It looks like the convoy has finally arrived to help those desparate souls, and order is slowly being resotred to the city. Thank God.
Meanwhile, it appears thatconvoys all over the country are racing to the scene to bring more long-term relief:
Clayton is east bound on I-20. He just called and is an eyewitness to a part of history.
Headed west at high speed were hundreds and hundreds of power trucks, trucks carrying power lines, lumber trucks, water trucks, amphibious vehicles, retail trucks, military vehicles, and on and on and on.
Most, he said, were private businesses in the convoy line, from power companies to hardware stores to retailers. But, mixed in were military vehicles as well.
That scene is being repeated to the west of the Gulf Coast with convoys headed east and to the north with convoys headed south and to the south with ships sailing north at high speed.
And convoys like this are being spotted everywhere:
Just to reinforce the post from Elizabeth King in Central Mississippi: As I drove back to Northeast Georgia from Richmond, Virginia this past Tuesday afternoon, August 30th, I was absolutely amazed by the almost-non-stop line of power company convoys heading south on I-85. Not just the shear numbers (I must have passed over 100 trucks), but their origins – I saw power companies from Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. It was truly an awesome, emotional sight…
Please remember to do your part.
Miller
Where is Rudy Giuliani? How about Rudy replacing the totally incompetent Michael Brown as FEMA Director. Thursday, Brown said that day was “the first of many long days”. Maybe it should have been the 6th or 7th of many long days.
John S.
Yes, thank G-d. It only took them 5 days to pull it off.
I shudder to think how the response would have been to a disaster that they would have no warning about.
Accountability is a dirty word
Imagine if al Qaeda had a few truck bombs near the 17th street canal when the city was full! The government has made no strides to protect its citizens in the 4 long years since 9/11.
BinkyBoy
Come in Rubber Duck, we’ve got our selfs a convoy
over it
Now, I may be alone in this….but….this footage that is running now showing Bush strolling through the devastation with his arms draped over the shoulders of 2 of the displaced…does not instill hope in me. It just plain pisses me off. So contrived. Smile for the cameras.
Absafuckinlutely disgusts me.
However, the sight of all those vehicles FINALLY bringing much needed supplies DOES instill a sense of hope. I hope they get there before too many more die.
John Cole
You are on this. The press conference ‘briefing’ was stupid, but wtf did they expect Bush to do after demanding he come to the theatre?
Krista
Seeing those trucks…man, finally..something that instills a bit of hope.
over it
Perhaps, instead of strolling through what we(and he) already know is an absolute train wreck….while hugging the few people who cleared security checks and promised that they voted for him, he could be shown helping load supplies or some other action that actually is worth a damn.
As far ‘expecting Bush to do after demanding he come to the theatre’….I am not in the boat that wanted him to show up for the photo op. He needs to be wherever it is that he can actually get things done. As far as I can tell that probably means in D.C.. He should not be swayed….led about by the nose….by what the ‘press’ wants him to do. He should do what he(as the LEADER of our Country) thinks needs to be done. I do not believe that his little tour needed to be done. I believe it was done in the hopes that he would save a little face. Frankly, I could not care any less about him saving face. I am far more concerned with him saving lives. No lives are being saved by him playing tourist to the devastation.
So…the press conference was stupid. The tour of the devastation was stupid. The fact that he did both because ‘they’ expected him to is the most stupid all.
What’s done is done though. Hopefully he will now get back to be a leader rather than a tourist.
BinkyBoy
over it: ummm, this may be the obvious question to all these damn lefties on this blog but:
“when was he ever a leader in the first place”?
KC
It’s nice to see some good news though.
Krista
I think that Bush wouldn’t enrage me so much if he wasn’t actually grinning while talking about the fact that this is the worst storm in the nation’s history.
over it
You see….here is the deal. I am not a lefty. If anything, I am ambidextrous.
I do not think that Bush has been the best President…but I do not think that he has been the worst either. He actions/reactions over the past week, however, have pushed me closer the ‘left’ veiw of things than the ‘right’. I do not think that I am the only one.
Bush is not to blame for this storm. He is not to blame for the levees breaking. At least, he should not recieve sole blame for this disaster. I think that the blame should be spread far and wide and over many decades. He is, however, the one who is supposed to be in charge now…and I am not feeling overly confident in my leader. This is in stark contrast to how he made me feel after 9-11.
Once again, I may be alone in my feelings on this….but…they are my feelings.
jobiuspublius
Imagine if the Mexican navy sailed in N.O. and saved the stranded. What if Chavez sent some ships too. Maybe, a Coallition of the Willing Bananna Republics?
jobiuspublius
Now we know what they’ve been upto all this time, Disaster Profiteering.
Joe Albanese
I second that. And as I was just feeling a bit better I clicked onto Drudge and read this:
lets just hope he is wrong like they were right after the twin towers were hit.
jobiuspublius
Remember $10BN is just the down payment.
jobiuspublius
Do we finally get to see what ruthless looks like? I hope not. Setting aside my sarcasm, whew, relief begins.
Tim F
These people will have to be coordinated effectively, or else we’ll have a disaster compounded by a thousand trucks jamming the roadway. It will take brilliant leadership and creativity on the part fo FEMA to make order out of these chaotic convoys in a fast enough time frame to save lives. Too bad that our FEMA director has been described as a “An unmitigated, total fucking disaster.” And that’s about his previous job.
Also, Holy crap.
jobiuspublius
I wonder what plum he got?
jobiuspublius
It’s hard work.
jobiuspublius
Doh, links!
Link 1
Link 2
jobiuspublius
Crap, I want rescue video! And, now, we wait.
John S.
Nice, jobius!
Glad to see Bush isn’t taking adavantage of this disaster in any way…
Demdude
Maybe some common sense has hit the White House. Laura Bush is out talking to the press.
A much better spokesperson for the Administration.
jkelly
I’d like to encourage people who are donating to examine how they may be able to get their funds matched.
Even if one’s company of employ is not matching funds, some banks are now providing matching funds for their customers’ donations.
jobiuspublius
dagon
this is indeed great news, but just one side note
i just don’t understand this persistent meme, that bush somehow showed exemplary leadership after 911. he sat paralyzed when informed about the severity of the attacks, ran and hid like a punk then LIED about it saying that air force one was a target (i guess nobody remember that huh?).
hell, clinton beat him to ground zero and gave the impression of being far more empathetic and in control.
peace
jobiuspublius
The Pottery Barn Rule
wilson
It seems to me NO should be using the barges on the Big Muddy to help move in and out what it needs.
I used to work barges up and down the rivers from Mobile to Birmingham. Lots of stuff can be moved pretty efficiently even without power from land lines.
Unloading commercial ships (from the blue waters) is probably a bit impractical until power is restored.
I wonder why the Navy has not shown up with an aircraft carrier.
I would assume the airport will start seeing a good number of air force and air guard planes, if there are really 100,000 to be evacuated.
Is the number to be evacuated going up? Does this mean people are trickling in from outlying areas? Or did we over-estimate the number who left when asked to leave?
About donations, do we have any sense about what is being done (or to be done) with money donated to various charities? I assume they are doing everything they can, and I am sure it is a lot, but it would be nice to know what shelter, food, medicine, clothing, cash, etc. is being provided to those in need, where, since when, and by whom.
Seems like habitat for humanity might be a good group to support (with time or money), if there is going to be a need for building structures.
Tim F
Bush never handles disasters well. If it weren’t for the GOP rewriting those days in 2001 he’d be shamed for that as well.
At least he hasn’t embarrassed us as badlly as that speech he gave after the New York blackout. If anybody saw it you know what I mean.
Davebo
“The press conference ‘briefing’ was stupid, but wtf did they expect Bush to do after demanding he come to the theatre?”
Well, I thought he might clear some brush. He seems to enjoy that sort of thing.
jobiuspublius
The answer to all our questions is: The Pottery Barn Rule.
jobiuspublius
The Pottery Barn Rule
ImJohnGalt
Tried to book some commercial freight today. Apparently, the gov’t has put out a call to any and all willing truckers to ship goods (even water from Canada!) to N.O. Truckers have apparently been issued a card that allows them a) to bypass lines at the border, b) avoid having to go on weigh scales off the highway and c) ignore speed limits. Needless to say, they are being paid much more than they normally would, making it pretty impossible to find a free carrier at the moment. Personally, even though I won’t get my shipment in a timely manner, I’m glad to see them doing something proactive. I hope (as someone above mentioned) that it doesn’t turn into a huge traffic jam 50 miles around N.O.
Just thought I’d give an FYI.
Davebo
ImJohnGalt
Just curious, where are you booking out of (City?)
Not having any problems here getting dedicated driver teams or Air Freight.
tBone
Well, in his defense – he started off very shaky, but that speech he gave a week or so later just floored me (and a lot of other people as well). I actually thought at the time that he might be that rare breed – a callow politician transformed into a true leader in the crucible of a terrible event. My feelings have (ahem) changed somewhat since then, but I still think that was a great speech, and exactly what the nation needed at that time.
Tim F
Great speechwriter. A true leader shows his grit on the fly.
That 9/11 guy’s apparently apparent working for CSI now.
jobiuspublius
Ain’t the private sector sweet?
jobiuspublius
Just gotta love how Dear Leader buys in bulk.
ImJohnGalt
Davebo, trying to get something picked up in South Carolina, bound for Canada (at anything approaching a reasonable rate). Was talking to a Canadian freight forwarder who said he was called by someone looking for trucks able to carry Canadian water down to N.O., which is when discussion of this card came up.
ImJohnGalt
I should mention it was an LTL shipment just before a holiday weekend, but still…lots of trucks going south at the moment, not so many going that far north.
jobiuspublius
So, that’s why I lost interest.
tBone
Granted. You’re not going to catch me arguing that he’s a great leader – just that I was briefly lulled into believing that he had the potential to be one.
Wow, that guy really was a great speechwriter.