I went down to the local church where about 40 people are staying. The one thing the staffers could think of that they needed right now is long-distance minutes.

I guess when you're not hungry or filthy or exposed, you want most to keep touch with your loved ones.

What a pretty story in dark days. Thank you, Mr. Farber.

Sean Kinsell reminds me to be kind.

This is from the comment thread from Brendan Loy's post below:

Brown is incompetant. And did cost lives. No chain of command exists. I worked the rescue boats on Wednesday. It was impossible to get large boats across the railroad between south of 610 and north of I10. We carried small boats across but if you put a boatman and two LE in a boat then you only have room for 4 or 5 refugees, if someone bails. We could have crossed large boats with the help of an excavauter or backhoe that drove along the tracks from the high ground westof Metarie. When I told this to the search and rescue team leaders on site they all thought that it was a good idea. They recommended that I tell Mike Brown. Are you kidding me? I am a 1SG in the USAR. If I have an idea on how to save lives in a combat situation I don't wait to talk to Donald Rumsfield. Government is not the solution. We had over 300 boats from Acadiana and 75% were turned around at the launch site. A local politician (state senator) organized the boat lift but when asked if he was in charge he denied it. Enough screw-ups to go around. If I hadn't been so anxiuos to get my boat in the water and had done a recon we may have accomplished more. When the pol backed away from leadership I dismissed him. I should have used him to get me in for a recon and then to meet with some official instead of tearing off to another launch site. Eventually I put twenty of our boats in the water with a SWAT team from OPSD. We crossed small boats over Orleans canal and Airboats over Bayou St. John.
Bullshark | 09.04.05 - 6:54 pm | #

Again, I'm not trying to be hateful or assess blame, but you've got a crew of 100 medical personnel who are told to watch CNN for information, and a guy in the field who's supposed to call Mike Brown.

For an emergency that has been expected for decades.

Lyman says, "Contractors are making up words down there. De-water Plaquemines?

"De water is what de boat goes in."

Gary Farber brings up the Meet the Press interview with another of Lyman's law school mates, Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish.

If you can make sense of FEMA's actions in the circumstances he mentions, let me know.

Just for the record, I also called the people in hotels in Dallas refugees.

One takes refuge from a storm.

But I won't use the word if it's a sensitive one.

I agree totally with this post by Brendan Loy.

Scott Chaffin has property in Glen Rose, just south of Dallas, with RV hook-ups. Here's his post:

Working on this:

Please consider donating, for long-term use, your idle RV or travel trailer. We are opening our park to our good neighbors from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama who have lost so much in Hurricane Katrina. We have RV hookups available for their use, but we don’t have RVs. Your donation can make all the difference in the world to people who are looking for a place to call home for a few weeks or months as they sort through the aftermath. It’s absolutlely crucial that we all work together to help out our friends and family. Please email (info@buckbrazos.com) or call (254-898-2825) if you’re able and willing to help out. We can help make arrangements for getting your RV or fifth-wheel to our place. Buck loves to drive.

Pass the word, please. I’m just one dude. Nationwide, too. I expect that there are more RV parks and campgrounds like mine that can take this kind of idea and run with it, just like we’re doing here.

Here's a good story from New Orleans.

Lyman's law school buddy that we contacted today, and whose family is safe in Baton Rouge, parked his boat in the lot of a shopping center in Chalmette and left the keys in it before the storm so it could be used.

He's heard that the shopping center is gone, and his boat has been sighted doing rescue work in the neighborhood.

As far as Lyman could see, there is only one station with gas in town. Drivers are coming from the east to buy here.

I welcomed this post from Sarah G., which reassures that the Audubon Zoo and the Aquarium are in good shape.

I still can't get through to the Johnsons in Covington. As I understand, there are something like 875,000 phones out in Louisiana.

So, if I have one image to keep from the past 30 years, it is the one of riding the Staten Island ferry in 1976 with a Dixieland jazz band on board.

Gasoline supplies are low in the area now.

Scott Chaffin can help.

More local news.

Sorry I was short with you the other day, hon. Gary Farber has lots of good links.

Phil is OK. This is good.

Mr. Hlatky is right.

Lucy moped and called my name the first evening I was gone to Dallas, I'm told.

More.