On the cusp of yet another hurricane season, during the midst of a rainy mid May afternoon, I ran across something in the WWL tv website that brings back memories of a New Orleans television/meteorlogical icon:

NASH ROBERTS @ 90

As a scientist, Nash Roberts looks at weather disasters, from Katrina to the more recent cyclone in Myanmar and earthquake in China, and sees these events not caused by years of man disrespecting the Earth, but more as a natural process.



From neworleansradiotheathre dot org, the history of this scientist who became the one to trust during hurricane seasons:

Long before Weather forecasters got to be television celebrities, Nash Roberts was forecasting weather conditions for areas as far away as the Gulf of Tonkin for his clients. It was said that no banana boat left South America without Nash's blessing, or rather, his forecast. Oil companies contracted Nash's company to get information about taking their crews off of their oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico during hurricane seasons.

The Nash Roberts forecasting accuracy was introduced to the TV screens of New Orleans soon after Ch 6 signed on the air and continued on WDSU-TV for over a quarter of a century in the 5PM, 6PM aand 10PM news programs as well as the "Midday" program.The people in New Orleans and the surrounding areas never said: "I wonder what the weather will be like." Instead, they asked: "What does Nash say?" When Nash finally retired from the broadcasting scene, he left several TV weathermen and their fancy radar and electronic presentations battling to assume his title and position as THE weather authority for the Gulf South. Nash Roberts was inducted into the GNOBA Hall of Fame in 1994.


Here's a link of Nash in action, predicting Hurricane Andrew's landfall No flashy storm maps or animations, he was at home using only his markers and experience to predict storms paths.

From a 1998 article in the New York Times
Mr. Roberts is often criticized by other meteorologists for deviating from National Weather Service reports, which he refers to derisively as 'the house thinking.'

'Some weathermen get unhappy because I don't always follow the Federal line, but if I have evidence to the contrary it'd be criminal not to give it,' he said.

Locals know a storm is serious simply when Mr. Roberts appears on the screen. 'They see me in the store buying my mark-up pens and they follow me around asking when the storm's hitting,' said Mr. Roberts, whose successful predictions, he said, come from treating each storm individually and keying in on the factors and the environment that await it.

'You're like a detective tracking someone,' he said.'You never know their next move.' Mr. Roberts said Hurricane Georges tipped its hand when the high-pressure system steering it stopped and the storm headed east.

He sometimes refers to computers as 'newfangled gimmicks,' but Mr. Roberts insists he consults the same reports and computer printouts sent to other stations. He also uses data from the oil rigs in the gulf, his private clients. With compasses and protractors, he calculates wind directions and plots each storm's path.

'We all get the same information, but it's what you do with it that makes the difference,' he said.

Here's another link of Nash talking about Katrina.

Katrina was the only hurricane that Nash evacuated for.

Happy Birthday, Nash!

fema's doing WHAT?

Lynn Henderson, who lives with her four children in a Federal Emergency Management Agency mobile home in Richton (Mississippi), is outraged by the agency's latest offer.

FEMA has offered her and other Hurricane Katrina victims still living in emergency housing the opportunity to purchase their agency-provided mobile homes. She says FEMA has deluged her with phone calls and sent her a letter that said the asking price is $13,000.

FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said the agency won't sell units that test high for formaldehyde. He could not say what FEMA has determined to be a safe level.



from the Washington Post:

FEMA hurriedly bought the 145,000 trailers and mobile homes via no-bid contracts just before and after Katrina hit the coast in August 2005. But the purchase quickly became problematic, with some communities refusing them for a variety of reasons.

FEMA was forced to put trailers on the market, selling them to anyone for 40 cents on the dollar.

In January, however, the emergency agency offered to buy them back, for their original purchase price, because of concerns that the trailers are tainted with formaldehyde. The agency said it is making the offer because of concerns about “possible adverse health effects” associated with the trailers.

And now they're selling them again. Unbelievable


In January FEMA was forced to put trailers on the market, selling them to anyone for 40 cents on the dollar.

Yesterday, however, the emergency agency offered to buy them back, for their original purchase price, because of concerns that the trailers are tainted with formaldehyde. The agency said it is making the offer because of concerns about "possible adverse health effects" associated with the trailers.

Another Katrina Victim

Howie Luvzus posts on the recent death of
7-year-old Christopher Jacobs, who fell into an unguarded, algae-covered pool behind a neighboring empty house and drowned when he tried to retrieve a soccer ball. Christopher apparently had chased the ball into the yard, not realizing the bright green surface hid water.

Sad, sad story. What's even sadder is the comment left on Howie's post.

Tolouse Street Gets it Right

Mark Folse responds to a Reuters article on yahoo that shows that the memory of the masses is short lived.

Here's an excerpt from this article


Americans get lots of warning when a storm threatens, can use their own cars or public transit to escape on efficient, paved evacuation routes, have sturdy homes or tall buildings to protect them from a flood and plenty of food and medical care in the aftermath, said emergency management experts at a hurricane conference in Fort Lauderdale.

Like I said, people have short term memory problems, but those of us who experienced the immediate aftermath of Katrina - the DAYS it took for us to get any kind of help - know better than the so called "emergency management experts".

Another rebirth

FORT PIKE REOPENS

After nearly three years after the winds and storm surge from Hurricane Katrina
beat it up, Fort Pike is reopened to the public.



From the Baton Rouge Advocate
Fort Pike State Historic Site, on U.S. 90 just south of the Rigolets Bridge, is open to the public once again. It is the last property operated by the Louisiana Office of State Parks to be reopened after Hurricane Katrina caused massive damage in 2005.

One of Louisiana’s more fascinating historic sites, Fort Pike was begun in 1819 and completed in 1826. It was named for the explorer and soldier Gen. Zebulon Montgomery Pike whose name is attached to Pike’s Peak in the Rocky Mountains. Visitors to the site can quickly grasp the importance of this fort, which sits between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake St. Catherine and overlooks the Rigolets, the narrow passage that ships used to enter Pontchartrain from the Gulf of Mexico.

At the official reopening of the historic site, Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, whose offices oversees the Office of State Parks, talked about the fort’s importance in protecting the Port of New Orleans. He said the fort played an integral part in Louisiana’s military history.

Stand outside the fort’s thick walls. Take a look at the watery surroundings, and you quickly realize just how important the fort was to the protection of Louisiana. The fort, a brick and masonry structure, was designed to withstand attack from land or sea.

Although the United States survived the War of 1812, the British destruction of our nation’s capital and their attack on New Orleans emphasized the weakness of our country’s defense. To prevent a foreign invasion from occurring again, President James Monroe ordered the placement of an extensive coastal system. The new fortifications, along with the old ones, stretched along the entire Atlantic and Gulf Coasts.

Along with nearby forts Jackson and St. Philip, Fort Pike defended New Orleans from nautical assaults. During the Seminole Wars in the 1830s, Fort Pike served as a staging area for soldiers en route to Florida. It also was a collection point for hundreds of Seminole prisoners and their black slaves who were being transported to Oklahoma. During the Mexican War in the 1840s, the fort was a stopover for troops bound for Texas and Mexico. During the Civil War, the fort was held by Confederates until Union forces reoccupied the fort, using it for raids along the Gulf Coast. The Union also used Fort Pike as a training center, where former slaves were taught to use heavy artillery. These troops became part of the United States Colored Troops who played a role in many battles.

Not just for history buffs, Fort Pike offers a fantastic view of the Rigolets Pass.

Fort Pike was officially abandoned in 1890. In 1972 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fort Pike is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday through Monday (Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day). Entrance fee is $2 per person. Free for seniors age 62 and older and children age 12 and younger. Groups are asked to call in advance. For information, contact (888) 662-5703 or (504) 255-9171. Also send e-mail to fortpike@crt.state.la.us.

New Orleans East update

One of the hardest hit areas by Katrina, New Orleans East is very slowly coming back to life. It's evident from I-1O going into and out of New Orleans.

Building Better Communities, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the rebuilding of homes and lives in the devastated city of New Orleans, will host its grand opening in eastern New Orleans May 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 10555 Deer Park, Building 9, near Lake Forest Boulevard.


New Orleans East residents will once again have access to a community health clinic
Operation Blessing operated the clinic from April '06 thru December '07.


Operation Blessing, an international, faith-based group, had operated the clinic from April 3, 2006 through Dec. 21, 2007. The Charity Hospital system began operating the clinic April 28, said Dr. Cassandra Youmans, the system's medical director for outpatient clinics and services.
.

"We will be able to see all patients regardless of their ability to pay," she said. "Some will be sent bills based on ability to pay. Others will qualify for free care."

The clinic will be staffed with two full-time physicians, one nurse practitioner, one medical assistant, a certified wound-care specialist and one hospital admission technician.

The staff ought to be able to see more than 70 patients a day, Youmans said.

The clinic will provide preventive care, acute primary care, prenatal care and link patients to mental-health care, including counseling and affordable medications, she said.

Walk-ins will be accommodated, but the clinic prefers patients to make an appointment by calling 245-7951.

Operation Blessing is providing modular buildings for the clinic and the Greater St. Stephens Full Gospel Baptist Church is providing the land. The clinic is being financed by patient fees, federal grants and state money, Youmans said.

Levee Stories

From MSNBC dot com, May 2008
Army Corps says condition of levees unknown
Agency that oversees nation's levees lacks inventory of thousands of them.

The Army Corps of Engineers made a startling revelation in the light of recent storms in the US which have seen numerous people killed saying they have no inventory of the country's levees and no idea of their condition.

Recent wet weather in the US is creating concern within the Corp which oversees levees. A University of California at Berkeley levee expert said when an inventory is finally produced "I think we're not going to like what we find."

Last year, the National Levee Safety Act was passed in the US congress which so far has failed to provided funding for the inventory of levees the act promised and isn’t likely to do so until 2009.

Today, about 2,000 levees are either operated by the corps or by local entities in partnership with the corps, generally protecting major population areas such as St. Louis and New Orleans.

Thousands of others _ no one is sure how many _ are privately owned, operated and maintained. The majority of those are "farm" levees keeping water out of fields, but some protect populated areas, industries and businesses.

Here's a pdf list of "levees of maintenance concerns" compiled in February 2007. This list accompanied a blog post I did last May about the fact that substandard levees - the cause for New Orleans' flooding after Katrina - are not just located in the deep south.

Couldn't have said it better....

Michael Homan discusses the hypocracy of the Bush administration regarding their recent comments on the Myanmar and China disasters.

I couldn't've said it better. Thanks, Michael

Scuzzbuckets of the Week

Reggie and Kimberly Colliers of Haughton, Louisiana
HUD has charged them with housing discrimination.

The are former owners of
"Camp Joy Marina" in Haughton which is in north Louisiana. In September 2004, Reggie Collier observed an African-American woman and a white couple viewing a property for sale in the development. Believing the African-American sales agent to be the potential homebuyer, Collier allegedly called the office of the real estate firm listing the property and stated that he did not want "those kinds of people" moving into the development. In addition, Collier allegedly threatened to disconnect water and sewer service to the home if the firm sold the home to African-Americans.

The HUD charge now goes before an administrative law judge who may award damages to each complainant for actual loss as a result of the alleged discrimination, as well as damages for emotional distress, humiliation, and loss of civil rights. The judge may also order injunctive and other equitable relief to deter further discrimination. Additionally, the judge may impose a maximum civil penalty of $16,000 for each violation for the first offense, in addition to actual damages for each complainant and order payment of attorneys' fees. Sanctions can be more severe if a respondent has a history of housing discrimination.

We Can Feel & Understand Their Pain

Formerly known as Burma, the country of Myanmar is reeling from a Cyclone Nargis, which wielded maximum sustained winds around 130 mph with gusts ranging from 150-160 mph. This made it a strong Category 3 or minimal Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.

Many people were killed in a 12-foot tidal wave.

The cyclone pummeled Yangon for more than 10 hours from Friday night into Saturday, with 20 inches of rain. Reminiscent of claims immediately following Katrina, there are news reports of up to 40,000 killed.

Myanmar


Louisiana


Video from the scene showed residents in some areas hacking their way through downed trees and trudging through knee-deep, swirling brown water. Thousands of tropical trees had been ripped up and thrown down, some into roadways.

Myanmar


Louisiana


Myanmar


New Orleans


Even without the destruction from the cyclone, travel and communications can be difficult in the country because of its weak infrastructure, said David Mathieson, an expert on Myanmar with Human Rights Watch, a private organization.

In Yangon, he said, people usually get only five or six hours of electricity a day, and some remote areas have no access to electricity. “So the fact that electricity is down is not really that important,” he said.

While Myanmar's ruling military junta has been accused of not warning the public about the approaching cyclone, witnesses say state media did report the storm -- it just came too late.

Officials said they would open the doors of their closed and tightly controlled nation to international relief groups. So far, most foreigners and all foreign journalists have been barred from entering the country.


Witnesses and residents said the military had been slow to respond to the devastation of the cyclone, and some suggested that the government’s performance could affect the vote in an upcoming election for a new consititution.
Residents of the country, formerly known as Burma, said that they were being pressured to vote “yes” and that riot police officers had been patrolling the streets before the cyclone in a show of force that was more visible than their relief efforts afterward.

Here's a link for organizations accepting donations to help.

• International Committee of the Red Cross
• World Food Programme
• Save the Children
• World Vision
• UNICEF
• International Rescue Committee

Finally Home

Head on over to Tim's Nameless Blog and wish him congratulations for finally moving
into a place he and his family can call home.