Hurricane Isaac

First, wishing well to the folks being directly connected. What I see from a long ways off:

Not at all a stong hurricane at landfall, but big and slow. Such are massive rain dumpers. Reconstructed levees holding well except Placquiemines (sp?) Parish. Some strom surge coming in over wider areas.

800,000 people w/o power. New Orleans has perhaps the largest 'sump pump' system in the world and it's still running.

Emergency shelters functional but a problem transporting people to them? Anyone can provide further details on all this?

There were some confident statments from local/state govt beforehand about being stormproof. One is inclined to forgive all that and get on with the cleaning up. But more fundamentally, we may have to set aside that a below-sea-level, subsiding coastal city in high hurricane probability zone can be made stormproof. Those discussions from 7 years ago may reconvene.

I really expect FEMA to jump on this in a big way.

 

From a CNN story:

To assist the Red Cross in its efforts, you can donate by visiting the website, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or texting "REDCROSS" to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

If you or a loved one are in one of the affected areas, you can also let people know you are safe by registering on the Red Cross' Safe and Well page.