WombatNation

My officemate pointed me to an article titled “What if Hurricane Ivan Had Not Missed New Orleans?” by Shirley Laska from the Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology at the University of New Orleans. The paper describes much of what has now happened in New Orleans, and what is likely to happen there in the coming days. If hazardous chemicals leak into the extreme flooding now occurring in the city, the toxic stew is likely to cause extremely long term damage to the soil and every surface it touches. Hopefully, most of the trains with chemical tankers made it out before the hurricane hit.

A commenter on one of my other posts pointed out that a PDF version of the newest issue of the Mississippi Press can be downloaded from gulflive.com. There are a lot of sad photos and stories in it. It looks like Ocean Springs got hit really bad.

Most of the dozen or so casinos on the Mississippi Coast will be shut down for months to years, if not permanently. They employ about 14,000 people. Many of these people will likely have also lost their homes. At least the Chairman of Harrah’s has committed to paying all their employees for at least 90 days. The barges that floated across the beach and the highway will likely need to be cut up into scrap metal.