Still Not Okay

19+ months after Katrina, the Gulf Coast is
still
NOT
even close
to being okay

But some folks don't worry about that. They're too busy
driving fast and wanting to get away with it or
trying to do anything to avoid taking the blame for NOLA's slow recovery.

Nope, not okay by a long shot.

Thistles and stuff

Tim, over at the Namelessblog discusses springtime in Post K New Orleans and muses about life here in Hurricane Land...
Hurricanes are part of the natural environment of the Gulf of Mexico. And our insatiable appetite to build and shape the human environment is perfectly natural, too. Heck, even the most ardent environmentalists will draw you a picture of what they want the coast to look like--as if nature needs their help to make her vision a reality!

Sloshing out of the flood

Just found this link
by Jon Donley of NOLA dot com

A 10 minute video with still shots showing the evacuation of the T.P. on August 29th, 2005 and Katrina aftermath photos. Well done.

Note: not for the faint hearted.

Thanks, Jon.

Good News for the 9th Ward

from BP News dot net

Vernon Worley had a simple idea designed to meet a real need in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans. A New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary alumnus and current seminary employee, Worley is designing and installing temporary, cardboard street signs throughout the neighborhood during his free time. Not only do the signs help recovery volunteers find their way, they also are providing hope in the Upper Ninth Ward.

2007 Hurricane Season

Background:
Each year Philip J. Klotzbach and William M. Gray (Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Science) make their initial predictions in December for the upcoming Hurricane Season. This prediction is updated in April, May, August, September and October of the following year, based on new information. Their predictions include data such as Named Storms, Named Storm Days, Hurricanes, Hurricane Days,
Intense Hurricanes, Intense Hurricane Days and Net Tropical Cyclone Acitivity.
Dr. Gray is taking a step back this year. In his words…
After 22 years (since 1984) of making these forecasts, it is appropriate that I step back and have Phil Klotzbach assume the primary responsibility for our project’s seasonal, monthly and landfall probability forecasts. Phil has been a member of my research project for the last six years and has been second author on these forecasts for the last five years. I have greatly profited and enjoyed our close personal and working relationships.
"
For the predictions released today, here's some background
This early April forecast is based on a newly devised extended range statistical forecast procedure...... We have increased our forecast from our early December prediction (7 hurricanes) due largely to the rapid dissipation of El Niño which has occurred over the past couple of months. Currently, neutral ENSO conditions are observed. We expect either neutral or weak-to-moderate La Niña conditions to be present during the upcoming hurricane season. Tropical and North Atlantic sea surface temperatures remain well above their long-period averages.


Colorado State University's hurricane predictions have a pretty good track record as far as I can see. Take a look at this data, gleaned from their website at
http://typhoon.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/

This chart is based on their April predictions of hurricanes

2000 Forecast: 7
2000 Actual: 8

2001 Forecast: 6
2001 Actual: 9

2002 Forecast: 7
2002 Actual: 4

2003 Forecast: 8
2003 Actual: 7

2004 Forecast: 8
2004 Actual: 9

2005 Forecast: 7
2005 Actual: 14

2006 Forecast: 9
2006 Actual: 5

2007 Forecast: 9

Gulf of Mexico Marine Debris Maps

Just released marine maps of the north Gulf of Mexico by NOAA
provides users with maps of debris-laden areas in the waters of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.
The maps indicate nautical position and other physical properties of each piece of submerged debris found during the NOAA Office of Coast Survey and Office of Response and Restoration's surveying effort, which began in September.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita inflicted severe damage on the Gulf Coast.
Even though the surface looks calm, underwater marine debris poses a hazard to vessel traffic and commercial fishing gear. The maps can help fishermen avoid debris and keep them updated on the status of debris removal in fishing grounds.

OTHER RELATED COASTAL RESTORATION WEB SITES:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - New Orleans District

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service - Louisiana

NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service

EPA Region 6

US Fish & Wildlife Service

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources

Louisiana Governor's Office of Coastal Activities

U.S.G.S. National Wetlands Research Center

National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program

Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program

Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study

Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service

Louisiana Seagrant

Coast 2050

America's WETLAND

Minerals Management Service Sand and Gravel Program

Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation

Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana

Pet Food Recall (dry catfood)

Two lots and sizes of Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry cat food
Reason for recall: FDA testing found melamine in wheat gluten used to make the dry cat food
here's the web article


The FDA has a special page with the latest information on what brands of pet food are being recalled here

Crime and Murder Stats

Noladishu has been mapping the NOLA crime since 8/06 here

Dapoblog keeps an update map of NOLA murders here with text and info here .

Three cheers for these NOLA bloggers.

The three stooges (Nagin, Riley & Jordan) need to leave town.

"bitch" is racist????

from Bayou Buzz dot com, all of a sudden the word "bitch" is racist

here's a summary.
Yup. Jesse Jackson's even sticking his "is there enough air play?" nose into this one.

All this over trashcans.

And one wonders why New Orleans is so fucked up.

Google Maps

Google's maps under fire
Cain Burdeau in New Orleans
2-Apr-07

GOOGLE'S replacement of post-Hurricane Katrina satellite imagery on its Google Maps portal with images of the region before the storm does a "great injustice" to the storm's victims, a US congressional subcommittee said.

The House Committee on Science and Technology's subcommittee on investigations and oversight on Friday asked Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt to explain why his company is using the outdated imagery.

The subcommittee cited an Associated Press report on the images.

"Google's use of old imagery appears to be doing the victims of Hurricane Katrina a great injustice by airbrushing history," subcommittee chairman Brad Miller, wrote in a letter to Mr Schmidt.

Swapping the post-Katrina images and the ruin they revealed for others showing an idyllic city dumbfounded many locals and even sparked suspicions that the company and civic leaders were conspiring to portray the area's recovery progressing better than it was.

Andrew Kovacs, a Google spokesman, said the company had received the letter but Mr Schmidt had no immediate response.

After Katrina, Google's satellite images were in high demand among exiles and hurricane victims anxious to see whether their homes were damaged.

Now, though, a virtual trip through New Orleans is a surreal experience of scrolling across a landscape of packed parking lots and marinas full of boats.

Reality is very different. Entire neighbourhoods are now slab mosaics where houses once stood and shopping malls, churches and marinas are empty of life, many gone altogether.

John Hanke, Google's director for maps and satellite imagery, said "a combination of factors including imagery date, resolution, and clarity" go into deciding what imagery to provide.

"The latest update from one of our information providers substantially improved the imagery detail of the New Orleans area," Mr Hanke said in a news release about the switch.

Mr Kovacs said efforts were under way to use more current imagery.

It was not clear when the current images replaced views of the city taken after Katrina struck August 29, 2005, flooding an estimated 80 per cent of New Orleans.

Mr Miller asked Google to brief his staff by April 6 on who made the decision to replace the imagery with pre-Katrina images, and to disclose if Google was contacted by the city, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, the US Geological Survey or any other government entity about changing the imagery.

"To use older, pre-Katrina imagery when more recent images are available without some explanation as to why appears to be fundamentally dishonest," Mr Miller said.

Mark over at Wetbankguide has more

from wired dot com, "Google denies conspiracy" (they didn't think anyone was looking)

Festival Time

This weekend marked the kickoff of festivals in this area.

Here's a complete listing of Louisiana Festivals scheduled from now through December Thanks to the TP for this listing.

On Saturday, hubby and I decided to do the Picayune Street Festival.

A quaint little happening, the Street Fest offered us three hours of people watching, good food and great bargains. Picayune is 15 minutes from Slidell and has become a new home people who lost everything to Katrina. Lacking the "la-dee-dah" factor of some New Orleans festivals, the Picayune Street Festival is worth while. Here are some pictures.
Click on pictures for full-sized versions

The weather was overcast and it DID sprinkle some, but all of the Antique and Gift shops where open (some very nice ones) which allowed us time to browse


This was the largest car show I'd seen. This green beauty was by far my favorite.


Did you know that there is a Biker Church? Cool!
These furniture makers from Lucedale, Mississippi created some huge bedroom suites for your "weekend getaway"

The helicopter rides took place all day

I found this beautiful suncatcher for only $35
I would like to talk to the person who approved the wording of this billboard. It makes no sense.

We spent the afternoon doing chores at home and about 5 pm it started raining. Very little thunder and lightning, but around 5:30 we heard a crash and discovered the baskteball goal had been pushed over by winds

A little later the electricity went out......till 10:30 PM. We thought entergy had taken over our electric company over here, but seems like there were a lot of power outages in this area last night and we were low on the totem pole. Come to find out, a tree that had been killed during Katrina succumbed to the winds and fell. As it did, a piece of it tangled in the electrical wires and took out our power.


Thanks to Cleco for the great work.