Priest describes moment quake hit church in Peru - Times Online

Priest describes moment quake hit church in Peru - Times Online:

"We had just driven into the car park. The lights just banged out. The car just started jumping all over the place. Walls started falling all around us. People just beside us were hanging on to an electricity pole,” he told The Times. “It lasted two and a half minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. “I knew we were at the centre of it when it was happening because I have felt earthquakes before. People were shouting in doorways for their loved ones, pulling back rubble looking for loved ones,” he said. “It was just devastating, horrible.”"

SunHerald.com : FEMA takes back $4.5M

SunHerald.com : FEMA takes back $4.5M:

"FEMA has taken back $4.5 million in funding left over from the expired Project Recovery crisis counseling program in spite of repeated requests from state officials and legislators that the remaining funds be used for the Coast's beleaguered public mental-health treatment facilities. FEMA spokesman Eugene Brezany said that government officials insist on interpreting a rule in the Stafford Act, which governs FEMA's response to disasters, as meaning that they will not provide or assist with mental health treatment in any way for disaster victims."

Is anyone surprised?

Pollution around New Orleans

While it is debatable whether this is strictly hurricane related or not, it is a definite problem and there are enough Katrina references to warrant its inclusion:

From Living on Earth: (you can listen to the entire thing here)

"It may be too early to say whether the flooding dealt a mortal blow to this community. A few pre-Katrina neighborhood anchors have returned, and lightened people's hearts....But it's clear that a place that was hardscrabble before, is even harder now..

LOBET: American refineries have been running full bore, even before the 2005 hurricanes that took several offline, including Chalmette. To meet growing demand, refinery owners around the country have expanded capacity at existing plants rather than build new ones, in part because getting a permit for a new refinery is so difficult. Howard Feldman is with the American Petroleum Institute.

FELDMAN: Everybody wants the fuels, and nobody wants the refinery nearby. There are tradeoffs obviously.

LOBET: With plants running at capacity, equipment failures and accidental releases of pollutants are more common. Two years ago a federal judge in New Orleans ruled Chalmette refinery had released illegal amounts of benzene into the air more than 1200 times in the two preceding years."

And some more on Katrina recovery:

"Ford gestures at the FEMA trailers that still edge out of driveways here. Empty houses once worth 110 thousand dollars, now offer themselves up for 40 thousand as sellers pray for a buyer, a miracle. He shows a visitor past his gutted-out house to where a small frame building lists sideways."

Hands On Gulf Coast

Hands On Gulf Coast:

"During the week of August 26th, we will commemorate the 2-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. This will also be a week when we honor our Hands On Gulf Coast Alumni. We invite all individuals who have volunteered with us in the past to join us during the week of the 26th - 31st as we participate in special service projects and other activities"

I wish school weren't going then :(

City, FEMA Won't Say Why Family's Home Torn Down - Yahoo! News

City, FEMA Won't Say Why Family's Home Torn Down - Yahoo! News:

"Jason Banks got his trash hauled away, obtained a building permit, gutted his Ninth Ward home and was ready to renovate.But then, the brick house vanished, reduced to a slab in an unwanted demolition.

'I was heartbroken. I was in tears. I was furious,' he said."

Hands On Gulf Coast: Recovery, etc.

Hands On Gulf Coast: Recovery, etc.

Some of you no doubt remember Chris from Handson-Biloxi. He wrote a report on the recovery in the Gulf. Definitely recommend you read it! (in fact i will cross list it on RandomTopics2 and BonaResponds' blogs)

One look in:

"...this presentation, which is about keeping volunteers engaged in long-term recovery is an opportunity to raise the awareness at a national level about the needs of the post-Katrina Gulf Coast, provides me an excuse to work late and spend a lot of time reading documents about the state of recovery.

One interesting report I found...provides a broad overview of recovery, now 18 months underway, across Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. Some areas have experienced explosive growth, while others whither under poor management and staggering losses."

Read Chris' blog entry here.

State, feds buying land on Miss. coast for storm buffer - NBC 15 Online

State, feds buying land on Miss. coast for storm buffer - NBC 15 Online:

"The state and federal governments are buying land along the Mississippi Gulf Coast to prevent future development and create a buffer zone against storms.

The three-phase plan, first started in Jackson County, is to convert formerly or currently developed private land into state-held beaches, wetlands and parks."

This is somewhat surprising. 15,000 acres is not much but it is a start.