Covering Katrina

HAVE FAITH...

2006-03-09T10:19:00.000-08:00

She didn't get it.

Now she does.

It's about time Faith. Too bad she's blaming President Bush, when in reality, it's government as a whole. But hey - it's a start.

ENOUGH

2006-03-03T10:11:00.000-08:00

Is there evidence that President Bush was asleep at the wheel? Yes.

Is there evidence that Governor Kathleen Blanco was asleep at the wheel? Yes.

Is there evidence that Mayor Ray Nagin was asleep at the wheel? Yes.

Is there evidence that Michael Brown was asleep at the wheel? Yes.

Is there evidence that Elvis Presley is alive? Yes.

Enough already.

Louisianians are sick and tired of hearing about what happened before the storm. Can we please focus on what's happening after the storm?

Heck, the next storm is right around the corner and we're sitting ducks.

If you don't think the Katrina story has turned into a political story, you're an idiot.

Michael Brown was a dunce - now, he's a hero?!?!
Tape of President Bush is released when he is out of town and unable to defend himself.
Tape of Governor Blanco saying that the levees held is released and it's practically ignored.
Mississippi lawmakers avoid blaming President Bush and receive as much, if not MORE federal recovery dollars.

And here's the best one YET! President Bush is taken to school for saying the following four days after the storm hit: "No one anticipated the levees would fail."

Yet, six months later - Governor Blanco says the EXACT same thing and nothing is ever said of it?!?!

Vomit.

Stop the politics and please repair New Orleans.

As predicted...

2006-02-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

A CNN reporter just called a Zulu coconut, a golden nugget!

And - oh yeah - he said he was reporting from St. Charles STREET!

CLASSIC!

MARDI GRAS

2006-02-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

Mardi Gras is upon us...

Allow me to share some thoughts about the holiday, specifically how the state will be celebrating and how we will be portrayed by the national media.

First, Mardi Gras should be celebrated. Nothing (that includes past hurricanes and even World Wars) has stopped it from being held. As the owner of Antoine's Restaurant put it (in an interview with CNN), "If this were Christmas, would you not celebrate Christmas because your home was destroyed?" Good point.

You have to keep in mind, Mardi Gras is as much a part of the culture here in Louisiana as Christmas itself. In some circles, that may be considered sacreligous, but it's the truth.

Schools have set aside vacation days, families plan vacations (to get away from the madness), etc, etc. It's just one of those things....

With that being said, the national media doesn't quite understand this. Then again, if it doesn't happen outside of New York City, it doesn't happen, right?

They will fly down to New Orleans, board their limos, and ask a lot of silly questions. Expect them to have shocked looks on their faces, wide-eyes and a complete lack of understanding of our culture. The formula story will be this...

A sobering, yet genteel anchor "welcomes you to New Orleans, where the city is preparing for Mardi Gras"...gentle music...maybe some coloful graphics, yad-da-ya-da....

As soon as the welcome is done, the following sentence will be read: "It's a very different Mardi Gras this year - fewer people and fewer parades. It's also a very controversial Mardi Gras, as some residents are imploring the city..."

It will be the same exact formula ad-nasuem.

Yes, I am grateful the media has returned. Too bad they're lazy, stiff and completely out of touch.

THIS SUMS IT ALL UP...

2006-02-16T06:40:00.000-08:00

From the NY Times:

Mobile homes worth hundreds of millions of dollars are deteriorating in muddy field in Arkansas and may never be used to house victims of Hurricane Katrina because of a dispute over where to install them, federal officials acknowledged Monday.

Only about 2,700 of the 25,000 mobile homes ordered at a cost of $850 million have been installed, and at least 10,000 are sitting in Hope, Ark., according to documents and statements from Federal Emergency Management Agency officials. Though about 55,000 Louisiana families are still waiting for a manufactured housing unit, the mobile homes may never be used because FEMA regulations prohibit them from being installed in flood-prone coastal areas, federal officials said.

IMPORTANT STUFF, RIGHT?

2006-02-15T09:17:00.000-08:00

Well...don't let anyone fool you - the most important story on Planet Earth is Dick Cheney...

It's certainly FAR more important than this, right???

Right??? Yeah - of course!!!

And I suppose this is just a funny sidenote...surely it's not worth covering or even mentioning, right?

Of course not!

The mainstream media continues to amaze...

WHAT IS THE HOLDUP?

2006-02-07T08:59:00.000-08:00

We are approaching the half year mark...

Louisiana lawmakers are gathering for just their SECOND special Hurricane Recovery Session. Just the second! The U.S. Congress has gathered longer than Louisiana lawmakers.

This session won't be long, either. Just over two weeks.

It started with Governor Blanco hauling lawmakers down to New Orleans for a bus tour of the damage.

First, it is beyond human comprehension as to how or why some lawmakers in this state have NOT already seen the damage?!?!?! My Word! How can a policymaker in this state make policy if you haven't seen the very subject of the policy?!

Second, half of the legislature failed to even go on the field trip. It's their choice - some have already seen it, others were just refusing to go along with the grandstanding. I completely understand. However, the rest of the country woke up to read lines like this in their morning papers:

LA TIMES: But a significant chunk of the Legislature
wasn't there to listen. Almost a quarter of the state's 144 lawmakers didn't
show up

That doesn't bode well for our reputation - which, as some of you know, aint the best!

Third, will Governor Blanco open the next session in Southwest Louisiana, the site of Hurricane Rita? Hmmm....

And finally, there is this...the last portion of the above LA Times article.

At the Industrial Canal breach there, a straggling crew of residents
greeted the tour buses with cries for help and chants of "We are here to stay.""We don't have water. We don't have power. We have concrete slabs and front steps and no house," Alice Craft-Kerney, 48, told Blanco. "Folks are living outside because they don't have trailers. When will you help us?"Blanco shook Craft-Kerney's hand and replied, "We're trying. We're moving as fast as we can."Craft-Kerney clung to the governor's hand. Her eyes grew teary as she said, "I just don't know how much longer some people can last."

Hope all is well where you are....

CNN JUST DOESN'T GET IT

2006-01-23T05:43:00.000-08:00

However, this emailer to CNN does get it.

MAYOR WONKA

2006-01-18T08:05:00.000-08:00

It's been nearly two months since I have blogged. Some of the many excuses include: Holidays, work, laziness, stocking up on chicken bouillon cubs...you know, the normal stuff.

But this has prompted a return.

Chocolate City...God is punishing Louisiana...Imaginary conversations with Martin Luther King, Junior...folks, you just can't make this stuff up!

Just when you think Ray Nagin has gone over the edge, he pulls himself back, says "Psyche" with one of those silly little grins, and then jumps again.

However, this time - just like the time when you were 15, in your Dad's car, yanked on the emergency break during a rainstorm going 30 mph - there's no going back. You're left to spin - violently.

In fact, that's a perfect analogy. Why? Because I did that - (yank on the emergency break, not refer to my hometown as "chocolate") and I tell you - once you yank on that emergency break and your car finally settles, you ask yourself, "What, in the name of Bill Buckner, was I thinking?" I honestly think Nagin is asking himself the same question (maybe without the obscure baseball reference).

Chris Rose has the funniest take on the Chocolate City comment.

You can buy a Willy NaginChocolate Factory T-shirt here.

And apparently, Nagin has angered pretty-boy-overrated Anderson Cooper. (Funny clip - even though CNN looks incredibly arrogant and out of touch. Hint to angry CNN producer: He doesn't want to do your show because no one is watching!)

Random thoughts...

What are the old people in New Orleans? Chocolate covered raisins?
I guess Easter candy won't be a problem.
Wouldn't the New Orleans heat be too much for the chocolate?
Canniabalism is now a tasty option.
How much foil will it take to wrap a New Orleans resident in one of those Hersey's Kiss things?
Look to the cookie, Elaine - look to the cookie!
More ovaltine please...oops, maybe not.

And finally - how about this random piece of trivia. Actor Gene Wilder (the original Willy Wonka) was born June 11th 1933. 23 years later on June 11th, 1956 Ray Nagin was born. Like I said, you couldn't make it up!

MICHAEL BROWN aka CHARLIE BROWN

2005-11-28T08:15:00.000-08:00

Wasn't it Charlie Brown who would always attempt a field goal, only to have Lucy remove the ball just as he would go to kick? Admitedly, he had someone to blame for that comedy of errors. In the case of Michael Brown, who is consistently tripping on his very own words - he is his own Lucy.

I just read where he is opening his own business - disaster planning consultation. Hey, Mike - good luck with that.

What an idiot.

The Times-Picayune said it best:

On some level, it's understandable why Mr. Brown would want to go into
business for himself. After all, few employers would go out of their way to hire
him. In the wake of Katrina, reporters learned that he had attended a semi-accredited law school, that his previous employer was the International Arabian Horse Association, that he left the organization under a cloud, that his official biography claimed emergency-management experience that he apparently didn't have. To make matters worse, out came the e-mails in which Mr. Brown's sycophantic underlings expressed more concern about his dinner plans than about the evacuees at the Superdome and Convention Center.

Here in greater New Orleans, people wouldn't hire Michael Brown to "protect" their worst enemies. Indeed, engaging his services to plan responses to disasters would be like hiring Ashlee Simpson as a vocal coach or Michael Jackson as a plastic surgery consultant. Maybe Mr. Brown's clients can listen to his advice and then do the opposite.

PLEASE READ THIS

2005-11-16T08:58:00.000-08:00

My friend Chad turned me on to this article from Chris Rose of the Times-Pic in New Orleans.

It's quite possibly the best article concerning life "post-Katrina"...

1 Dead in Attic

I live on The Island, where much has the appearance of Life Goes On. Gas stations,
bars, pizza joints, joggers, strollers, dogs, churches, shoppers, neighbors,
even garage sales. Sometimes trash and mail service, sometimes not.
It sets to mind a modicum of complacency that maybe everything is all right. But I have this terrible habit of getting into my car every two or three days and driving into the Valley Down Below, that vast wasteland below sea level that was my city, and it's mind-blowing A) how vast it is and B) how wasted it is. My wife questions the wisdom of my frequent forays into the massive expanse of blown-apart lives and property that local street maps used to call Gentilly, Lakeview, the East and the Lower 9th. She fears that it contributes to my unhappiness and general instability and I suspect she is right.

Perhaps I should just stay on the stretch of safe, dry land Uptown where we live and try to move on, focus on pleasant things, quit making myself miserable, quit reliving all those terrible things we saw on TV that first week. That's advice I wish I could follow, but I can't. I am compelled for reasons that are not entirely clear to me. And so I drive. I drive around and try to figure out those Byzantine markings and symbols that the cops and the National Guard spray-painted on all the houses around here, cryptic communications that tell the story of who or what was or wasn't inside the house when the floodwater rose to the ceiling.

In some cases, there's no interpretation needed. There's one I pass on St. Roch Avenue in the 8th Ward at least once a week. It says: "1 dead in attic."
That certainly sums up the situation. No mystery there. It's spray-painted there on the front of the house and it probably will remain spray-painted there for weeks, months, maybe years, a perpetual reminder of the untimely passing of a citizen, a resident, a New Orleanian. One of us.

You'd think some numerical coding could have conveyed this information on this house, so that I -- we all -- wouldn't have to drive by places like this every day and be reminded: "1 dead in attic." I have seen plenty of houses in worse shape than the one where 1 Dead in Attic used to live, houses in Gentilly and the Lower 9th that yield the most chilling visual displays in town: low-rider shotgun rooftops with holes that were hacked away from the inside with an ax, leaving small, splintered openings through which people sought escape. Imagine if your life came to that point, and remained there, on display, all over town for us to see, day after day.

Amazingly, those rooftops are the stories with happy endings. I mean, they got out, right? But where are they now? Do you think they have trouble sleeping at night?
The occasional rooftops still have painted messages: "HELP US." I guess they had paint cans in their attic. And an ax, like Margaret Orr and Aaron Broussard always told us we should have if we weren't going to evacuate. Some people thought Orr and
Broussard were crazy. Alarmists. Extremists. Well, maybe they are crazy. But
they were right. Perhaps 1 Dead in Attic should have heeded this advice. But
judging from the ages on the state's official victims list, he or she was probably up in years. And stubborn. And unafraid. And now a statistic.

I wonder who eventually came and took 1 Dead in Attic away. Who knows? Hell, with the way things run around here -- I wonder if anyone has come to take 1 Dead in Attic away. And who claimed him or her? Who grieved over 1 Dead in Attic and who buried 1 Dead in Attic? Was there anyone with him or her at the end and what was the last thing they said to each other? How did 1 Dead in Attic spend the last weekend in August of the year 2005? What were their plans? Maybe dinner at Mandich on St. Claude? Maybe a Labor Day family reunion in City Park -- one of those raucous picnics where everybody wears matching T-shirts to mark the occasion and they rent a DJ and a SpaceWalk and a couple of guys actually get there the night before to secure a good, shady spot? I wonder if I ever met 1 Dead in Attic. Maybe in the course of my job or maybe at a Saints game or maybe we once stood next to each other at a Mardi Gras parade or maybe we once flipped each other off in a traffic jam.

1 Dead in Attic could have been my mail carrier, a waitress at my favorite restaurant or the guy who burglarized my house a couple years ago. Who knows?
My wife, she's right. I've got to quit just randomly driving around. This can't be helping anything.

But I can't stop. I return to the Valley Down Below over and over, looking for signs of progress in all that muck, some sign that things are getting better, that things
are improving, that we don't all have to live in a state of abeyance forever but -- you know what? I just don't see them there. I mean, in the 8th Ward, tucked down there behind St. Roch Cemetery, life looks pretty much like it did when the floodwater first receded 10 weeks ago, with lots of cars pointing this way and that, kids' yard toys caked in mire, portraits of despair, desolation and loss. And hatchet holes in rooftops. But there's something I've discovered about the 8th Ward in this strange exercise of mine: Apparently, a lot of Mardi Gras Indians are from there. Or were from there; I'm not sure what the proper terminology is. On several desolate streets that I drive down, I see where some folks have returned to a few of the homes and they haven't bothered to put their furniture and appliances out on the curb -- what's the point, really? -- but they have retrieved their tattered and muddy Indian suits and sequins and feathers and they have nailed them to the fronts of their houses.

The colors of these displays is startling because everything else in the 8th is gray. The streets, the walls, the cars, even the trees. Just gray. So the oranges and blues and greens of the Indian costumes are something beautiful to behold, like the first flowers to bloom after the fallout. I don't know what the significance of these displays is, but they hold a mystical fascination for me. They haunt me, almost as much as the spray paint on the front of a house that says 1 Dead in Attic. They look like ghosts hanging there. They are reminders of something. Something very New Orleans.

Do these memorials mean these guys -- the Indians -- are coming back? I mean, they have to, don't they? Where else could they do what they do? And -- maybe this is
a strange time to ask -- but who are these guys, anyway? Why do they do what they do with all those feathers and beads that take so much time and money to make? What's with all the Big Chief and Spy Boy role-playing? As many times as I have reveled in their rhythmic, poetic and sometimes borderline absurd revelry in the streets of our city, I now realize that if you asked me to explain the origins and meaning of the Mardi Gras Indians -- I couldn't do it. I have no clue. And that makes me wish I'd been paying more attention for the past 20 years. I could have learned something.
I could have learned something about a people whose history is now but a sepia mist over back-of-town streets and neighborhoods that nobody's ever heard of and where nobody lives and nothing ever happens anymore; a freeze frame still life in the air, a story of what we once were.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL...

2005-10-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

Abby Jane turns 3 Friday...

My how I love that sweet girl...she is the most precious gift from God.

Send her a birthday card!

It's hard to believe how quicky we have gone from this:

to this:

I pray each and every day that God gives me the wisdom to teach this beautiful little girl everything she will need to prosper and love life. (It also wouldn't be bad to teach her how to break a few teenage boys' hearts!)

By the way - the picture below was taken on the beach of Gulfport, Mississipppi...that beach no longer exists - as my friend Chad says - it is literally gone.

IT'S STORIES LIKE THIS...

2005-10-24T10:38:00.000-07:00

In Louisiana, we make a big stink about the "bright & talented" leaving the state for greener pastures. It's often referred to as the "brain drain".

I have a friend who lives in New Orleans. Her name is Tracy Ewell and she was named as one of the Top 40 Under 40 by Gambit Magazine. Here is the story.

She started her own business - selling high end cosmetics in a trendy area of New Orleans (Magazine Street). She opened her own store and was enjoying a flurry of walk-in and regular clientele. She loves New Orleans and wouldn't dream of leaving the Crescent City.

Until Katrina....

While the storm didn't flood her store, it managed to put her out of business. She had $50,000 in product - sitting on shelves - for weeks - without Air-conditioning.

As you can imagine, the heat spoiled everything. Her insurance company (Zurich) refuses to help, claiming her policy doesn't cover "spoilage". Nonetheless, even if she were to be reimbursed, her client base is gone.

Who would she sell make-up to? She doesn't think, and with good reason, that folks are going to spend disposable income on high-end make-up. I am sure the $50.00 1.3 ounce tube of Vinosource Riche Anti-wrinkle Cream is great stuff, but that fifty bucks could probably buy a few jugs of bleach that you'll need to get rid of the mold.

So, Tracy is moving to Atlanta. One of the Top 40 Under the Age of 40 doesn't know when she will ever come home.

Sad.

SOUTH PARK

2005-10-21T05:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big South Park fan, but the show had a pretty funny episode about media coverage of natural disasters.

In the episode, two of the boys, Stan Marsh and Eric Cartman, accidentally crash a boat into a beaver dam, flooding an entire town.

In the aftermath, local and national media blame it on global warming, ridiculously exaggerate the extent of the damage, make up stories of rape, murder, "cannibalism," and tell tales of "hundreds of millions" of deaths in a town of 8,000 people!

You know the saying, "there's a little truth in all good humor"...Check out a clip on www.NewsBusters.org

THE SAINTS

2005-10-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

Long before Hurricane Katrina struck, patience was wearing thin in Louisiana with regard to the Saints. Team owner Tom Benson has been insistent on receiving an inordinate amount of state money and residents have been frustrated with little in return. The franchise stinks - period. I won't go into specifics, but they are marred by bad players, bad coaches, and even worse - a bad owner.

For those of you unfamiliar with the many issues, two years ago, Benson had threatened to move the team to San Antonio. His threat was loud enough that he received a huge chunk of state money. However, when Governor Blanco was elected, she quickly began questioning the deal and wondered (publicly - which is never a good thing) whether the state "could afford the Saints".

It would have been a political blunder of massive consequence if it weren't for the fact that - well - the Saints are horrible and there didn't (doesn't) seem to be any change in sight.

Unfazed (greedy), Benson continued his threats. He said he would be more than happy to re-work the deal with the state, but he needed a new stadium as a result. When Katrina struck, it looked like Benson would get his new stadium. However, no one thought it would be in San Antonio.

When the NFL announced plans to play in Baton Rouge, I was very interested in how the public would react. Would there be a rush on tickets? Would Baton Rouge residents rush out to beloved Tiger Stadium to watch NFL action on beautiful Sunday afternoons? And, most important, how would the Saints react to playing in Baton Rouge when everyone knows - they would rather be in San Antonio, Texas.

Well - the answer to the last question is clear. The Saints don't give a monkeys lip about playing in Baton Rouge and their lackluster marketing is proof. The Times-Picayune reports the marketing effort has been minimal, at best, in Baton Rouge. The Saints have bought no billboard advertising, few TV ads and ran the first print ad in The Advocate on Oct. 12. Sources tell the paper there has been little interest to market tickets in Baton Rouge. The Saints have sold about 40,000 tickets for the Oct. 30 game against the Miami Dolphins, which is a game featuring the return of former LSU head coach Nick Saban. To contrast, the Sains have sold out all games in San Antonio.

Why is this juicy? The Saints would much rather show NFL officials success in San Antonio and failure in Louisiana.

Only time will tell what will happen with the Saints. Louisiana is spending a ton of money on repairing the Superdome, which, in my opinion, is a complete waste of money.

First, they might not even have a team playing inside the dome, so what's the point?

Second, it's old and falling apart (even before the storm), so if you're gonna spend money on a "stadium", do it right and build a new one.

Third, too much happened there to just clean it up and start over.

I suggest, as does Mayor Nagin, the Cleveland plan. Cleveland lost an NFL franchise when the owner bolted for Baltimore. The NFL reassured Cleveland that when the league would expand, Cleveland would get a new franchise.

Let San Antonio keep the Saints, but don't take the colors or the nickname. Allow New Orleans the opportunity to get a new franchise (the new Saints) when the city is ready.

Let's just hope the NEW Saints have a NEW owner and a better crop of players.

Benson is trying to void his lease.

"I've heard reports that it was trashed," Wittmann said. "We've had an engineer walk the facility, and he's in the process of making a damage assessment. I assume somebody is going to come forward and take responsibility for the damages. We're not sure who's responsible for paying because nobody bothered to give us any written authorization to use the facility."

LARGER ISSUE

2005-10-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

Yeah - the storm was bad. And, it's gonna take some serious muscle and heart to repair our state.

But - this is a serious issue too. Sure wish we could fix it.

WILMA

2005-10-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

Wilma is weakening, but before the storm did - it was the single most powerful hurricane EVER!

Is this hurricane season really happening?

Is there a BALCO lab in the Yucitan Peninsula that we are not aware of?

And what's the deal with the names? Katrina? Rita? Wilma?

Seriously - admit it - when you first heard "Hurricane Wilma", you thought of her!

By the way - for the record - Wilma's maiden name is Slaghoople. Be a good neighbor and share that little tid-bit with a friend today.

R.I.P. Earth

2005-10-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

The White Sox are going to the World Series.

It's official, the end of the world is upon us.

I'M HORRIBLE...WE'RE ALL HORRIBLE!

2005-10-04T02:44:00.000-07:00

I am embarrassed...flat out embarrassed by some of my anchoring.

I fell for some of the most outlandish stories. Now granted, MANY in the media fell for some of the stories that were simply untrue.

After the Hurricane, we stopped thinking critically and acted like a bunch of sheep - falling for just about any sexy story.

For instance - "10,000 dead".

Do you know how many times we floated that number? Now, granted, it was based on this and Mayor Ray Nagin kept screaming "10,000 dead" and Senator Vitter even said "the number will likely be in the thousands". But still - journalists should never just regurgitate a number, or for that matter - a story, without a basis in fact.

I remember specifically saying "we've had reports of widespread rape and murder in the Superdome" or how about this one, said by yours truly, "where are the police when we are getting reports of a 7-year-old gang-raped and then throat-slashed?" Legitimate question on my part, but the problem was - it never happened!

I know I am asking myself several questions post Katrina. I just hope my fellow colleagues are doing the same.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BEER...

2005-09-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

THE VIEW FROM BEHIND THE LENS

2005-09-30T07:51:00.000-07:00

Rick Portier is a co-worker of mine. He is one of the best photographers around and has a true passion for this business. He's also one heck of a PERSON and this recent posting on www.broll.net is evidence of that.

He was documenting what it's like to cover the situation at the River Center after the storm. His entire post can be found here. Click on Hurricane Katrina stories

All you TV folks must read it - great stuff! Here's a quick excerpt:

Imagine, if you can, 5000 people who have just lost everything they have
ever known: homes, possessions, family. They paced the floors of the Rivercenter
and the Arena with expressionless faces, like empty shells. All had harrowing
stories of fleeing the storm with only the clothes on their backs.
One man told me of how he carried his nearly 300-pound neighbor across the street to his own house as the flood waters rose above his waist. He pushed him through a
window into the house. When the water inside the house got waist-deep, he again
loaded the neighbor onto his back and climbed to the second floor, the attic,
and finally thru the roof where they waited to be rescued.
Another man told me he watched through his kitchen window as looters beat his neighbor to death then ran-sacked his home.

TO MY GOOD FRIENDS IN ALABAMA...

2005-09-30T04:46:00.000-07:00

If you see State Senator Hank Erwin, please slap him. For those of you not in Alabama, you can send him an email: senatorerwin@aol.com

(AP): A state Senator from Shelby County, Alabama, says Hurricane Katrina was
God's punishment on a sinful part of America.
Hank Erwin wrote in a weekly column for news outlets -- quote -- "New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have always been known for gambling, sin and wickedness.
It is the kind of behavior that ultimately brings the judgment of God."
The Alabama Republican wrote the column after touring hurricane-ravaged coastal areas.

Erwin's column says, "Warnings year after year by godly evangelists and preachers went unheeded. So why were we surprised when finally the hand of judgment fell?"
The New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary was flooded by Katrina. But Erwin said the Baptists knew they were ministering in a sinful place that could be targeted.

WHAT NEW ORLEANS NEEDS

2005-09-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

This is an open letter written by Louisiana political consultant Roy Fletcher. I only wish I would have written it, because it is spot on...

Here’s what Louisiana needs today:

First, if New Orleans is to be a community again, we must have new levees
that can defeat the wrath of a Cat 5 hurricane. Does this mean the levees
we currently have should be repaired?No, they must be rebuilt. It is
quite obvious that political corruption led to faulty construction on these
levees. There is nothing more important than this. Nothing can
be permanently accomplished without this reconstruction. We must not fool
ourselves into believing that alligator farms, shrimping studies, and all the
other pork contained in the congressional bill is worth a warm bucket of spit
without these reconstructed levees.

Secondly, like every other state that has faced crisis, our schools,
hospitals, sewers and basic infrastructure need to be rebuilt in the impacted
areas.

Thirdly, declare the Gulf Coast a tax free zone for business.
No federal or state taxes for five years so these businesses can be reformed and
rebuilt. We need jobs, but we want real jobs…permanent jobs…jobs that mean
something. This means we need businesses to be reconstituted.

Fourthly, help us make certain that the temporary cleanup jobs go to
Louisiana citizens and businesses. Now, this does not mean that we want
the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution to be violated.
Rather, it means Louisiana should be given a preface.

If you do this, we will accept our share of the responsibility. By this I
mean, our people must be willing to go to work in these jobs. Complaining
about someone else working while people sit on their backsides is not good
enough. There is a way out of the poverty of our state. It’s
working, not complaining. It means you have to hustle, accept the
conditions, and make do. Many of our people are ready and willing to do
just this. Give them a chance. If they do not, then, hire someone
else.

Finally, help us with our indebtedness so that local governments and the
state government will not go broke. We want to pay our bills, not walk
away from them. We accept our obligations and we intend to meet our
obligations. We are not a Third World nation. We don’t
want debt relief. Let Bono worry about someone else’s debt, but do not
worry about Louisiana’s.

This will not be easy on our state and people. However, in the
difficulty of fighting and working our way out of this tragedy, we will learn
new words and concepts. Accountability, responsibility, political
priorities…these will be new to our state, but it’s time we understood exactly
what these words mean. When we do, corruption will no longer be tolerated,
and this will mean a new Louisiana.

We need help in one other area. I want an Inspector General,
independent of state and local government, independent of Louisiana politics…a
tough, mean, no nonsense Inspector General…to watch every move we make and every dollar we spend.

"STUDENT" MOVERS

2005-09-29T05:58:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to update everyone on our "move". What a story this is becoming...as we like to say in the biz, "it's a developing situation".

I put the word MOVE in quotation marks because it's been anything but. I'll put it as bluntly as I can - we are moving as efficiently as the LSU offense.

We were scheduled to "move" this past Saturday, but because of Hurricane Rita, we rescheduled for Tuesday at 12:00noon.

The movers arrived seven hours late! And - they brought a medium truck when we asked for a LARGE truck.

Oh - it gets better - the house we are "moving" to is not ready and does not have electricity, so that meant moving boxes in the dark - which meant breaking things and tripping over furniture. (The only time I bleed is when I scratch a mosquito bite too hard, now I am bleeding from vicious cardboard cuts)

Everyone was so tired, we just threw (in some cases, literally threw!) boxes into the house randomly, which essentially means - they're not even in the right room. For instance, Abby has boxes labeled "KITCHEN" in her closet!

We "moved" the last box at 1:30am, but because they brought the MEDIUM truck, not everything fit - so we have much more left at the old house and we have to do it all over again Saturday!

And keep in mind - our new house isn't even ready for occupancy! Jen and I are living with friends right now, and the kids are with her parents in Mandeville...

Please pray for us. A move is stressful enough - but when you throw all this junk into the mix - it's NUTS!

In the end, however, we are so thankful just to have a home.

By the way - don't EVER use Student Movers. They were anything BUT students - pot-bellied 40-yr old high drop outs, who smelled like your used Def Leppard concert T-shirt.

And oh yeah - I forgot the best part - as we rolled out, they stopped at the convenience store for a six pack, which they completely finished by the time we got to Walker....nice....

ST. BERNARD PARISH

2005-09-24T07:15:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Rita's storm surge (minimumat best) topped the levees in New Orleans.

This has once again caused flooding in St. Bernard Parish, just days after already-devastated neighborhoods had been pumped dry.

“It’s like looking at a murder,” Quentrell Jefferson of the Ninth Ward said Friday as he watched news of the flooding at a church in Lafayette, 125 miles west of New Orleans. “The first time is bad. After that, you numb up.”

You numb up.

You numb up?

Are you serious? Is that what has happened? We are now numb to neighborhoods and homes being flooded away?!?!?! Wow...I'll let you marinate in that for a while...

On another note concerning St. Bernard Henry Rodriguez Jr. is the Parish President in St. Bernard and was complaining that repairs were made to the 17th Street Canal (rish white area of New Orleans) and not the Industrial Canal (poor black area of New Orleans).

In other words, and I will quote him directly: "They went ahead and protected the rich people and not the poor people."

While I normally don't agree with class warfare, there might be some truth to this.

However, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said they didn't have enough time to make the proper repairs to the Inustrial Canal and thought it was more important to protect the 17th Street Canal, as flooding there would have affected downtown New Orleans.

Play out the politics all you wish...but the bottom line is this - St. Bernard Parish needs to be bulldozed and sent into the Gulf Of Mexico. I know this sounds extraordinarily cruel, but look at a map!

Mark my word - there will be considerable discussion as to whether St. Bernard Parish needs to be rebuilt, as it's Mother Nature's inclination for that area to be WATER and not LAND.

That debate will be intense - and well it should be....

However - the larger and more dramatic debate will be whether the Mississippi River needs to be reverted back to her natural course...that's been debated for years and it might be debated again.

ATIR

2005-09-24T03:38:00.000-07:00

Rita spelled backward is Atir...

That phrase nearly came out of my mouth this morning during our coverage. We began wall-to-wall coverage at 12noon Friday and just ended - throwing to ABC who is all over the storm (VERY impressive coverage thus far).

My shift began this morning at 2:00am. From 2:00am to 2:45am, we had no avails - meaning no PKG's, no reporters, no phone interviews, etc.

We TALKED for 45 straight minutes, until we finally had a PKG, which only amounted to a 2 minute break.

The odd thing is this - during our 45 minute ad-lib, a hurricane is getting ready to come ashore. You often hear of the "calm before the storm" and I think a bored news anchor may have invented that phrase because there is just nothing happening. NOTHING!

DOUBLE WHAMMY

2005-09-23T02:44:00.000-07:00

Does anyone remember the game show, Press Your Luck?

We're getting hit by another whammy....

WHAT WILL MATT DO NOW?

2005-09-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

Our buddy Matt Hebert - the much aligned and often-picked on SID from ULL that we have come to know and love, just sent out this email:

SUN BELT-OPENING ROAD TRIP FOR CAJUNS VOLLEYBALL TEAM
CANCELED
Louisiana-Lafayette was scheduled to visit North Texas
and Denver

LAFAYETTE – The threat of
Hurricane Rita has forced the
cancellation of the Sun Belt
Conference-opening road
trip for Louisiana’s Ragin’
Cajuns volleyball
team.
Matt, what will you do??? What about our daily volleyball updates???
Say it aint so Matt!

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS

2005-09-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

Rita is getting the message: "Don't Mess with Texas"

The storm is edging more and more for the Louisiana coastline.

This is bad on many levels:

I don't want to work any more than I am already working - my resume tape is already good enough post Katrina
The LSU game might get cancelled
And the most important reason - the hurricane will likely cancel my move

We have to be out of the house by Wednesday and if the movers cancel Saturday, I will have to find a mover for Monday or Tuesday.

Sounds simple, but because of all the post-Katrina moving - everything is booked solid and there isn't even a U-Haul truck available. Should be interesting, especially since we are "moving", but the house we are "moving" into isn't even finished yet!

As to the issue of preparing for Rita/Katrina....take a look at the difference:

Houston:

New Orleans:

1915

2005-09-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

The year was 1915...two major hurricanes entered the Gulf Of Mexico.

Take a look at where they hit...New Orleans and Galveston...eerie, huh?

They were both Category 4 storms...

And oh yeah - in 1915 - we were at war...

GOVERNMENT TO INDEPENDENCE

2005-09-21T07:41:00.000-07:00

I just had to drive over to the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness.

To get there, you take Government TO Independence.

Too bad the folks inside this building (Governor Blanco, other esteemed politicians) make all of us scream for Independence FROM Government.

STUCK ON STUPID

2005-09-21T05:19:00.000-07:00

A lot is being made of the comment from Lt. Gen. Russel Honore - telling a reporter he is "stuck on stupid"

Watch the comment here.

It's flat out hilarious. Personally, (while I don't like calling anyone in the media stupid), it was snot-out-of-your-nose funny when I first heard it.

It's true - reporters really are stuck on stupid right now. The most popular line of questioning is the following: "Is the Federal Government properly prepared this time around?"

What does that mean???!?!?!

First, understand that reporters are only asking questions that seem natural. The logic is simple - The last major hurricane to hit (Katrina) lacked a proper response...we have another major hurricane...will the response be just as poor??

Fair enough - but they're missing the point - comparing ANY hurricane to Katrina is like comparing a Tonka truck to a Hummer. Sure, they are both - technically - trucks, but they are VERY different.

Katrina is a once-in-a-lifetime event because of a massive flood. No other city on the coast could face a similar situation. So, to ask the government if they are more prepared is simply the wrong question. They don't have to be more prepared than they already are - they have always done a fantastic job of responding to hurricanes.

Again, the problem with New Orleans was a massive flood that no one anticipated. (Now, whether they should have anticipated it or not is up for considerable debate!)

Asking the government if they are "more prepared this time around" is like asking someone who just got punched by Mike Tyson if they are more prepared for Betty White's right hand hook.

Now don't get me wrong - Rita is going to be a massive hurricane and people will die. BUT - a massive city will not be under water and there won't be 10,000 trapped citizens.

That's why reporters are "stuck on stupid".

There will be plenty of people quick to thoerize that asking the question "Are you more prepared" is another example of the media "bashing Bush" - but it's more a case of reporter laziness than anything else.

COST-BENEFIT

2005-09-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

This is a fascinating read.

Basically, the author says this is all by design...

Here's the juicy part:

Assume the odds are that a storm surge would overtop or breach the existing New Orleans levees once every 200 years. This seems, if anything, optimistic, given that Category 4 storms hit the city in 1915 and 1947; that a Category 5 storm (Camille) narrowly missed in 1969; and that the devastating Katrina itself was not a direct hit.
Still, assume it.
Assume also that officials could reasonably expect the city's inundation, abandonment, and partial destruction to cost, ballpark, $200 billion in direct and indirect economic losses. In any given year, then, figure that the expected economic cost of the swamping of New Orleans is $1 billion (divide the $200 billion cost over 200 years). A $2 billion levee project could be expected to pay for itself, probabilistically speaking, in two years; a $14 billion Delta restoration project, in 14 years.
But wait. New Orleans's 200-year flood might take place a century from now instead of right away (remember, this analysis is from a pre-Katrina standpoint), and money lost in the future matters less to us than money lost today.
At an interest rate of 3 percent, Viscusi says, the present value of averting $1 billion in expected annual damage forever is $33 billion; at 5 percent, $20 billion; at 10 percent, $10 billion. Any of those numbers is higher than the estimated cost of
hurricane-proofing the levees, and all but the smallest are higher than restoring the Delta.

BEYOND SICK

2005-09-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti announced Monday that his office's High Tech Crime Unit had arrested six people suspected of trying to sexually exploit children displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

In each case, the suspect allegedly entered an Internet chat room and started an online conversation with an undercover investigator posing as a 13, 14, or 15-year-old girl.

Please choose from the following forms of punishment:

A. Wooden wedges driven with extreme force underneath the toenails.
B. Copper boot placed around the foot of the sicko and
filled to the brim with molten lead causing first degree burns.
C. Lawn sprinkler filled with continuing flow of molten metal and sprayed on the stomach, back, and other body parts of the body.
D. During water torture, nostrils pinched shut and fluid (vinegar, urine or diarrhea) poured down throat.
E. ALL OF THE ABOVE

SOME CELEBRITIES GET IT - OTHERS DON'T

2005-09-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

John Grisham (Mississippi Guy) gets it:

Grisham has set up the Rebuild the Coast Fund to assist in the relief efforts on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He has provided $5 Million of his own money to establish the Fund.

Meanwhile...

Faith Hill (Mississippi Girl) doesn't get it: "Faith Hill was partying at the New York Fashion Show, a show that showcased "backless silk halter gowns with a train of fabric flowers and a red, green and gold zip-front jacket worn over a silk chiffon rasta gown with tiers of chiffon."

Wonder if some evacuees could use those outfits?

HMMM.....INTERESTING....

2005-09-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

Crying Jefferson Parish Presdient Aaron Broussard may have tugged at your heart strings with his emotional breakdown on Meet The Press, but it turns out - the story he told wasn't true.

Read this MSNBC article

When asked how Broussard could have gotten the details of his mother’s story so wrong, Rodrigue said, Broussard “was emotional"

Look, Aaron Broussard is a good guy - no one disputes that. The point is - give credit to the new media (bloggers) for taking a good hard look at the facts of this story.

Often times, we air stories that are not true and quite frankly - misleading.

OKAY, SERIOUSLY - STOP IT

2005-09-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

GEE - YA THINK?

2005-09-16T08:07:00.000-07:00

Let no one tell you different - the state of Louisiana is far ahead of the situation.

For Immediate Release: Sept. 15, 2005

DEQ says fish and vegetation will be affected by Katrina

WILL YOU POLITICIANS PLEASE THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK?

2005-09-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

Former First Lady Barbara Bush on the status of the evacuees in Houston, Texas:

"Almost everyone I've talked to says, 'We're going to move to Houston.' What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them."

OOOOPS...

2005-09-16T05:38:00.000-07:00

I think it's safe to say - the graphics operator at Sky News is a Democrat.

THE PRICE IS WRONG

2005-09-16T05:34:00.000-07:00

Well - talk about an unfortunate coincidence!

The week after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the game show The Price Is Right aired an episode offering contestants a trip to New Orleans as a prize.

Here's the official response from The Price is Right:

Trips to New Orleans are frequently offered as travel prizes on The Price Is Right. Out of consideration for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, we made every effort to pull all repeat episodes from circulation that feature trips to New Orleans. However, this one episode was unfortunately overlooked — and the content of all other episodes scheduled for rebroadcast has been carefully reviewed to prevent this from recurring. Our thoughts and prayers are with the brave citizens of the Gulf Coast.

THE MEDIA

2005-09-15T06:10:00.000-07:00

Can you tell the media have arrived?

I often get asked where media folks stay in times like this - here's the lavish set up.

Most are running on generator power and very little sleep.

Fancy logos, eh?

All of this pales in comparison to how CBS' Harry Smith covers a storm.

Quick story:

During Hurricane Ivan, our news crew was getting ready for a live shot on the coast when suddenly, a stretch ilmo pulls up behind them. Our crew was a little miffed that the limo hadn't moved and looked like it was going to stay there during the shot. As you can imagine, seeing a limousine in the background of a live report at the scene of a hurricane would be a little jarring.

Our crew went up to the limo and urged the driver to leave. The windows came down and there was CBS' Harry Smith in the back seat.

It was a hurricane...he was being driven around in a limo...hurricane...limo...LIMO! Hello!!?!?!? Just goes to show you how out of touch the elite media really are.

ELIMINATE GOVERNMENT

2005-09-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

I know the title of this post may seem a bit absurd, but hear me out...

Everyone, including the President and the Mayor of New Orleans (Governor Blanco has yet to say the state was slow) believe government failed on many levels.

Let's think outside the box for a moment...a little pop quiz:

When the city needed water - who was first to bring in drinking water?

A. The government
B. Anheuser-Busch

Who first provided emergency radios?

A. The government
B. Nextel

Who first provided emergency vans for transportation?

A. The government
B. Hotard

Who first provided emergency response vehicles?

A. The government
B. Ford

When arenas filled up, who first provided temporary housing?

A. The government
B. Churches

Who first provided food?

A. The government
B. The Red Cross

The answer to all the above - B

You get the idea...government is slow to respond - in some cases, deathly slow.

Now granted - Anheuser-Busch handed out water because it's in their best interest from a PR standpoint and the same can be said about Ford and Nextel. However, they acted without having to go through massive red tape.

It all goes back to a little philosophy that I love: Sometimes its easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

And imagine if the churches had to get permission from FEMA to house evacuees??

I think government should certainly play a part in disaster relief, but at what point will someone step back and realize that private businesses do a far better job. The evidence is starting to mount.

Just a thought...

GROUND ZERO

2005-09-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

As you know, I spent the weekend in New York. I was there with a high school buddy of mine who was able to score some incredible tickets to one of the best rivalries in sports - Yankees vs. Red Sox.

It just so happened that the rivalry coincided with the four year anniversary of 9/11. And, how ironic is it that Hurricane Katrina struck so close to the infamous date. It was only natural for me to think of parralels between the two tragedies.

Here are my thoughts...

The two events are incredibly different; yet incredibly the same.

First, the differences. One was an act of war, the other an act of mother nature. While that may seem like an obvious difference, it's a difference of enormous consequence. When the flood waters began rising in New Orleans, saddness and empathy was pervasive across the country. The same can be said after the twin towers fell on 9/11. Our hearts wept; however, a tremendous amount of anger was also evident from coast to caost. You could almost taste the anger....

With Katrina, the bad guy was invisible. Sure, you had folks trying to blame President Bush or Mike Brown, but in the end, you knew - there was no one to blame but Mother Nature. Unfortuantely, Mother Nature does not have an address.

I think one of the main differences is the rebuilding process. In New York, they are still rebuilding - FOUR YEARS LATER! Now granted, they are trying build one of the most grandiose buildings in the history of our country and the process has been long and tedious because there has been great debate as to what should be built on the hallowed ground.

However, they still have buildings that need to be taken down before buildings can go up! It's certainly one of the most famous city blocks in America, but in the end - it's just that - a city block. Four years later and they have very little to show in the form of progress.

An entire city must now be rebuilt in New Orleans - an entire city! If they can't rebuild lower Manhatten in four years, how long will it take to rebuild St. Bernard Parish? Algiers? Lower Plaquemines? Chalmette? These cities/ares are going to have to be completely bulldozed before they can even think of rebuilding - it's overwhelming to think of an entire parish being bulldozed!

And here's another difference - politics! To be honest - it's a difference that I think about quite often (then again - I am a political junkie!)

Do you remember the political atmosphere after 9/11? Maybe this picture will sum it all up:

When President Bush hugged Tom Daschle, it was a scintilating moment. We were together as a country - united. Now granted, it's a spirit that eventually went away - but it did last for quite some time.

When Katrina hit, 24 hours hadn't passed and the gloves were off.

Why is that?

As I said earlier - we didn't have an enemy. We were looking for the bully in the room and when we couldn't find one, we turned on ourselves. There's a much larger philosophical reason for this, but I'm not that smart.

My sense is this - it's only fitting that Louisiana play politics! We are a state that thrives on politics. It's as much a sport as football or fishing. Here's an analogy that might work...imagine coming home from a long day at work and you scream and yell at your dog. Your poor poch didn't do a dog-gone thing to deserve your tongue-lashing, but it sure felt good to get it off your chest. In Louisiana, politicians are our dogs. Goodness gracious...we know - they don't do anything, but they sure do get a good tongue-lashing. After all, it feels good.

There are some similarities to 9/11 and Katrina, and as you might expect - it's all about the incredible human spirit. We've seen the stories and heard the triumph. Whether's it's a child teaching her Mom how to text message so they can reunite with Dad or a family visiting every pet shelter in the state - in search of their beloved cat.

But allow me to quote a fantastic article from Peggy Noonan. It's an article she wrote after 9/11 where she talked about massculine men. Please read it - it's fanastic!

She told a fantastic story that goes a little like this:

An American man and woman who were on their honeymoon in New Zealand. They were swimming in the ocean, the water chest-high. From nowhere came a shark. The shark went straight for the woman, opened its jaws. Do you know what the man did? He punched the shark in the head.

He punched it and punched it again. He did not do brilliant commentary on the shark, he did not share his sensitive feelings about the shark, he did not make wry observations about the shark, he punched the shark in the head.

So the shark let go of his wife and went straight for him. And it killed him.

The wife survived to tell the story of what her husband had done. He had tried to deck the shark. I told my friends: That's what a wonderful man is, a man who will try to deck the shark.

How does this relate to Katrina? Well...in a certain sense, we are decking Mother Nature - albeit a little late - our punches come in the form of bulldozers and shovels. We will rebuild and it will take courage and a little self-sacrifice - but we will rebuild.

So - that's my take...a little long - but then again, I had an entire day in the airport to think. And boy did I think...

By the way, here's a shot I took of Ground Zero Sunday night...

LIKE I SAID...

2005-09-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

You gotta love him...

An update on Matt Williams - the assistant SID from University of Louisiana Lafayette. In a previous post, I was amazed that, with all that is going on, this guy still sent out a VOLLEYBALL box score!

He just sent us new updates and he has now added a signature to his emails, and it's classic!

With Ragin' Cajuns Pride,

Matt L. Hebert
Assistant Sports Information Director
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette

BEAR BRYANT

2005-09-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Two random Bear Bryant quotes come to mind during this storm:

"There were more mistakes out there than flies on a cow turd"

Bear Bryant on mistakes his team made -
also parallel to the mistakes made in New Orleans.

"Go home and kiss your mama tonight - I sure wish I could"

Bear used to tell this to his team after a win.
I thought the same thing as the storm passed.

GOD'S VIEW FROM ABOVE

2005-09-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some aerial images of before and after Katrina:

Before:
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2005239-0827/Louisaiana.A2005239.1925.721.250m.jpg

After:
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2005242-0830/Louisaiana.A2005242.1645.721.250m.jpg

Open each in a separate window, and then click back and forth between the 2.

Interesting stuff!

BACK HOME

2005-09-13T06:08:00.000-07:00

I am back home after 4 days in New York City - many posts on the way, including a nice picture of Ground Zero on 9/11.

But first - let me share this with you...it's a commentary from a New Orleans newspaper writer - with some thoughts on the many displaced New Orleanians. Good stuff!

__________________

Dear America,

I suppose we should introduce ourselves:

We're South Louisiana. We have arrived on your doorstep on short notice and we apologize for that, but we never were much for waiting around for invitations.

We're not much on formalities like that. And we might be staying around your town for a while, enrolling in your schools and looking for jobs, so we wanted to tell you a few things about us. We know you didn't ask for this and neither did we, so we're just going to have to make the best of it.

First of all, we thank you. For your money, your water, your food, your prayers, your boats and buses and the men and women of your National Guards, fire departments, hospitals and everyone else who has come to our rescue.

We're a fiercely proud and independent people, and we don't cotton much to outside interference, but we're not ashamed to accept help when we need it. And right now, we need it. Just don't get carried away.

For instance, once we get around to fishing again, don't try to tell us what kind of lures work best in your waters. We're not going to listen. We're stubborn that way. You probably already know that we talk funny and listen to strange music andeat things you'd probably hire an exterminator to get out of your yard.

We dance even if there's no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we're suspicious of others who don't. But we'll try not to judge you while we're in your town. Everybody loves their home, we know that.

But we love South Louisiana with a ferocity that borders on the pathological. Sometimes we bury our dead in LSU sweatshirts. Often we don't make sense. You may wonder why, for instance - if we could only carry one small bag of belongings with us on our journey to your state- why in God's name did we bring a pair of shrimp boots? We can't really explain that. It is what it is.

You've probably heard that many of us stayed behind. As bad as it is, many of us cannot fathom a life outside of our border, out in that place we call Elsewhere. The only way you could understand that is if you have been there, and so many of you have.

So you realize that when you strip away all the craziness and bars and parades and music and architecture and all that hooey, really,the best thing about where we come from is us. We are what made this place a national treasure. We're good people.

And don't be afraid to ask us how to pronounce our names. It happens all the time. When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces. But don't pity us. We're gonna make it. We're resilient. After all, we've been rooting for the Saints for 35 years. That's got to count for something!

OK, maybe something else you should know is that we make jokes at inappropriate times. But what the hell.

And one more thing: In our part of the country, we're used to having visitors. It's our way of life. So when all this is over and we move back home, we will repay to you the hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer to us in this season of our despair.

That is our promise.

That is our faith.

"WE NEED TO BE INVITED"

2005-09-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

"First, we need to be invited"

That is a quote from Donald Rumsfeld, when asked about the federal government's role in responding to natural disasters.

You need to be invited?

How would you like that invitation Mr. Rumsfeld?

CHURCH CAR-POOL?

2005-09-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

I know many of you might find the following article from National Review to be slightly biased on the political scale of things, but Chris Regan & Bryan Preston do a fabulous job of summing up the horrendous local planning with regard to this disaster.

Allow me to provide a snippet:

Each hurricane season Louisiana officials decided to play a game of Russian roulette with those lives (the poor). They knew disaster would eventually strike, but gambled that it would happen on someone else's watch.

They did take the action that nervous officials typically take: They formed a working group to reassure themselves and look busy to everyone else. According to that Natural Hazards Observer article from November 2004, here's what the hard-charging working group came up with:

Unwilling to merely accept this reality, emergency managers and representatives of nongovernmental disaster organizations, local universities, and faith based organizations have formed a working group to engage additional faith-based organizations in developing ride-sharing programs between congregation members with cars and those without.

In the wake of Ivan’s near miss, this faith-based initiative has become a catalyst in the movement to make evacuation assistance for marginalized groups (those without means of evacuation) a top priority for all levels of government.

So a working group decided that the workable solution to the problem of thousands of stranded citizens was to ask churches to set up a giant car-pool system. The plan further called for a DVD to get the word out, which was still in production when Katrina struck.
_______________

And folks - there ya have it...but I am also quick to slam the feds, as I will do in the next post.

SIDE NOTE: I changed Blake's diaper this evening, only to have him urinate in my eye. What a week!

MOTHER EARTH - R.I.P.

2005-09-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

Read this account of what the water is like in New Orleans:

The devastation of Hurricane Katrina has created a vast toxic soup that stretches across south-eastern Louisiana and Mississippi, and portends the arrival of an environmental disaster to rival the awe-inspiring destruction of property and human life over the past week.

Toxicologists and public health experts warned yesterday that pumping billions of gallons of contaminated water from the streets of New Orleans back into the Gulf of Mexico - the only viable option if the city is ever to return to even a semblance of its former self -would have a crippling effect on marine and animal life, compromise the wetlands that form the first line of resistance to future hurricanes, and carry deleterious consequences for human health throughout the region.

Is it safe to say that the world is coming to an end?

I don't mean to sound alarming, but that's my point. You can fully expect environmentalists will have a field day in New Orleans. If you haven't already read Michael Chricton's book, State of Fear - it is incredible and a must read for all journalists.

SIDE NOTE: We never took the feed of Blanco's daughters.

TIME FOR SOME SCRIPTURE

2005-09-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

Folks, the bodies are starting to surface...it's time for more scripture....

My buddy Jeff Shearer has always been my rock - and he sent me some of his favorite scriptures in times of despair:

Psalm 17:6-7

I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer.
Show the wonder of your great love,
you who save by your right hand those
who take REFUGE in you from their foes.

Psalm 16:1-2

Keep me safe, O God,
for in your I take refuge.

I said to the Lord,
"You are my Lord;
apart from you I have
no good thing."

And how fitting is this lyric from Scott Krippayne

"You Are Still God
You have created the land and the sea
You are still God
Sing to the wonder of your majesty
The wind will still blow
We won't always know
Why seasons of life are so hard
But you are still God...."

PHOTO OPS

2005-09-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

Okay - look...here's the deal with the photo ops.

EVERYONE wants a photo op. Just a little insider info as to how this stuff works. The following is a press release from the Governor's Office. They sent it to us in hopes that we would cover Governor Blanco's daughters visiting evacuees at the Astrdome.

Who in Sam Hill cares about Governor Blanco's daughters visiting the evacuees? Are they visiting them out of the kindness of their heart or are they visiting them because cameras will be there?

There are so many issues right now - but the spin cycle is about to make me vomit.

But ya know what? When you are on the air with non-stop coverage, 20 hours a day - you will use every bit of video you can get your hands on. My bet is this - we will take this feed and roll the video. I will let you know.

Press Releases

Date: 9/5/2005

Contact: XXXXXX at 225-XXX-XXXX

Governor Blanco Sends Daughters to Visit Louisiana Evacuees at Houston Astrodome
Pool video will be available at 2:15 p.m. CST and 3:15 p.m. EST.
Satellite Coordinates are following:
AMC X
Transponder XX
-30-

GOTTA LOVE THE HATE MAIL

2005-09-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

When you are on the air every day for 8+ hours and you begin offering personal observations and judgements, you are bound to get your fair share of hate mail.

Here's just a sampling: (Understand - as most of you do - I LOVE THIS STUFF!)

"Go to hell !" (nothing more than that - probably just frustrated)
"Get a grip, Todd, discard your tone deafness and "be fair to the
people of Louisiana." Tone deafness? Love it!
"Your history of a quick tendency to worship and defend and apologize
for Bush's failures on any number of issues in the past few years is
ludicrous." Worship? I guess you can call me Reverend Ross!
"Can you please stop typing on your computer when you are ON THE AIR - look professional!"
"Todd, I love your coverage, but you need to get some sleep - you look so tired! Do you have make-up on?"
"Todd, you are liberal pond scum."

And my personal favorite:

"Dear sir - and that's a stretch - I hope you realize that the media created this storm to divert attention away from President Bush's sorry ass excuse of a war. Don't be blinded by this tomfoolery - it's an effort by Cheney to 'rebuild' - more contracts for Haliburton!"

Amazing...ya gotta love the "tomfoolery" reset.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!

2005-09-05T06:36:00.000-07:00

FSU model of the Atlantic disturbance...headed straight for New Orleans. Scroll the image to the right and click on the FWD button.

BOWLING

2005-09-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

Quite a sermon today in church.

Rev. Andrews made a powerful analogy of hurricanes and, of all things, bowling.

First, some history.

The River Center is the city's largest shelter - filled to capacity. However, just a few months ago, the facility was home to the largest bowling tournament in the country. Baton Rouge had bowlers in town for nearly a year. Every square inch of the facility was filled with bowling balls, pins and ugly shoes.

This morning, Rev. Andrews asked us to consider the game of bowling, which in many ways, is similar to a hurricane.

Bowling is a game of order. The pins are placed in specific locations, the lane is wiped clean of any debris, and the ball is tossed in an orderly fashion - headed in a specific path - gaining speed - and then - BAM! Destruction.

South Louisiana was in complete order until Katrina came down our alley. So - here's a facility, The River Center, that was home to the chaos of bowling and is now home to the chaos of Katrina.

Rev. Andrew's analogy ended there - but allow me to continue it.

As soon as the pins are scattered, they are gathered and placed back in their original position. The game demands it. Today, we are gathering our scattered pins and we must place them "back in their original position". The game demands it, right?

In bowling, the pins are designed NOT TO BREAK. As hard as you throw the ball, the pins will not shatter. Sure, they will fall, but they will NOT BREAK. As the water continues to saturate the buildings, some will fall. However, we must adhere to the rules of the game - WE WILL NOT BREAK!

SIDE NOTE: If we care to stretch out this bowling analogy further, the Gulf Coast sure could use a few more gutter balls!

THE RACE ISSUE

2005-09-03T16:13:00.000-07:00

Okay gang - what are your thoughts?

I would like some feedback before I post my thoughts.

email: trossnagel@cox.net

VOLLEYBALL SCORE - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

2005-09-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well - Matt Hebert of U.L.L. Sports Information deserves Employee of the Month on campus.

Kudos to ya Matt!!! You wasted no time sending us the below email, a final box score of Saturday's volleyball match between Louisiana-Lafayette and Jackson State. WOO-HOO!!!

Because when you sit back and think of what's really important to our broadcast this evening, that volleyball score is certainly in the mix.

Matt - seriously - no offense man, I admire your work ethic!

EMAIL: Attached is the HTML box score and a PDF box score of Saturday's volleyball match between Louisiana-Lafayette and Jackson State in the Scott Clause Advertising Classic hosted by UL at Earl K. Long Gym. Louisiana-Lafayette def. Jackson State, 3-0 (30-13, 30-19, 30-22) Jessica Pattison (UL) posted a match-best 16 kills on 25 attempts Tara Cote (UL) registered 42 assists.

Also - thrilled we got that in HTML and PDF format.

90 DAYS

2005-09-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

WGNO-TV is the ABC affiliate in New Orleans. They fled the storm and set up camp here in Baton Rouge at our station, WBRZ-TV.

They have been sleeping on the floors, living in our homes and doing a tremendous job of reporting. (They just scored an exclusive interview with Ray Nagin, climbing 26 floors of the Hyatt Hotel in pitch black to get there)

WGNO's parent company is the Tribune Company.

Tribune just informed WGNO employees - you have 90 days left of employment.

Tribune says, "the reality is this - the station simply cannot operate withut advertising revenue."

Actually, the reality is this - hundreds of VERY TALENTED journalists are about to be unemployed.

LOCAL FAILURES

2005-09-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

I promised some criticism of local officials - here it is:

Okay - they were gonna use the Superdome as a shelter, right?

Good idea, but where was the planning? No one in New Orleans' City Government (and that includes the ever-popular-these-days Mayor Ray Nagin) had a plan.

If you are gonna house thousands of people in an emeregency, why not stores thousands of MRE's? Just a question - seems like it makes sense to me.

We're told there was no water purification equipment on site (essential to any emergency facility), no anti-biotics and no anti-diarrheals stored for a crisis.

In fact, no one even designated medical staff to work at the Superdome or even be sent there.

The only person there with any semblence of knowledge was the dude who pours the cheese over your nachos.

(Side note: Dome nachos are very tasty but pale in comparison to the Dome cookies, which are provided to working media during Saints games. Jeff Shearer believes they may actually contain healing properties)

As I have said, the blame game is SO MUCH FUN for journalists - but we need to be fair, criticism needs to be pointed inward as well. From a national level, I suspect that the feeling is - don't kick the city officials around when they are down. (Besides, with all of this Bush bashing, I am sure the elite media is foaming at the mouth)

Prediction: Democrats win in '08 - bank on it! The south will easily reach out to a "bleeding heart" in mass.

HILARIOUS AND DISTURBING

2005-09-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

This is hilarious:

And this is disturbing:

President Bush having a "grand ole time" the day after the Hurricane hit. I am not picking on President Bush here - well, yeah, I guess I am...but this is more of a criticism of government in general. The lesson I think we have all learned is this: If you rely on GOVERNMENT, expect MASSIVE failures.

By the way, it's not entirely a federal government problem. There were major issues NOT ADDRESSED on a local level - more on that in the next post...I gotta go eat something. (By the way, speaking of eating, as my co-anchor Whitney would say, "diets these days are a carb nightmare!")

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUPERDOME

2005-09-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some thoughts on the Superdome - which has become one of the MANY lasting images of Katrina.

Understand this - celebrations were to occur this month, as this is the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Louisiana Superdome. As most of you journalists know, we LOVE anniversaries!

But, here are some additional thoughts on the Superdome. First, let me begin by stating what I think is obvious - this facility must be destroyed and never seen again. Some would argue (and it truly is a valid argument) that the facility should and could be rebuilt, but I argue that it would never be the same and there are just too many horrific visuals that will haunt New Orleanians for years to come.

But more to the point - very few people may realize that the Superdome was built on a graveyard. Let me repeat that - BUILT ON A GRAVEYARD. For years, this was simply a joke. Many would often comment that it's the very reason why the Saints are as terrible as they are - they play on haunted ground.

Today, the fact that this building is sitting on top of a graveyard, is simply beyond eerie. The images of this facility have been shown all over the world to represent the suffering and eventually - the dead.

It's only fitting that, in the future, a memorial MUST be built on this ground to honor the dead. After all, this is a building that sits on ground to honor the dead.

Some more thoughts on the Superdome:

It cost $134 million dollars to build. The Red Cross has said that since the storm hit, $200 million dollars has been raised.
In 1988, President Bush's father was nominated for President inside the Superdome. I am sure someone will make a wise-crack about his son cutting the funding to the 17th Street Canal - but I will leave that for someone else.
More Super Bowls have been played in the Superdome than any other facility, including the FIRST Super Bowl after September 11th. Ironically, that Super Bowl was our nation's first test of "security in a post 9/11 world". It is now a building that represents our MANY fallibilities and holes with regard to security in a post 9/11 world.

And speaking of holes...

Did anyone notice the hole in the roof of the Superdome?

Maybe God is peering down upon us...

THE R-WORD

2005-09-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

Peggy Phillip - a hurricane veteran photojournalist from Florida - has an interesting entry on her blog.

The R-Word

Here's one I never saw coming. The word "refugee" is offending many of our viewers. A sample email:

PLEASE, Please stop calling the families that are displaced from Hurricane Katrina "refugees" they are not refugees, they are AMERICANS. They are displaced families who fled there HOMES, JOBS & BUSINESSES. I'm so sick and tired of every news station here in Memphis calling these displaced families refugees. WE ARE NOT A 3rd WORLD COUNTRY. Come on show some compassion for our new friends, co-workers, business owners. We will pull together and make this work for everyone in the Mid-South.After telephone calls to the assignment desk and an email I walked out to the producer pod during the 5pm to ask about this. One news manager told me it had been the subject of a national media story the night before. Our assignment manager said he'd gotten a number of complaint calls about the use of "refugee" to describe Katrina victims.

So I googled it.

I found out that we weren't WRONG but the common usage of the word "refugee" calls for a person to cross boundaries (international or country) because of some sort of persecution. And if we really want to (anger) our viewers, we'll use the word "exile."

Whew.

I suggested we use "evacuees" for the time being. Or "displaced." My Hurricane Andrew experience is not helpful enough at this time.

_______________

I can tell you this - here in Baton Rouge, we are using "refugee", but also trying to use "hurricane victim" and "New Orleanian" when appropriate.

GETTING AWAY...

2005-09-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

For nearly a year now, I have been planning and looking forward to my upcoming trip to New York City. My dear friend, Sean Mistretta, has secured tickets to the Yankees/Red Sox game as well as the Giants season opener. The trip will also just happen to coincide with the anniversary of 9/11.

For the most part, I am leaning toward going.

Jen is imploring that I go - saying I need the break. With power restored, the kids back in school, and her parents in town to help - she will not be overwhelmed.

From a mental state, she is right - I could use the break. Besides, I haven't had a day off since Blake was born back in February.

There is some hesitation on my part to leave during this incredible tragedy, but to be in New York City during 9/11 might be very powerful on many levels.

Besides - box seats at Yankees/Red Sox? And in the suites for Eli Manning and the Giants? Come on!

I will fly out of Baton Rouge, as the New Orleans airport is still under water. I leave Wednesday and return Monday.

POOPING IN A BAG...

2005-09-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

This email is from a buddy of mine on the coast:

_______________

I have now been told several times that this must have been "cool" or "fun." It is not. Yes, the anticipation was fun. The reality was terrifying. The aftermath is nothing short of a nightmare. Let's start with my personal problems, which are nothing relative to the greater problem.

1) There is nowhere to poop. I went in a plastic bag the other day and haven't gone since.

2) My apartment stinks because my apartment complex flooded. I'm on the second floor. The carpet from my downstairs neighbor is rotting and making my place smell like rotten egg.

3) I haven't showered since Sunday. My head itches. My crotch itches. I smell.

4) I haven't eaten properly. non-pershiable goods usually translates to junk food.

5) I am mentally exhausted. you can imagine why.

6) I am almost out of beer.

10,000

2005-09-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

US Senator David Vitter said that the death toll from Hurricane Katrina could top 10,000 in Louisiana alone.

"My guess is that it will start at 10,000, but that is only a guess," Vitter said, adding that he was not basing his remarks on any official death toll or body count.

Well, isn't that comforting....

PRAY

SING IT BROTHER MAN!

2005-09-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is "pissed". Click on this link to listen to the interview...

CHILLING QUOTES

2005-09-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

"For the next two or three months, in this area, there will not
be any commerce, at all. No electricity, no restaurants. This is
the real deal. It's not living conditions." - New Orleans Mayor
Ray Nagin.

"We are gravely concerned about the potential for cholera,
typhoid and dehydrating diseases that could come as a result of the
stagnant water and the conditions." - Michael Leavitt, secretary
of Health and Human Services, who declared a public health
emergency stretching from Louisiana to Florida.

"We had enough food for 10 days. Now we'll have to equip our
department heads with guns and teach them how to shoot." - Peggy
Hoffman, executive director of a New Orleans nursing home, which
lost a bus when the driver was ambushed by gunmen.

LORD, WE NEED YOU...

2005-09-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

It has been said, "I would rather live my life as if there is a God, and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is".

Fortunate are those of us who can live our lives knowing the presence of the living God, and rest in the assurance that when life is over, we will be in God's presence.

Prayer opens the door to allow God to move in our life. The following prayer takes only seconds.

"Lord, I love you and I need you. Come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends. May your special blessings be upon those who are suffering loss because of Katrina and on those who are trying to be of help. In Jesus' name. Amen."

Pass the prayer on. It will bless you and those with whom you share.

BREAKING DOWN AGAIN...

2005-09-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

I broke down again...

Around 6:00am, we rolled some video of Mandeville. The images were heart-breaking for me - my hometown literally destroyed.

I know it pales in comparison to the images in New Orleans, but to see my hometown in such a state brought back some powerful memories. I saw Rip's Seafood - a restaurant my Mom and Dad used to take us to quite often when we would "go out". Rip's Seafood is gone - literally gone.

It's also a testament to how lucky my parents were - as with Jen's parents...

I held the tears in until 11am and then broke down. My good friend and co-anchor Whitney saw me crying and rushed over to give me comfort. I am sure she has never seen me in such a state...she was so comforting and I really do appreciate her on a personal and professional level. We have such good chemistry on the air and it is really showing.

SLOWLY...

2005-09-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Slowly - and we do mean SLOWLY - things are starting to turn around.

This morning, power was restored to two key hospitals in Jefferson Parish - for family members, it's East and West Jefferson Hospital. These are the hospitals where my mother had surgeries and also where my father passed away. They are critical hospitals and things are returning to normal operation there and that's EXCELLENT!

28 babies were saved this morning - airlifted from Charity Hospital. Thankfully, the looters chose not to open fire on the choppers. We believe they are running out of ammo.

A staging area has been set up on North Causeway and Veterans Highway for those in critical need of medical help. Last night, the area was evacuated because of gun fire and massive violence. They could not shepard folks north - over the causeway and to safety - because of the violence. HOWEVER, the area is now surrounded by National Guard troops.

All that being said, there are still many hospitals in the city without power, without water and without hope.

PERSONAL OBSERVATION: This storm hit Monday morning. My God! It's Friday!!! Where in the name of Sam Hill is the friggin water for these people?!?!? We are the greatest country on the planet and we cannot get water to them?!?!?

I implore you to read this story about how the government has failed us: Keep in mind, this comes from a die-hard Republican. Let me be crystal clear, however, with my criticism - this is not President Bush's fault. It's a classic example - probably the best example ever - of how government is a bureaucratic hornets nest.

1-800-HELP NOW

WHAT A MORNING...

2005-09-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

About 9:20am, I noticed a rather large convoy of people entering the WBRZ studios. I glance past the lights and notice who it is - Rev. Jesse Jackson.

We brought him on set for an interview. It went really well, except for the fact that he got VERY political. He started with a message of hope and talked about how he went to New Orleans to rescue college students. But, he quickly began slamming President Bush - on a personal level.

We all know that Rev. Jesse Jackson is a lightning rod for criticism, and we also know that (from a television stand-point), having him on set tends to elevate the interview to a different status, as opposed to say - interviewing him "in the field".

Needless to say, the phone lines lit up and the emails started pouring in. Here's an example:

ABC and WBRZ are responsible for adding to this
terrible aftermath of the hurricane. Having Jesse
Jackson on for an extended interview and questioning
whether this is "incompetence or indifference" is
extremely irresponsible. He often comes forward to
incite racial differences to get a talking block, I am
so sorry that you chose to give it to him.

Now let's put this into some sort of perspective. First of all, how do you turn away Jesse Jackson when he arrives in person to your set?!?! Cause, I gotta be honest with ya, the most famous person I have ever interviewed live on TV is Jared The Subway Guy!

Secondly, the angry callers and emailers failed to hear some of our thought questions (imagine that!) For instance, I asked him about this comment from Damon Hewitt, Civil Rights Attorney, for the NAACP who said the following:

If the majority of the folks
left behind were white individuals and
most of the folks who were able to
escape on their own were African American,
then I wouldn't be sitting here
right now. This is a racial story.

I think most people find that to be offensive - and let me just say - there are thousands of WHITE people stuck in New Orleans, whether it's in the hotels or in neighborhoods to the east.

My co-anchor, Whitney Vann, (such a dear friend) asked the BEST question. She said, "Are you going to come under criticism for rescuing well-to-do college students and not mothers and babies who were suffering?"

Regardless of Jesse Jackson being a lightning rod for criticism, it was a thrill to interview a man who brings so much HOPE to so many people.

It was a good interview - to watch it, click here and scroll down on the right hand side for Jesse Jackson.

Also - we are streaming our broadcasts - when you wake up, check out our coverage. Whitney and I anchor from 5am-11am.

GOTTA ANY EXTRA CLOTHES?

2005-09-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

We all know the folks in the shelters need clothing, but guess what? So do the television workers!

Here's an internal memo from our General Manager:

As all of you are aware, WGNO has been working with us on Hurricane Katrina coverage. Most of them have lost their homes and were only able to leave with the clothes they could pack. We at WBRZ would like to do whatever we can to help them out. If you have any clothing that you could donate, it would be most appreciated. They also are in need of toiletries.

Please bring any items that could donate, and are in good shape and clean, to Janet Caboche in the Programming Office. Let's do what we can to help them out. I know they will appreciate it.

It's hitting home folks - hitting home...

SOME GOOD NEWS

2005-09-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

Jen essentially has 2 part-time jobs...which, in the grand scheme of things, equals one full-time job. It's very complicated stuff - but the bottom line is this: If she were to lose one of those jobs, we would suffer financially.

One of those part-time jobs is a clinic in Mandeville - which, as you know, is wiped out. No word on the damage to the clinic, but she simply cannot imagine the small business surviving. For instance, one of her patients drives from Pass Christian, Mississippi - a town that literally leveled. They aint coming to therapy any time soon, I can tell you that!

Her other part-time job is at Woman's Hospital and today, they offered her full-time status! Praise the Lord...

Now - we just need to get our house in Walker built by the October 1st deadline. If it's not completed in time, our back-up plan was to move to Mandeville. Now that Mandeville is uninhabitable, we really don't know what we will do.

Some folks have asked how they could help? Wanna come to Walker and help finish building a house? :)

GASOLINE AND NEWS GATHERING

2005-09-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here's why the gasoline situation is worse in Baton Rouge.

Atlanta, Dallas and Memphis HAVE gasoline - granted, that gasoline is expensive, but at least you have it!

Baton Rouge is running out because the size of Baton Rouge DOUBLED overnight and the supplies are running low. Additionally, stations are having trouble GETTING the gasoline because tankers cant get here because of the TRAFFIC!

Now imagine how this affects news gathering?!?! My News Director is worried that photographers are going to run out of gasoline and be stranded in various parts of the city with no way of getting back to the station. He has a helicopter on stand-by for situations like this - although we hope we will never have to utilize the choppers for this purpose.

I am worried about anchors (myself included) running out of gasoline and not being able to make it to work. Will we be asked to spend the night here??? Heck, it wouldn't be the first time.

PETRO PAINS

2005-09-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

YOU are now feeling the effects of this storm...$4.00 a gallon for gasoline!?!?! Are you friggin kidding me?

Here's the best explanation for the rise in gasoline prices. First, the good news is that I firmly believe that the price will go down - but the key question is - WHEN?

Now to the explanation:

Understand this - oil rigs have been destroyed and nearly 25% of our oil in this country comes from the rigs that are now just fish food. Workers were airlifted to a land base here in Louisiana called Port Fouchon. It is the hub of gasoline production in the south. It is the only place in America where supertankers offload their oil. It is also then converted to unleaded fuel - the stuff you pour into your Honda.

When Port Foucon shuts down, gasoline production shuts down.

The only solution - rebuild the oil tankers and get Port Fouchon out from under water - who knows how long that will take.

I know - it stinks...big time.

However - it's much worse in Baton Rouge than anywhere else on Planet Earth. Details in the next post.

THUGS WALKING THE STREETS

2005-09-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well - we knew it would happen, but never guessed it would be this large of an issue.

Thousands of evacuees have evacuated to Baton Rouge and are being housed in our Convention Center - aka the River Center. As you can imagine, there's only so much you can take.

The criminal element has decided to get out and "walk around" - hundreds are just roaming - with nowhere to go and nothing to do. After all, they have no cash. As a result, we have had numerous reports of purse snatchings, car-jackings, robberies, etc., etc.

Last night, I went to my neighborhood convenience store and saw two men "walking around" with pistols hanging in their waistline. The butt of the gun clearly visible. Nice...

My good friend Doug Amos summed it up this morning, "When you take away hope - people do dumb things"

BABIES ARE DYING

2005-09-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

Ochsner Hospital's Infant ICU room is running low on power - they rely on gasoline for the generators and the gasoline is running out.

If they lose power, they will have to HAND CRANK the ventilators.

Some of the most heart-breaking stories are coming from inside the hospitals. Nurses and doctors with no other choice than to watch the patients they were keeping alive, die.

Meanwhile, dead bodies are rising from the bottom of the flood waters.....thousands of them.

They will likely have to bulldoze the city to start over. Will we show that on television? Should we show that? What about the mental health of individuals to see THEIR house bulldozed? Some of the many questions we are asking ourselves in this business.

WHAT A BLESSING!

2005-08-31T14:43:00.000-07:00

My step-Dad just returned from Mandeville. To the left is a picture of the front of their subdivision, Meadowbrook.

It's much worse than it actually looks in this picture, nearly every home is destroyed by tree damage, but Mom and Will's home is still standing and doesn't have an ounce of damage.

Will WALKED through the city of Mandeville, as you cannot drive. He had to climb over huge pine trees, nearly breaking his ribs. He walked to Chuck and Susan's (Jen's parents) to check on their house and it's the same blessing: no damage.

Mom and Will, his parents and his aunt are headed to Dallas - they have secured a two bedroom apartment that is furnished. They plan to move in tomorrow and will be displaced for at least a month - maybe more.

Blessings to Eric for helping them secure housing. He said apartments and townhomes in Dallas are going like hotcakes.

Thanks for reading these ramblings - I am getting a lot of feedback and emails of support. Folks are asking me - "What can I do, Todd?" The answer is simple: 1-800-CALL NOW.

I AM DELUSIONAL...

2005-08-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Funny story about my evening in the edit bay - got rid of the Dorito's (Cool Ranch) crumbs, but couldn't stand the hum of edit bays.

My GM invited me into a round conference room for the evening nap. He said others might join me. Well, I can tell you - that didn't happen! I was quick to lock the door - felt bad - but there are a ton of other areas to sleep. I just needed a few hours uninterrupted.

About an hour into my nap - I heard a very ominous sound...the best analogy I could use is that it sounded the drum of Stormtroopers. (What? You don't know what that sounds like?!?!)

I wake up...foggy - groggy - beyond tried....

In my delirious state - halfway between dream and reality - I honestly thought I was being abducted. Of course, at this point, that might not be a bad alternative.

1-800-HELP NOW, call people...call....

BUYING A NEW HOME?!?!

2005-08-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

To give you an idea of how crazy life is right now, my parents are considering PURCHASING a new home. They have no idea when they will be allowed back in to St. Tammany, nor do they even know if there is damage to their home.

However, there are more and more reports that residents will not be allowed back for several months. If that is the case, they will need to live SOMEWHERE! My house is only so big. There are no apartments available - so they are now considering the purchase of a new home/condo.

There are hundreds of thousands of people with NO HOMES, NO JOBS & THE T-SHIRT ON THEIR BACK - sit back take that in.

In fact, there is a very good chance that Jen's job is gone, as her clinic is in Mandeville. If that's the case, we will be moving into a new home - a home we cannot afford without her income.

MORE ON WORKING JOURNALISTS

2005-08-31T05:04:00.000-07:00

I just got off the set - it's 7:04am - a WGNO producer ran up to me in tears...

She asked, "I need to find a Wal-Mart - can you tell me how to get to a Wal-Mart?"

"Just get on the interstate and take the second exit - are you okay", I asked.

"I'm just beat down - I need...well...I hate to be so blunt - but I need underwear."

As she headed out, she blurted back to the WGNO GM that she was just going to be "right back - only five minutes" and then told a photographer not to forget to feed the B-roll tape on her desk.

Folks - here's a woman who doesn't have underwear and she is concerned about a video feed. She assured the GM that she was going to be gone for a mere five minutes. We are depressed and saddened but intent on "working the problem".

There are times when this business is glitzy and glamorous - and let's be honest - that was one of the things that drew us in. But, in the end, it's the business itself that draws us in. And in the case of so many people here in south Louisiana, it's the business itself that keeps our minds busy.

Of course, we pale in comparison to the emergency workers...part of the reason why most of us feel so inadequate.

FOOTNOTE: We are getting reports of massive suicides - we are not going to report these.

JOURNALISM - KATARINA STYLE

2005-08-31T02:13:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of journalists would be interested in how primitive things have become.

First, understand this - for the most part, all of the television and radio stations were evacuated during the storm. For instance, WGNO-TV headed west for Baton Rouge where they joined us for coverage - and more importantly refuge.

So - my TV brethren - imagine doing your job (which right now is ten times the size of any normal day) in a building where you don't even know where the restroom is? Alas, WGNO now knows where the restrooms are - heck - it's where they change clothes. We have a shower in the Men's room and it is rarely - if ever - used. Today, someone asked for a wrench to tighten the nozzle.

Understand this - phone service is completely wiped out. Cell service is spotty at best. So how do you get stories? How do you report the situation? I can tell you - it's tough, especially when rumors start flying. The definition of "confirmed" has taken on a new meaning.

For instance, earlier I had posted news of a riot at the Orleans Parish Prison. As of this posting, we simply don't know whether that actually happened. It is 4:25am and several hours have passed since that story broke and we (WBRZ, WGNO, AP, Times-Pic, etc.) have not been able to confirm it. Think about that for a minute. If news broke out in your hometown of a prison riot - there would be a riot in your newsroom if it took this long to confirm or deny the story!!?!?!?!

Another example - St. Tammany Parish. The Director of the Emergency Operations Center had to get in his car and drive to Baton Rouge to get the word out. There wasn't a single working phone in the parish and cell phones were non-existent (cell towers lacked power and most were blown over). So here's a guy desperate to get the info to the people and was resorted to driving 60 miles to the west. By the way, here was his update: "It's devastating - but I don't have much more info than that. We are still assesing the situation." Thanks.

As I sit here - we are re-airing Nightline and it has made me wonder about the national news. I haven't seen any of the coverage (cable is simply a luxury at this point). How are the incessantly chatty cable channels covering this? Are they covering this? I remember them going wall-to-wall with the L.A. Riots, and as much as that was important story, this is larger - much larger.

Finally, one more story to pass along - and this is one of the most disturbing.

There are reports that looting has started at Children's Hospital in New Orleans. That's right - LOOTING at a CHILDREN'S hospital. They are breaking in, which is easy to do since the hospital has only one security guard right now, and taking anything they can find. For the most part, they are breaking in to take drugs. And get this - folks in the hospital have told us - "please be careful in reporting this story, as we do not want to reiterate the security vulnerabilities of the facility".

More later....

MY PARENTS ARE SAFE

2005-08-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

Just a few minutes ago, Mom and Will arrived at our house. They are joined by Will's parents and Will's aunt...I think her name is Shirley. I am tired.

I hesitate to tell you about the troubles Mom and Will went through - after all, folks have jumped from the Superdome to their death and thousands are feared dead.

That being said - many family members deserve to hear what they went through. They fled to Jackson, Mississippi - only to have the storm follow them. When the hotel lost power, they were asked to evacuate and had to climb 12 flights of stairs in the pitch dark. Will carried Aunt Shirley and his mother. The temperature was 97.

They jumped in the Range Rover and headed for our house. They got to Hammond (30 miles to our east) and ran out of gasoline. All Hammond gas stations had run out of gas. Nearly four hours later - they found the lone working phone (pay phone) and called us. Jen's Dad rushed to a gas station here and filled my lawnmower tank with 93 Octane (that's all that was left) and headed for Hammond.

They pulled into our driveway at 5:00pm - and what a battered bunch.

UPDATE ON NEW ORLEANS: The prisoners at Orleans Parish Prison have "taken over".

Oh my God - someone just showed a picture of a missing relative - 9-11 stuff...

I am back at the station and working on a combined 8 hours of sleep since Saturday night. I am going to crash in an edit bay - although the one I have chosen has Dorito's crumbs scattered all over the floor. I normally wouldn't mind crumbs - but the smell of Cool Ranch Dorito's kinda makes me sick to my stomach.

I finally broke down - it happened when I saw Mom. In fact, just typing this is bringing tears to my eyes. I was just so worried - worried about all of them - in the heat, suffering on the side of the road. And call me a Mamma's boy - but in times like this - you just want to give your Mom a hug. It's all just so overwhelming. Overwhelming - that's just such a fitting word right now...overwhelming....

I miss my Dad too. I wonder what he's thinking of up in heaven. During all of this chaos - there are a lot of angels floating in the streets of New Orleans - Dad is probably rescuing all of the Cubs fans.

And, he's probably looking down on a son...doing his best at keeping the public informed...and he's probably damn proud.

Don't forget gang - call the Red Cross, 1-800-HELP NOW.

If you plan to go to a movie this weekend, or eat out - don't - give that money to the Red Cross. The Olive Garden and Brad Pitt can wait.

INCREDIBLY GRAVE SITUATION...

2005-08-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

Folks - the situation in New Orleans is grave - very grave. I just saw a chopper trying to rescue three people on top of a housing project that was completely destroyed. They appeared to be the only survivors. It's a housing project with thousands of residents. How many got out? How many went to the Superdome? How many stayed? There were 3 survivors - three.

We need help. It is not out of the question for MASSIVE troops to be called in - do we need to call troops home from Iraq? Just a question...

In New Orleans, it is literally a war zone state. Police have orders to "shoot to kill" when it comes to looters. The water is toxic. Snakes and rats are surfacing and literally taking over. One eyewitness said he thought he saw a tire tube floating down the flood waters - it wasn't a tire tube, it was rats.

My parents just ran out of gas in Hammond, thirty miles to our east. (They were coming back from Memphis because their hotel only lasted one night) Jen's Dad is headed there to bring them gasoline (if we can find some).

Gotta run - hope you are not getting annoyed with my emails, but at this point, it's just good to vent - and besides, we need the prayers. Please feel free to start a prayer chain and PLEASE tell your local churches, Sunday School classes, etc.

Also - here's a number you can call: 1-800-HELP NOW.

TUESDAY MORNING

2005-08-30T05:54:00.000-07:00

TUESDAY MORNING:

Well - I won't bore you with an update on New Orleans, you have surely seen the pictures and heard the stories - unbelievable.

This picture sums it all up - the back of the Hyatt Regency Hotel - it looks more like the Federal Building in Oklahoma City:

It's 3:33 and I just woke up from a 5 hour nap in the control room. I decided to sleep here because the station has power and the house does not. (I prefer to sleep in AC - call me nuts) Jen, the kids and her parents stayed at home - said they can endure the heat. We told Abby it's her first experience at "summer camp" (it sure does feel like it!)

My parents are worried about their home and headed back from Jackson to check on things. After they check on the status of their home, they will head to Baton Rouge to sleep with us. That will make 9 adults, 2 children and 2 dogs in our house.

We expect power to be restored by the end of the week - we're hoping for Tuesday or Wednesday.

We're tired - we're hot - we're annoyed - but we're alive.

EYE WALL IS HERE...

2005-08-29T11:19:00.000-07:00

Eye wall has passed New Orleans...levees are breaking...8 feet of water downtown and that could soon rise rapidly...

Roof of Superdome has three huge holes and the building is without power. 30,000 people are threatened. For my Alabama friends - Blount built this thing - it's all your fault. I'm joking...

There's an old story out of New Orleans that you should keep an axe in your attic in case of a hurricane. Why? You might need it to bust through the roof. Folks - that is happening. Water levels are as high as roofs in some locations and folks are busting through their attic - waiting on rescue personnel. That is exactly what happened during Betsy.

Slidell is taking the brunt of this storm. FUNNY STORY: Jeff Shearer used to call Slidell, Slide Two because he thought the two "L's" at the end of "Slidell" were roman numerals. It will resemble roman ruins soon.

Downtown New Orleans hotel windows are blowing out - guests are huddling eachother in halls...we hear that the sounds are terrifying.

Amazingly, we still have power at our house...

CUTE MOMENT: Abby asked Jen, "Is Daddy going to be okay?" Jen said, "He's not actually in the storm Abby, he's just covering it from work."

Headed home soon for some sleep - but I am just addicted to covering this massive news event. I am truly doing what I was born to do.

GOOD NEWS???

2005-08-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

The storm has taken a jog to the east - saving the city of New Orleans from the worst case scenario.

Bad news for Slidell and Mandeville - which, as you know, is home for both of our families. It looks like Mandeville is going to flood and both sets of parents will have massive clean-up.

There are massive power outages - but we still have power in Baton Rouge - although I fear we will soon lose it. Jen has the thermostat cranked down to 50 - in anticipation of the power going out - wearing blankets and coats.

I just got off the air - went on at 10:30pm - 8+ hours on the air - uninterrupted. It was extraordinarily smooth and quite exhilarating. However, it's just now getting interested and my news director decided to give me and my co-anchor a rest. I suppose I need one - since I haven't slept since Saturday night - but the adrenaline is flowing like the flood waters. (Ooops - not the best analogy)

If you can tell from my tone - the feeling here is much better - but don't get me wrong, there will be massive damage, flooding and power outages.

I think the bottom line is this - prayer works! It's the only thing I attributable to the jog east.