We have a reporter at the scene

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The reason that blogs are so relevant is that you ALWAYS have a woman (or man) on the scene.  In this instance SM reader and frequent commenter, Maitri is at what is soon to be ground zero for potentially the worst hurricane to hit the U.S. in decades (although hopefully she is fleeing as I write this).  Some believe that the entire city of New Orleans may be destroyed on Monday.  Now personally, I don’t usually believe in weather.  I don’t even check the weather in the morning before I leave my apartment.  I will break-up with a girl if I catch her watching the Weather Channel.  I have long believed that “weather” is a hoax pushed on us by the umbrella and sun-block lobbies.  This one looks like it may be the real deal though.  Maitri breaks it down for us:

Update 3: A gloomy prognosis still. Even Bob Breck isn’t feeling the hurricane mojo, and that bodes badly for staying in a 130-year-old house. New Orleanians, board your homes and leave. August 27 21:02

Update 4: Up surveying all animated predictions of our impending local weather pattern. Landfall anon, i.e. tomorrow PM. Dinner in the Quarter last night (tomato, lettuce and Diet Coke with Shiraz chasers – anything the gastrointestinal tract can keep down) saw veteran residents discuss seriously the act, not just the thought, of getting out of here. Then again, there are the brave ones staying such as Mac and KFrye, who plans to “stand out on my balconey and shake my fists at the storm.” Good plan – is the webcam all set up? Time for push-ups before hauling stuff to car; hey, the CPUs have got to go. August 28 6:57

Because of what seems to have been excellent planning, the state of Louisiana sent out the evacuation notice in plenty of time.  Really, it seems to have been superbly handled and this will hopefully prevent loss of life.  Get ready for shocking oil prices though.  25% of the U.S.’s refinery capacity is in the center of that green and red blob.  Also, I’m sure we will get to see congressman Bobby Jindal in action around his state.  

17 thoughts on “We have a reporter at the scene”

  1. 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!

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

    A little frustrated about this. The statement is a generalization. The Indian system is not perfect but it has been able to warn fishermen of impending storms for several years now. Evacuation will not be as organized as in the US because it will be centrally controlled with little grassroots participation – a result of technology being controlled by the Brahmins from the II*’s. And your last line is just galling. You are either totally detached from the “poor people” – those masses with whom you share absolutely nothing and you only sympathize with from behind a tinted window – OR – you are one of those “poor people” who is so spineless and limp-wristed that you accept everything as the will of God.

    PB skipped the chholey and went for the nuts

    Dont forget to take your clothes off the washing line Maitri!
    • Varun
  9. a result of technology being controlled by the Brahmins from the II*’s.

    My reference to Brahmins above was not in regard to the Brahmin varna – but to the elitist “I’m better than you” temperament I see coming from the brand name educaitonal institutions. This is off-topic and was uncalled for. Apologies if I was disrespectful of your heritage.

  11. 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…

  14. 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.

  16. 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.