Please share any stories you see or hear. I woke up to TV headlines saying that there are “complete structural failures” in New Orleans. Does that extend to major new buildings downtown? What about the hotels housing so many tourists who couldn’t leave?
CNN just reported that a woman in a hotel room tried to open the door, and the force of the wind was so strong that it slammed the door shut — and sliced off half of her finger (!). (They didn’t explain how the wind was blowing that hard INSIDE the hotel.)
Superdome’s Roof Is Peeled Off in 2 Places
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS / NYT:
Published: August 29, 2005
Filed at 9:50 a.m. ET
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Howling wind from Hurricane Katrina peeled holes in the roof of the Superdome on Monday morning as thousands of people huddled inside seeking shelter.
Pieces of metal sheared off, leaving two holes that were visible from the floor. Water dripped in and people were moved away from about five sections of those seats.
The development, around 8 a.m. as the storm neared its peak outside, did not create any visible fear among the estimated 8,000 to 9,000 people who spent the night in the huge arena. Some watched as sheets of metal, flapping visibly, rumbled loudly. From the floor, looking up more than 19 stories, it appeared to be openings of about 6 feet long.
General Manager Glenn Menard said he did not know how serious the problem was. ”We have no way of getting anyone up there to look,” he said. ..
Boy Howdie! Anderson Cooper is blowin’ in the wind. Again!
Try to fill your gas tank early today Barrel price will exceed $70, at least for a while, says the NYT.
P.S. Ask Amazon to put up a Red Cross donation link (as Amazon did for the tsunami). This is the largest disaster in the HISTORY of the Red Cross. What other organizations need help?
Update [2005-8-29 11:3:30 by pastordan]:With apologies to Susan: nika7K has some excellent live-blogging links.
