Hurricane Katrina

They say that the internet is really great for getting really up-to-date information that you really can't get from the standard sources. Really.

But sometimes, you have to know where to look on the internet. I've seen things mentioned in different blogs and news stories that raise questions I can't find the answer to. One post I saw (but can't find the link to now) said something about Katrina being Category 2. Did she drop that much overnight? And how much damage did New Orleans take? The news sites tend to show pictures of the Superdome, or a wet but not flooded street, or a flooded street, or a debris-smashed car. No "big picture", and that's what I'd like to find.

The most recent Katrina advisory from the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center (08/29/2005 at 2pm CDT): Katrina has been downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane, with 95mph winds, moving north at 18mph.

Josh Britton, blogging in New Orleans, has the latest update (08/29/2005 1:06pm CDT) from a press conference by Louisiana governor, Kathleen Blanco. They still need to assess the damage. It appears that the levee system is mostly holding, though there is at least one small breach and one pump no longer working. But Katrina hasn't finished going through. Here's the latest satellite photo.

Hugh Hewitt provides this link to Wizbang blog's post from September 14, called "Pray." It was good advice last night, with all the predictions of widespread devastation for New Orleans. I kept Fox News on the TV last night as background while I did other things. One thing that struck me about the New Orleans and Louisiana officials who were interviewed was how many of them asked for prayer. Not our positive thoughts. Not good luck. They went straight for the "p" word. "Pray for us," they said.

And, based on today's news that New Orleans, for the most part, survived Katrina, it looked like our prayers were effective.

One last note, from Michelle Malkin's blog:

I kid you not: A left-wing blogger is already blaming Bush for Katrina. More Bush-bashing.

Her first link (SwingStateProject) has the pertinent accusation at the end (includes foul language), which is that Bush caused the devastation by going to Iraq instead of shoring up the New Orleans infrastructure. The second one (AmericaBlog) attacks Bush for not leaving Crawford to coordinate the relief efforts (includes foul-gesture picture).

It just goes to prove that, to the Left, everything bad--even the weather--is President Bush's fault.