Hurricane Katrina

[Sister Golden Hair]

Here is more on Michael Brown

Embattled FEMA Director Mike Brown Resigns
By RON FOURNIER, AP


WASHINGTON (Sept. 12) - Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown said Monday he has resigned "in the best interest of the agency and best interest of the president," three days after losing his onsite command of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Brown, under fire for FEMA's performance in the Gulf Coast, said he feared he had become a distraction.

"The focus has got to be on FEMA, what the people are trying to do down there," Brown told The Associated Press.

His decision was not a surprise. Brown was abruptly recalled to Washington on Friday, a clear vote of no confidence from his superiors at the White House and the Homeland Security Department. Brown had been roundly criticized for FEMA's sluggish response to the hurricane, which has caused political problems for Bush and fellow Republicans. He also was accused of padding his resume, which Brown denied Friday.

The president ducked questions about Brown's resignation. "Maybe you know something I don't know. I've been working," the president said to reporters on an inspection tour of damage in Gulfport, Miss. Bush said he planned to talk with Brown's boss, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff, from Air Force One on the flight back to Washington.

"There will be plenty of time to figure out what went right and what went wrong," Bush said.

Polls show most Americans believe Bush could have done more to help Katrina's victims, though they also blame leaders of Louisiana and New Orleans. Bush's overall job approval rating is at the lowest point of his presidency.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi called Brown's departure long overdue.

"His resignation is the right thing for the country and for the people of the Gulf Coast states," she said in a statement.

Brown, who said he last talked to Bush five or six days ago, said the resignation was his idea. He spoke Saturday to White House chief of staff Andy Card, who did not request his departure, according to Brown.

"I'm turning in my resignation today," Brown said. "I think it's in the best interest of the agency and the best interest of the president to do that and get the media focused on the good things that are going on, instead of me."

Shortly after Brown was recalled to Washington last week, officials close to the FEMA director said he would probably resign. They said that even before Katrina, Brown had been planning on leaving the administration late this fall to go into the private sector.

Associated Press writers Jennifer Loven in Mississippi and Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington contributed to this report.


AP-ES-09-12-05 1542EDT


Copyright 2005 The Associated Press

[HOBBIT]

R. David Paulison will replace Brown.

[Insidious Rex]

Place this in the many hard to comprehend facts that we will see more and more of after this tragedy: The city of Baton Rouge doubled its population in a week. The city of Baton Rouge is not a small city to begin with. It is after all the Capital of Louisiana.

This begins to show just the colossal size of the impact from this storm that we are talking about. A million people pushed out of their homes in a matter of days. The largest sudden mass exodus since the great depression. How will the infrustructure and social services in the surrounding regions be able to adapt to this kind of exodus?

[Insidious Rex]

If this doesn’t pull at your heart strings you must be dead…

Strays Of Hope
For Pet Owners, Animal Shelters Offer Chance to Find Lost Friends

By Lynne Duke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 15, 2005

GONZALES, La. Suffer the pooches, and the other abandoned creatures of the storm.

They are listless, just lethargic. Or they are scared, if quivering is any measure. And the really noisy ones are barking ferociously, like the bodacious brown pit-bull-looking thing who fixes his gaze on a visitor and snarls so intensely one can imagine him warning, "Get me outta here, or else!"

Paula Atzenhoffer is examining them all, and holding a tissue to her nose -- not from the overpowering stench of these hundreds upon hundreds of pets, but because she's crying. She's come here to the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in search of her canine brood.

The last she saw of them was that awful Friday after Katrina. The police who came to rescue Atzenhoffer and her 13-year-old grandson Charles from the streets of New Orleans made them leave their beloved dogs behind: Scout the sheltie, Datsun the dachshund and the dean of this canine crew, a Boston terrier named Pepe Le Pew. Three pampered pets left to fend for themselves.

Atzenhoffer carries her doggy photo album to this emergency outdoor animal shelter. It will help her identify her dogs and prove ownership, should she find them as she walks from cage to cage amid the thick, hot air stirred by hundreds of portable fans. Of the three, Atzenhoffer's especially worried about Pepe.

"Pepe had surgery three months ago, kidney stones. And he has seizures," she explains delicately, wiping her eyes. "They're all such sweethearts. We dress them up for Halloween." In one photo they're each wearing a Santa hat. "These dogs are like our children."

This reality is playing out for hundreds of other pet owners each day at this Noah's ark of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, and on the streets of New Orleans and other towns along the Gulf, where pets are part of the ongoing evacuation even two weeks after the storm. And they are part of the trauma many people surely still suffer. Who can forget the little boy who cried so mightily that he threw up when rescuers wrenched from his arms his dog named Snowball?

"People were staying because they wouldn't leave their animals," says Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, which runs the Lamar-Dixon operation.

So, as rescue boats ply the rivery streets of New Orleans each day to find humans, so too do pet rescue boats search for marooned pets. Sometimes animals and their owners are found together. Sometimes the animals are found alone and sick from drinking fetid, contaminated street water.

They are brought here to Lamar-Dixon, in a small town between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. At its busiest, in the days after the storm, this facility held up to 2,000 dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and horses, along with pet mice, rats, frogs and pythons, even a boa stored inside a plastic bin wrapped with duct tape, lest the creature escape and eat some of the hamsters and ferrets nearby. A similar facility, at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, is housing more than a thousand pets. Rene Bafalis, spokeswoman for the national Humane Society, says roughly 60 percent of New Orleans residents were pet owners.

Hundreds more pets arrive at Lamar-Dixon each day, while similar numbers are dispatched to smaller shelters for longer-term care. The numbers have been so overwhelming that the Humane Society is trying to keep it to 1,300, to better offer proper interim care of ailments such as canine dysentery, infections, cuts, malnutrition and dehydration. With perhaps 50 percent of New Orleans still under water, the flood of pets is not expected to abate until the search-and-rescue operation is complete.

Instead of Noah, there are some 450 workers here: vets and staffers from the national and local Humane Society groups, as well as the U.S. Public Health Service and FEMA, along with volunteer vets and ordinary people. There have been about 200 reunions here since the center opened two days after Katrina struck, Pacelle says.

Each day hundreds of people -- old, young, singles, families, of all hues -- arrive with hope of good news. They register, write down descriptions of their pets, whether they were wearing an identification collar, perhaps even offer photos. Then they begin their search, coursing up and down the lanes of small kennels and large crates searching for their companions. They share anecdotes. They share horror stories, like the uncorroborated rumor that police in a nearby parish shot dogs on the streets.

Bafalis described one measure of how badly these animals want to be found. To gain entry to a house with a barking dog, rescuers pulled out an air conditioning unit and a dog came flying out, jumping into the arms of a rescuer.

Not all pet owners simply left their animals behind, she says. In some cases, "people had taken large bags of dog food and ripped them open before they left."

Hear the tale of the potbellied pig. Rescuers found it inside a home, in its own bedroom, says Bafalis:

"There were pig murals on the wall and family photos with the pig."

Peter Allnet, Atzenhoffer's son, tries to explain how it is that people become so attached to animals. "They have their own personalities," says Allnet, a Jaguar mechanic. "He knows the kids' names," Allnet says of Pepe, adding that the dogs are so close they have to be transported to the groomer in the same carrier, lest a righteous ruckus will break out. "They're like brothers," he says, shrugging.

But it is looking hopeless. Atzenhoffer, of Slidell, La., is forlorn. She and her grandson have walked from cage to cage for more than an hour, finding no Pepe, Scout or Datsun. It's depressing, and she's already depressed. She's been to counseling for the horrors she witnessed on the streets during the flood. She says Charles, her grandson, probably needs some help too. Her counselor says Charles "might be just pushing it all back," back to the back of his mind where it won't haunt him.

The day Katrina struck, she gathered Charles with the dogs at the hotel she manages. But flooding forced them out after three days. They ended up on a street corner. "Rats were running around," says Atzenhoffer, tossing away the memory with a shake of her head.

And a very ill man died right in front of them -- a man whose name they did not know but who had a dog named Rudy, a dachshund just like their Datsun. When the man died, Atzenhoffer decided to take care of his dog too. But they had to leave Rudy behind with their own dogs.

Suddenly, as Atzenhoffer is speaking, Charles comes racing with all his might, all red in the face and shouting, "Grandma! We found Pepe!"

They run to the end of the row, to a small kennel in a medical ward. Now Atzenhoffer's crying flat-out. She kisses Pepe through the cage, letting him lick her face.

"He's the old man. He's been with us a long time," says Allnet, who's choked up too. Charles is jockeying for a look, too happy to cry, though the news is not all good.

"He's going to need to go right back to a veterinary hospital, because he has some serious injuries," says Jodi Witte, a FEMA veterinary technician.

There are deep lacerations around the little terrier's neck. Later in the day, Atzenhoffer's private vet tells her that a large dog bit Pepe and apparently swung him from side to side, causing deep toothy gashes. And one of his eyes was scratched, which could lead to blindness.

But Pepe Le Pew will live. And Datsun, Scout and Rudy (as well as her daughter's missing dogs, Buddy and Brinkley) may yet be found, Atzenhoffer hopes.

"Well, I'll just have to make another trip tomorrow till we find everybody. They're not just animals. They're my babies," she says, carrying Pepe toward the parking lot in a white towel, like swaddling clothes.

Another family is arriving -- two adults, three small kids. They look tense, stressed. Atzenhoffer holds up her prize, her Pepe, and calls out to them: "There's hope!"

I don’t think I could give up my pet if I had been in that disaster. I think I would rather stay and risk death with them. So I can just imagine how thousands of people feel who have been separated from pets because of this hurricane…

[Lotesse]

Hi, you guys. I don't feel like debating here, but I just thought you all might like to know that Bush is gonna give a really important speech from Jackson Square, in a few minutes. You can access it if you go to your local NPR supported radio station, I would think. Oh - He's on now, gotta go...

[Lotesse]

Well, that was a beautiful speech. Wonder who his speechwriter is?

[Lotesse]

Originally Posted by Insidious Rex

I don’t think I could give up my pet if I had been in that disaster. I think I would rather stay and risk death with them. So I can just imagine how thousands of people feel who have been separated from pets because of this hurricane…

Not to mention all the animals in that Aquarium who died of neglect, poor little babies!!!! But 17 penguins and a sawfish survived, oh, that little penguin was SO heart-tugging. I even dreamed about that sad, traumatised, obviously depressed little penguin, and I was crying in my sleep. That penguin represented to me all the beauty, the delicate and innocent natural beauty that seems to be disappearing off the face of the earth lately, disappearing forever, like we're entering a terrible dark age from which the world will emerge forever changed, with sweet natural beauty marred or extinct because of our hasty human-ness (keeping them caged up in aquariums in the first place, for instance) and stuff like that.

[Lief Erikson]

Originally Posted by Lotesse

Well, that was a beautiful speech.

Yes, it was. I still feel rather concerned about the cost of rebuilding New Orleans, but the fact that the American people have donated 100 billion dollars to Clinton and Bush Sr.'s relief effort is definitely positive news. Also all the things he said about the relief workers! The efforts of the American people in the face of this tragedy definitely are wonderful, and I'm glad the president didn't use the speech to attempt to cast the blame somewhere. Instead, he simply pointed to how enormous the natural disaster was, and I think that was good.

Originally Posted by Lotesse

Not to mention all the animals in that Aquarium who died of neglect, poor little babies!!!! But 17 penguins and a sawfish survived, oh, that little penguin was SO heart-tugging. I even dreamed about that sad, traumatised, obviously depressed little penguin, and I was crying in my sleep. That penguin represented to me all the beauty, the delicate and innocent natural beauty that seems to be disappearing off the face of the earth lately, disappearing forever, like we're entering a terrible dark age from which the world will emerge forever changed, with sweet natural beauty marred or extinct because of our hasty human-ness (keeping them caged up in aquariums in the first place, for instance) and stuff like that.

I learned today about a pod of dolphins that were broken free from their cage and ended up in the river. Animal trainers are trying to catch them now. Two have been caught and placed in a nearby hotel swimming pool (doubtless salted), until they can be moved to another location. I'm very glad that the dolphins didn't all end up in the street somewhere, but rather wound up in the river. They are malnourished, but at least the rest of them have a chance of being rescued.

[Lotesse]

Oh, I hope the dolphins will be O.K.! Thanx 4 telling me about them, Lief; now I can keep track of their progress online. Now I gotta tear myself away from entmoot and get dressed; I'm going to a friend's art opening tonight in downtown L.A. somewhere at some posh gallery. Meh. That means no beanie, no blue jeans, no hoodie, plus now I gotta wear makeup. Ah, well, at least there's art involved, that's the important thing.

If Bush actually means all the things he said in that speech, what a wonderful world it could be. Hmm.

[Insidious Rex]

Katrina kills most fish in New Orleans aquarium

Survivors being prepared to move, association reports

(CNN) -- Hurricane Katrina killed most of the fish in the New Orleans Aquarium of the Americas, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association Web site reported.

The animals were killed when the facility lost power and the staff had to evacuate.

A small staff is tending to the surviving animals and preparing to move them out of the facility, which is at the foot of Canal Street along the Mississippi River.

The Aquarium of the Americas was considered one of the foremost aquariums in the world, the conservation Web site Mongabay.com said.

"It had 10,000 fish representing more than 530 species and featured four enormous exhibits -- Mississippi River gallery featuring catfish, paddlefish and alligators; the Caribbean Reef exhibit featuring a clear, 30-foot-long tunnel surrounded by aquatic creatures; the Amazon Rainforest display featuring piranhas and tropical birds; and the Gulf of Mexico exhibit featuring sharks, sea turtles and stingrays -- in addition to a number of smaller displays."

Some animals survived the loss of power, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association Web site reported.

"The sea otters, penguins, leafy and weedy sea dragons, birds (macaws and raptors), and the white alligator are fine," the association said on its Web site

"Midas, the infamous 250-pound sea turtle, survived and has been coaxed into the holding area in the Gulf of Mexico Exhibit," the association said.

Air pumps are key for an aquarium, according to Mongabay.com.

"Aquatic plants, animals, and waste-converting bacteria all depend on oxygen dissolved in water for respiration."

Zoos weather storm better
Meanwhile, New Orleans' other animal centers fared better, with only a pair of river otters reported dead at the Audubon Zoo and a whooping crane lost at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species.

"From what I understand, we didn't take any water," zoo spokeswoman Sarah Burnette told CNN on Sunday. Most of the damage to the zoo -- which houses about 1,200 animals in natural habitats -- appeared to be limited to uprooted trees and plants, she said.

A crocodile from the research center was missing, said Rhett A. Butler, a conservationist and founder of the Web site mongabay.com.

The Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species is several miles from the zoo on New Orleans' West Bank.

The American Association of Zoo Keepers said Sunday that other zoos in the Gulf Coast area fared well too, though the threat was not over.

"We are thankful that most of the reports we have received about the zoos and aquariums in the area are hopeful," the association said on its Web site. "It is still too early to assess the full impact and the danger is not over yet for some areas. Flooding continues to be a problem and is actually increasing in the worst-hit areas."

Burnette said the zoo took pointers from the Miami zoo after deadly Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992, then the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

"We have worked closely with Miami MetroZoo ever since Hurricane Andrew, and we totally revised our hurricane plan after talking to them. We have a protocol we go through whenever we know something's brewing," she said.

In anticipation of Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans zoo stockpiled fuel, food and other supplies, Burnette said. When it hit last Monday, the staff fled to the sturdy reptile building and raided the cafeteria for food. Some staff remained at the zoo, she said.

"We did plan well, but I think we also were really fortunate to be on the natural bank of the Mississippi River," Burnette said. The land is on higher ground than other parts of New Orleans, which is several feet below sea level. In the center of the zoo is a 28-foot, man-made "mountain" that was built decades ago when lagoons were dug, she said.

Meanwhile, the 211-member American Zoo and Aquarium Association began a fund-raising initiative, headed by the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, to provide relief.

The association posted on its Web site what it knew about the status of zoos in the hurricane's path:


New Orleans (Audubon Zoo), Louisiana: Audubon Nature Institute executive staff continue to assess the impact of Hurricane Katrina on all Audubon facilities. Audubon staff are working round the clock on recovery efforts.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Zoo: Power is back on at the zoo. There are lots of trees down, but no animal losses. Cleanup efforts are under way.

Alexandria, Louisiana, Zoo: No animal loss.

Jackson, Mississippi, Zoo: The zoo suffered slight building damage and has about 35 trees down. No injuries to staff or animals.

Birmingham, Alabama, Zoo: The zoo was without power for a day, but power is restored. Trees down, but no animal losses.

Montgomery, Alabama, Zoo: The zoo has resumed operations. There are trees down, but no animal losses.

Thats so sad. Ive been in that aquarium twice. Its an incredible place. I cant imagine all those countless creatures perishing because of loss of power to such an enormous place. At least a few survived. I hope to god they rebuild there. The New Orleans aquarium was one of the best in the country...

[Rían]

thanks for the animal updates, IRex.

I couldn't even read the pet one, though
*goes off to hug her dog*

[Tree Dweller]

We are maybe looking into adopting a pet from there.....because our cat ran away. He's been gone 11 days now.

[Nurvingiel]

I know the hurricane was a while ago, but I just read this article.

I'm really shocked. I had no idea. I hope, if there ever is another large-scale disaster, that the response is much more timely and humane than this and other articles and news stories have suggested.

[Butterbeer]

what, like the response to the pakistan earthquake?

the shocking difference was a first world country, that had advance warning and had it's various organisational infrastructure chiefs all wandering around thirstily in the brewery, like so many little lost bo-peeps, trying to organise a piss-up ....

they got it just ever so slightly wrong and ended up instead of organising a piss-up with an alimighty cock-up ...