<p>Concerneddad,</p>
<p>Your son will be in my prayers as well. What he is doing is a great act of a generous spirit. I know it can also be very draining both physically and emotionally, and I hope he will remember to rest and take care of himself. </p>
<p>What a difficult and painful time for so many. It is truly devastating.</p>
<p>Thank you momofthree, that is my concern as well. But, he has told me that he and his TEMS team members live by the creedo that they must take care of themselves so that they can take care of others. I just pray he and the other young men and women can put that ideal into practice.</p>
<p>I want to join in the praise for your son and his teammembers, CD. I have to admit that a week or two with water moccasins would turn me into an accountant mighty fast, and I can barely add!</p>
<p>Finally got to speak to my mom tonight. She literally got out of town (Ocean Springs-near Biloxi) with her husband, 2 dogs and a few papers. She was in tears talking about all of her friends who chose to ride out the storm-----as they had done many times before. She presumes that they have nothing to return — wish she would just move back to Ohio. Our winters pale in comparison to Katrina.</p>
<p>momnipotent, my prayers are with you and your mom.</p>
<p>Thanks geena</p>
<p>I usually get my news from NPR, but turned on CNN tonight to look at the coverage. I would encourage others to do the same; I don’t think it’s possible to get a sense of the devastation without seeing the films. I haven’t read all the postings here, but send all good thoughts to those affected.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/30/katrina.recovery/index.html[/url]”>http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/30/katrina.recovery/index.html</a></p>
<p>At least this is some hope!!!</p>
<p>We even have Coast Guard folks on their way south from New England - bless them and be safe - they have a horrendous job ahead of them</p>
<p>I, too, have been thinking and hoping that a semester of service would be a wonderful way for our “displaced” Tulane students to spend this time, helping to put the city back together. Of course, as someone said, they need housing. Right now, it is only someone like concerneddad’s S, with his training and expertise, who can help. </p>
<p>But later, wouldn’t a lot of young, strong, energetic bodies and minds be useful?</p>
<p>concerneddad - you and your son have my deepest admiration and gratitude.</p>
<p>As an aside, I personally would appreciate if those with political angles and points of view, could take that discussion elsewhere. Those of us living through this, at least me, are pained at having to listen to the finger-pointing.</p>
<p>jmmom, thank you and I agree that politics – if necessary at all – can wait until after all those whom need help get it.</p>
<p>For those who do not have access to Tulane’s emergency website, here are the full texts of the two most recent messages. </p>
<p>CD</p>
<p>August 30, 7:30 p.m.</p>
<pre><code>Dear Friends of Tulane:
I know you are all concerned about conditions in New Orleans and at Tulane University, and have many questions about what is going to happen in the next few days, weeks and months.
Our first priority during this time is the safety of our faculty, staff and students. Thankfully, everyone associated with the university is safe, including those of us who remain at Tulane.
Our second priority is to secure our facilities. As expected, our facilities have been damaged; however, based on our preliminary assessments, the majority of the damage can be remediated in a reasonable period of time. The uptown campus is covered with debris from fallen trees and shrubs, making it almost impossible to drive or even walk on campus. We have no power in any of the buildings other than a few where we control the power source.
Our third priority is to develop a recovery plan. This task is impaired right now by the devastation of the city and its infrastructure, and deteriorating further due to the flooding we are now facing. In addition, we dont know when our employees will be able to return to the city, much less to the university. Therefore, until conditions stabilize, it is impossible to do any longer term recovery planning. However, part of the responsibility of the senior leadership team in Jackson, MS is to begin the planning and they have done so.
As I suspect you all know, there is no contingency plan that could ever be developed to respond to what the area and the university are experiencing. However, all of us at the university are totally committed to doing whatever it takes to get the university operational as soon as possible. I hope you will be patient and understanding of our situation as we work our way through the complexities.
It is difficult to describe what this situation feels like for those involved. It is surreal and unfathomable; yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our focus is on the light and not the darkness.
Scott Cowen
</code></pre>
<p>August 30, 6:15 p.m.</p>
<pre><code>Special Information for Students Evacuated to Jackson and Their Parents:
The approximately 400 students that Tulane University evacuated to Jackson State University are safe and secure after the remnants of Hurricane Katrina struck the city of Jackson.
Jackson State has committed to sheltering and feeding all of the evacuated Tulane students for as long as necessary. The students are in very safe quarters and are accompanied by senior officers of the university.
The situation in the city of Jackson is that there is a power outage and Internet service is erratic. The airport is closed but is expected to reopen within 24-48 hours and other modes of transportation will also resume in that timeframe. Once those services are operational we are recommending that all Tulane students at Jackson State make plans to return home until the university can resume normal operations.
Tulane has arranged bus service to Dallas and Atlanta so that students can make travel arrangements from other cities if they choose. The buses will depart Jackson, MS at 8 p.m. CST tonight. Students sent to Atlanta will be hosted by Georgia Tech; students sent to Dallas will be hosted by Southern Methodist University.
</code></pre>
<p>concerneddad - thank you, again. Do you infer from the 7:30 posting that Tulane is not flooded? If not, will I be wasting my time if I cross all fingers hoping that the water cannot climb there from this time forward?</p>
<p>Thanks for the post CD – I can no longer access the emergency site.</p>
<p>A Tulane alum friend just IM’d me and said there is another breach and they are talking about 8-12’ of water in the campus area in the next few hours. Probably gossip I should not repeat, but also an indication that there is no stability in the area yet.</p>
<p>CD: I did talk to dd a little while ago – she and the rest of my family have made it to a motel in KY – and she seemed to think the idea of a service semester was emminently reasonable. Of course there are the little problems of housing, water, sewer, electric, food, not to mention organziing a group of unskilled young adults. But she told me that she does NOT want to spend the semester at home, reminding me most emphatically that her entire college search focused on the perimeter of the US. So if your son has any input – I am sure that she would be only one of many who would consider a service semester or quarter as a viable option, bonding experience, and way to be of some use.</p>
<p>jm, yes that is what I would make of it. But that was proaobly drafted before the news came out that the C of E could not block the levee breach.</p>
<p>geena, I have not heard of another breach. Doesn’t mean it did not, or could not happen, just have heard it reported and I have been monitoring N.O. TV and CNN – (Darn, I need to get a life – LOL)</p>
<p>Just now on local NOLA news (listening online)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=beloint_khou&props=livenoad[/url]”>http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=beloint_khou&props=livenoad</a></p>
<p>Breach of 17th Street Canal, 9’ of water expected on St Charles Avenue tomorrow am. “Water will now fill the bowl of the city on the east bank.” I gather from my alum friend that this is in the vicinity oif the campus. I would love to be totally wrong about the geography.</p>
<p>I fear your friend might be right.</p>
<p>I listened to the mayor’s press briefing. If I were in New Orleans, I believe I would wade my way to I-10 West and just start walking. I figure that sooner or later, some government official would get the idea that maybe they should start running shuttle buses to pick people up.</p>
<p>The governor talks about planning meetings with a goal of evacuating the Superdome, but I’m wondering exactly when she thinks that should begin?</p>
<p>BTW, I don’t think it’s another breach in the 17th Street Canal levee. Rather, the Corps of Engineers hasn’t been able to do anything about the existing breech and it keeps growing as the water pours through. The heavy lifting copters they needed to attempt repairs didn’t arrive until late today.</p>
<p>The mayor said that the pumping station in that area had finally failed and that was the only thing allowing them to at least slow the inflow of water.</p>
<p>The Corps of Engineers said tonight they think they will divert their efforts to trying to block the entrace to the canal from Lake Ponchitrain. That strikes me as a roundabout way of saying they’ve given up hope of repairing the levee breach. </p>
<p>They also said that, if they can block the canal entrance, they need to be able to remove the blockage once the leve of the lake is lower than the level of the water in the city. This strikes me as a roundabout way of saying that they do expect the level of water in the city to reach the current level of Lake Ponchitrain.</p>
<p>Oh gosh. Jmmom and everyone else we wish our concerted brainpower could stem the flow of the flood waters.</p>