HumidCity

If anybody out there has missed my vitriolic ranting I have come to apologize. I have been absolutely buried over the past two weeks or so and have contributed but little here on the HC. One reason is that I have been getting things off the ground over on Katrina An UnNatural Disaster where I have just done some posting, including a piece I just put up today about local bloggers here in New Orleans.

Anyway, there are a few posts coming in the near future. In the meantime it seems that you are all in capable hands with the rest of the team. Kami just got back to town so we should be hearing from her soon. (hint)

While I need to keep it brief I would like you all to think for a moment. Think about what the flood victims North of us are going through. Think of what they are about to go through. Just because a few dipshits got on the Internet or in front of a camera and ranted about how we deserved it when the waters hit us does not mean that everyone up there shares that perspective. We have skills unique to the situation, we know what the long haul looks like. We can help.

I don’t care who you are, almost three years ago someone helped you. There was someone out there that helped each and every one of us. Remember that.

-Loki, HumidCity Founder (Like The Governator, “I’ll be back!”)

Taken during last weeks deluge.

A bit wet today in the uptown area.

Could be that some of the drains aren’t up to the rains.

At least it makes driving fun!

I have recently had writer’s block. During Jazz Fest I was buried between moving house and working the broadcast that I had no time. Since then there has been so much that trying to focus in on one or two things at a time just frazzled me.

This morning, thanks to My Favorite Zombie(tm), I ran across this little gem. Go read the whole post, it’s a very interesting comparison.

Together we visited numerous villages up and down the Indian coast and listened to hundreds of people describe how the tsunami and its aftermath continues to impact them. We listened to displaced families as we sat on woven mats in steaming thatched huts as the temperatures passed 105. An entire fishing community told us their story under towering palm trees backed by the brilliant blue Bay of Bengal of the Indian Ocean. We ate rice, yogurt and fish off of banana leaves with our fingers while we visited with one village. Others shared what happened as we walked in the blazing sun through fields of women and men digging dirt with shovels and pails to construct a new road.

We shared the experiences of our gulf coast communities and the massive and continuing human rights violations perpetrated against Katrina survivors both at home and internally displaced. We shared a slide show illustrating human and civil rights violations after Katrina. After finding out that police fired weapons to turn away fleeing people trying to escape across the Mississippi river in New Orleans, the continuing displacement of hundreds of thousands, and the government’s determination to demolish thousands of usable public housing apartments, our Indian friends were incredulous. One said “This would never happen in our country. If this happened in India, there would be a revolution!”

The rest is here.  Read it, it contains a lot of very interesting analysis, as well as a joint declaration from survivors of both the Indian Flood and the Federal Flood of New Orleans. I wish I had found this for Memorial Day.

If anyone local is out and around I’ll probably be out at the Freret Street Fest….

Crawford, Texas (AP) - June 1st, 2007

In a strange twist of irony as hurricane season officially opened today, a tragic flood this morning destroyed the personal library of President George W. Bush. The flood began in the presidential bathroom where both of the books were kept. Both of the books have been lost. A presidential spokesperson said the president was devastated, as he had almost finished coloring the second one.

White House staff members repeatedly tried to call the Federal Emergency Management Agency to notify them of the situation, but there was no answer.

Well today was quite something. I guess its a good thing I was feeling ill and took a cab down to the Jazz Fest because all the bus drivers decided today was a good day to “be sick.” I am filled with unexpressable joy at the idea of having to not only cab it the next day or two (an uneeded expense) but also to have to compete for cabs with the teeming masses of people who would otherwise take the RTA shuttle. Lets hope that it was a one day thing.

So I knew there was rain scheduled for the day, no big deal. I was not expecting a torrential downpour. In the span of ten minutes the WWOZ VIP tent was ankle deep in water, and from what I heard it was deeper in many other places. After the mad scramble to breakdown and waterproof all the laptops and wireless set up in there it was off to the trailer. At its height I wold say there was a foot of water behind the Gospel Tent. The outdoor stages shut down, but the tents kept rocking. WWL had this to say.

The above is a view from behind the Gospel Tent.

While we lost power for awhile, the broadcast got back up in short order and we reloacted the DJ’s to a dry space. As they say, the show must go on.

More pics can be found here, or in the WWOZ Flickr Community

All in all it was quite the day. I’m glad tomorrow’s forecast seems sunnier. More after the Festival.

From the Livejournal New Orleans Community:

Calling anyone who witnessed the flooding near Oak and Carrollton on Decmeber 21, 2006. Can you please send me an email attesting to having seen un-drivable conditions in that area around 8:30am?
AND/OR
If you have pictures of that area that would be even more fantastic!
Specifically, if you witnessed:
–A truck stuck in the water in the middle of the street near Capital One, abandoned due to water level.
–Car lined up on the Neutral Ground in that area.
–Untravelable water levels on Carrollton and St. Charles.
–Cars stuck in water anywhere in that area.
–Water levels on Oak (going into businesses).
–Water levels on sidestreets.

It doesn’t have to be detailed, just: “On 12/21/06, I witnessed ___________,” or “I was unable to travel to work from ___________ area myself because of __________.” I know other people couldn’t get to work from that area, I just need proof.

If you feel comfortable signing with contact info, that’d be great. If you are a business owner in that area that would be WONDERFUL.

Much appreciated. THANKS!

To see the various responses and add one of your own please go to the original post:
Here

Rains Flood New Orleans Streets - washingtonpost.com
“Unbelievable,” said Pamela Borne, who waded in knee-high water with her daughter on her back to get to her house. “It’s very disappointing, that just with an overnight rain of this magnitude, that the city is so ill-prepared.”

Joy of water. Lex got trapped at Tulane and I was at home surrounded by a 3-4 foot moat. Good thing this data floats, isn’t it?

the last week has been sobering in the land so big and easy… suicides, butchery, and nefarious acts of prostitution… BUT who wouldn’t want to come home… AFTERALL, the saints are winning… in fact the saints are doing so well that the pope — er, benedict the umpteenth to be exact– canonized four more. can st. archie of manning be far behind? (some of you older folks may remember the early 70’s hit by fr. jerry called “archie is a saint” - BTW jerry left the priesthood and allegedly married an ex-nun) … hmmm…..

remember i implored the media to say good things? “benedict” means “well spoken” or some mumbo gumbo like that…. let’s be pope-ish and try a few…

we’re not corrupt… we just play by our own rules.
we’re not killing each other… we’re just downsizing.
the city wasn’t flooded… we all just have waterfront property now.

who cares if the glass is half-full or half-empty? heck, i just want a f’n go-cup… and you can’t get those anywhere else in the world. BLOG THIS!

Last week, Congress could not agree on funding for housing and levees in time for hurricane season before breaking for vacation. Yet, yesterday, Congress convened an extraordinary recess to hold hearings about the raid of Rep Bill Jefferson’s office. They sacrificed their vacation time to draft legislation that would bar the FBI from searching Congressional offices in the future!

Please tell Congress how you feel about these actions by our Congress Members by writing a letter to the Washington Post and the New York Times. Here are some talking points:

1. 95,000 homes were destroyed by flood water in metro New Orleans due to broken levees.
2. Community block grants for housing are still not approved and are in danger of being slashed in the House.
3. A recent study by the U.C Berkeley lays the majority of the responsibility for the flooding on the US Army Corps of Engineers.
4. Hurricane Season begins on June 1. (which means it is probably hurricane season already by the time you’re reading this -Loki)

Your letter will more likely get published if you use your own words. Please send your letter in separate emails to:

letters@washpost.com and to letters@nytimes.com

Writing letters not your thing?   Go to: http://www.levees.org/advocacy/congress1.php and use our letter writing tool and with one click of a mouse, send a letter to your Congress Members! The letter is already there, just add your address and click “Send.”

Thank you,

Sandy

FLOODING COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED SIERRA CLUB PRESENTS “GEOLOGY OF KATRINA”

NEW ORLEANS – Anyone who wants to understand the geologic setting of New Orleans and how the sediments buried below the levees led to their failure and the flooding of the city should attend the next meeting of the New Orleans Sierra Club.

Stephen Nelson, PhD, Chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Tulane University will present “Geology of the Katrina Disaster” at 7 p.m. on Sunday, May 21, 2006 at the Carrollton United Methodist Church, corner of Freret and South Carrollton streets. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting is open to all people and is free of charge.

Dr. Nelson has visited all the levee breaches and he will provide an analysis of the reasons for the engineering failures at the 17th St, London Avenue and Industrial canals. Dr. Nelson says his presentation will show that flooding could have been avoided if simple geologic principals had been followed.

“We’re going to talk about the geological conditions that existed at the time of Katrina and how they led to breaches in the levees,” says Dr. Nelson. “We’re not going to talk much about what happened in the Lower Ninth Ward as the surge waters were simply too high there. But the failure of levees and floodwalls at the 17th Street and London Avenue canals was not due to overtopping but to failures to account for the geological conditions present beneath those levees.”

Dr. Nelson will discuss the geologic landscape of the area going back 5,000 years and will explain changes that occurred up until the day the hurricane struck. He will present a comprehensive slide show that contains numerous images to back up his points.

Since Early November, 2005, Nelson has been conducting field trips to the levee breaches for interested parties from throughout the New Orleans community as well as visitors from out of state and students enrolled in his natural disasters course. For more information about Dr. Nelson, visit his website at: www.tulane.edu/~sanelson.

# # #

The Sierra Club’s 750,000 members work together to protect communities and the planet. The Club is America’s oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. The Delta (Louisiana) chapter of the Sierra Club has more than 3,500 members and has been active in local conservation projects for more than 30 years. For more information, contact the organization’s website: www.louisiana.sierraclub.org.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Chris Smith, Media Relations Coordinator
(504) 884-4008

According to Yahoo News‘ article about looting there was a comment made by a particular tourist from Philadelphia which I would like to reply to.

This woman was evidently watching looting going on at the French Quarter Walgreens. The comments to the reporter were as follows:

“Denise Bollinger, a tourist from Philadelphia, stood outside and snapped pictures in amazement.
‘It’s downtown Baghdad,’ the housewife said. ‘It’s insane. I’ve wanted to come here for 10 years. I thought this was a sophisticated city. I guess not.’ “

Denise, you are a fool. Any idiot who looks for sophistocation during one of the biggest disasters we have seen in living memory deserves to be in the worst of it. You should develop a bit more compassion and sense of perspective because your words have proven you to be thoughtless, uncaring, and self absorbed. I should probably revert to four letter words to give you a fighting chance of understanding this should you ever come across it, but I’m just not feeling that generous.

To look around at the level of devastation and horror around you, and be aware of it as your Baghdad comment shows you are, and be disappointed in the level of sophistocation would be laughable if it were not so thoroughly disgusting. You should be trying to help those around you rather than parading your narrow mind and lack of empathy before the media. Hopefully you find the opportunity to suffer a bit while you are in the middle of it. For people like you it is a much needed excercise in building character.