Do you think that Michael Chertoff and Karl Rove are qualified to deal with Rita and Katrina?
Here's the EPA's Response Activity for Wednesday, September 21, 2005 relating to hurricane Katrina:
Public Information – On 9/19, EPA posted on its Web site an extensive list of questions and answers regarding flood water, drinking water, wastewater, human health, air issues, sediment, oil spills and superfund sites, asbestos, debris, and fuel waivers.
Sediment Sampling – On 9/19-20, EPA posted biological and chemical data testing results of sediment sampling from New Orleans taken on 9/10. On 9/16 based on the initial results of this data, EPA recommended avoiding all contact with the sediment, where possible, due to the presence of E. coli and fuel oils. In the event contact occurs, EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strongly advise the use of soap and water, if available, to clean the exposed areas, and the removal of contaminated clothing.
EPA-CDC Report – EPA and CDC formed a joint task force to advise local and state officials of the potential health and environmental risks associated with returning to the City of New Orleans. The initial Environmental Health Needs & Habitability Assessment issued 9/17 identifies a number of barriers to be overcome and critical decisions to be made prior to reinhabiting New Orleans. The report is available on the EPA web site at http://www.epa.gov/katrina/reports/envneeds_hab_assessment.html
Debris Assessment and Collection – EPA is conducting air monitoring at debris burn sites in Louisiana. EPA teams continue collection of household hazardous wastes (HHW) and orphan containers in the hurricane affected area. In addition, EPA personnel continue to offer technical assistance in the disposal of hazardous waste and other debris left behind by the storm. As of 9/19, EPA has collected in excess of 28,000 HHW/orphan containers throughout the affected region.
Drinking Water Assessment – On 9/19, EPA mobile labs in Louisiana began distributing 700 drinking water sample test kits to Parish Health Units for use by private well owners. In the LA affected area, there are a total of 683 drinking water facilities that served approximately 2.8 million people. As of 9/20, EPA has determined that 522 of these facilities are operational, 26 are operating on a boil water notice and 135 are either inoperable or their status is unknown. In the MS affected area, there are a total of 1,368 drinking water facilities that served approximately 3,219,690 people. EPA has determined that 1,215 of these facilities are operational, 111 are operating on a boil water notice and 42 are either inoperable or their status is unknown. In the AL affected area, there are a total of 72 drinking water facilities that served approximately 960,682 people. EPA has determined that all 72 of these facilities are operational. It should be noted that “operational” facilities may still be in need of repair or reconstruction.
Wastewater – In the LA affected area, there are a total of 122 Public Owned Treatment Works (POTW). As of 9/20, EPA has determined that 87 of these facilities are operational and 35 facilities are either not operating or their status is unknown. In the MS affected area, there are a total of 115 POTW. EPA has determined that 111 of these facilities are operational and 4 facilities are either not operating or their status is unknown. In the AL affected area, only 1 facility is not operating with 7 others having operational difficulties. It should be noted that “operational” facilities may still be in need of repair or reconstruction.
Air Monitoring – On 9/16, EPA posted results of air screening samples collected by Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer (TAGA) buses on 9/12-13 from multiple locations in New Orleans. The screening results indicated that chemical concentrations in most areas are below Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) health standards of concern. The low level of volatile pollutants is not surprising as contaminants may be bound to the sediment. Monitoring data directly around the Murphy Oil spill revealed some slightly elevated levels of benzene and toluene that are associated with the petroleum release. Long-term exposure (a year or longer) at the levels measured would be required for health effects to be of concern.
Gulf/Mississippi Water Sampling – EPA’s ocean vessel, the Bold, is expected to be deployed 9/26 on a mission to survey the waters of the Mississippi Sound and the Gulf of Mexico in the plume of the Mississippi River. The surveys will take about three weeks to complete.
Air Surveillance – In coordination with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LEDQ), EPA's airplane ASPECT has conducted numerous flights to obtain environmental screening data. Results of this surveillance were posted on the EPA website 9/14. Compounds identified were not found to be at levels exceeding OSHA standards with one exception. In this instance, the detection was reported to EPA responders on the ground. The responders located the source, a 55-gallon drum containing 4 inches of Chloro Acetic Acid. The drum was secured by EPA response personnel.
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Here's the part of FEMA's National Situation Update for Wednesday, September 21, 2005 relating to hurricane Rita:
As forecasted, Hurricane Rita hit the Florida Keys on Tuesday with close to 100 mph winds and heavy rainfall that caused flooding and other storm damages. Initial reports indicate the storm's effects in the Keys were not severe. Media reports indicate residents of the Florida Keys will be allowed to return to their homes on Thursday morning. Rita continues to blow westward into the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 3 Hurricane and is expected to gain strength during the next 24 hours. There is a mandatory evacuation still in effect for all of the Florida Keys . Local officials indicate several thousand residents and visitors have evacuated the area. Approximately 13,000 residents remain in the Keys.
The Tropical Storm Warning for portions of the Florida Keys is discontinued east of the Marquesas Keys including Key West . A Tropical Storm Warning remains in effect for the Florida Keys from the Marquesas Keys westward to the Dry Tortugas .
At 5:00 am EDT Wednesday the center of Hurricane Rita was located near latitude 24.3 north, longitude 84.6 west or about 175 miles west of Key West , Florida . Rita is moving toward the west near 14 mph and this general motion is expected to continue for the next 24 hours. On this track, Rita will move away from the Florida Keys and into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico .
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 120 mph with higher gusts. Rita is now a Category 3 Hurricane and is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 sometime later today. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center and Tropical Storm force winds extend outward up to 140 miles. Coastal storm surge flooding from 4-6 feet above normal tide levels is possible in the Tropical Storm Warning area. Storm surge flooding elsewhere in the Florida Keys and south Florida should subside today. Rita may produce 1-3 inches of rainfall in the Florida Keys and the southern Florida Peninsula . (National Hurricane Center )
The National Weather Service long range forecast indicates Rita will make landfall on the Texas coast by Saturday – most likely in the Galveston area. Texas officials have begun preparatory actions. Mandatory evacuation orders will be issued for several Texas coastal counties on Wednesday. Galveston will begin to evacuate nursing homes and assisted living residents Wednesday morning at 7:00 am EDT. A mandatory evacuation for the rest of Galveston will commence Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm EDT. Texas state officials have identified buses that will be used for evacuations. They have also identified evacuation routes and shelters that will be used by evacuees. Texas State Transportation officials have been tasked to ensure that evacuation routes are clear and flowing. Texas Department of Public Safety assets will assist with evacuation efforts. Texas has also requested the immediate return of all assets currently deployed to Louisiana .
Louisiana officials have developed contingency plans for the storm's actions. For planning purposes, the distance from Galveston (TX) to the Texas/Louisiana border is 85 miles, and the distance from the Texas/Louisiana border to New Orleans (LA) is 235 miles.
Local, State, and Federal officials in New Orleans have stopped any plans to bring residents back to the flooded city. Instead, they have warned residents to prepare to evacuate the city and surrounding areas if Rita brings high winds and heavy rainfall to the southern Louisiana area.
State, and Regional and Federal Emergency Operations Centers in the Gulf Coast area continue to maintain 24/7 operations to prepare for Rita's landfall in Texas . Emergency Response teams and supplies and equipment continue to be deployed to areas near the Gulf Coast areas.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff has designated Rear Admiral Larry Hereth, DHS U.S. Coast Guard to serve as the Principal Federal Official (PFO) to manage the federal response to Hurricane Rita. Local, State of Texas , and Federal officials are coordinating the response efforts from a Joint Field Office located in Austin , Texas . FEMA has staged truckloads of water, ice, food, tarps, and generators at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. Joint Field Offices in Louisiana , Mississippi , and Alabama are developing contingency plans for Hurricane Rita. (National Hurricane Center , DHS, FEMA Region IV and Region VI, media sources)
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita stories
Rita Developments, Katrina Aftermath, Major Developments in Katrina's Aftermath, 2nd Major Hurricane Looms
Katrina Raises Voters' Doubts About Bush
The bungled response to Hurricane Katrina has weakened President Bush, and made more Americans worry about the economy, particularly his Iraq and Gulf Coast spending plans. 71% of people prefer options he's not even considering; cutting spending on Iraq or cancelling Republican tax cuts.
Bush Administration Touts Rita Readiness
President Bush pledged on Wednesday to be "ready for the worst" as Hurricane Rita approached. "I urge the citizens to listen carefully to the instructions provided by state and local authorities and follow them," he said.
First Lady Tackles Poverty, Race Issues
Laura Bush says Hurricane Katrina could have a silver lining. A former inner-city teacher, she said "A large percentage of our population probably doesn't realize what inner cities are really like and has looked away from that".
New York's Mayor Differs With Bush, Again
Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg has asked President Bush to reconsider his waiver of the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act, which sets wages for workers on federal contracts.
House Republicans push ahead with Katrina probe
U.S. House Republicans are to investigate the response to Hurricane Katrina whereas Democrats want an independent probe. The Senate Homeland Security Committee is continuing its probe.
House OKs Tax Breaks for Katrina Victims
The House approved a $6.1 billion package of tax breaks for families and businesses affected by Hurricane Katrina
Chertoff Has Little Room for Error on Rita
Michael Chertoff survived Hurricane Katrina, where Michael Brown did not, and Hurricane Rita will be a major test.
New Orleans Mayor Faces Leadership Crisis
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has been up and down over the past three weeks, frankly voicing his frustration and his optimism. He is being blamed for not evacuating everyone and for conditions in the Superdome and other shelters, and for not consulting FEMA before deciding to let people back into the city. He is facing the by far the biggest natural disaster in the USA for a long time with the resources of a relatively poor and empty city.
Some La. Company Owners Want to Start Over
Whether small businesses can rebuild won't just depend on how badly damaged their premises were. It will alo depend on whether their customers and skilled staff return. Those whose staff comprised college students know that many of them will have enrolled elsewhere for the time being. Thanks to the virtual office, some national businesses are able to carry on. Many intend to return nonetheless, as they love New Orleans.
Gov. Perry Urges Voluntary Evacuations, Rita Plows Across Gulf; Evacuations Begin, Houston Mayor Orders Partial Evacuations, New Orleans Residents in No Rush to Leave, NASA braces for hit in Houston area, Rita now Category 4 hurricane, New Orleans Facing More Flooding by Rita, Hurricane Rita develops into Category 3 storm
As Hurricane Rita became a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds, Gov. Rick Perry urged coastal Texans to evacuate voluntarily. Galveston and parts of Houston were already under mandatory evacuation orders. New Orleans, though it will be well away from the centre of the storm, is also under mandatory evacuation order because just a few inches of rain from Rita could overwhelm the weakened flood control system.
The death toll from Katrina reached 1,036 Wednesday, 799 of which were from Louisiana.
This time hundreds of truckloads of water, ice and ready-made meals have been pre-positioned and rescue and medical teams are on standby. New Orleans has hundreds of giant sandbags on hand and thousands on order, plus 500 buses for evacuation, and enough water and military meals for 500,000 people.
Few New Orleans residents took advantage of buses to evacuate from the city in advance of Hurricane Rita. Most of those who had returned probably had done so in their own vehicles, and so far Rita has continued to head for Texas and not Louisiana.
NASA was evacuating its Johnson Space Center in Houston and turning over control of the International Space Station to the Russian Mission Control complex outside of Moscow. Its Louisiana facilities have been shut since Hurricane Katrina.
After Katrina, stories of gun battles, Rescuers Find Elderly Man Alive, Wife Dead
In New Orleans' Algiers Point neighbourhood, after Katrina came looters and gunmen. People got out their guns and protected themselves and their belongings.
And elderly couple in New Orleans cut off by the floods survived locked up in the ir home for days with their water and canned food, but then the wife died. The husband had not heard the rescuers, who did not enter the locked house. A concerned relative and two agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms finally found them on Tuesday.
Displaced Dolphins Rescued From Open Water
The 8 captive dolphins swept out to see from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina have now all been caught. They are recovering from their ordeal in quarantine
Officials Trying to ID Displaced Caskets
Hurricane Katrina left caskets scattered all around in Biloxi when it flattened the area, and many other cemeteries on the Gulf Coast were damaged. Not all have been found or identified.
Fla. Residents Take No Chances With Rita
Seeing what Hurricane Katrina did to New Orleans and the Mississippi coast has made Florida residents more likely to evacuate in the past, and many evacuated the Florida Keys for Rita who normally would have stayed.
Ice Shipments Diverted From Gulf Coast
Millions of pounds of ice that were apparently not needed in the hurricane-damaged Gulf Coast were sent from there some 1,300 miles to freezers in Portland, Maine.
La. Governor Asks FEMA for Hotel Rooms
Gov. Kathleen Blanco has asked federal officials to move hurricane evacuees from shelters to hotel rooms until permanent housing can be found. Others will be housed using trailer homes, recreational vehicles, cruise ships and apartments.
FEMA OKs Mobile Homes for Katrina Evacuees AP Sep. 2o 2005
The Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered tens of thousands of mobile homes and travel trailers on Tuesday to accommodate Katrina evacuees.
Reported Katrina Deaths, State by State
Alabama 2, Florida 14, Georgia 2, Louisiana 736, Mississippi 219, total 973.
Galveston Prepares to Evacuate Before Rita
Texas has ordered its first ever mandatory evacuation, as Hurricane Rita approached. Evacuees included those already evacuated from Hurricane Katrina. Many hotel rooms along the way out were already taken by hurricane Katrina evacuees. There was a state of emergency for Galveston, which was all but wiped out by a hurricane 105 years ago.
Other stories
Hurricane Expert Sees Storms Increasing
The director of the federal National Hurricane Center says to expect more hurricanes large and small in the next 10 to 20 years, as the Atlantic Ocean is in a cycle of increased hurricane activity similar to that between the 1940s and the 1960s. He said that forecasts of hurricane path shad improved, but not of intensity, rainfall distribution and surge in water levels.
California Farmers Facing Fuel Thieves
With fuel prices climbing, there has been a sharp rise in theft of diesel from farmers' tanks, as well as other thefts from farms.
FBI, Industry Offer Anti-Ecoterror Award
The FBI and the Building Industry Association of Washington are to offer $100,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction of ecoterrorists such as Earth Liberation Front members who firebomb neighbourhoods and burn down apartment complexes.
Bird Flu Outbreak Fears Hit Indonesia
With two more children suspected of having bird flu dying and 9 more suspected of having the disease in hospital, Indonesia has stepped up its approach to the disease. It plans a mass chicken slaughter, which it previously said it was not able to afford, and sacked the Ministry of Agriculture's director of animal health for failing to contain the outbreak. The WHO is standing by in case the virus mutates into a form that is passed from human to human and a pandemic results.
World encephalitis vaccine stock inadequate - India
India says that there is not enough vaccine fro Japanese encephalitis in the world to prevent the disease. It is stepping up production and looking to buy stocks from elsewhere. 850 have died in the past 2 months.
Ford Discusses Hybrid Engine Plans
The Ford Motor Co. says that by 2010 gas-electric hybrid engines will be available in half the Ford, Lincoln and Mercury lineup. The F-150 truck and Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car sedans will come in versions able to run using ethanol in 2006.
EU Proposes Air Pollution Clean Up Plans
The European Union says that air pollution kills 370,000 EU citizens every year. It has come up with scaled-back plans to reduce air pollution, which it estimates will save around 42 billion euros ($51 billion) per year "through fewer premature deaths, less sickness, fewer hospital admissions (and) improved labor productivity", and will cost industry and governments 7.1 billion euros ($8.6 billion) a year to implement. This is 41 percent less than a June proposal.
Britain Trying to Save Rare Bumblebee
The Great Yellow Bumblebee, once common in Britain, is now confined to Scotland and conservationists have announced a plan to save it.
Scientists: Cut Air Travel for Environment
Leading environmental scientists from the Tyndall Center advise Britons to drastically reduce their air travel to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Aviation is a major source of the gas and more difficult to make greener than other sources. The government predicts that the number of air passengers in Britain will more than double by 2020.
Changes to Endangered Species Act Mulled
Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., chairman of the House Resources Committee, wants to gut the Endangered Species Act be removing the responsibility of the government for setting aside critical habitat for threatened plants and animals. Landowners would be compensated for any development plans blocked under the act, and could go ahead if the government did not object within 90 days. Political appointees would be made responsible for scientific decisions.
Survey: Environment a Low Voter Priority
Whilst 79 percent of voters favour stronger policies to protect the environment, it is not a high priority for them.
Judge Orders Study on California Frog
The threatened California red-legged frog is believed to have inspired a short story by Mark Twain, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." A U.S. District Judge has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must research whether 66 common agricultural pesticides are harming the frog.
Alaska gas pipeline talks making progress: governor
Progress is being made on negotiations concerning an Alaska natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to the U.S. Midwest.
Pakistan Fireworks Blaze Leaves Five Dead
Five people died and fifteen were injured in Pakistan when fireworks in a roadside restaurant started a fire.
British Group Wants Debate on Leap Seconds
Atomic clocks keep International Atomic Time. Universal Time is the classic system based on the rotation of the earth. They differ because of fluctuations in the rate of the earth's rotation. They are synchronized from time to time by the use of 'leap seconds'; tiny end-of-year adjustments. The next is due at the end of this year. There is a proposal to abolish them. This would affect computers, global positioning systems and for those who study phenomena, such as tides, which are related to the earth's rotation. Britain's Royal Astronomical Society has called for a public debate.
Index of topics in this series.
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