Hurricane Gustav - Get Outta Dodge!

Hurricanes are ranked 1 to 5 in intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A Category 4 has winds of 131 to 155 mph and can cause extreme damage. Hurricane Gustav rumbled through Cuba as a Category 4. Gustav has now set its sights on the Gulf Coast of the United States, with hauniting Katrina-like sights on the New Orleans area.

CNN.com reports that a hurricane watch was issued Saturday afternoon for southeastern Texas to the Alabama-Florida border as Hurricane Gustav's sustained winds reached 150 mph on its expected path to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The watch means hurricane conditions are possible within about 36 hours. It was announced Saturday as thousands were in the process of fleeing parts of Mississippi and Louisiana, three years after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina ravaged the area.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is quoted as saying, ""We could see tidal surges of as much as 15 to 20 feet. We could see flooding even worse than what we saw in Hurricane Katrina."

More than a dozen parishes in Louisiana have declared states of emergency, and St. Bernard Parish began a mandatory evacuation Saturday afternoon, with authorities calling it "a matter of survival." The evacuation began at 4 p.m. in the parish, which sits just east of New Orleans and was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, still recovering from Katrina, anxiety was high Saturday as residents fled, leaving behind a virtual ghost town of boarded-up homes and empty streets. "I am strongly, strongly encouraging everyone in this city to evacuate," Mayor Ray Nagin said Saturday. "Start the process now."

At the Union Passenger Terminal in downtown New Orleans, people began arriving as early as 5:30 a.m., forming a line that snaked behind the main Amtrak terminal. Armed patrols and Humvees circled the crowds of people, many who waited as long as 2 hours, enduring the heat and relentless sun, unsure of their destination.

New Orleans officials had designated 17 sites for people without transportation to board buses to take them to the terminal, where they will be moved to shelters outside New Orleans. However, scores of residents went directly to the terminal, carrying one bag, as the city had instructed. The snafu prompted confusion, as did a glitch in the computer system that was being used to register people.

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The Republican National Convention begins this week in St. Paul, Minnesota. Officials with the McCain campaign and the Republican National convention are considering changing the event's agenda as Hurricane Gustav bears down on the Gulf Coast.

Sen. John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, plans to meet with officials in charge of the party's convention planning in Minneapolis-St. Paul on Sunday to review the latest news on Hurricane Gustav and what their options might be and then consult with the presumptive presidential nominee to determine what changes may need to be made.

McCain had suggested to a Fox News interviewer that the convention could be suspended if it seemed that a festive gathering was inappropriate in light of the destruction the storm may bring.

Republican Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Charlie Crist of Florida, Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Rick Perry of Texas -- whose states that lie in the path of Gustav, named a Category 4 hurricane Saturday afternoon -- will skip the GOP convention because of the storm.

The storm has forced last-minute changes in the convention's announced schedule: If the convention -- originally scheduled to start Monday -- commences by Tuesday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's speech will probably move to that night from Wednesday.

Read CNN.com articles about Hurricane Gustav here and here and here.

Read New York Times article about Hurricane Gustav here.


plez sez: in light of what happened three years ago in new orleans, a force evacuation of the city is in order. especially, in those areas that were hardest hit by katrina, the governor should mobilize the national guard to clear the city out! it would be a public relations nightmare, with the republican national convention going on up the mississippi river from new orleans, to have a repeat of what occurred when the bush administration dropped the ball after katrina.

if i was governor of louisiana, i'd have the national guard going door-to-door requiring folk to pack a bag, registering them on a database, and requiring them to leave the city. for those who do not have transportation (or were handicapped or elderly), load them on anything with wheels that is leaving the city.

as bad as it seems, hurricane gustav presents a bold opportunity for the party of george w. bush to redeem itself during the week of their convention. they could cancel the party altogether and move en masse to the gulf coast and assist in the cleanup effort, or they could shorten the convention and handle only essential business (in stark contrast to last week's weeklong coronation of Barack Obama in denver).

last, and definitely, not least... if you are a resident of the gulf coast, you shouldn't be sitting at home and reading plezWorld, you should be getting the HELL outta Dodge!

BLOG UPDATE (08/30/2008 10:30 PM EST): The AJC reports that New Orleans has ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city... read the article here.

Hurricane Katrina - Foul Winds Still Blowing

Almost three years later and the foul winds of Hurricane Katrina continue to blow ashore.

CNN reports, the agency that regulates Mississippi's casinos got pillows, stoves, dinnerware and other items meant for Hurricane Katrina victims. The Mississippi Gaming Commission was among 11 state agencies that received the household items from the state's surplus agency. A breakdown of what each agency received shows the commission took a coffee maker, a case of pillows, wash kits, two dual-burner stoves, plates and utensils, two cases of hand sanitizers and 20 five-gallon containers.

A CNN investigation revealed in June that for two years after Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency stored 121 truckloads of household items that were purchased or donated for Katrina victims. FEMA eventually declared the items surplus, saying it was too expensive to keep warehousing them, and then offered them to federal agencies and states. Sixteen states, including storm-ravaged Mississippi, took the items. However, CNN discovered that those items were given to the 11 state agencies, schools, cities and fire departments rather than being distributed to residents trying to rebuild their homes.

Read the entire CNN story about the misdirected aid for Hurricane Katrina victims here.


plez sez: One Hundred Twenty-One. 121. CXXI.

no matter how you write it, 121 truckloads of household items were purchased and donated for people who were trying to rebuild their lives after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. All of these items have now been disbursed to agencies who have no interest in helping those who need these items. with a conservative estimate of $10,000 per truckload, more than $1.2 million worth of household goods have been misappropriated.

this is maddening!

who oversaw this misuse and betrayal of the public trust? who is going to want to contribute and donate items for disaster relief when the window for corruption and misuse is wide open?

i have a good friend who grew up in New Orleans. his mother lost EVERYTHING in her home due to Hurricane Katrina. she moved to texas to live with his sister. alittle over a year after the hurricane, my friend's mother passed away... the loss of her way of life was just too devastating. when i hear that there were means to assist the people of the gulf coast to rebuild their lives and those items were just given away with little regard for their intended use, it makes me very angry.

to my way of thinking, the agencies who received these items are in receipt of stolen goods. they should return their ill gotten gains to FEMA, who should in return take the necessary steps to begin to make this right. even though it is three years later, it is not too late to help a family attempt to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

Barack, Tavis, and the Covenant

This weekend, a number of Black luminaries and celebrities came to New Orleans to participate in Tavis Smiley's 9th State of the Black Union (SOTBU). The convention (along with its companion book - "Covenant with Black America") is the brainchild (and brain trust) of talk show host Tavis Smiley. The SOTBU was held this year in New Orleans to highlight the plight of the still beleaguered city some 3 years after Hurricane Katrina.

As in past years, it is an opportunity for so-called Black leaders to convene and talk about the plight of the Black community and hopefully propose some solid solutions for the Black community. To date, I'm not sure if its proponents have anything tangible to hang their hats on other than sales of "The Covenant."

About 2 years ago, I wrote a post about "The Covenant" and what few results could be expected from it. Fast forward to the present, and the same issues that Tavis and friends blathered about 2 years ago are the same issues afflicting the Black community. This year would probably be no different, but this year we have the presumptive first female presidential candidate (Hillary Clinton) and the presumptive first Black presidential candidate (Barack Obama) running for the Democratic nomination. Both were invited to this weekend's festivities, only Clinton accepted the invitation; Obama couldn't break away from his campaign schedule in Ohio to attend.

I first heard about this a few weeks ago, when it was reported that Barack Obama had offered his wife's attendance in his place, only to be rebuffed by Smiley: he wanted Barack or nothing!

February 13, 2008

Mr. Tavis Smiley
President and CEO
The Smiley Group
3870 Crenshaw Boulevard
Suite 391
Los Angeles, CA 90008

Dear Tavis,

Thank you for the invitation to participate in the 2008 State of the Black Union forum in New Orleans, Louisiana February 21-23. The exchange of ideas raised at this annual symposium are invaluable as our nation strives to address the critical issues facing not just African Americans, but Americans of every race, background and political party.

I especially commend you for hosting this dialogue in New Orleans. On the eve of the Louisiana primary, I visited this great city for the fifth time since declaring my candidacy to share policy proposals for rebuilding the Gulf Coast so that we never experience another Hurricane Katrina. On February 9, I was deeply humbled to win the Louisiana primary with 86 percent of the African American vote and a 14 point lead among all voters who said they were adversely affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Uniting our country and creating a national constituency for fundamental change is why I am running for President of the United States. We have come a long way in this race, but we still have a long road ahead. In the final stretch, I will be on the campaign trail everyday in states like Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin talking directly with voters about the causes that are at the heart of my campaign and the State of the Black Union forum such as affordable healthcare, housing, economic opportunity, civil rights and foreign policy. I am committed to touching every voter, and working to earn their vote.

That is why with regret, I am not able to attend the forum. I understand that you have declined the campaign’s request to have Michelle Obama speak on my behalf. I ask that you reconsider. Michelle is a powerful voice for the type of real change America is hungry for. No one knows my record or my passion for leading America in a new direction more than Michelle Obama.

Tavis, this is our movement and our time. I look forward to working closely with you throughout this election. Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

Read the entire CNN article about the State of the Black Union here.


plez sez: this is real close to a WTF moment for plezWorld! real close...

what is tavis smiley's issue with Barack Obama? is tavis pissed off that Obama has been so successful with his run for the democratic nomination without the support of the old guard black establishment? is he pissed off that Obama is "trying not to run" as the Black candidate? is he pissed off because this State of the Black Union couldn't land the most popular Black person in America for its little bitch session? or is he just pissed off because hillary clinton has lost a month's worth of contests to Obama?

The State of the Black Union is a waste of time (it is nice of C-SPAN to provide coverage of it, though). The Covenant with Black America is a waste of paper. And his attendance to such an affair would have had a serious impact on Obama's chances to win the crucial contests that come up in Ohio and Texas in alittle over a week. why doesn't tavis smiley understand that the democratic nomination nor the winner of the upcoming presidential election will not come through him nor his sham of a convention... he doesn't pull that much weight. and all this little escapade has done is damage smiley's reputation in the Black community (he has complained of hate mail and harassment of his family). by trying to throw his little weight around, he done nothing but further diminish the status of a shrinking SOTBU with its group of re-tread panelists.

by the way, i watched the very end of SOTBU with Morehouse College's president claiming that his school was the only place in the country to find 500 Black male college graduates (if that is the case, then the state of our union is pretty grim) and a comical looking Dick Gregory. the coup de grace of the evening was to be a speech by hillary clinton followed by her fielding underhand softball questions from tavis... the audience (and i) was unmoved by her uninspired performance. the smart move would've been to let Michelle Obama speak or failing that, just end the worthless convention with the panel discussion.

after today, it is my hope that tavis smiley will see how irrelevant he has become.