Short of a copy and paste, this story is important,, I might have to do it as the site updates,,, Rescue efforts search for casualties

lets pray for them

It is a hard price to pay, for living in Paradise,,,

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana (CNN) -- Rescuers fanned out early Sunday in southwest Louisiana to search for trapped people who did not heed the mandatory evacuation orders issued ahead of Hurricane Rita.

Strong winds, rain and darkness hampered the search in Vermillion Parish on Saturday, and in some cases, the water was so rough that it capsized rescue boats.

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco reported that a parish emergency official said 250 people were rescued Saturday, but as many as 1,000 more may need help. (Watch the search for survivors in Louisiana -- 1:56)

Meanwhile, the remnants of the the storm swept to the northwest at 20 mph (32 kph) -- much faster than initially predicted. Forecasters thought that Rita could stall after coming ashore and douse Texas and Louisiana with heavy rains.

The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression overnight and its maximum sustained winds dropped to 20 mph. It was centered near Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Texas officials urged evacuees not to return to the Houston and Galveston area, warning that conditions might not be safe and that fuel trucks have not had a chance to restock gas stations along the major evacuation routes.

Those pleas were often ignored by residents eager to return home and the Texas Department of Transportation reported several traffic jams, including some along Interstate 10.

Much of Lake Charles, Louisiana, was flooded with choppy, wind-whipped water. The mayor is asking evacuees to stay out and for those who rode out the hurricane to adhere to a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

Hurricane-force winds smashed dozens of boats on Lake Charles after freeing them from their moorings. An Interstate 10 overpass that crosses the lake was shut down after high winds Friday night forced an 18-wheeler to jackknife. (Watch video of flooded Lake Charles, Louisiana, as the city's mayor describes damage -- 3:00)

In addition to flooding in low-lying areas of the city, several casinos along the river were awash in floodwater.

The water continues to rise and could cause flooding well after Rita's departure. If the lake rises more it could threaten the city's downtown.

Residents who did not evacuate the city were told to head to the Lake Charles civic center Saturday afternoon, where buses would pick them up for transport to temporary shelters.

Military relief commander Lt. Gen. Russel Honore said he was moving 400 troops from New Orleans to Lake Charles to link up with emergency response personnel.

In addition, the National Guard is shifting nearly 2,400 troops who were providing relief from Hurricane Katrina in Alabama and Mississippi to help with the response to Rita in western Louisiana and eastern Texas.

The Louisiana National Guard is focusing on getting boats, trucks and high-water vehicles to Cameron, Vermilion, and Calcasieu parishes as part of the overall rescue effort, Guard spokesman Maj. Ed Bush said.

David Paulison, acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Saturday that storm damage "is not as severe as we expected." Paulison said mandatory evacuations ahead of the storm worked, and there are no reported deaths. (Watch Rita's damage to Texas' I-10 corridor -- 2:14)

But Valero Energy reported Saturday that recovery teams found "significant damage" to its oil refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, following the hurricane. Oil giant Shell reported wind damage to its Motiva facility in Port Arthur.

Rita's center slammed into the extreme southwest coast of Louisiana near Sabine Pass, Texas, with winds of 120 mph at 3:30 a.m. ET on Saturday.

Minor-to-significant damage and power outages were reported throughout the region. (City-by-city impact)

More than 1.1 million customers in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi are without electricity after the hurricanes' one-two punches, the Department of Energy said Saturday.

The Flooding is Wide...



ABBEVILLE, Louisiana (CNN) -- As many as 1,000 people who did not follow mandatory evacuation orders in one southwestern Louisiana parish may need to be rescued, an emergency management official said Saturday.

But the mission to save them was to resume Sunday morning, after Gov. Kathleen Blanco called off the efforts amid approaching nightfall, threats of more flooding and 30 mph winds on Vermilion Bay and Vermilion River.

"We can't put the rescuers at risk, because then they become the victims," she said.

The rescuers, who traveled in several hundred boats, planned to go out again starting at 7 a.m. (8 a.m. ET).

The governor said that Gen. Robert LeBlanc, the director of Vermilion Parish's Emergency Operations Center, had told her that 250 people had been rescued, but perhaps four times that number needed help.

The National Weather Service said floodwater will continue to rise Sunday. LeBlanc said he hoped to get everybody out in two days, if the wind dies down.

Sheriff Michael Couvillon told CNN his office cannot account for up to 25 people and can't go out by boat to look for them because of the storm surge.

Several areas of Vermilion Parish came under 8 to 10 feet of water when Rita pushed Gulf of Mexico waters several miles inland. The parish has no levees to protect it and is nearly all marshland.

The National Hurricane Center has downgraded the former Category 3 Hurricane to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph. (Full story)

There have been no reports of deaths.

Nonetheless, rescue crews were being hampered by people making false reports of relatives or friends being trapped in attempts to confirm they had evacuated, said the spokesman for Vermilion's emergency operations center.

When emergency crews respond, they find an empty home, he said.

The hardest hit parishes, in addition to Vermilion, are Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes, said Louisiana National Guard spokesman, Maj. Ed. Bush. The guard has been trying to bring boats, trucks and high-water vehicles to those areas, he said.

Also joining the effort are the U.S. Coast Guard, local law enforcement, the state fish and wildlife division, neighboring parishes and volunteers. Also, more than 36,000 Army and Air National Guard troops are responding.

The National Guard has shifted nearly 2,400 troops working on Hurricane Katrina recovery in Alabama and Mississippi to western Louisiana and eastern Texas to help in Rita's aftermath.

"This is probably some of the most severe flooding that we've had in this area in the past 40 or 50 years," Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza told CNN.

He said that despite a mandatory evacuation order issued three days before the storm, some people refused to leave and are now trapped and taking refuge on rooftops.

"You know, I hate to see it happen. But maybe they learned a valuable lesson," Piazza said.

Abbeville is about 80 miles east of the city of Lake Charles, which also took a heavy hit.

"The Gulf of Mexico is about a mile south of Abbeville. ... It's normally 8 miles south of Abbeville," Piazza said. "So that tidal surge came in a good 6 to 7 miles."

In the neighboring parish of Iberia, high winds hampered early morning rescue efforts Saturday, sinking several boats. Local officials were able to rescue about 100 people using several dump trucks, parish President Will Langlinais told CNN.

He said nearly all the homes in Delcambre, on the border between Iberia and Vermilion parishes, are under water.

In the fishing town of Lafitte, south of New Orleans in Jefferson Parish, some 500 people have been rescued, a National Guard spokesman said.

The storm topped protective levees, sending more than 6 feet of water into homes, Mayor Tim Kerner told CNN.
New Orleans' recovery takes a step backward

Parts of New Orleans' 9th Ward were under 8 feet of water Saturday after water topped levees after Hurricane Rita struck.

Water flows out of the Industrial Canal through a breach in the levee into the lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005, in New Orleans. Hurricane Rita's rains breached the patched levee, sending water spilling into the hard-hit but largely empty Ninth Ward just days after the neighborhood was pumped dry. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

This is from Holly Beach:

Cameron, LA


Cameron, LA


Cameron, LA


U.S. Coast Guard flight mechanic Alan Maloney looks out at the damage and flooding during a flight over Oak Grove, La

:blink:

Hackberry, LA



Hackberry

[/quote]

Texas staggers return after storm

Texas' governor flew over flooded coastal areas on Sunday
Evacuated residents of Houston, the fourth-biggest US city, are only being allowed back in stages as Texas recovers from Hurricane Rita.
"Evacuation routes" have been set up to let people enter section by section as power remains down in parts and schools and courts stay shut.

Plans are being made to avoid huge traffic jams in any future evacuation.

A search continues in Louisiana's wetlands where hundreds of people may have defied storm evacuation orders.

Our people... have a plan too and it's real simple: they plan to come home when they want

John Willy
official in Brazoria County, near Houston

Rain and storm surges caused by Rita created flood levels of up to 2.7 metres (nine feet) in the Cajun country south of New Orleans.

More than 100 motor boats were refuelling in Abbeville before heading for search-and-rescue missions on Sunday.

"The flooding is still extensive, said emergency official Michael Bertrand in Vermilion Parish.

"We'll be going back through there to see if there's anybody left."

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco inspected the hardest-hit parts of the wetlands by helicopter.

Impatient to return

Rick Perry, governor of Texas, appealed to people to delay their return.

The state, he said, had sustained about $8bn worth of damage from the hurricane but he predicted that most of the vital oil refineries had been spared and could resume production soon.


Images of the Gulf Coast towns hit by Hurricane Rita


In pictures


Last week's mass evacuation, involving nearly three million people, created traffic jams stretching as long as 100 miles (160km).

The BBC's Daniella Relph reports from Houston that residents are returning, but to order.

While it is a slow process, it is so far running smoothly though the city is still effectively closed for business.

But there has been some anger at the slow pace of the return. John Willy, the top elected official in Brazoria County, south-west of Houston, said he would ignore the staggered return plan.

"Our people are tired of the state's plan," he said. "They have a plan too and it's real simple: they plan to come home when they want."

The Texas governor is also now reviewing the state's emergency planning.

Getting up to 3m people out of the way of the storm was extraordinary, he said, but he acknowledged that changes needed to be made.

Appeal for funds

The mayor of storm-ravaged New Orleans has said residents evacuated because of Hurricane Katrina can start returning to parts of the city.

Some parts were newly flooded by storm surges during Rita but Mayor Ray Nagin said he hoped to allow residents back to the Algiers district, which has power and water, as early as Monday.

The storm, he added, had delayed recovery efforts by another three to five days.

Governor Kathleen Blanco asked on Sunday for at least $32 billion in federal funds to repair damage to the state's infrastructure caused by Katrina and Rita.

The money, she said after meeting President George W Bush in Baton Rouge, would be used to repair transportation systems and strengthen flood defences.

It will take years to rebuild. I still don't understand how they will try to make the levees stronger. I don't think it will hold up even if they improve it.


:(

I agree Petmom. They should not be allowed to rebuild near the Gulf of Mexico. In really not be allowed to build there homes less then 5 feet above sea level. New orleans levee's should be blown. In the river should retake the death trap. How many billions or hundreds of billions before people wake up? How many people have to die?

lots of devastation

Thanks for posting those images. I can't imagine what people are going through. Some people said that they will never go back there, and I don't blame them one bit.

:(

E-MAIL STORY PRINTER FRIENDLY FOXFAN CENTRAL
Rescuers Survey Damage Along Gulf Coast
Tuesday, September 27, 2005


As temperatures climbed well into the 90s and the heat index was near 106 degrees Monday, the damage from the storm was evident in small communities in southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas.

"East Texas needs everyone's attention this hour, right now, and it doesn't matter whether it's the state or FEMA or the Corps of Engineers. I don't really care whose fault it is. It needs help now," said U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (search). "These communities are the last to complain, but they've reached the end."

The number of deaths rose to nine Monday when the bodies of five people were discovered in a Beaumont apartment. A man, his girlfriend's three children and their aunt apparently were overcome by carbon monoxide from a generator they used to power fans to cool their home.

While residents of the Texas refinery towns of Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange were blocked from returning to their homes because of the danger of debris-choked streets and downed power lines, authorities in Louisiana were unable to keep bayou residents from venturing in by boat to see if Rita wrecked their homes.

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Debris was strewn for miles over Cameron Parish (search), a coastal, sparsely populated town next to the Texas line. Seawater pushed as far as 20 miles inland, drowning acres of rice, sugarcane fields and pasture.

"This is the most damaged area I've seen in the state, the worst," Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore (search) said of Cameron Parish. "I didn't see anything from Katrina, except in Mississippi, that was as bad."

At a makeshift emergency operations center at a national wildlife refuge, Randy Gary answered a stream of questions from residents trying to find out about their homes or camps. As for his house, he hadn't been able to get to the town of Cameron, but he got an assessment.

"There's nothing but a clear lot," he said.

His oyster boats and pontoon boats also had disappeared, a further slap from Rita to his livelihood as a fisherman. The oyster beds he fishes likely are devastated, even if he had the boats to get to them.

But he was still smiling Monday.

"What else we gonna do?" he said, pledging to rebuild his shattered home and work. "It's my life. It's what I do."

An estimated 80 percent of the buildings in the Louisiana town of Cameron, population 1,900, were leveled. Farther inland, half of Creole, population 1,500, was left in splinters.

In New Orleans, the official reopening of the city was back on track as the mayor welcomed residents back to the Algiers neighborhood (search), where they found a curfew, limited services and no critical care hospital services.

The Army Corps of Engineers (search) continued pumping water from the Ninth Ward back into the Industrial Canal. It expects to have the water out by the weekend, said Mitch Frazier, an Army Corps spokesman.

President Bush planned to get a personal report Tuesday with a visit to Beaumont and Lake Charles, La., about 55 miles to the east, traveling between the two cities by helicopter and getting an aerial view of the damage from the Saturday storm that socked the region with winds topping 120 mph.

If the power knocked out by the storm and oppressive heat weren't enough, it was the ravenous mosquitoes invading their storm-damaged home north of Vidor, Texas, that convinced Harry Smith, his wife and two teenage boys to get out.

With their car disabled by a transmission problem, they hitchhiked more than 10 miles to a staging area for teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (search) in hopes of finding shelter. Authorities put them on a bus to San Antonio with a few dozen other storm victims.

"It can't be any worse than here," said Smith, 49, a pipefitter, relieved to be going somewhere to get out of the heat and insects. "This is the worst storm I've seen in the 46 years I've lived here."

For people who didn't evacuate before Rita hit and chose to stay in the primitive conditions, teams from FEMA fanned out Monday over a nine-county area of East Texas to deliver food and water and ice.

Gov. Rick Perry (search) said the state was projecting Rita's total damage at $8 billion.

The mayors of the Louisiana towns of Sulphur and Vinton pleaded with residents to stay away until the sewage systems could be repaired, power could be turned on and hospitals and emergency services could be restored.

"Right now, there's very little to come back to," said Sulphur Mayor Ron LeLeux, of his town where every major power transmission line was destroyed, uprooted trees split houses in two and splintered trees left most streets impassable.

Vinton Mayor David Riggins begged people over the radio not to return home yet because it was straining the food and water supplies he needed for fire, police and emergency crews.

Authorities said at least 16 Texas oil refineries remained shut because of Rita. A refinery in Port Arthur and one in Beaumont were without power, and a second Port Arthur refinery was damaged and could remain out of service for two to four weeks.

Quanishia Haynes, whose father died in the Beaumont apartment, said he and his girlfriend's family evacuated to Mississippi as Rita approached. She said they returned about 1 a.m. Monday because they ran out of money.

She and her boyfriend later found everyone in the apartment unresponsive. She said it looked like her father, Billy Coleman, 46, tried to get out of bed and was walking to the door when he fell.

Three siblings — Crystal Farva, 12, Demarcus Bean, 10, Alliyah Reese, 7 — were killed, along with Coleman and Dianna Bean, 29. The children's mother and Bean's sister, Irene Bean, survived along with her 8-year-old son Emery Reese, 8. Both were hospitalized in critical condition.

A neighbor said initially the generator was running outside the apartment, but he said he overheard Coleman and Bean debating over whether to move it indoors so the noise wouldn't bother other neighbors or get stolen. An apartment manager said the generator was found in a closet.

too much money being spent

I heard on the news yesterday that some boats (cruise ships) that FEMA had asked for to let people stay on, they are almost empty.............Why do they pay for something that is not used much.