by Maitri
on August 29, 2005
This is my first chance to update everyone since D and I evacuated New Orleans for Houston 16 hours ago. First off, thank you to EVERYONE for keeping us in your thoughts . If I could only express to you the number of anxiety attacks I have had over the last 24 hours. The urgency with which locals left the city only underscores the seriousness of this hurricane and its potential impact on New Orleans.
Our evacuation route took us northeast through Slidell, into southern Mississippi (a black hole of backroads which will be described in a later post), back into northern Louisiana and down to Houston. I-10 westbound was a nightmare of a parking lot as we left this morning and the traffic situation has only worsened. Yes, there are people trying to leave New Orleans that are stuck on major highways right now. Additionally, I know of a few people, including Mac, who have decided to stay behind and brave the storm. Realize that once Katrina’s winds reach hurricane velocities, the bridges out of New Orleans will be closed. One can exit the city only by crossing a bridge of some sort. Please keep these people, as well as the carless and homeless, in your vigils. If you are in New Orleans and reading this post, please report to the Superdome immediately with essentials and provisions that will last you at least three days.
Please hope your best for us. In no uncertain terms, I am frightened to death. In just a few hours, my city may be flattened along with my home. If New Orleans goes, we won’t lose mere possessions but one of the world’s greatest cities and many of its greater citizens.
More from the aftermath.
P.S. Check the cams if you want to follow along at home. I can’t vouch for lens cleanliness or even for the camera being there. The Uptown streetcarcam is the scariest one so far.
by Maitri
on August 28, 2005
Nagin has called for mandatory evacuation. Wow. Kathleen Blanco and some military official are with him, and they look distressed. Bob Breck says things don’t look good and that we should leave. I-10 West is going to be a nightmare – I hope the storm doesn’t hit the highway with people parked on it. What a terrible thought.
D has studied the maps and recommends we leave through Slidell and then into Mississippi. The carpenter isn’t here yet to board the windows, so we are going to have to do it ourselves. Some heavy lifting won’t hurt before being crouched in a car for hours on end.
Our street is so quiet, it’s eerie. Where is everyone? Already gone? Not going?
New Orleans survived Betsy, Camille and a lot more. Will she make it this time? Are we prepared for The Big One?
by Maitri
on August 27, 2005
Current probability of Katrina striking right east of New Orleans = very high. Miles and miles from the worry I entertained yesterday of the Florida Panhandle getting hit again. Naturally, these are the odds when I have to be on a very important flight out of here on Wednesday evening.
Update: We are packing and evacuating as of now Saturday August 27 13:33
Update 2: Still in New Orleans, packing, sorting and waiting for the carpenter to arrive and board our windows. Evacuation now depends on the predictions of tonight and tomorrow morning as well as the toss of a lucky Irish pound. The city is dead but for a few perplexed tourists and conventioneers asking the locals if they should leave. Downtown New Orleans is closed until further notice while the universities do not plan to open until Thursday. Saturday August 27 16:37
Update 3: A gloomy prognosis still. Even Bob Breck isn’t feeling the hurricane mojo, and that bodes badly for staying in a 130-year-old house. New Orleanians, board your homes and leave. August 27 21:02
Update 4: Up surveying the house and all animated predictions of our impending local weather pattern. Landfall anon, i.e. tomorrow AM. Dinner in the Quarter last night (tomato, lettuce and Diet Coke with wine chasers – anything I could keep down) saw veteran residents discuss seriously the act, not just the thought, of getting out of here. Then again, there are the brave ones staying such as Mac and KFrye, who plans to “stand out on my balcony and shake my fists at the storm.” Good plan – is the webcam all set up? Time for push-ups before hauling stuff to car; hey, the CPUs have got to go. August 28 06:57
by Maitri
on August 11, 2005
Let’s face it, geology is my jackpot, a scientific windfall of sorts. Anything remotely linked to earth science wakes me from the deepest of slumbers and captures my full attention for hours. Also an avid pattern recognizer, I enjoy discovering similarities between geological concepts and other phenomena. As the streets of New Orleans buckle and bulge in the summertime, they are likened to orogeny. The crud that floats at the top of boiling milk is contrasted with lava cooling at the surface of Hawaii. Analogies abound, and I make sure to point them all out and very loudly to non-geologically-inclined D if he is with me. He, in turn, lovingly refers to this condition as my Geology Tourette’s.
This morning’s Eureka! moment came with a simple tub of cold cream. As I prepared to stick my finger in the chilly whiteness of the colloid, I noticed that a portion of it had cleaved and another, and another. The material was still creamy, but it appeared as if tiny, wafer-thin slivers of cream had been dislodged in the tub. In fact, it looked a lot like this:
It was a miniature rift system in cold cream! Excited, I ran to D and said, “Look! Faults!”
D’s eyes grew big and round as he exclaimed, “Release the pigeons!”
Such insensitivity to my geekitude.
by Maitri
on August 3, 2005
The American Library Association Council has put forth the following resolution with respect to disinformation, media manipulation and destruction of public information.
(CHICAGO) At the American Library Association (ALA) 2005 Annual Conference in Chicago, June 23-29, the ALA Council adopted a resolution opposing the use by government of disinformation, media manipulation, and the destruction and excision of public information. ALA CD#64 cites a list of documented instances of disinformation, including:
* the distribution to media outlets of government produced “video news releases” under the guise of independent journalism;
* the use of commentators paid by government agencies to express views favorable to government policies in clear violation of Federal Communications Commission regulations;
* the censorship of scientific studies warning of the true threat of global warming;
* the fabrication and deliberate distortion of information used to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq;
* the removal of public information from U.S. depository libraries; and
* heightened assaults on constitutional rights under the guise of “national security.”
The ALA encourages its members to help raise public consciousness regarding the
many ways in which disinformation and media manipulation are being used to mislead public opinion in all spheres of life, and further encourages librarians to facilitate this awareness with collection development, library programming and public outreach that draws the public’s attention to those alternative sources of information dedicated to countering and revealing the disinformation often purveyed by the mainstream media.
The 182-member ALA governing body voted passed ALA CD#64 on June 29, 2005.
Read the entire document at the ALA Web site.
