I can't believe you have bought into the weather conspiracy. A man of science like you. Next you'll be telling me you believe in "The Sun".

Hope everyone's OK down your way Maitri!

i have been definitely impressed by the efficiency and lack of chaos surrounding the evacuation...
all i can think of is what if something like this happened in Asia. A) no one would tell anyone its coming, b) any evacuation would be total mayhem c) all poor folks would be left behind to suffer and of course, to clean up.

Hey, got a note from a friend who works for the City of New Orleans, she said that as they were making last minute preps, backing-up hard-drives, etc., she looked across the street and saw that in the middle of all those people waiting to get into the Superdome, there was a group of about twenty-thirty men in work-clothes carrying small cloth bags, about half of them South Asian, and then, down the street, a clot of South Asian women. She said (or rather, guessed) they're undocumented workers from Trinidad, Guiana and Mexico, which is hardly unusual as there are lots of people without papers in New Orleans. However, she noted that in the half-mile line it was fairly obvious they were migrants or "illegals" and didn't doubt that after the hurricane they'd be picked from the sea of African-American and white-American faces and sent packing...

Anyhow, not really news save for the fact that she works for the Housing Authority and said that it's pretty rare to see undocumented workers coming out for something like this because "usually they stack-up and hide and then when it's over we find them stacked-up and dead." Not the best way to put it, but I guess it's true.

I was in Georgia when the last hurricane hit Florida, and it was interesting to see the hurricane "refugees" flood into all of the hotels in Georgia. Many people just packed up a suitcase and treated it like an extended vacation.

Guessing this must be "good" news (in a dark way) for all the Patel motel and hotel operators that are between Houston and Louisiana.

Thanks for the shout-out, Abhi, even if it's not under the best of circumstances.

We are VERY scared. This hurricane can level our city and flood it for weeks.

"25% of the U.S.'s refinery capacity" can end up in our drinking water supply along with the sewage. The environmental ramifications are just half the trouble.

Dont forget to take your clothes off the washing line Maitri!

Wishing good luck and godspeed to you and your fellow New Orleansians(?), Maitri.

I too worry about what will happen when all those oil refineries get put in a giant blender.

Heard on the news that New Orleans is in a depression (in the geographical sense) and the levees have protected it from hurricanes so far. But these levees were not designed for level 5 hurricanes. The city is not going to be the same after this.

Kumar pontificated

all i can think of is what if something like this happened in Asia. A) no one would tell anyone its coming, b) any evacuation would be total mayhem c) all poor folks would be left behind to suffer and of course, to clean up.

PB skipped the chholey and went for the nuts

Dont forget to take your clothes off the washing line Maitri!

- Varun

a result of technology being controlled by the Brahmins from the II*'s.

As there are thousands of people at the Superdome, maybe they could show this for entertainment.

Dhavaak: I did not mean any disrespect - particular to the underclasses of Asia. In fact, I was just frustrated that power and wealth continue to play time and time again huge factors in the disbursement of information and resources during natural disasters. I think we should be cognizant of this, that is all...

Hi Maitri, keep safe. Hope that things return to normal for you very soon.

Maitri please take care of yourself, and please go. l,r

Again, mutineers, thanks for the great wishes. Took the clothes off the washing line and hung them up in the closet - unfrotunately, the closet may very well be floating down a major New Orleans street right now. Katrina perk - new wardrobe. I'm just hypothesizing, I don't know anything about the situation on my block other than 8" of standing water.

The most frustrating aspect of this event is that I am slated to be in the midwest starting Wednesday and for all of the Labor Day weekend. This means that I will not be able to return to NO until the night of 9/5, by which time major cleanup may already be underway. You say this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do not want to be away when my city needs me the most. Unfortunately, my trip is unavoidable. TEH SUCK, as the kids say.

Oh lord, the uncertainty is mind-boggling. I feel so bored and worthless over here in Houston. I'd be hot, wet, scared, bored and worthless in New Orleans ... you get the point.

As there are thousands of people at the Superdome, maybe they could show this for entertainment.

The peanut gallery at Evacuation Central here suggest "Mad Max At The Thunderdome" and "Rollerball." Even better, we thought of getting a Tina Turner look-alike and a midget to go in there and rile everyone up.

hello all,
i hope everyone is ok. i don't know if this is appropriate but i didn't see another entry where i could post this link, but i think its really important. http://www.flickr.com/photos/firewall/38725768/
take a look, just curious on you're comments
-Neeti

Neeti, not sure what to make of the photos, as the copy is written by two different agencies and their juxtaposition seems intentional on the part of Yahoo (or, Flickr), as though hoping to be evocative and cultivate controversy in a time of crisis... I think it wouldn't hurt for more than a few people to send them a note about the context and conversation they're generating.

I am Ken D. Webber, artist and writer, with a "HOW" article that makes it easy for anyone to now see the "Signs." For immediate release. Stop the traitors now!

http://www.kendwebber.com/coffeeart9.html