Hurricane Katrina
August 29, 2005, was the beginning of hell on earth for the citizens of New Orleans, the southeastern coast of Louisiana, and the coastal towns of Mississippi and Alabama. Hurricane Katrina left a trail of devastation as she made her way ashore and headed north. Those who were lucky enough to have the means to evacuate also headed north and many have found refuge in Lake Providence, which was spared the wrath of the storm, either at the homes of friends or relatives or at the Providence Church Shelter. Those who stayed are still being rescued and sent to shelters across the country. Please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers and if possible, please donate to local charities or to the American Red Cross or other recognized organizations. Below is a timeline of Katrina by the Associated Press:
*Wednesday, August 24, 2005 -
Tropical Depression 12 strengthens into Tropical Storm Katrina over the Central Bahamas; a hurricane warning is issued for the southeastern Florida Coast.
*Thursday, August 25, 2005 -
Hurricane Katrina strikes Florida between Hallandale Beach and North Miami Beach as a Cat. 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds.
*Friday, August 26, 2005 -
Katrina weakens over land to a tropical storm before moving out over the Gulf of Mexico. It grows to a Cat. 2 hurricane with 100 mph winds, veering north and west toward Mississippi and Louisiana
10,000 National Guard troops are dispatched across the Gulf Coast
*Saturday, August 27, 2005 -
Eleven people dead in Florida from hurricane-related causes
Katrina becomes a Cat. 3 with 115 mph winds; a hurricane warning is issued for Louisiana's southeastern coast, including New Orleans and Lake Pontchatrain, and for the northern Gulf coast.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin declares a state of emergency and urges residents in low-lying areas to evacuate.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour declares a state of emergency. A mandatory evacuation is ordered for Hancock county. Coastal Gulf residents jam freeways and gas stations as they rush to evacuate.
*Sunday, August 28, 2005 -
Katrina grows into a cat. 5 storm with 160 mph winds and heads for the northern Gulf coast
Nagin orders a mandatory evacuation for New Orleans. But 10 shelters are also set up, including the Superdome, for those unable to leave.
Evacuation orders are posted all along the MS. coast
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley declares a state of emergency.
*Monday, August 29, 2005 -
Katrina, a cat. 4 hurricane with 145 mph winds, makes landfall near Buras, LA, at 7:10 a.m. Central time
President Bush makes emergency disaster declarations for LA and MS, freeing up federal funds.
Katrina rips two holes in the Superdome's roof. Some 10,000 storm refugees are inside.
At least 8 Gulf Coast refineries shut down or reduce operations.
Airports close in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Biloxi, Mobile and Pensacola. Hundreds of flights are canceled or diverted.
*Tuesday, August 30, 2005 -
The hurricane death toll in MS rises to more than 100.
Two levees break in New Orleans and water pours in , covering 80% of the city and rising to 20 feet deep in some areas. Many people climb onto roofs to escape.
LA Gov. Kathleen Blanco says everyone still in New Orleans, an estimated 50,000 to 100,000, must be evacuated. Crowds swell at the Superdome and the New Orleans convention center.
Rescuers in helicopters and boats pick up hundreds of stranded people in New Orleans. Reports of looting emerge.
About 40,000 people are in American Red Cross shelters, not including New Orleans.
Bush cuts short his vacation to focus on the storm damage.
*Wednesday, August 31, 2005 -
Nagin offers a startling estimate of New Orleans' death toll: "Minimum hundreds. Most likely, thousands," he says.
"At first light, the devastation is greater than our worst fears," says Gov. Blanco
The looting grows exponentially. Thieves use a forklift to smash into one pharmacy. Blanco asks the White House to send more people. New Orleans police are called off search-and- rescue missions to combat out of control looting.
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt declares a federal health emergency throughout the Gulf Coast, sends in medical supplies and workers.
Army Corps of Engineers estimates it will be at least 30 days or more before New Orleans will be pumped out.
Bush authorizes a draw-down from the nation's Strategic Petroleum reserve.
Gas prices surge above $3.00 a gallon and shortages crop up.
5 offshore LA oil rigs are reported missing and two more are adrift.
An estimated 52,000 people are in Red Cross shelters. An additional 25,000 are in the Superdome, where conditions are worsening by the hour.
An exodus from the Superdome begins, with the first buses leaving for Houston's Astrodome, 350 miles away. (God bless Texas!)
Pentagon mounts one of largest search-and-rescue operations in U.S. history, sending 4 Navy ships with emergency supplies.
Water levels stop rising in New Orleans. Engineers work to close a 500 foot gap in a failed floodwall.
*Thursday, September 1, 2005 -
Looting, carjacking and other violence spreads, and the military decides to increase National Guard deployment to 30,000.
Outside the New Orleans Convention Center, the sidewalks are packed with people without food, water or medical care, waiting for buses that do not come. Tempers flare.
Nagin, the New Orleans mayor, calls the situation critical and issues "a desperate SOS" for more buses.
Crowds at the Superdome swell to 30,000 with another 25,000 at the convention center. The first refugee buses arrive at the Houston Astrodome. Elsewhere, 76,000 people are in Red Cross shelters.
Violence escalates. Rescue boats are stolen by marauders, shots are fired at helicopters evacuating hospital patients.
Doctors at 2 New Orleans hospitals plead for help, saying food, water, and power are almost gone. Helicopters evacuate up to 600 patients but an estimated 1500 others remain stranded.
The death toll in MS hits 126.
Bush asks his father and former Pres. Clinton to lead a fundraising campaign for hurricane victims.
Texas agrees to take in 75,000 hurricane evacuees.
Six hundred massive sand bags arrive to help shore up New Orleans' broken levees.
*Friday, September 2, 2005 -
Bush tours hard-hit Gulf coast areas and acknowledges the failure so far of government hurricane relief efforts. "The results are not acceptable," he says.
Thousands of National Guardsmen arrive in New Orleans in truck convoys carrying food, water, and weapons.
Congress approves $10.5 billion to cover the immediate rescue and relief efforts.
The U.S. and European nations tap oil-and-gasoline stockpiles for 2 million barrels a day, hoping to stem gas shortages.
15 airlines get permission to fly up to 25,000 refugees out of New Orleans to San Antonio.
Explosions rock a chemical storage plant in New Orleans and other scattered fires break out.
Texas opens 2 more giant centers for victims after the Astrodome fills up. States as far away as Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, Colorado, Wyoming, and Michigan offer to accept refugees.
More than 50 nations pledge hurricane assistance. (including areas hit by the Tsunami and Afghanistan).
*Saturday, September 3, 2005 -
Bush orders more than 7,000 active duty forces to the Gulf Coast.
More than 25,000 residents have evacuated from New Orleans since Friday, the head of the FEMA says.
Coast Guard says has it has rescued 9500 people Katrina hit.
*Sunday, September 4, 2005 -
Rescue efforts continue in New Orleans with many people being plucked from rooftops and from porches by boats and helicopters.
The Superdome and convention center in New Orleans are emptied and the evacuees begin boarding buses and planes bound for shelters around the country.
A civilian helicopter goes down in New Orleans but the occupants sustained only minor injuries.
*Monday, September 5 (Labor Day), 2005 -
Rescue efforts continue but are turning into recovery missions. Rescuers attempt to coax survivors from their homes in an attempt to rescue everyone. Some refuse to leave their homes and belongings.
President Bush visits Baton Rouge shelters and tours devastated areas on the Gulf Coast.