The latest: Members of the military and FEMA are going door-to-door not telling, but evangelizing, people to leave. In other words, the authorities repeat stern phrases like “it’s unsafe here” and “we urge you to leave,” but aren’t forcing anyone out and most still remain. On the other hand, local police officers are concerned that residents making a sudden exit, just as things are getting better, will leave them shorthanded. It’s not surprising that the police wish for people to stick around who know and care about New Orleans, but I, too, wonder about the safety implications.

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Shell Employees: New Orleans-based employees are invited to an employee communications session on Wednesday, September 7 at 3 p.m. in the Woodcreek Cafeteria.

Marvin Odum will provide an update on business continuity plans (including office space allocation, housing, computer access, employee assistance programs and our operations. U.S. E&P leadership will be on-hand to answer your questions.

We encourage everyone who can to please join in person, however a teleconference bridge will be open:

Dial-in: 713-423-0600 or 866-761-0750
Email me for the passcode.

The latest from the ground:

• The city is buttoned-down and the troops everywhere. With the eager help of local law enforcement, folks are starting to clear/clean the streets of Uptown and the Garden District. Simultaneously, they also attend to corpses (yes, of all varieties) around these areas.
• Contrary to some reports, the police actually want locals to remain for the cleanup and rebuilding effort.
• Power to the Central Business District (CBD) will supposedly be restored by tonight. The plan is to bring power back up to the unaffected parts of the city starting from there,
• No one remains, but the Convention Center is an absolute, filthy mess and cleanup efforts are underway.
• A “ton of food and bottled water” has now entered New Orleans. Food includes canned goods, dried fruits and veggies and other non-perishables.
• FEMA and the rest of the city are fighting over whether to evacuate the remaining residents or keep them so they start working on rebuilding the city. As long as residents do not venture out into flooded and unsafe zones and with a large military presence, residents don’t understand the sense in being kicked out. Everyone is (understandably) mad at FEMA – it is becoming more and more obvious that their main concern is bureaucracy and “the proper way” (whatever that is), and not putting the willing to work.

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Some friends have started a non-profit with donations that will coordinate some building contractor and housing efforts in and around the city. I’ve offered to build and maintain the website for the project and will keep you appraised on details as they develop. Meanwhile, it would be great if someone can provide me with information on an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that is willing to offer server access and space and a domain name for free.

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Re-entry: Jefferson Parish residents are allowed to re-enter “as long as they [show] a valid ID proving residency, [have] food, [have] a full tank of gas and [don’t] drink the water.” An after-dark curfew is also in place. Traffic is backed up already – remember what I said about everyone rushing the city at once? Ever heard of phased re-entry?

Rumors: No, we cannot go back to Orleans Parish just yet, at least not officially. In fact, people are still being asked to stay out as long as possible. Along with waterlogged homes and the lack of amenities, water-borne disease is a concern, especially West Nile virus, tetanus and dysentery. Doctors everywhere advise New Orleanians to get all of their shots up to date before going back home.

Going back home. Sigh.

FEMA Help: Can you tell me if there is truth in a rumor that FEMA plans to offer/loan money to each head of household (approx. $26K each)? Please leave a comment or email me.

FEMA Update: A FEMA FAQ on acquiring disaster assistance, housing assistance, food and water and unemployment. Call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or sign up online.

Unemployment: Katrina has left up to 750,000 temporarily jobless. Nevertheless, employment is available – “thousands of jobs to clean-up … followed by construction jobs to rebuild the thousands of damaged or destroyed homes and businesses.”

The Dept. of Labor “approved $20.7 million to hire 10,000 dislocated workers to aid recovery and clean-up efforts … prepared to authorize another $41.4 million, when the rescue situation stabilizes enough to get more people to work.”

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Exactly a week after evacuating New Orleans, I wonder, “Has it only been a week?” Close on the heels of the initial thought is, “Wow, that week went by quickly!” Despite that New Orleans has yet to start large-scale recovery, take some peace in knowing that time happens. Our patience and encouragement are paramount.

• The water will be drained.
• The power grid will be reassembled. Entergy has 92 transmission lines out of service. Power has been restored to approximately 500,000 customers; another half a million remain without power due to limited access to flooded neighborhoods
• Habitat For Humanity is currently accepting all the help it can get.

  If you’re having your house rebuilt with contractor help, here are some important tips. Basically, be careful whom you hire and save all of the paperwork for insurance purposes.

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The Chicago Tribune‘s front page bellyaches: Rebuilding a city “will be costly, and recreating New Orleans’ soul might be impossible.”

It took centuries to transform New Orleans from a mosquito-infested swamp into one of the world’s unique cities. And in a day long rampage, Hurricane Katrina demolished it.

Are they talking about the same city that I just left and to which I plan to return? New Orleans wasn’t demolished; it has been flooded and is in disrepair. Parts of Moss Point, Biloxi, Pascagoula, Bay St. Louis and other towns in Mississippi were demolished, but not New Orleans.

As for New Orleans soul, it doesn’t merely waft from colonial architecture in the French Quarter and red beans & rice in the Treme. The soul of the city is in the beating hearts of its people. As long as residents of the Crescent City believe in their city and each one helps rebuild, where is the room for loss? 80% of New Orleanians evacuated and are starting to help the 20% that didn’t.

For true inspiration, read the Tribune editorial written after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, “The ability of cities to survive and thrive after disaster depends on large part on what they aspire to be, and whether they can reinvent themselves to meet that goal.”

If Chicago did it in 1871, London and Paris did it in 1945 and Kuwait City did it in 1991, New Orleans can do it in 2005. We have all kinds of soul.

The Ohio special ops trio ventured out on a recon mission in the west suburbs of Columbus, codenamed Indiana. Even the strongest of us can only take so much of this suffocation, and must periodically surface to … anything else. Walking on a brand new street lined with brand new, trend-driven stores accomplished but one thing: it made me want to go home.

Friends in New Orleans are still doing alright, especially with the visible troop presence, and haven’t been asked to leave. No “bad people” since troop arrival – residents of Uptown and the Garden District, holed up in their houses until now, are out and about cleaning up. (They can’t vouch for the rest of the city, but the news sounds positive on this topic. Besides, cleanup cannot commence in a lot of the rest of the city until water is drained.)

It looks like a while before evacuees are allowed back in the city because:

a) clean water and food are in very limited supply,
b) there is no running water (there is talk of it coming back in less-hit parts of the city some time early this week),
c) the power grid will take a while to get back up, and
d) rotting property and dead bodies have to be accounted for and removed before the city is inhabitable.

Bottom line: Don’t bumrush the city yet and induce unnecessary strain in a just-recuperating system. Your home has been through this much, it can wait a little longer.

If you are aware of any relief operations that perform generator deliveries, please contact me. We’ll work something out.

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The gap in the worst levee breach (300-foot gap in the 17th St. Canal) has been repaired. Mild sigh of relief.

Jeff Koinange, CNN TV reporter, stood on the corner of Canal & Magazine today and said, “Just take a look at the deserted streets of New Orleans.” At that moment, the camera panned right to a white couple assessing damage to their property, a black man cleaning up his business and a truck turning right from Canal onto Magazine. Granted the city is not as full as it used to be, but it’s no ghost town. Tell it like it is.

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The father and brother of Irvin Mayfield, renowned musician and artistic director for the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, are still missing in New Orleans. If you know of their whereabouts, please notify the Missing Persons forum.

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Someone please get Richard Simmons and Celine Dion off Larry King Live. The hyperbole (“New Orleans is the Venice, Italy of the world”) and hysterics are offensive, not helpful.