise of FAFSA Data
A Boston-based company called Iron Mountain lost a significant number of Louisiana FAFSA records one month ago.

So, if you went to college in Louisiana anytime in the past 15 years, your personal data (name, SSN, etc.) may have been compromised. Mine has and I didn’t even go to college in Louisiana. You should check too, especially if you fall into any of the following groups:

• Anyone who has a Louisiana College Savings account (START Saving Program).
• Any resident of the state of Louisiana who has completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
• Anyone who has completed a FAFSA and included a Louisiana postsecondary institution as an institution to which FAFSA data should be sent.
• Anyone who has applied for or received a Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS) Scholarship.
• Anyone who has applied for or who has received student financial aid in the State of Louisiana.

The state has provided a tool to help you determine if your information was part of the compromise:
https://osfantweb.osfa.state.la.us/Notice.nsf/

In addition to following the instructions on the LOSFA site, everyone (even if your data wasn’t compromised) should consider signing up for a credit reporting service if you haven’t done so already. Also, make sure to sign up for one that will send you an alert within 24 hours; if we wait for a written monthly report, you won’t get the notice about the fraudulent attempt in your name until it’s too late. Here are the major offerings from each of the three credit reporting agencies:

• Equifax Credt Watch Gold
• Experian Triple Advantage
• TransUnion 3-Bureau Credit Monitoring

The original post and attendent comments can be found here.

Freret Market

Originally uploaded by skeletonkrewe.

Come out and show some support for this new event. That area of Freret St took a beating during the Federal Flood, and has been slowly returning to life since.

Food, shopping, live music and blogger sightings, what more could you ask?
-Loki

No, I (hopefully) do not mean a hurricane. There will be some changes here at HumidCity being unveiled over the next month or two so don’t be shocked if you surf through one day and things are different.

Friday evening a New Orleans classic returns! My old friend Lionel Milton is having an opening and DJ Soul Sista from WWOZ is spinning!

Be there, or be octagonal!

Here we go, the latest email submission from Mr. Fix The Pumps! Brace yourself because this is really bizarre: good news! Take it away Matt…

Dear New Orleanians,

This morning, FEMA issued its new Disaster Specific Guidance (DSG) for the Relocation Assistance program. This is the program to reimburse folks affected by Katrina and Rita for moving back home or to a new permanent address. The guidance was issued internally to FEMA’s front line customer service folks.

Note that everything below is not official guidance from FEMA. You should call (800) 621-FEMA to get the complete scoop.

Now, on to the good news…

Previously, FEMA had restricted eligibility for the program for those people who moved between February 1, 2006 and February 29, 2008.

Today, that opening date has been changed to August 29, 2005! That means anyone that moved back after the storm (and who meets all the other tests for eligibility) is now eligible. In other words, FEMA is no longer penalizing the pioneers who came back - or those folks who decided to put down roots somewhere else - as soon as possible after the storm. The closing date remains the same - February 29, 2008.

I assume there will be a press release on this in the coming days, but here’s some more details, straight from the actual DSG (note you can’t have already received these benefits from another organization, such as the United Methodist Church, the Red Cross, or any other agency that might have provided the assistance):

- as before, the benefit is a maximum of $4000. That is counted toward the theoretical maximum Individuals & Families Program benefit of $26,200. Thus, if your household has not received more than $22,200, you could receive up to the maximum $4000.

- a new part of the benefit is that FEMA will pay for one night of hotel stay if the move was more than 400 miles. They’ll pay for the room and taxes, but not room service or any other hotel services. If you had more than one room, (due to occupancy restrictions or had more than 4 people in your group during the move), FEMA will pay for another room. For each additional 400 miles over the first 400, FEMA will pay one more night.

- as before, the move must be 50 miles or more

- FEMA will pay for truck rental, moving help, moving supply purchases from the rental company (boxes, tape, etc), car rental, and even gas. Apparently, receipts are only required for the gas purchases, although they also mention you can put in for mileage (assumedly at the standard gov’t reimbursement rate in effect at the time of the move, though I would wait until the official guidance is released to the public for that detail). If you don’t have receipts for anything else, I think you can supply estimates or you can call the moving or rental company to get a duplicate receipt. But receipts are always best.

- FEMA will not pay for gas if you used your private vehicle to move back (they feel you would have been doing so anyway as part of a normal evacuation, and that any extra expenses incurred in such a private-vehicle move were covered by the $2000 Emergency Assistance - I’m not saying I agree… I’m just passing along the reasoning). If you rented a trailer to tow behind, they will pay for that.

- FEMA’s still paying for plane, train, and bus tickets home, as long as you haven’t had them paid for by some other organization.

- the program has been opened up to everyone in the Katrina-and-Rita-affected counties and parishes in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Previously, this program was only open to Louisiana storm victims.

There’s a few more details (you can only apply for benefits resulting from one of the storms, not both), but the big news is the date change. This is pretty huge, and will benefit thousands of people.

FEMA has set up a special fax number if you wish to submit your receipts by fax. It is:

(877) 828-9388

If you want to mail in your paperwork, the address is:

FEMA Relocation Assistance

NPSC

P.O. Box 10055

Hyattsville, MD 20782

As always, you should call 1-800-621-FEMA to register for the program and to get all the information. Ask to be transferred to a Relocation Assistance specialist. FEMA has specifically trained personnel to process this paperwork and answer aid recipients’ questions.

Note that FEMA has been holding off processing anyone’s Relocation Assistance claims that have been submitted in the last month (the program was announced August 27, 2007). They knew the program would be getting changed significantly, so they wanted to wait for the revised guidance. That way, everyone is being treated equally. According to the fellow I spoke with, processing of claims should begin today or tomorrow.

When the press release comes out, I’ll point you to it.

Matt McBride

It would seem that Harry Lee will not be running for another term when election time rolls around again, he passed away this morning, losing his ongoing battle with leukemia at 75.

The second annual Rising Tide conference will be held August 24-26, 2007, at the New Orleans Yacht Club. This is a NOLA blogger-organized and supported conference featuring speakers, panels, breakout sessions, and other dialogs on the future of the city of New Orleans.

This year’s emphasis is on ground-level, grass-roots efforts. It has become clear to those of us in south Louisiana that we will have to watch the watchmen, as well as take the upper hand is setting the city back on track. To that end, there will be presentations on local politics and how to influence them, making civics sexy, sustainability, levee engineering, and media outreach.

The keynote speaker is Dave Zirin, author of Welcome to the Terrordome, published by Haymarket Press, a columnist for SLAM Magazine, a regular contributor to the Nation Magazine, and a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. Timothy Ruppert, president of the Louisiana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, will give a comprehensive report on the status of our levee protection two years after the failure of the federal levees brought catastrophe to New Orleans. Matt McBride of Fix the Pumps will present via video conference. Panelists will include community activists Karen Gadbois of Squandered Heritage, Bart Everson of b.rox, and Peter Athas of Adrastos, muckraking blogger Mark Moseley of Your Right Hand Thief, New Orleans political sage Michael Duplantier and author Joshua Clark Heart Like Water

On Friday, August 24, there will be a party at Buffa’s Lounge featuring the work of New Orleans videographers, and Sunday is reserved for a hands-on service project in aid of the NOLA school system. At the Buffa’s party, we are serving cocktail party-type food, but there will be a cash bar.The weekend’s events costs $20 per person. This includes admission to the Friday night party at Buffa’s, Saturday’s events at the New Orleans Yacht Club (including morning coffee and croissants and lunch from Dunbar’s), and participation in the Sunday service project. Please register to attend using the PayPal link on the website. If you don’t use PayPal, feel free to call or e-mail me to reserve your space at the conference and, more importantly, your lunch from Dunbar’s. We have no problem with people paying at the door, we just need to know that you are coming.

There will, f  course, be liveblogging of the event, and materials available online. If you can’t come, there is also a paypal link if you'd care to donate (this is a non-profit endeavor). Feel free to contact us through the website, or ask questions by replying to this e-mail. Rising Tide’s toll-free phone number is: 866-910-2055.

Although I am sending this e-mail to over 200 people, I’m sure I’m missing some. Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested. Unless they have a blog or have expressed interest in the past, they are probably not on my e-mail list. Also, bloggers, please spread the word on your blogs!

Associated Press - June 11, 2007 9:25 PM ET

NEW YORK (AP) - Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is warning that New York City should brace itself for a natural disaster — a hurricane powerful enough to cause serious flooding in lower Manhattan and other low-lying areas.

Chertoff spoke as he toured a new command center at the Office of Emergency Management in Brooklyn today.