I am glad somebody is putting up something about this disaster.

Taking a look at the new blogs. Looks like people are getting into it. Bush’s people are working hard on repairing the public relations damage. They are probably worried about the effect this could have on the Iraq war.

Nice to know whats going on….Keep it up.
please

We’ve got that IRC channel going and I’ll try to get in there for a while later in the day….should post a link to it

yeah be sure to keep up with the Interdictor blog mgno.com, it’s a pretty amazing example the way these folks are self-organizing. this is the sort of behavior i like to see.

okay this is reversed from the article, most recent first, so go to the bottom to start where the article leaves off:

5:39 pm
Update
Ok, sorry it’s been so long between real updates, but we talked to a few media outlets today and worked on getting a second OC3 operational. It’s looking good, but we’ll know for sure if it’s going to come online sometime tonight. That will be huge if it does.

I also have been trying to get pic and feed links out to you guys, and the problem is that as soon as I post a link that site gets crushed. I think we’ve got it under control now.

If you were watching the cam, you saw a building burn to the ground and the military roll in and head to the convention center with troops and supplies for the people.

And let me reiterate this: Your IMs and Emails and comments are very much appreciated. We’ve mentioned the worldwide support the people of the world are sending to the citizens of New Orleans, and we’re proud to thank all of you on their behalf. Everytime we go down to the street, we tell the police, soldiers, and most importantly the suffering civilians that the whole world is aware of their plight and sends prayers and moral support in addition to charity and volunteer support. Your voices are reaching them, and it’s something. Your voices matter.

I click on every single IM I can, but they come in at a rate of 2 to 8 per second depending on what’s going on. The sheer volume is more than I could answer in a lifetime, and I can not emphasize enough that I appreciate each and everyone and it is very frustrating for me that I just physically cannot respond to each and every one of you. You’d be surprised what goes through your mind in a situation like that — I’ve thought that maybe I need to get some kind of IM response team in place, but then I realized that was stupid. I’m just going to have to do my best to let you know your support is appreciated by everyone here at Outpost Crystal. The thing is, I don’t have the words to get that point across to you sufficiently. Hopefully you understand.

Ok, enough of the sappy stuff. Here’s what’s going on tonight.

We’re still coordinating a fuel drop — we think we can make it happen in the morning. There’s a misconception out there that somehow we’re diverting fuel from hospitals or something. That’s silly. We’re low on the fuel priority list. The problem for the hospitals is not the availability of fuel, but the actual delivery, according to the National Guard people. Some of the hospitals are phsyically under water according to them. It’s hard to pump fuel into a generator when the generator is sitting in water.

Ok, enough about fuel. Now for security. The influx of troops which we saw today should make the streets a lot safer at night.

BRB
(177 Comments |Comment on this)

4:59 pm
New dedicated picture server: http://www.tampabusiness.com/directnic/
(231 Comments |Comment on this)

4:27 pm
Another Cam Feed
http://wss-vip.adv.xc.advection.net/event/adv/evt20050902/new_orlean/0250?ext=.asf

(thanks to Advection.NET)
(250 Comments |Comment on this)

1:44 pm
Heading to the Roof
We’re going to the roof for pics.

Another video feed link: http://video.freevideoblog.com/no2.asx
(808 Comments |Comment on this)

12:34 pm
Pics
http://www.nola-intel.org/pictures
http://www.nola-intel.org/pictures2
http://www.nola-intel.org/pictures3

The close-ups I took of the fire this morning are on this page: http://sigmund.biz.nyud.net:8090/kat200509012/index0005.html
(364 Comments |Comment on this)

12:19 pm
Finally!
This convoy coming down the street is loaded with supplies. I see MREs and water and I assume ice.

Ok, so the troops used to restore order went in first and now the supplies are coming for orderly distribution (I hope).

Hope is on the way for the people at the Convention Center. Finally.

Check the cam
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12:00 pm
Here Come the Troops
Just saw 2 CH-53E Super Stallion Helicopters pass by overhead, and now on cam you can see what looks like a whole batallion of troops roll toward the Convention Center.
(278 Comments |Comment on this)

11:45 am
Cam Feed Mirrors
We are getting thousands of request to mirror the feed. Right now mises alone has 4000 or so viewers. My IMs are blown up out of control, no way I can filter them at this point. I sincerely apologize. If you want to mirror the feed, please go to the IRC chat on irc.freenode.net in #interdictor and announce your intentions to the admins and they will get you set up. Huge thanks to all of you stepping up to help bring my city’s deterioration to the world.

I think it finally hit me when I was on our roof 27 floors up looking down at my city. This place will never be the same — and I don’t mean in that “can’t step into the same river twice” philosophical sense. I mean in the “We won’t even recognize the place” sense.

This place is completely coming apart. The hopelessness on the street breaks the heart. The old, the tired, the sick seem resigned to their presumed fate. Death.

I’m pretty much running out of words for my commentary. I’ll try to stick to just the facts.

Thanks so much for the moral support, guys. I only wish we could pass it on to the people who need it more than we do.

11:10 am
Wow
If you’re watching the feed, it’s incredible. Hard to believe the fire department is still viable. God bless them. I’m no expert on conflagrations, but I don’t think they’re gonna win this one. Hopefully they can contain it.

It takes a spectacular kind of asshole to set a fire in this environment.

A lot of people are asking about our fuel situation. We have some, but we need more. We have a few days worth. We desperately need more. We’re coordinating now.

By the way, here comes some military on cam.

I tweaked the feed to try to help the people restreaming it.

The building you’re watching appeared to be some small hotel right behind Mother’s.

10:41 am
Cam Feed
Reset the feed. Here are the addresses:

http://old.mises.org:88/NO
http://old.mises.org:88/NO2
http://194.97.144.25/NewOrleans

The first two are being hosted by the great people at The Ludwig Von Mises Institute.

The third one is being hosted by the generous people at space.net

10:01 am
The City is ON FIRE
Teams Alpha and Bravo finished the medium range recon and there are 3 separate locations on fire. We have pictures coming shortly.

During the recon, I spoke to some Federal Marshalls and NOPD. Morale is LOW. Very low. They’re not seeing the military presence they say they were promised. I told those guys they can’t possibly imagine how much we (the world) appreciate their dedication. I asked what civil rights the citizens have and the US Marshalls looked at me like I just fell off the turnip truck and chuckled. I asked if citizens can have guns for protection and he said if someone thinks he needs a gun, he should have already evacuated. He also said they are setting the city on fire.

The NOPD wants to know where “the two active duty brigades” were that he says they were told were supposed to arrive today. When I asked him what he would want to tell the world, he said Everyone keeps talking about the military presence in the city, and then asked me,” Do you see any military around here” in dusgust.

We reconned our roof also, to get a better view of the city and took… I hesitate to call them “amazing” pictures. My city… it has been punched in the face and is on the canvas being counted out.

And yes, that’s smoke you see out of the windows. The city is under a haze from the fires. Smoke and ash are floating miles away from the fires.

Notes from Inside New Orleans

Hurricane Katrina Highlights an Oil-Hungry World