xmuzik Disco's
Bitch
Registered: Nov
2003 Location: The Streets Of A New World Order
|
8- to 10-week timeline
for recovery is now pushed back four weeks due to the
delay
Entire Town
Will Soon Be Totally Submerged Nagin: Entire City Will
Soon Be Underwater Problems Escalate To 'Another Level'
POSTED: 10:02 pm CDT August 30, 2005 UPDATED:
11:01 pm CDT August 30, 2005
New Orleans Mayor Ray
Nagin is "very upset" that an attempt to fix the breach in the
levee at the 17th Street canal has failed, and he said the
challenges that the city is facing have "escalated to another
level."
"The sandbagging that we had hoped would
happen didn't materialize today, so the water continued to
rise at that particular location," he said.
In an
exclusive interview with WDSU anchor Norman Robinson, Nagin
said the rising water has caused the generators to stop
operating because the water got too high. Due to that, Nagin
said he's been advised by the head technician at the sewage
and water board that water in the east bank area of Orleans
and Jefferson parishes will rise to levels equal to Lake
Pontchartrain.
"It's going to rise to 3 feet above
seal level. For example, St. Charles Avenue is 6 feet below
sea level, there will most likely be 9 feet of water on St.
Charles Avenue," Nagin said.
Also, if residents are in
a part of city that is 10 feet below sea level, Nagin said the
levels will probably rise to 13 feet of water.
He said
the "bowl is now filling up" and the entire city will soon be
underwater.
Nagin said the sandbagging was scheduled
for midday, but the Blackhawk helicopters needed to help did
not show up. He said the sandbags were ready and all the
helicopter had to do was "show up." He said after his
afternoon helicopter tour of the city, he was assured that
officials had a plan and a timeline to drop the sandbags on
the levee breach.
He said he was told that the
helicopters may have been diverted to rescue about 1,000
people in a church, but he is still not sure who gave the
order.
He advised people still trapped in New Orleans
to evacuate to the west bank area if they can safely get
there.
"If they can't, (they should) seek higher
ground," the mayor said.
He said the water that is
flowing out of the breach, which is about a 2-block breach at
the 17th Street canal, will continue to flow "unimpeded at an
accelerated level within 12 to 15 hours."
Nagin said
the water will continue to rise overnight, making it very
difficult for anyone to evacuate safely, including the
thousands who have sought refuge in the Superdome.
"We're also shutting down City Hall because our
generators will most likely get flooded, and that could be
another challenge that the Superdome has," Nagin said.
He said right now, he doesn't have a solution for the
estimated 15,000 evacuees in the Superdome.
The mayor
said his 8- to 10-week timeline for recovery is now pushed
back four weeks due to the delay in repairing the break.
Nagin also said that currently there is no martial law
in the city of New Orleans, but he may order it on Wednesday.
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