3:09 pm CDT
They Feed on Horror

A toxic flood of sewage and oil, ants and snakes, alligators ... people still trapped in buildings, bridges, everywhere, in the hellish heat, six days later, no food or water, dying as we speak ... corpses rotting in the streets, the specter of cholera and more death ... fires in damaged buildings, explosions, gunfire ... a police station under siege somewhere in the city... a death toll in the thousands, and thousands more dying each day ... reports of cannibalism (unconfirmed but nothing would surprise me now) ... fear and hopelessness everywhere, and a wild boiling rage ... in the Superdome and Convention Center, those great Refuges of Last Resort, thousands of people crammed together, sick and injured people untreated, corpses lying about, people forced to relieve themselves on the floor like animals, a vile stench, fear, hopelessness, madness, people unprotected from criminals, fights, murder, children raped, people screaming to be let out ... a disaster far worse than the Fall of the Towers, with a much greater impact on all of us (just you wait), yet there are no flags at half mast, no bells tolling in every city, no minute of silence or national prayer, no particular disruption of the network tv schedules, and no heroic rescue effort ... an entire city lost, a great city, a beloved city, lost ... ten thousand dead ... one million people added to the ranks of the homeless and unemployed ... the most vital port in the nation shut down, how long? who knows? ... billions of dollars to bomb and rebuild Iraq, billions of dollars to develop high-tech weaponry (stealth bombers, nuclear missiles, HAARP), billions of dollars to drug our children with Ritalin and Prozac, billions of dollars to install surveillance cameras on every street and conduct breast exams in airports, billions of dollars for Tasers and ear-blasting crowd-control devices, but not one thin dime could be squeezed out of the national budget to repair a few levees ... and billions of dollars in FEMA's budget, endless emergency drills, threat levels issued every day, the best technology in the world available to protect the nation's ports and its people, chest-thumping rhetoric about Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security, but it took six days to get badly needed supplies to the suffering people of New Orleans ... all this horror preventable, but allowed to happen ... it is as if this horror is what they wanted ... nothing else makes sense ... it fits their m.o. ... create the problem, then offer the "solution" ... order out of chaos ... and out of this chaos government will get more power ... oh, they will concede that "mistakes" were made, but the mistakes were not their fault, it was all due to being understaffed, underfunded, and so forth and so on, ad infinitum and ad nauseum ... and the nation will be weakened economically by this catastrophe, perhaps even crushed into the dirt, and that will suit the agenda of the Globalists just fine ... problem, reaction, solution ... yes, the horror is what they wanted ... they feed on horror ...

2:03 pm CDT
Ripple Effects of the Hurricane

US Hurricane 'May Cause World Recession'

River Traffic Halted; Shipments Stopped in Ports Closed by Katrina

12:36 pm CDT
And there's no excuse for it ...

Local leaders call relief efforts too little, late

12:27 pm CDT
Supplies Sitting in Baton Rouge

Our government is killing the people of New Orleans. By witholding supplies, they are ensuring more deaths, and I hold them complicit. Please bring this matter to the attention of the people of the United States. They need to know that New Orleans is deliberatly being denied food and water ... LINK

12:18 pm CDT
More Buck-Passing B.S. from the Feds

This time it's the fault of all those people who had no transportation, thus couldn't follow the mandatory evacuation order ...
FEMA chief: Victims bear some responsibility

12:08 pm CDT
Outrageous

Bush Rejects French, German Offers of Medical Aid, Water Filters

11:58 am CDT
New Orleans is Burning

At this writing, shortly before noon, I am watching a building burn on Interdictor's webcam. Commentary HERE

11:28 am CDT
UNCENSORED Transcript of WWL Radio's Garland Robinette with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin

The following transcript was found HERE. It can also be heard at the same link. Both recording and transcript begin with the interview in progress.

Nagin: ... to give me executive powers. To authorize me to dictate and manage military resources down here and Ill fix this for you. You call him right now and you call the governor and you tell them to delegate the powers that they had to the mayor of New Orleans and we'll get this damn thing fixed. It's politics man and they're playing games and they're spinning. They're out there spinning for the cameras.

Garland: Can't they just, if, if nothing else look at 25% of their energy coming from the state is not flowing through the pipelines. We're on the verge of anarchy. Can't they understand if nothing else that they're going to be hurt politically?

Nagin: I don't know what they're doing. I mean their air-conditioning must be good because I haven't had any in five days. And maybe there's some smoke coming out of the air conditioning units that's clogging some folks' vision.

Garland: Have you talked to the president?

Nagin: I've talked directly with the president. I've talked to the head of the homeland security. I've talked to everybody under the sun. I've been out there man. I flew these helicopters, been in the crowds talking to people crying don't know where their relatives are. I've done it all, man and I tell you man, Garland, I keep hearing that it's coming. This is coming. That is coming. And my answer to that today is "BS". Where is the beef? Cause there is no beef in this city. There's no beef anywhere in southeast Louisiana and these god damn ships that are coming - I don't see them.

Garland: What did you say to the president of the United States and what did he say to you?

Nagin: I basically told him we had an incredible, uh, crisis here and that his flying over in air force one does not do it justice and I have been all around this city and I am very frustrated because we are not able to marshal resources and we're outmanned in just about every respect. You know the reason why the looters got out of control? Because we had most of our resources saving people, thousands of people that were stuck in attics man, old ladies, when you pull off the doggone ventilator vent and you look down there and there standing in there in water up to their freakin neck and they don't have a clue what's going on down here. They flew down here one time, two days after the doggone event was over with TV cameras AP reporters, all kind of goddamned, excuse my French everybody in America, but I am pissed.

Garland: Did you say to the president of the United States, "I need the military in here?"

Nagin: I said I need everything. Now I will tell you this, and I give the president some credit on this: he sent one John Wayne dude down here that could get some stuff done and his name is General HonorŽ and he came off the goddanged chopper and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done. They oughta give that guy, if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done and we can save some people.

Garland: What do you need right now to take control of the situation?

Nagin: I need reinforcements. I need troops man. I need five hundred buses man. They're talking about, you know, one of the briefings we hadyou know they were talking about getting uh, uh you know public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out of here. I'm like you gotta be kidding me! This is a national disaster. Get every doggone greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans. That's, they're thinking small man, and this is a major major major deal. And I can't emphasize it enough man. This is crazy! I've got 15 to 20 thousand people over at the convention center, its bursting at the seams. The poor people in Plaquemines parish, they're air-vacing people here over to New Orleans. We don't have anything and we're sharing with our brothers in Plaquemines parish. It's, it's, it's, it's awful down here man.

Garland: Do you believe that the president is seeing this, holding news conferences on it, but can't do anything until Kathleen Banco requests him to do it and do you know whether she has made that request?

Nagin: I have no idea what they're doing but, uh, I will tell you this: you know God is looking down on all this and if they're not doing everything in their power to save people, they are going to pay the price, because every day that we delay people are dying. And they're dying by the hundreds I'm willing to bet you. There are, we're getting reports and calls that are breaking my heart from people saying, "I've been in my attic I can't take it anymore. The water is up to my, up to my neck. I don't think I can hold out." And that's happening as we speak. You know what really upsets me Garland? We told everybody the importance of the 17th street canal issue. We said please, please take care of this. We don't care what you do. Figure it out.

Garland: Who'd you say that to?

Nagin: Everybody. You know, the governor, homeland security, FEMA. You name it we said it. And you know they allowed that pumping station next to it, pumping station 6 to go underwater. Our sewage and water board people (**I could not make out this name**) stayed there and endangered their lives. And what happened when that pumping station went down? The water started flowing again in the city and it started getting to levels that probably killed more people. In addition to that we had water flowing through the pipes in this city. That's a power station over there. So there's no water flowing anywhere on the east bank of Orleans parish so a critical water supply was destroyed because of lack of action.

Garland: Why couldn't they drop the 3000 pound sandbags or the containers that they were talking about earlier? Was it an engineering feat that just couldn't be done?

Nagin: They said that there were some pulleys that they had to manufacture but, you know, in a state of emergency, man, you are creative. You figure out ways to get stuff done. And they told me that they went overnight and they built 17, 17 concrete structures and they had the pulleys on them and they were going to drop 'em. I flew over that thing yesterday and it's in the same shape that it was after the storm hit. There was nothing happening. And they're feeding the public a line of bull and they're spinning and people are dying down here.

Garland: If some of the public called and they're right that there's a law that the president, that the federal government, can't do anything without local or state request, would you request martial law?

Nagin: I've already, I've already called for martial law in the city of New Orleans. We did that a few days ago.

Garland: Did the governor do that too?

Nagin: Uh, I don't know. I don't think so. Uh, but we called for martial law when we realize that the looting was getting out of control. We redirected all of our police officers back to patrolling the streets. They were dirt...dead tired from saving people but they worked all night because we thought this thing was gonna blow wide open last night. And so we redirected all of our resources and we held it under check. I'm not sure if we can do that another night with the current resources. And I am telling you right now, they're showing all these reports of people looting and doing all that weird stuff and they are doing that, but people are desperate and they're trying to find food and water. The majority of them. Now, you got some knuckleheads out there and they are taking advantage of this lawless...this situation where we can't really control it and they are doing some awful, awful things but that's a small majority of the people. Most people are looking to try and survive. And you've gotta, one of the things, nobody's talked about this. Drugs flowed in and out of New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan area so freely it was scary to me. And that's why we were having an escalation in murders. People don't want to talk about this but I'm going to talk about it. You have drug addicts that are now walking around this city looking for a fix. And that's the reason why they were breaking into hospitals and drug stores. They're looking for something to take the edge of their jones, if you will. And right now they don't have anything to take the edge off and they've probably found guns. So what you're seeing is drug starving crazy addicts. Drug addicts that are wreaking havoc and we don't have the manpower to adequately deal with it. We can only target certain sections of the city and form a perimeter around them and hope to God that we are not overrun.

Garland: Well you and I must be in the minority because apparently there's a section of our citizenry out there that thinks, uh, because of the law that says that the federal government can't come in unless requested by the proper people that everything that has been going on up until this point has been done as good as it can possibly be.

Nagin: Really?

Garland: I know you don't feel that way

Nagin: Well, did the tsunami victims request? Did they go through a formal process to request? Uh, you know, did Iraq, did the Iraqi people request that we go in there? Did they ask us to go in there? What is more important? This is, you know, I'll tell you man, I, I'm probably gonna get in a whole bunch of trouble. I'm probably going to get into so much trouble it aint even funny. They probably won't even want to deal with me after this interview is over -

Garland: You and I will be in the funny place together.

Nagin: - but we authorized 8 billions dollars to go to Iraq lickity quick. After 9-11 we gave the president unprecedented powers lickity quick to take care of New York and other places. Now you mean to tell me that a place where most of your oil is coming through, a place that is so unique - when you mention New Orleans everywhere around the world everybody's eyes light up - you mean to tell me that a place where you probably have thousands of people that have died and thousands more that are dying everyday that we can't figure out a way to authorize the resources that we need? Come on, man. You know, I'm not one of those drug addicts. I am thinking very clearly. And I don't know whose problem it is. I don t know whether it's the governor's problem. I don't know whether it's the president's problem. But somebody needs to get their ass on a plane and sit down, the two of them, and figure this out. Right now.

Garland: What can we do here?

Nagin: Keep talking about it.

Garland: Ok, we'll do that. What else can we do?

Nagin: Organize people to write letters, make calls to -

Garland: Emails

Nagin: - to their congressmen, to the president, to the governor. Flood their doggone offices with requests to do something. This is ridiculous. And I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamned press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city and then come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can't even count. Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here! They're not here! It's too doggone late. Now get off your asses and let's do something! Let's fix the biggest goddamned crisis in the history of this country.

Garland: I'll say it right now: you're the only politician that's called and called for arms like this. And if, whatever it takes - the governor, the president, whatever law precedent it takes, whatever it takes - I bet that the people listening to you are on your side.

Nagin: Well, I hope so Garland. I am just...I'm at the point now where it don't matter. People are dying (Nagin's voice cracks). They don't have homes. They don't have jobs. The city of New Orleans will never be the same in this time.

***Here there are several seconds where neither man speaks. Quiet crying can be heard.***

Garland (openly crying): We're both pretty speechless here. Yeah, I don't know what to say.

Nagin (voice breaking): I gotta go.

Garland: Ok. Keep in touch. Keep in touch.

9:57 am CDT
Locked and Loaded

Tourist Debbie Durso of Washington, Mich., said she asked a police officer for assistance and his response was, "'Go to hell --- it's every man for himself ..."'

Outside a looted Rite-Aid drugstore, some people were anxious to show they needed what they were taking. A gray-haired man who would not give his name pulled up his T-shirt to show a surgery scar and explained that he needs pads for incontinence.

"I'm a Christian," he said. "I feel bad going in there."

...

Gov. Kathleen Blanco called the looters "hoodlums" and issued a warning to lawbreakers: Hundreds of National Guard troops hardened on the battlefield in Iraq have landed in New Orleans.

"They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded," she said. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will."

LINK

As Mayor Nagin has pointed out, the vast majority of "looters" are people in desparate need of food, water, and medical supplies; only a relative few fit the description of hoodlums on a rampage. So far, the police and National Guard have treated everyone like criminals. What, then, will happen when the battle-hardened troops from Iraq arrive with their shoot-to-kill orders? How many innocent will die at their hands?

11:18 am CDT
Horrific Conditions in the Convention Center

Interdictor's Cell Phone Interview with a New Orleans Citizen Stranded in the Convention Center. Summary:

Three days ago, they were promised buses. No buses ... Also, for three days, no food, no water, no medicine. The place is full of infants and elderly people, and people with serious injuries ... Finally, yesterday, the National Guard drove past and tossed some supplies over a bridge. Most of the supplies were destroyed ... Peaceful attempts to approach police or National Guard for help result in weapons being aimed at them ... Tensions are high. Many fights, at least one murder ...

LINK

WDSU reports children are being raped and murdered in the Convention Center. One evacuee alleges "genocide" ... Mayor Nagin is furious with the federal government's failure to respond to this national emergency ....

LINK

10:12 pm CDT
Night Falls on the Lost City

A hundred people died today from lack of food and water ... On CNN a hurricane expert says 100,000 may have drowned in the flooding ... Hospitals are being fired on by gunmen ... A shopping mall has been set on fire ... As a result of the unrest, evacuation efforts have been halted ... Gunmen fire on a FOX news crew ... Police tell a CNN news crew it's unsafe to remain on the street ... And, in the French Quarter, ten buses that hotels arranged to transport their guests were commandeered by the authorities. Now, those tourists are being preyed upon as they make their way to the Convention Center ... And in the Convention Center? Rape, murder, people held hostage. Same thing in the Superdome ... Night falls on the Lost City ...

9:46 pm CDT
Your Government on the Job

How New Orleans Was Lost

The Tsumami Called Katrina

Bill Introduced to Restrict Weather Control

NASA Funds Weather Modification Technology

LSU Hurricane Expert on CNN Just Estimated 100,000 Drowned

3:38 pm CDT
Oil Crisis Looming Due to Hurricane

Motorists Urged to Drive Less as Gas Supplies Drop

At Least 10 US Airports Face Closure Due to Jet Fuel Shortage

3:28 pm CDT
"A National Disgrace"

Interdictor reports that the "real military" is replacing the National Guard--i.e., the Marines are arriving in the city. He also reports that, in Jefferson Parish and Orleans, FEMA has failed to bring in supplies ...
LINK

Homeland Security official Terry Ebbert has called FEMA's non-response to the disaster "a national disgrace." He says Mayor Nagin has repeatedly pushed for supplies, yet none have been sent ...
LINK

Meanwhile, gunmen have fired on a medical convey as it returned to Charity Hospital after dropping off patients at Tulane Medical Center ...
LINK

1:03 am CDT
Latest from New Orleans

Music Legends Fats Domino and Irma Thomas among the Missing

12:48 am CDT
Unrest Intensifies

"Hospitals are trying to evacuate," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesan, spokesman at the city emergency operations center. "At every one of them, there are reports that as the helicopters come in people are shooting at them. There are people just taking potshots at police and at helicopters, telling them, "You better come get my family."

Superdome and hospital evacuations disrupted by arson and gunfire; More National Guardsmen sent in

11:47 am CDT
Spanish MP Stranded in New Orleans

A Spanish member of parliament stranded in New Orleans has described a dire situation at the city's Convention Center, including dead bodies inside the building.

LINK

10:57 am CDT
Unrest Intensifies at Superdome

Fury rose among many of those evacuated. Outside the Convention Center, the sidewalks were packed with people without food, water or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement. Thousands of storm refugees had been assembling outside for days, waiting for buses that did not come.

At least seven bodies were scattered outside, and hungry, desperate people who were tired of waiting broke through the steel doors to a food service entrance and began pushing out pallets of water and juice and whatever else they could find.

An old man in a chaise lounge lay dead in a grassy median as hungry babies wailed around him. Around the corner, an elderly woman lay dead in her wheelchair, covered up by a blanket, and another body lay beside her wrapped in a sheet.

"I don't treat my dog like that," 47-year-old Daniel Edwards said as he pointed at the woman in the wheelchair. "I buried my dog." He added: "You can do everything for other countries but you can't do nothing for your own people. You can go overseas with the military but you can't get them down here."

Just above the convention center on Interstate 10, commercial buses were lined up, going nowhere. The street outside the center, above the floodwaters, smelled of urine and feces, and was choked with dirty diapers, old bottles and garbage.

"They've been teasing us with buses for four days," Edwards said.

People chanted, "Help, help" as reporters and photographers walked through.

John Murray, 52, said: "It's like they're punishing us."

LINK

10:26 am CDT
Random Reports of Mayhem

Shoot-outs are occurring between gangs, as well as between gangs and police. Armed gangs have moved into some of the hotels ... A Fox News crew was fired on this morning by two men with assault rifles who jumped out of a van yelling "F--- the police!" No one was hurt ... FEMA is holding back rescuers, due to the widespread shootings ... At one hospital, looters have frustrated all evacuation efforts ... At other hospitals, looters have obtained narcotics at gunpoint ... The Superdome evacuation has also been halted after shots were fired at a helicopter. A National Guardsman was injured, but not critically ... Unconfirmed reports of arson fires set in the vicinity of the Superdome ...

8:06 am CDT
Anarchy in New Orleans

There is someone blogging (with a webcam) from a data center in a high-rise building in New Orleans. Latest blog entries describe a conversation with a New Orleans police officer. Summary: The police department is in chaos, there is "no command and control infrastructure." Looters are shooting at cops, also rumors they are setting buildings on fire. Cops are also looting--raiding ATMs, driving off with SUVs, etc. Thirty cops have quit ... LINK

8:03 pm CDT
Media Blackout on Bush Administration's Cut of Disaster Funding

Paul Joseph Watson: Who Opened the New Orleans Floodgates?

7:19 pm CDT
From Total Information Analysis, based on reports from WWL TV

Tens of thousands of Americans trapped in a 21st-century FEMA concentration camp ...
60,000 Trapped in FEMA's Superdome Concentration Camp

Nagin said he called the governor, and that he and other state and local officials are unsuccesfully trying to get through to the White House to ask if the people in Washington know what they're doing ...
Nagin: White House Ignores Pleas to Save New Orleans; Helicopters Diverted

11:45 am CDT
An Avoidable Catastrophe

Billions of dollars to "rebuild Iraq," billions of dollars for "homeland security," but not one dime to strengthen a few levees:

How Bush's Policies Doomed New Orleans

With this result:

A Crippling Blow to U.S. Oil Industry

10:59 am CDT
Cindy Sheehan's Vigil in Crawford

Today is the last day of Cindy Sheehan's vigil. Bush never did meet with her, of course, and Cindy says she's glad.

My friend David Paleo emailed me yesterday with his thoughts on Bush's sorry handling of the matter:

Hey Mack! you old Texan wolf! how are you doing?

Myself, trying to avoid the news, beetween the Gaza "pullout" circus, De Menezes barbaric execution, Pat "caliber 700" Robertson and one thing that got me, the obscene parading of Tammy Pruett by Bush, AGJHHH! Granted, Cindy Sheehan got him in a prickly situation, and, isn't it funny that basically she's asking for an old Western style confrontation? You know, a face to face showdown with that rugged All American cowboy, G.W. Bush, and guess who's leaving town in cloud of dust, tripping all over his gingham dress? That rugged All American cowboy, G.W. Bush! But that's OK, he has everything to lose if he meets Sheehan, so he plays dumb and hopes the media gets bored with her, OK, despicable but understandable from a Machiavellian point of view; but to parade Tammy Pruett ... what a cowardly piece of PR. "True American Moms only concern themselves with making Apple Pie & Cannonfodder." I can understand Tammy, though. I'm sure she went through a lot of the same fears Cindy did, and letting herself be used by this bastard, she prevents herself from suffering the ultimate tragedy Cindy Sheehan went through. Can you imagine the PR disaster if one of her sons came back with as much as a scratch? You can bet, that somewhere in Iraq, the three Pruett boys are locked in some bunker, with all the works, padded walls, football helmets on their heads and fuzzy, warm slippers on their feet , eating only mashed food with rubber forks while half the medical army personnel watch over them anxiously: the younger one may be coming up with a cold ...

10:20 am CDT
Peace is Terror

ACLU Reveals FBI Labeled Peace, Affirmative Action Group 'Terrorist'

7:52 am CDT
Email Attributed to NOLA Rescue Worker

The poorest 20% (you can argue with the number -- 10%? 18%? no one knows) of the city was left behind to drown. This was the plan. Forget the sanctimonious bullshit about the bullheaded people who wouldn't leave. The evacuation plan was strictly laissez-faire. It depended on privately owned vehicles, and on having ready cash to fund an evacuation. The planners knew full well that the poor, who in new orleans are overwhelmingly black, wouldn't be able to get out. The resources -- meaning, the political will -- weren't there to get them out ...
LINK

7:52 am CDT
Helicopters Were Diverted from Sandbagging

Nagin said the sandbagging was scheduled for midday, but the Blackhawk helicopters needed to help did not show up. He said the sandbags were ready and all the helicopter had to do was "show up."
Entire City Will Soon Be Underwater

Mayor Blasts Failure to Patch Levee Breaches

7:50 am CDT
Chaos in New Orleans

Crisis Grows As Flooded New Orleans Looted

Be Ruthless with Looters, Police and National Guard Told

Prisoners Riot, Take Hostages In New Orleans; Children Reportedly Held Captive

7:39 pm CDT
Protecting the Homeland

"It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."--Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004.
When the Levee Breaks

"The price we pay" ...
More than 95 Prcent of Gulf Oil Production Lost

4,109 Louisiana Reserve and Guard troops are Currently Serving in Iraq

Watching news coverage of the refugees trying to enter the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans for safety from the approaching force-five Hurricane Katrina, I was incredulous how the people attempting to enter the stadium were being treated by the National Guard troops and local police. The people were made to stand for hours outside in the awful Louisiana climate while they were admitted one or two adults at a time so they could be searched "for firearms and alcohol." The frail elderly, many grasping walkers and others in wheelchairs seemed to be near collapse. They, along with hundreds of small children needing water and rest-room relief, were forced to wait as long as four hours to get to safety. It was often repeated during the video reports that the last time the Superdome was used as a hurricane shelter, a few of the temporary occupants removed some furniture. But this time, they had a large security force on hand, so that was NOT going to happen again, no-siree-bob ... Superdome of Shame

"The police got all the best stuff. They're crookeder than us," one man said ...

Inside the store, one woman was stocking up on make-up. She said she took comfort in watching police load up their own carts.

"It must be legal," she said. "The police are here taking stuff, too."
New Orleans Cops Participate in Looting

Martial Law Declared in New Orleans: Situation Deteriorating

Hundreds of Emergency Medical Technicians in New Orleans Were Confined in Hotels under Martial Law

6:26 pm CDT
Unedited mp3

Journalists "are sometimes wacky thrill seekers" in hurricanes, Meserve said. "But when you stand in the dark, and you hear people yelling for help and no one can get to them, it's a totally different experience."

CNN's Jeanne Meserve Describes Last Night's Rescue Efforts in New Orleans (mp3)

6:24 pm CDT
The Million Dollar Question

Hurricane Katrina: Weather Warfare Conspiracy?

2:46 pm CDT
UPDATE: Hurricane Aftermath

Mississippi: Hundreds feared dead in U.S. Hurricane Katrina

Oil Hits New Record near $71 after Katrina

10:15 am CDT
Hurricane Aftermath

Katrina Kills at Least 55 in Mississippi; New Orleans Levee Breaks, 80% of City Flooded

10:15 am CDT
Hurricane Coverage from New Orleans

Times-Picayune newspaper provides local information

Hurricane page at Wikipedia

Firsthand reports from New Orleans Metblogs

7:07 pm CDT
Live Local Coverage of Hurricane Katrina

New Orleans television stations WWL and WDSU are providing nonstop live coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

6:44 pm CDT
Hurricane Katrina

U.S. oil surges $4 to record above $70 on hurricane

Hurricane Threatens Gulf Oil Production

Two years ago, this article appeared regarding the possible effects of a hurricane striking Port Fourchon near New Orleans:
Oil Artery Clog Could Impact U.S.

Two months ago, a Fox TV movie warned of disastrous political and economic consequences of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans:
Oil Storm