Friday, February 03, 2006
Facinating New Orleans Stats
A friend forwarded this to me from New Orleans Health & Human Services:
There were 891 emergency/acute care patients treated in area emergency rooms with 330 new admissions. There is currently a 60 minute off-load time except at Turo Hospital, there is currently not a wait.
There are 51 adult, 32 pediatric, and 8 psychiatric beds available in the area.
Tulane Hospital is still scheduled to open on 14 Feb 06. They will have 63 fully staffed beds, 13 emergency room beds and 39 med-surg beds.
EMS
The responded to 58 calls in the last 24 hours with 36 transports. 66% of calls were medical and 31% were trauma related.
SWBD
Crews continue to inspect water mains.
They are still repairing and constructing emergency disconnects.
Crews repaired the leak at Louisiana and Claiborne, it was caused by Wednesday nights storm.
They have found no leaks on the St. Charles parade route.
They are still waiting on an EMAC response.
DEBRIS MANAGEMENT
442 crews worked in the last 24 hours.
They collected 23,000 cubic yards of woody waste material. The total is 6.2 million cubic yards of woody waste collected to date. That is 42% complete not including demolition.
In the last 24 hours 2000 white goods for a total of 413,000 collected to date.
To date, 1.1 million containers of household hazardous containers have been collected.
The Army Corps of Engineers has been tasked to collect waste tires.
CRIMINAL SHERIFF
In the last 24 hours there were 74 arrests made. 19 arrests were for traffic violations, 16 were drug related, 8 were for public drunkenness, 6 for immigration violations, 2 for aggravated assaults, 2 for domestic violence, and 34 arrests were made this morning. They spoke with the medical staff and they will handle the medical check-ups for persons in custody before being taken to jail. Deputies are accompanying inmates to medical treatments in Baton Rouge and Homer, and this is putting a strain on their numbers.
There were 891 emergency/acute care patients treated in area emergency rooms with 330 new admissions. There is currently a 60 minute off-load time except at Turo Hospital, there is currently not a wait.
There are 51 adult, 32 pediatric, and 8 psychiatric beds available in the area.
Tulane Hospital is still scheduled to open on 14 Feb 06. They will have 63 fully staffed beds, 13 emergency room beds and 39 med-surg beds.
EMS
The responded to 58 calls in the last 24 hours with 36 transports. 66% of calls were medical and 31% were trauma related.
SWBD
Crews continue to inspect water mains.
They are still repairing and constructing emergency disconnects.
Crews repaired the leak at Louisiana and Claiborne, it was caused by Wednesday nights storm.
They have found no leaks on the St. Charles parade route.
They are still waiting on an EMAC response.
DEBRIS MANAGEMENT
442 crews worked in the last 24 hours.
They collected 23,000 cubic yards of woody waste material. The total is 6.2 million cubic yards of woody waste collected to date. That is 42% complete not including demolition.
In the last 24 hours 2000 white goods for a total of 413,000 collected to date.
To date, 1.1 million containers of household hazardous containers have been collected.
The Army Corps of Engineers has been tasked to collect waste tires.
CRIMINAL SHERIFF
In the last 24 hours there were 74 arrests made. 19 arrests were for traffic violations, 16 were drug related, 8 were for public drunkenness, 6 for immigration violations, 2 for aggravated assaults, 2 for domestic violence, and 34 arrests were made this morning. They spoke with the medical staff and they will handle the medical check-ups for persons in custody before being taken to jail. Deputies are accompanying inmates to medical treatments in Baton Rouge and Homer, and this is putting a strain on their numbers.
Surprising news of the day
Chertoff is pissed about the Government Accountability Office's report on Katrina response. I guess if I was doing a bad job, and somebody released a report telling the world the very same thing, I'd probably be pretty upset about it too. My favorite quotes are below. Full story here
''Jeez, it would have been interesting if they had bothered to talk to me about the decisions I made before they criticized them,''
''I'm not going to psychoanalyze the people who wrote the report. Sometimes, people want to jump to conclusions before they gather the facts. . . . That's kind of backwards.''
''I was very unhappy at the lack of situational awareness I had a couple days after Katrina. . . . I never want to be in a position again where I don't have real eyes on the ground that tell me what is going on in no uncertain terms, as opposed to waiting to get reports coming through the media or inconsistencies from the field,''
''Jeez, it would have been interesting if they had bothered to talk to me about the decisions I made before they criticized them,''
''I'm not going to psychoanalyze the people who wrote the report. Sometimes, people want to jump to conclusions before they gather the facts. . . . That's kind of backwards.''
''I was very unhappy at the lack of situational awareness I had a couple days after Katrina. . . . I never want to be in a position again where I don't have real eyes on the ground that tell me what is going on in no uncertain terms, as opposed to waiting to get reports coming through the media or inconsistencies from the field,''
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Big storm last night
There was quite a line of severe weather last night that blew through between 2-4am. I got us out of bed and into the interior hallway about 2:30 and we were there until 3 as there was a tornado warning from avondale, through our neighborhood, and then into Lake Catherine (which I still need to figure out where that is). The heavy winds passed, and I don't believe we had a twister in our area. I can't say that for other parts of town, including Kenner and Lakeview.
In Kenner, the hole that Katrina ripped open over Concourse C is re-opened, and other damage was suffered including one jetway being ripped off of a concourse and thrown into another jetway. No planes on the ground were damaged. A few FEMA trailers in a staging site were overturned, but there are no reports of occupied trailers having problems. They are strapped down with big metal straps, and while they got rocked around, no reports of occupied trailers being knocked down. Two blocks of Williams Blvd are closed near the interstate due to downed power lines, and other damage including many lights out around Kenner. There are many downed trees, power lines, toppled cars and 18-wheelers. A building collapsed, but search and rescue teams found that it was unoccupied.
In Lakeview, there appears to have been a twister or waterspout that came on land that came through already destroyed Lakeview, and knocked a communications tower from the police troop building (right next to the driver's license bureau at West End & Veterans) is knocked onto Veterans Blvd. Many more people in FEMA trailers were living in this neighborhood, but have seemed to weather the storm ok. There is lots of debris in the streets again, and the Army Corps of Engineers is already back in the neighborhoods clearing the streets again.
The above comes from listening to WWL 870 on my way into work, and right now streaming. Go to wwl.com, and join their club you can stream online and they'll have reports throughout the day.
On the way in to work, there was the usual crap on the street, but on my walk from parking to my building, there was a significantly noticeable increase in glass and debris on the street. It looks like the building next to mine lost some of the new glass that had recently been put in.
Our place seems to have come through just fine. There were a few pieces of shingles in our yard this morning, but they look like they are from another house, since they are not the slate tiles from our roof. Our roof patch also appears to have held, as we had no water in our bedroom last night. It was quite the scary light, wind, and rain show last night. I used to love those, growing up, even before the hurricane. I do think the aftermath of the storm has changed that in me, as even afternoon thunderstorms have scared me in recent months. This one last night was absolutely petrifying. My heart was racing, and I was not in a good place about this storm. Thankfully my wife was thinking more clearly, and was able to get some candles going after the power went out, and to generally get me settled down. Just another casualty of Katrina I suppose.
In Kenner, the hole that Katrina ripped open over Concourse C is re-opened, and other damage was suffered including one jetway being ripped off of a concourse and thrown into another jetway. No planes on the ground were damaged. A few FEMA trailers in a staging site were overturned, but there are no reports of occupied trailers having problems. They are strapped down with big metal straps, and while they got rocked around, no reports of occupied trailers being knocked down. Two blocks of Williams Blvd are closed near the interstate due to downed power lines, and other damage including many lights out around Kenner. There are many downed trees, power lines, toppled cars and 18-wheelers. A building collapsed, but search and rescue teams found that it was unoccupied.
In Lakeview, there appears to have been a twister or waterspout that came on land that came through already destroyed Lakeview, and knocked a communications tower from the police troop building (right next to the driver's license bureau at West End & Veterans) is knocked onto Veterans Blvd. Many more people in FEMA trailers were living in this neighborhood, but have seemed to weather the storm ok. There is lots of debris in the streets again, and the Army Corps of Engineers is already back in the neighborhoods clearing the streets again.
The above comes from listening to WWL 870 on my way into work, and right now streaming. Go to wwl.com, and join their club you can stream online and they'll have reports throughout the day.
On the way in to work, there was the usual crap on the street, but on my walk from parking to my building, there was a significantly noticeable increase in glass and debris on the street. It looks like the building next to mine lost some of the new glass that had recently been put in.
Our place seems to have come through just fine. There were a few pieces of shingles in our yard this morning, but they look like they are from another house, since they are not the slate tiles from our roof. Our roof patch also appears to have held, as we had no water in our bedroom last night. It was quite the scary light, wind, and rain show last night. I used to love those, growing up, even before the hurricane. I do think the aftermath of the storm has changed that in me, as even afternoon thunderstorms have scared me in recent months. This one last night was absolutely petrifying. My heart was racing, and I was not in a good place about this storm. Thankfully my wife was thinking more clearly, and was able to get some candles going after the power went out, and to generally get me settled down. Just another casualty of Katrina I suppose.
Knockoffs for Katrina Victims
I wonder if this is going to affect some of the retailers around town in white vans?
Speaking at a fashion industry summit on counterfeiting sponsored by Harper's Bazaar, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday that the city had persuaded a few designers to allow the knockoffs to be distributed to hurricane victims rather than be destroyed.
More here
Speaking at a fashion industry summit on counterfeiting sponsored by Harper's Bazaar, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Wednesday that the city had persuaded a few designers to allow the knockoffs to be distributed to hurricane victims rather than be destroyed.
More here
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
What did you expect from the SOTU?
I ask this question in a serious, not my usual sarcastic, tone. What did you expect from the State of the Union speech about Louisiana? I know I hoped for more, but I didn't expect more. Here's the Louisiana section in case you didn't want to read the whole thing:
a hopeful society comes to the aid of fellow citizens in times of suffering and emergency -- and stays at it until they are back on their feet.
So far the federal government has committed $85 billion to the people of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. We are removing debris, repairing highways, and building stronger levees. We are providing business loans and housing assistance.
Yet as we meet these immediate needs, we must also address deeper challenges that existed before the storm arrived. In New Orleans and in other places, many of our fellow citizens have felt excluded from the promise of our country.
The answer is not only temporary relief, but schools that teach every child and job skills that bring upward mobility and more opportunities to own a home and start a business.
As we recover from a disaster, let us also work for the day when all Americans are protected by justice, equal in hope, and rich in opportunity.
Transcript of State of the Union address here
Transcript of Democrats' response here
a hopeful society comes to the aid of fellow citizens in times of suffering and emergency -- and stays at it until they are back on their feet.
So far the federal government has committed $85 billion to the people of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. We are removing debris, repairing highways, and building stronger levees. We are providing business loans and housing assistance.
Yet as we meet these immediate needs, we must also address deeper challenges that existed before the storm arrived. In New Orleans and in other places, many of our fellow citizens have felt excluded from the promise of our country.
The answer is not only temporary relief, but schools that teach every child and job skills that bring upward mobility and more opportunities to own a home and start a business.
As we recover from a disaster, let us also work for the day when all Americans are protected by justice, equal in hope, and rich in opportunity.
Transcript of State of the Union address here
Transcript of Democrats' response here
Interesting tidbit from new congressional report
The Government Accountability Office, the investigatory arm of Congress, in a preliminary report to be released Wednesday faulted Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and his designee, former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown, for not filling a crucial "leadership role during Hurricane Katrina."
That void "serves to underscore the immaturity of and weaknesses relating to the current national response framework," according to a copy of the report obtained Tuesday evening by Knight Ridder.
More here
That void "serves to underscore the immaturity of and weaknesses relating to the current national response framework," according to a copy of the report obtained Tuesday evening by Knight Ridder.
More here
Monday, January 30, 2006
Sounds like a good idea, but.....
I don't know how offering them a "36-hour, all-expenses-paid trips to New Orleans" is going to be such a good idea in the aftermath of the Abramoff scandal. This passage is quite telling, though:
"It was a storm that was felt around the world," Milling said. "Yet, who would dream that 87 percent of the House of Representatives and 70 percent of the Senate haven't found time to visit the site of the largest catastrophe in the history of America?"
Read more here
"It was a storm that was felt around the world," Milling said. "Yet, who would dream that 87 percent of the House of Representatives and 70 percent of the Senate haven't found time to visit the site of the largest catastrophe in the history of America?"
Read more here
FEMA ignored, misused offers of aid in Katrina aftermath
Hundreds of federal search-and-rescue workers and large numbers of boats, aircraft and bulldozers were offered to FEMA in the hours immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit, but the aid proposals were either ignored or not effectively used, newly released documents show.
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Acting in the "immediate aftermath" of the hurricane, Interior officials provided FEMA with a comprehensive list of assets that were "immediately available for humanitarian and emergency assistance," according to the memo, dated Nov. 7, 2005. Those assets included more than 300 boats, 11 aircraft, 119 pieces of heavy equipment, 300 dump trucks and other vehicles for clearing debris, as well as Interior-owned campgrounds and other land that could be used as staging areas or emergency shelters.
More at the Washington Post
-------------------------------------------------------
Acting in the "immediate aftermath" of the hurricane, Interior officials provided FEMA with a comprehensive list of assets that were "immediately available for humanitarian and emergency assistance," according to the memo, dated Nov. 7, 2005. Those assets included more than 300 boats, 11 aircraft, 119 pieces of heavy equipment, 300 dump trucks and other vehicles for clearing debris, as well as Interior-owned campgrounds and other land that could be used as staging areas or emergency shelters.
More at the Washington Post
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Cindy upgraded to hurricane
All this really does is make the hurricane season this year a little bit crazier, and it also makes the first hurricane that my wife ever stayed in New Orleans for.
Full story here
Full story here
Quick Hits - Birthday Weekend Edition
Sorry, the news just piled up this weekend, while we cleaned our house and hosted some folks for the first time in a long time. On a trivial front, I'm more and more happy with the Saint's new coach, who has a great profile in the T-P today. I'm less and less happy with Coach Scott of the Hornets, and while I understand his motives, his comments are sure undermining ticket sales and support of the few games the Hornets will play here this year.
Two FEMA workers arrested on fraud, bribery charges
MSNBC: Post-Katrina promises largely unfulfilled. Federal recovery effort makes halting progress on the Gulf Coast
One of many articles about the Bush administration obstructing the Katrina investigation
Time magazine article regarding the resurgence of New Orleans gangs in Houston
Katrina may make filing taxes more difficult, lucrative
Interesting (short) article about some evacuees in SC still living in hotels even though they have leases for apartments
Two FEMA workers arrested on fraud, bribery charges
MSNBC: Post-Katrina promises largely unfulfilled. Federal recovery effort makes halting progress on the Gulf Coast
One of many articles about the Bush administration obstructing the Katrina investigation
Time magazine article regarding the resurgence of New Orleans gangs in Houston
Katrina may make filing taxes more difficult, lucrative
Interesting (short) article about some evacuees in SC still living in hotels even though they have leases for apartments
