Update from NOVAC: Independent Filmmakers Respond to Katrina

Tim Ryan of NOVAC (New Orleans Video Access Center) shares exciting updates on filmmaking activity in post-Katrina New Orleans. Get the scoop and get involved!

from Media Rights

After floods, fires threaten New Orleans' heritage

Nine months after Hurricane Katrina's wind and floods laid waste to huge sections of New Orleans, a third element -- fire -- is slowly taking a toll on the city's historic architecture. A rash of fires and a fire department short on equipment and manpower, are hampering rebuilding and leaving gaping holes in some of the three-century-old city's neighborhoods.

from Reuters

Is U.S. Ready for Hurricane Season?

U.S. disaster-preparedness officials declared themselves ready yesterday for the June 1 onset of hurricane season, amid mounting anxiety in Gulf Coast states hit by last year's devastating storms that recovery efforts and repairs to the nation's emergency response system remain incomplete.

from the Washington Post

New Orleans Preps for the Storm Next Time

Though it was fictitious, "Hurricane Alicia" offered state and federal officials gathered here on Tuesday an opportunity to test new plans for evacuating and sheltering thousands of people fleeing a major Gulf storm. Officials hope the blueprint, which was put into practice in a statewide drill, will eliminate at least some of the bedlam that the region endured during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year, which killed more than 1,200 Louisiana residents.

from the NY Times


The scene was hauntingly familiar: A hurricane barreling through the Gulf of Mexico, gathering strength, its eye trained on New Orleans. Anxious politicians urging citizens to evacuate. Assurances that federal help was on the way. But this time it was only a drill -- the first of a two-day dress rehearsal, dubbed "Hurricane Alicia," for state and local authorities gearing up for the first post-Katrina hurricane season. Even before the exercise got under way Tuesday morning, however, Gov. Kathleen Blanco pronounced the state's preparations a success.

from the Times Picayune

Katrina, Katrina: Love Letters to New Orleans

Pearsonwidrig Dancetheater's love song for a waterlogged city is both heart-wrenching and wryly comic, offering a gratefully non-reportorial look at the recent tragedy that befell New Orleans. "Katrina, Katrina: Love Letters to New Orleans" serves both as a paean to a lost world and a testament to survival, with its finely tuned choreographic moments, projected photographs and video of the destruction, a selection of savory jazz, blues and -- most telling -- personal accounts from 12 Tulane University dance students.

from the Washington Post

Levees Ready? New Orleans Braces for Hurricane Season

In neighborhoods near the levees that are supposed to protect New Orleans residents, there's little confidence this city won't flood again during the next hurricane.

from ABC News

Levees ailing before Katrina hit, report finds

New Orleans' levee system was routinely underfunded and therefore inadequate to protect against hurricanes, according to an independent report released Monday.

from CNN

More Deaths Attributed To Katrina

With the 2006 hurricane season just days away, Louisiana state health authorities report the death toll from last year's Hurricane Katrina has jumped by 281 more people. The rise occurs after authorities updated their count of people who died

from All Headline News

Battle for Biloxi

I first heard the words "disastrous opportunity" from a man named Gavin Smith. In the weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Smith worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (he now heads the Mississippi Office of Recovery and Renewal), and the phrase, though it seems like an oxymoron, is apparently not uncommon in emergency-management circles. "On the one hand," Smith explained, "you've got catastrophic loss. You're almost starting from scratch again; the housing stock is just gone. To some degree, you can step back and say, 'This is a chance to rebuild better than it was."'

from the NY Times

Katrina report blames human errors

Hurricane Katrina wouldn't have breached the region's hurricane protection system had it been properly financed, designed, built and maintained, say a group of forensic scientists who are calling for strict new federal levee safety standards and an end to "dysfunctional" local government interference they say also hampers flood protection.

from the Times Picayune

Six Major Hurricanes May Form in Atlantic This Year

As many as six major hurricanes will form in the Atlantic Ocean, U.S. forecasters said today, predicting another intense season on the heels of the most destructive and one of the deadliest seasons ever.

from Bloomberg

New Orleans still vulnerable to flooding, study claims

Flaws still remain in the flood defences of New Orleans leaving the city vulnerable to severe storms a month before the hurricane season starts, an independent study will announce today.

from Times Online

Levees faulted by scientists on design, construction in New Orleans

Most of the major breaches in the New Orleans levee system during Hurricane Katrina were caused by flaws in design, construction and maintenance, according to an independent report to be published today. Parts of the system could still be dangerous even after the current round of repairs, it said.

from The New York Times via STLtoday.com

NOAA To Announce Outlook For Hurricane Season

The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration is making its predictions for the 2006 Atlantic Hurricane season today at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

from NBC6.net

New Orleans' aquarium reflects tourism's woes

For almost nine months, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas has been closed to the public after Hurricane Katrina swept through this storm-tossed city in August.

from USA today

Northeast Ripe, Not Ready for Hurricane

The Northeastern US should prepare for hurricanes? Why? First, the Atlantic Ocean cycles through periods of high and low hurricane activity every few decades. And right now that cycle is near its peak. On top of that, surface water temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean have been extraordinarily high for more than a year now. Hurricanes rev themselves up with heat from the ocean; the higher the water temperature, the more power the storm can generate.

from the Washington Post

U.S. promises faster hurricane response this season

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security promises a faster, more organized response to hurricane disasters this season.

from The Daily Advertiser

NASA: Cloud altitudes give hurricane clues

NASA scientists say they have discovered that cloud tops in a hurricane offer clues about the behavior of winds on the Earth`s surface.

from UPI via M&C Science & Nature

Tropical Depression: Hurricane Linked to Long-Term Mental Distress

Florida State University sociologists in Tallahassee have found that some South Floridians who survived 1992's Hurricane Andrew suffered mental health problems many years later, a finding that has led the researchers to predict even more dire consequences for those who lived through last year's devastating Hurricane Katrina.

from Florida State University via Insurancejournal.com

Researchers Assess Risks Associated With Living In Low-lying Coastal Areas

A recently published study by researchers from The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the International Institute for Environment and Development suggests that as much as 10 percent of the world's population is vulnerable. In particular, the authors have found that many large cities face risks posed by rising sea level and increased storm intensity.
"Urban areas have traditionally been studied in a way that separates them from their physical surroundings," says Deborah Balk, a demographer with the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), a member of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. "We talk about urban issues as if they occur in a spatial vacuum, but you can't address these questions without understanding the spatial dimensions."

read more

Wants Easier to Sate Than Needs

In post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans it's easier to get a massage and
pedicure than a gallon of milk or a hammer. There are more places selling antique
armoires than there are repairing auto transmissions. These are among the findings of an ongoing survey of post-storm business reopenings being done by Tulane University researcher Richard Campanella.

from the Times Picayune

download Campanella's report

Survey Finds Alarming Lack Of Hurricane Knowledge

Even though the southern United States has been through two devastating hurricane seasons, a regional survey shows that a high percentage of residents still aren't prepared.

from Local10.com

Katrina: Coast faces multiple difficulties

Mississippi Gulf Coast cities, however difficult to comply, must require building codes matching elevation levels set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Otherwise, they risk disaster again.

from The Clarion Ledger

Corps of Engineers New England District Provides Web Information on Flood Control

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District has information on its website that may be of use to those seeking more details on the flood situation in New England.

from The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England

Replay feared if big storm hits

The repair of levees and floodwalls broken or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina is on track, but the system still won't be high enough to prevent flooding by a similar storm this year, a senior Army Corps of Engineers official said Monday.

from The Times Picayune

Fire ants down but not out after flood

Entomologists believe that Hurricane Katrina provided them with a golden opportunity to knock out, or at least squash, the fire ant population in New Orleans.
from The Times Picayune

State hurricane plan unveiled

Gov. Kathleen Blanco today unveiled the state’s hurricane plan, which keeps in place the contraflow system used by 1.3 million people during Hurricane Katrina last August. As with last year, the state’s plan calls for evacuating metropolitan New Orleans ahead of a Category 3 or stronger hurricane.

from the Times Picayune

City's fate sealed in hours

Timeline maps course of post-Katrina deluge:

from the Times Picayune

A Flash animation explaining the course and timing of flooding:

from the Times Picayune

Hurricane Katrina Graphics

A collection of graphics assembled by the Times Picayune spanning the timeline from August 29, 2005 to May 9, 2006:

from the Times Picayune

Canal gates, pumps won't be ready by June 1

Floodgates to block tidal surges out of the weakened 17th St. and London Avenue canals - and auxiliary pumps to help prevent inland flooding when the gates are closed - won't be ready as promised when the hurricane season opens June 1, Army Corps of Engineers officials confirmed late Thursday.

from the Times Picayune

Alcohol, drug use up, poll says

Hurricane Katrina has sparked an increase in drug and alcohol use in the New Orleans area, and many local treatment facilities are struggling to find the staff to handle the surge, according to a survey released Wednesday. About 1 in 7 people responding say they are drinking more alcohol to cope with the emotional stress created by the storm, while 1 in 9 say they are using more prescription drugs, according to an annual survey released by the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (CADA) for the Greater New Orleans Area. About 1 in 11 respondents said they knew of a family member using more illegal narcotics.

from the Times Picayune

Hurricane alters graduates' paths

After returning from a semester away, a situation forced upon them by hurricane Katrina, many of Tulane's graduating students have a new perspective on their future, and how they fit into our society,

from the LA Times

Housing grants now need action in Congress

The Louisiana Recovery Authority's proposed grant program for the owners of storm-damaged homes won final approval Wednesday from the state Senate, paving the way for the federal government to begin considering the state's plan to rebuild 123,000 houses ruined during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

from the Times Picayune

Landfill to close for testing

Mayor Ray Nagin agreed Wednesday to close a controversial construction and demolition landfill in eastern New Orleans for 72 business hours to give environmental and community groups a chance to test the debris that has been dumped there and determine whether it poses hazards to nearby residents as well as to the adjacent Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge.

from the Times Picayune

New Master Planners Being Sought in New Orleans

Now there is another major player vying to get involved in planning the city's renovation. The Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF), a local public charity, will soon oversee a Request For Qualifications seeking planners for many of the city’s neighborhoods. The Foundation’s recently established Rebuild New Orleans Fund, along with a $3.5 million grant it was awarded in late April by the Rockefeller Foundation, will help pay for the effort.

from Architectural Record

Katrina-ravaged sites on endangered list

The historic neighborhoods and landmarks of New Orleans and the Mississippi Coast wrecked by Hurricane Katrina are on this year's list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.

from USA Today

from the Times Picayune

New York warned to prepare for hurricanes

A hurricane with only moderate intensity could wreak havoc in New York City because it has been years since the nation's financial center faced severe weather, government forecasters warn.

from Reuters

Quake could break levees

Even a moderate earthquake could cause California's aging levee system to collapse, flooding 400,000 homes and sending brine into the drinking water of homes across Northern California.

from San Jose Mercury News

Hurricanes linked with mental ills

Scientists say they discovered some South Floridians who survived 1992's Hurricane Andrew suffered mental health problems many years later. That has led to a prediction of even more dire consequences for those who lived through last year's Hurricane Katrina that ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast.

from UPI

Rebuilding levee wall may have unintended effect

When the Army Corps of Engineers finishes rebuilding the east wall of the industrial canal, it will be significantly higher than the west wall. Work on the west wall, if funded, will begin in September. This leaves the west side of the canal serious risk of flooding should another large hurricane come the city's way early in the season.

more from the Times Picayune

Hotels will be empty in storms

Reversing the decades-long tradition of "vertical evacuation," local hotels will no longer let guests and employees ride out hurricanes in their towers, the Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association says.

read more

LRA releases information

The Louisiana Recovery Authority has released some materials for homeowners. Hopefully this will bring some clarity which will allow people to move forward.

download overview

download worksheet

Just lucky

During Katrina, the 17th Street Canal floodwall protecting Jefferson Parish was about to collapse . . . but the one protecting Orleans Parish failed first.

more from the Times Picayune

Architectural Remnants at Risk

Irreplaceable cypress boards, and antique architectural pieces like mantels, doors, and finials, are going to landfills when they might be used to repair other homes.

read more

Study Reconciles Data in Measuring Climate Change

A government study released yesterday undermines one of the key arguments of climate change skeptics, concluding there is no statistically significant conflict between measures of global warming on the earth's surface and in the atmosphere.

more from the Washington Post

New Orleans Looks to River for Salvation

The riverfront is some of the highest ground in flood-prone New Orleans, though development has been limited in recent decades because shipping was more lucrative than housing, shopping or tourism.

from the AP via Forbes

Aging Levee Threatens South Florida

With hurricane season approaching, Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday urged an immediate federal response to a new report warning that the dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee is in extreme danger of failing and devastating South Florida's environment, economy and quality of life

from the LA Times

London Ave. failures similar to 17th Street's

The forces that caused two breaches in the London Avenue Canal floodwall, submerging much of Gentilly during Hurricane Katrina, were similar to those that brought down the 17th Street Canal floodwall, the team investigating the failures for the Army Corps of Engineers said in a report released Tuesday.

more from the Times Picayune

Nagin lays out evacuation plan

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Tuesday he plans to order a mandatory evacuation for most hurricanes with Category 2 strength -- a storm with winds exceeding 96 mph -- or stronger this year, and that the Superdome will no longer be available as a refuge of last resort.

more from the Times Picayune

Category 3 pledges ring hollow

Statements by the Army Corps of Engineers that the New Orleans area was protected against the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane were "at best a rough estimate and at worst simply inaccurate," according to a Senate committee's final report on Hurricane Katrina released Tuesday.

more from the Times Picayune

download the full report

International ideas for rebuilding

Over 40 architectural designs chosen from international competitions are on display at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.
The competitions called for designs to be used in rebuilding New Orleans.

read more

ASCE panel on levees

The final report on why the New Orleans area levees failed during Hurricane Katrina should address why the system was built without adequately assessing the risk of a catastrophic hurricane hitting the city, an American Society of Civil Engineers panel said Monday.

article from the Times Picayune

the letter from the ASCE

Neighborhood demographics

A Brown University study which examined voter turnout in the April 22nd election suggests that demographic changes by neighborhood could impact the distribution of political clout in the city.

more from the Times Picayune

Levee plans did not account for subsidence

The Army Corps built the levees based on old data that did not account for the area's subsidence, and what's more, engineers knew about the problem, according to this article from the Times Picayune.

read more

Day laborers in New Orleans

In the midst of a national discussion about immigrant labor, New Orleans is an important case study. An influx of foreign laborers since the hurricane brings up all the related topics of race relations, labor rights, and immigration policy. This article from the Los Angeles Times discusses the situation in New Orleans.

read more