What this site needs is more cowbell
It appears that there is still a portion of the western Mississippi Gulf Coast that hasn’t updated to post-katrina (and, no, I still don’t capitalize that word) images on Google Maps. The area where the old blends with the new shows an amazing contrast of just what destruction a hurricane can do.
It seems that there is a big buzz around the blogosphere and internet news sites concerning Google Maps’ return to pre-katrina satellite views for the New Orleans area.
First of all, it could be that I’m just on a renegade Google data center, but I haven’t seen the post-katrina views for over a year now. Big honking deal.
Second, since when did it become Google’s responsibility to provide close-up views of all the devastation that most would rather forget? Go back through this blog and you will see that I’ve had my own criticisms of Google and I’ll surely have more in the future. However, I’ve got Google’s back on this. It’s a free service to you, the viewer. Unless you’re a stockholder, I’m sure Google could care less about your conspiracy theory (whatever that theory may be.) Want/need post-katrina satellite views? Go to the NOAA site. From what I’ve seen, it has better images anyway.
(update – 4/2) Looks like Google has updated again – to post-post-katrina images. Not the flooding images from immediately afterwards, but blue-roof and FEMA trailer shots after the water had receded. Google didn’t give in to the feds before, I have to wonder if they are doing so now.
And I see that the Ray Nagin Memorial Motor Pool is still going strong.
Now you see it, now you don’t. Looks like Google Maps had a challenge blending post-katrina and pre-katrina shots.
Hope the incoming traffic stops in time…
I have an old friend in Dallas, who likes to call now and then to plan a visit. In 2004, she had her plans ready and then hurricane ivan got here first. In 2005, she again had her plans made and then hurricane katrina blocked her path. And now, I got a call from her last week to tell me she was planning to come to town for the Labor Day weekend. The only problem is that it now looks like Ernesto just may beat her here.
Sylvia, if you’re reading this: NEVER TELL ME YOUR PLANS AGAIN! JUST SHOW UP OR MAKE IT HERE IN THE WINTER OR SPRING!
Count on the oil platforms shutting down soon. Do you have your gas tank filled?
Has anyone blamed Bush yet? May as well get that out of the way.
Will Landrieu actually punch Bush this time?
Will Nagin get off HIS ass this time?
Will the Ray Nagin Memorial Motor Pool be put to good use this time?
Will the City of New Orleans actually follow its own Office of Emergency Preparedness Mission Statement this time?:
The Office of Emergency Preparedness is responsible for the response and coordination of those actions needed to protect the lives and property of its citizens from natural or man-made disasters as well as emergency planning for the City of New Orleans.
Our primary responsibility is to advise the Mayor, the City Council and Chief Administrative Officer regarding emergency preparedness activities and operations. We coordinate all city departments and allied state and federal agencies which respond to city-wide disasters and emergencies through the development and constant updating of an integrated multi-hazard plan.
Have there been any actual lessons learned?
UPDATE: Looks like its coming my way now. That’s okay, I’ll make that sacrifice to keep it away from NOLA, the Mississippi coast and, most importantly, the oil rigs.
Hurricane Katrina turned FEMA into a “symbol of a bumbling bureaucracy” so far beyond repair that it should be scrapped, senators said Thursday.
Actually, I could’ve saved them a lot of time and money wasted on congressional committees by making this one recommendation: Don’t reside on land that is beneath sea level!
Ever gone to the theatre and watched a film so powerful that your grip on the armrest left your fingerprints and embedded such a strong image in your mind that hours later you couldn’t stop thinking about it? If so, you’ll understand my state of mind after I took a trip over to Biloxi/Gulfport to see what Katrina left in her wake. You’ve seen it in the newspaper, you’ve seen it on the internet and you’ve seen it on the television, but you could never understand the extent of this event until you’ve seen it in person. Just last summer, I was in the area and was awed by the beauty and serenity of the beachfront and the Victorian and plantation-style homes. Now, the drive from Biloxi to where the road is closed (before reaching Long Beach?) is like taking a tour of Hiroshima in the late 40s.
I was able to shake free of the trance to take a few pictures, but like I said, seeing it here is nothing compared to being there in person. So, why aren’t there any pictures other than some landscape-type shots? Well, although there may not be much more than foundations left to many of the homes, I felt it to almost be a violation of a resident’s privacy to display a picture of what used to be their living room, bedroom, etc. Time permitting, I would like to return for an extended visit. It is somewhat awkward though. I do feel guilty of “gawking/rubber-necking”, but it seems that New Orleans has received most of the spotlight here and the Mississippi gulf coast has gone mostly forgotten. I do admire the residents for their resolution and strong chin.
…and I only *thought* I was shellshocked when Ivan hit here (Pensacola.)
Oddity: I noticed that many of the Hwy 90 road signs were upside down. Then it hit me: This is the residents’ way of saying “06 will be a better year”.
BTW, the buffet at the Palace is still kick-butt.
Josef Goebbels would have been happy with much of the mainstream media in the past few weeks since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Goebbels, for those of you too young to know, was Hitler’s propaganda minister. He is credited with creating the concept of The Big Lie. The idea was that if you tell a lie big enough often enough, people will believe it.
First Ivan, then Dennis, then Katrina. This is what my backyard looks like.
OTOH, perhaps there’s a market here for filming a "Blair Witch" type movie.
